Well, for those of you that dont already know, i crashed my truck, back in march and since im too attached to it im gonna rebuild it. i had planned on throwing a set of eb axles that have and then swapping in a cummins, but due to the front end damage it is going to be more cost effective for me to run a one piece fiberglass front end. this has changed my plans some. so now the eb stuff is for sale and i just bought a c&c 14 bolt with 4.56's for the rear and in a couple weeks im going to pick up an f250 with a hd d44 front. its going to be a slow build so please bear with me!!

Plans...

Front:
one piece fiberglass tilt nose
78' f250 d44 and eventually a d60 kingpin same era
3 link w/ 14inch ballistic fab coilovers
yota steering box and chevy 1 ton steering
custom tube bumper w/ winch

Rear:
14 bolt full floater drw housing w/ srw hubs and disc brakes
chevy/ranger hybrid leaf pack
chevy rear hangers
4 inch fiberglass bedsides
definitely another toolbox since mine flew into the river
custom bumper and tailgate
possibly a small compact bed cage

Interior:
vinyl floor
different seats (still havent decided on what)
cb
a small center mounted race seat in back w/ 5 point harness for my son

Tires & Wheels;
35x12.50x17 or 37x12.50x17 kevlars
17x9 classic locks w/ black rings

i think thats all but i could be forgetting some stuff. ill post pics shortly, theyre uploading to photobucket right now

 

 

sub'd.

 

the only restraints i really have is my frame height. the maximum allowed for the gvw of our trucks in maine is 27" in the front and 29" in the rear so im shooting for about a quarter inch under that. the night i put my flowmaster on i jacked the frame up to ride height. with a 3 inch bl the top of the cab will be roughly 6'3-6'5" and i am going to throw a bl on it so that i can try to keep the frame low.

hopefully in a couple weeks i can pick up the f250 (200 bucks) and the front frame half that i found for 300 a couple weeks after that. then i can get to work.

i want the truck to look kind of like a rock crawling version of this truck. only blue and with a different grill


any body have any pics saved of beards truck when he had the d44 in it or right after he threw the d60 in. the pics in his build thread arent working for me.

 

Looks like a good project!

 

looks like its gonna be like josh's sas build. but definatly subscribed

 

well, i worked on it the other night and got the seats and carpet out and tomorrow im going to try and get the cab off and start pulling the drivetrain. hopefully all goes smoothly

 

didnt quite get the cab off yet. everything is done except for 3 of the cab bolts. gonna have to wait until my grandfather is home to give me a hand holding the bottom.

 

got the cab off last night. going to pull the motor,trans,and transfer maybe saturday. ill try to get some pics. and it looks like i may be able to save the frame!!!!

 

havent really had much time to work on the truck. i still have to pull the motor and crap out. i think im just going to chop off the frame horns in front of the crossmember and weld new ones on then put fish plates on both sides and call it done. the frame looks straight except for the 2 obvious bends. i also picked up a chevy np203 that i think im just going to sell and pay for the f250 d44. i shoud be picking that up within the next couple weeks.

a couple progress pics:

another shot of the 14 bolt. compare to the 2 9's in the background

 

Every time you post pics its raining. lol

 

yeah, its been doing that a lot lately. i hope it stops soon though so i can get to work on the truck. seems like the sun shines all week and the rain starts as soon as i get out of work thursday and doesnt stop until monday morning. when i get the d44 ill make sure i take some pics in the sun, just for you adam. haha

 

some sunny pics from this weekend.

motor's out!










probably going to cut the frame right at the front of the crossmember, weld on new frame horns, and then fish plate both sides.


glad im using a yota box!


this weekend hopefully im going to get the gas tank, lines, evap system, brakelines and wiring harness out. maybe even some front suspension components.

axles are going to be for sale. 4.10's and open diffs.

 

Sub'd!



What's the wms to wms of the DRW axle with SRW outers?

 

the c&c drw is 63.5 and the srw hubs are roughly 2 inches wider per side, so 67.5. there is a wider drw van axle that is in the 70's too i believe. about halfway down is a comparison shot of the 2 hubs... http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/14b_bible/
and 78-79 ford d60's and 8 lug d44's are 69.5 so it should be a good match.

 

Beards' pics won't be working since the site went down and all pics w/in a year were lost. Either he or others have to repost them.

I have some pics but idk if it's what you want and idk if he wants them posted. Sorry.

 

Very nice. 'Scribed for sure. But why are you using a HD D44. That's a low pinion axle. Why not just find a 78-79 F150 axle (High pinion D44) and swap the D60 outers onto it?

 

the f250 d44 is essentially the same as the f150 version except for: runs leafs instead of radius arms, has thicker 1/2 inch tubes, and run 8 lug outers which make it a couple inches wider and they match the 14 bolt's bolt pattern.

ford78 used the same front end. heres his build thread... https://www.ranger-forums.com/solid-axle-swaps-111/my-sas-build-131913/

also, im not sure how you would put d60 outers on a d44 unless you had a custom stub shaft or drive flange made. they use different u joints, different lengths and od's and im not positive but i think the spline counts are different. it would be more work that its worth.

 

not much to update. been working a pile of hours lately. i did pay for my donor truck a couple weeks ago. its a 78 f250 d44 and i only paid 200 for it. and last friday i picked up a new to me front frame section. paid 100 bucks for it and they gave me more frame than i asked for AND let me have the lvII tow hooks!!! ill probably find a way to mount them on the rear bumper when i get to that point. on to the pics.

current state


new frame






a hub from the 44. i still have to pick up the truck

 

ive also been thinking about a doubler but have hit a roadblock. keep in mind its still just something im figuring out in my head. im thinking about a behemoth dt strong box with the good 6 pinion ranger planetaries going into a flipped dana 300 with lomax 4:1 gears. the ratios would be 1, 2.42, 4, and 9.68:1. the only problem i can think of is adapting my speedo to the d300. any ideas?

 

Youre trying to convert an electronic speedo to a manual speedo. The only way I see that being capable is if you make a custom gauge panel with mechanical gages. I would talk to someone over on Pirate4x4 or someone on here or TRS who has done the swap in a newer ranger.

 

i know that all d300 have a drive gear in the rear output housing, but some had an electronic pickup instead of a cable. hmmm i sure hope i can make it work cause i think it would be perfect for a ranger, nice and compact.

 

a little progress from today

pile of grinding dust


goodbye!!!


hacked up







most of the ifs brackets chopped off. i ran out of oxygen for the torch after getting the shock towers cut off so the rest was all cutting wheel









tacked together





frame is straight again!! (well straight enough anyway)





gonna go get more oxygen tomorrow to hopefully cut the rest of the ifs off and try to get all my fish plates made this week so my uncle can come finish weld it for me next weekend. he has been a welder since high school and is MUCH better at stick welding than myself. eventually the front bumper crossmember will come off to make room for a new bumper and the lvl II tow hooks will be mounted to the rear bumper.

am i correct in thinking that the wheel base for an extended cab with a 6 ft bed is 126 inches? i was a fool and forgot to measure before i ripped everything apart.

some progress is better than no progress i guess. bring on the constructive criticism.

 

It looks really long and I am not sure on the wheelbase.

 

Yea holy *****. If anything you shoulda shortended the frame. Better approach/departure angles.