Alright guys.. Well most of you know this, but the SAS has started. I haven't actually started tearing into it yet, but I've started on the parts, and after some confirmations on some parts tonight, I should be starting to order everything else I'm going to need for the swap. The plan is to roll it into my buddy's shop after work on a friday night, in about 3 weeks, and roll it out of the shop sunday night and drive it home... I won't have the front shaft in by then, but i'll have all the parts and my buddy is a pretty good expert in the field of SA'd suspensions (Next time I run to his shop, I'll snag a pic of his buggy to show you what I mean)..

Anyways here's the plans

Front Axle: Dana 44 from a wagoneerFront suspension:Rear Suspension:Rear Axle:Steering:Misc:Tires/wheels:Here's the first pic I have of the whole thing. Picked this up last night. Guy was selling the completely rebuilt Dana44, literally rotor to rotor (New pads, calipers, rotors, ball joints, u-joints, bearings and seals). What also came with it was Warn Manual locking hubs, Marlin Crawler steering box and frame plates with all the hardware and sleeves, Nitro gear 4.88's and the master install kit, and the chevy knuckles to run hi-steer and cross-over steering... Pick that all up for $1,000

Now to talk the guy down on the wheels and tires and get those this weekend maybe! Wahoo! Tomorrow I should be ordering everything I listed above, or going to my buddy's shop since he stocks trail gear stuff... Needless to say, I should be starting either the weekend before Christmas, or the weekend after... And hope to hit the snow by mid January!

One thing I do need help with still is this damn steering shaft, I've seen all different designs, but which one is gonna work the best, or should I say easiest to find and put together?

 

When you're done, I need to park next to you!!

 

just park it under him lol

 

Yeah Billy you may be able to park partially under me... It's gonna turn out like 2002fx4's SAS build... And he was on 38's... Almost identical lol

 

that would be a sick picture haha

 

Is there a specific reason you're going with leafs up front? Is it just easier to do?

Can't wait to see this thing rolling though.

 

Leafs are definitely much easier to do, and they're a lot cheaper... Depending on who you know, I suppose. All you have to do is run leafs, tie rod, drag link and boom, you're done (of course the spring hangars).

 

Gonna be sweet! Im doing almost the same swap 37s but im going full width with 3" HD trail gear springs.

 

I bet you know -- you will get it done and already start thinking about upgrades haha its just natural..

ill get those springs ready to ship today and tomorrow at work are slammed, hoping friday I can get them out..

 

Hells yeah dude! Text me later and lemme know the final price, I'm gonna talk to Zach to see if those leags are gonna be what I need for 37's.... What leafs are they again?

 

good luck ! and that axle looks so cute :)

 

Man im so damm excited for you!!!

 

I havent gotten a quote or shipped yet..work has been crazy..ill get to it this weekend tho..

the springs are like procomp something I cant remember the numbers..I got them from summit and beard ran them with his D30 SAS

 

look at you go, going to be sweet man!

 

question with going that big..on springs..how you do you think it will ride? I think it might ride like riding on wagon wheels...

 

YOur truck is going to look sick man.

 

I know a guy that's got them on his 5.9L Dakota quad cab and said they ride awesome, and he's clearin 39.5 IROK's lol... That's what shocks are for too... Evan, whenever you can get them shipped out that would be great man, and I'll shoot you some $$$

So today at work I got a few more things ordered:
Tomorrow I'm gonna call the place Cory got his brake lines and order up 2 - stainless lines 26" long with the right fittings. Also strippin the axle down and taking it to my gear guy to install the 4.88's and mill,drill and tap the passenger knuckle. I'll also be ordering the wheel adapters for the rear either tonight or tomorrow. Also I'll be cutting my frame tubes for the shackles to bolt to and my buddy with the 4wd shop is giving me my frame tube bushings

Saturday after work I'm going to try and track down the steering shaft parts and the front driveline from a Jeep XJ, since I'm told that bolts up to the expo case and is a direct drop in.

Sunday I should be heading up north and picking up some 37x12.50R17 KM2's with 95% tread on 17x9 polished aluminum wheels.


Now for the PS pump to the Marlin box, what do I need as far as fittings or adapters go? Or is that going to bolt right up with no modification?

 

if you got the tech section i think..Beard made a sticky on the steering shaft..in there he has part numbers for the fittings to order from PSC..its three items..like 20 bucks shipped I think..

 

Yeah I just saw that last night man... Is there a place where I can get all 3 fittings and only pay shipping once? Cuz one place has 1, and another place has 2 of the fittings... LAME! lol

 

So I found out you can get all 3 at PSC's website, but I'm gonna have my dad run down to the hydraulic place where Cory got his lines and see if they have them there. They supposedly have everything.

Alright so onto what I've done since my last post:

Tracked down the brake line place and had 2 - 24" Stainless Braided lines made with 10mm Banjo bolt on one side and 3/16" inverted flare on the other with the adapter to hook up to the stainless threads. That total came out to $65. Not bad at all for stainless!

Yesterday after work I made myself some Daystar shackles, 5-3/4" eye to eye to be used with the 1.5" - 3/16" wall DOM I cut for my frame tubes at 2-3/4" long; those I cut today on break at work. Also yesterday I ordered up the pillow block for the steering shaft for $21 shipped.

Also tore down the D44, and loaded it up in my buddy's truck to take to my gear guy in the morning. I should get it back around the 15th if all goes well (he's going hunting all next week). Got myself some new ball joints for the chevy outers tonight for $43 and when he mill/drill/tap the knuckles I'm going to have him press in the new ball joints on his press. Save me time and headache! One other thing I did get ordered up tonight was my 5on4.5 to 6on5.5 wheel adapters. Those were spendy but I gotta have them! Total with shipping on those was $133.

The only things left on the parts list are:

The PS pump fittings (possibly tomorrow, if not I'll just order them online)
The intermediate E250 shaft (which I found for $25 near me!), my buddy is giving me a yota shaft for the lower rag joint portion of the hybrid
Gotta have my leaf spring front hangar cut which is no problem, the guy works for himself and builds legit bracketry.... $75
Shock hoops and tabs (which we're gonna bend ourselves when we get to that point, my buddy has a nice manual JD Squared bender)
U-bolts and spring plates - Should be around $40-50 with the plates.
Driveline - but that isn't required right away
The rear leafs which Evan should be shipping me tomorrow
Relocate the rear shock tabs - we're gonna build a rear shock bar and triangulate the rear shocks
37x12.50R17 KM2's (95% tread) on polished aluminum 17x9 - Picking up Sunday afternoon for a screamin deal!

That's all that I have left on the list and it's getting smaller everyday! Swap should start the 26th if I haven't already noted that and I should have it back on the road by the following saturday, the 1st of the year 2011 :)

This whole swap has been rackin my brain big time. I can't sleep cuz I'm running all the math in my head for the suspension, steering, parts and costs... It's crazy, I just want it done!

 

Oh here's a few more pics

Stripped 44:



Here's some of the parts I snagged a pic of... Top right is the Marlin box:

 

Awesome..got your ish together as always.

 

so uhh, it done yet?! hah

 

So today I picked up the brake lines and 2 of the 3 power steering fittings, just need the 17mm one and then i'm good on those.

Haven't heard back from the guy with the 37's I'm supposed to be getting tomorrow, so this kinda sucks; more $$$ if he doesn't respond to me!

Picked up some spare 1.5" DOM 3/16" wall tubing at work for extra stuff like the rear shock tower and the front shock hoops, along with a sizable sheet of 3/16" plate and 1/4" plate for mounts and things we may need to make (shock tabs, extra plating and boxing, etc..). Also took the axle to the gear guy for the 4.88 install and the milling of the passenger knuckle for the hi-steer, and he's going to press in my new ball joints I got for the knuckles last night.

Just a few parts left to get it on the ground when it's time (26th-2nd), u-bolts, spring plates (which I'll probably make), E250 intermediate shaft, and the front hangar. I'm really hopin Evan chimes in and has those leafs shipped out!

On a side note, can anyone post a picture of the engine cross member that has to be made? Shane was bringing this to my attention tonight on the phone and I had no idea about it til then... Pictures would be great if anyone has any... Getting SOOOOOOOO close to having all the parts!

 

hell yes man, just seen your post. i was seriously going to text you about it