im am doing my axle swap and im getting further and further and learning lots, i am going with a dana 44 front with shocks and coils and a ful floater GM 14 bolt

but why on every ranger i see with a SAS it has leafs in the front, i thought coils get better articulation that the leafs WHY LEAFS??

 

Zach used coils on his.

i think alot of people use leafs because its cheaper/easier.

 

??? Im confused.. I think Ive only seen one or two on here with leaves...
zabeard is coils
bigranger is coils
badkarma is coils
ryanrebel I believe has done a couple coil..

I guess 034x4 is leaves and so is 2002fx4

theres a bunch of coil guys around..

but as for leaves: generally cheaper, generally simpler to set up,
coils: better ride, maybe better flex some leaves flex nice, more expensive, harder to get right,

It all depends really, you got any more specifics on your plan??

 

Leafs and coils are out...Coilovers are in

 

im with him^^

 

if you can afford it

 

theyre not tooooo expensive.

 

note the extra 'ooo'

 

lol

 

Im looking at 500 in Coilovers, and another 400 for the coils for them.

 

not bad.

i have heard that coilovers are not the best for a DD though. could be false info

 

they arent any different then a coil and shock combo. They just have more adjustability.

 

I'm doing coils on mine, in part because I want coils, and in part because it's easier with my donor axle: a 1978 F-150 Dana 44.

The 1978-79 axles in F-150's and Bronco's have a two piece axle tube design. The "wedge" where the radius arms attache is a cast piece with tubes pressed into it on either side. It already is set up for a coil bucket and going to leaf springs can be done but it's less than optimum and a bit of a pain.

Other Dana 44's have no wedges (if leafs) or they have weld-on wedges which can be removed. This makes leaf springs easier.

But I like the idea of coils and for simplicity and low cost I'm putting the original F-150's suspension design on my truck complete. Later I will upgrade the suspension for more flex.

 

Just extend the stock arms and run a Heim or Flex Joint on the end....





The arms look bent where they connect but they arent its just the angle from the picture.

 

I'm still up in the air on the whole "coil vs. leaf" on my sas. I'm thinking 3/4 ton ford front w/ coils, and GM 14 bolt rear. 3/4 ton for the huge brakes. Then again, I'm also thinking just a Waggy front w/ leafs and the 8.8. Ah who knows.

 

I know my truck isnt close to being done but these are my thoughts. If I could start over from scratch I would start with a Fullwidth axle. Either a D60 and a Built D44. Run a D70 or FF 14bolt in the rear. The small axles are nice to keep stock width but for my 3 link and coils its a pain in the *** to fit link mounts/truss/coils seats on them. But since Im going to go with Coilovers now the coil space is no longer a problem.

 

brackets like this wont help you save space? this is what i'm thinking about running on my f250 D44, but shortened....

 

It will but it also offsets the coils, and what if you dont want to mount your shock there?

This is what im going to run

 

that bracket just takes most of the adjustabilty that seperate brackets give you. Like my lower links will mout above the center line of the axle for clearance purposes.

 

yeah i understand what you are saying, im just wanting to reuse the arms i have and close to the same setup... my shocks should in theory line up in the same spot with those brackets.

 

you might run into space problems tryin to fit a truss for the driverside upper link

 

hmm how much larger is the D44 pumkin?


also are you making your brackets? or buying? on the frame and the axle...

 

Ruffstuff Specialties Lower mounts


Polyperformace Frame Upper mount


Ruffstuff Specialties Lower Frame mounts

 

dang i should have bought frame brackets, would have made my project go much faster! lol

 

For what I payed, It was worth just buying them instead of making them. And this way they are garanteed to come out the same on both sides.