The topic of SAS ( Solid Axel Swap ) gets kick around a good bit now. People want more articulation from there suspension. The independent suspension is proned to limited articulation and to breakage due to large tire size . Not that a solid fort axle will not break under the strain of lager tires either. The solid front axles just have few joints to fail.

I have seen several solid axles done with all kids of axles. I seen D30 form TJ swapped in with custom lower control arm and coil springs. I have seen D44 from 73 – 79 F100 and F150, 66 – 77 Bronco, and 78-79 Broncos, these suspension used a Coil sprung C bushing radius arm combination. The following two picks are form the early Bronco form 66-77 and the 73-79 F 100/ F150/78 -79 FS Bronco.

66- 77Bronco


73-79 F Series /78-79 Bronco


To rap up coil spring. I have also seen the D44 form 94 Ram 1500 and its front coils spring and contol arms used.

The most common axel swap I have seen is the old reliable leaf spring. F250 and F350 have had D44 or D60 front leaf sprung suspensions form 73- 96. I am not sure about other dates.

While a solid axel swap is time consuming requires lots fabrication, the end result is always impressive if the swap is done correctly.

There are few to no completely bolt on SAS kits but is you drive a Ranger, B2 Bronco or Explore with the D35 TTB front suspension. I belive the range is 84 – 97 you in luck this is a total bolt on kit that is $1799 plus the cost of the Axel. http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-...conversion.htm

If you drive some thing a little newer good luck. Just kidding. James Duff makes a sent of Radius style arms that I have seen used very successfully.

These arms are about $699.

Cage Offroad Products also makes a set of radius that I have seen used. These arm are a good product. But you may have to morage you house @ $725 for the set.


So if you like this coil sprung radius arms style suspension you can puchase the C bushing brackets and weld then to any axle that will fit you application. For around $89.


The ones pictured are from here.
http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-...arm_mounts.htm

By no mean am I the king of SAS but I though this would be a great starting point. For those who want to tackle this project. If any correction needs to be made or you would like to add info post up!!!
Happy SASing !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Good info!

 

im one of the morons that bought the cage tube arms a couple days ago.. its gonna be sweet

 

lol only the best!

 

intresting...

 

the two pictures of the different bronco years are the same pictures. They both show the LP Kingpin Dana 30 front axle, which would mean they are the pictures for the EB's not the Fullsize broncos.

 

The axles in the 250's and 350's are only really useable after 77 or so though. before that they were closed knuckle axles, which arent a good swap in. The 78-79 axles are the most valueable as they have the longer Short side Tube and Kingpin style C's. from 80-91 were the shorter short side tube with Kingpins and from 92-98 were the Ball joint Style D60's. There are some TTB style Years mixed in there also. The TTB year trucks used a D50 TTB with leafs. It was a very pooly thought out design as leafs did not let the beams move in an arc like they are supposed to. from 99-present are Balljoint Dana 50's and Dana 60's with Metric Lug patterns and Unit Bearing style hubs.

78-79 Dana 60 (from my personal collection, this particular axle is out of a 79 SRW F350)


Another thing to note is that the Axles of this year were High pinion which is another plus.


For an idea of how large that axle is, my Boot in the picture is a size 11.

 

thats one hell of a huge caliper batman

 

that is BEEF.

 

yea they are a dual piston caliper and each piston is about the size of my fist. Another thing to note is that a 16" wheel is the smallest wheel that can be used on the 3/4 and 1 ton axles as a 15" will not fit over the OEM brakes.

 

Good stuff!

Brenton

 

On another note, A very common axle to be used is the 80's Dana 44 out of a Grand Wagoneer. It is low pinion but it is very similar in width to a ranger. It is a 6x6.5" lug pattern. Any Solid axle Dana 44 outer knuckle setup (excluding rubicon D44) can be run on the axle so many different lug patterns are available. they are roughly 61-63" WMS to WMS, as there were two styles a Wide trac and a Narrow Trac style. Certain years came with a CAD system. Which disconnects the front axle with a vaccum system. This style should be avoided as it is harder to work with and is another design that could have had more thought put into it.

This is the axle that I, 034x4 and Edge wannabe Used for our SAS's

here is a picture of the above axle resting under my truck for Size purposes. And yes i know the axle is slightly off center



leafs are the most common suspension used with this axle, because you can swap it to SOA (spring over axle). Rancho 44044 leaf springs (Grand Wagoneer 2" lift springs) are used most commonly. One thing to remember is that the 44044's give two inches of lift in a SUA(Spring Under axle) suspension so they give considerably more in a SOA setup.

Edge Wannabe is running these springs in his truck.

I am using this axle but I am building a Parallel 3 link with Panhard. This will consist of 2 lower arms with 1 upper arm over the Center. My lowers are roughly 35" long and mount just next to the transfer case front Output.

 

is it gonna ride that high?

 

no it will ride much lower. Im going for getting it to sit as low as possible. Im planning for about 4-5" of uptravel and as much down travel as i can get. I have two sets of Coils for it. A set of 4.5" Xj lift coils and a set of 6" Zj lift coils. I will be cutting the fenders as much as they will allow to get the ride height im looking for.

 

Another thing i want to mention is that if you do plan on doing a SAS in the future that you should invest in a set of the "Jackstands" Shown in my picture of my truck. They are actually RIGID[TM] Pipe stands, but they hold 2500#'s each. They are adjustable from 29" to low 50's. They have been sitting there holding my truck up for roughly a year and a half and they have made working under it much nicer as there isnt any jack stands underneath to be in the way.

 

James found out my donor front suspension was a 4" lift suspension, so I'm in good shape for my D44 SAS.

The original diagrams are slightly off. I believe most D44 from the F-150 series had shocks in FRONT of the axle, and that bracket you see on the radius arm was for the optional "quad shock" setup, which my axle has.

I just learned the quad shock (dual each side) was in fact a factory option on the '78 F-150 that my parts came from. I thought it was aftermarket.

The front shock on the drivers side upper bracket is also the track-bar mount. All the shock mounts, coil buckets and so on are bolt on, and I have the entire setup.

Lot of fun seeing the articulation on the F-truck that was posted!

By the way, '78 and '79 F-150/Bronco axles are poor candidates for leaf springs because the axle tube is 2-piece. The "diamond" where the c-bushings clamp on is a cast piece with separate axle tubes going back to the pumpkin, and out to the knuckle.

If you don't use coils on them, they are inherently weak -- though they are desirable for other reasons.

I still haven't decided on a steering box yet.

 

While we are on the Talk of axles i figure it is Worth mentioning High steer. Certain Chevy and Ford D44 and D60 Knuckles (flattops) can be used for high steer purposes.

Chevy Dana 44 Flat tops (note the 6 spindle studs, Ford uses 5)


And these are a Set of Parts Mike high steer arms.

If you look closely There is a Bevel on the End of the Arm. This is for Angle Correction for the Steering TRE's.

 

77 is a desirable year Ford dana 44 out of f100's and f150's. It is the same axle as the 78-79 years except it has welded on C wedges, which means that they can be cut off and leafs can be ran on the axle. There is no cast part on the tubes of the 77 year axles. IIRC 76 might also have this setup but i cant remember for sure.

I have found that many others have used IFS toyota steering boxes. The frame must be plated under them since our stock frames are not meant to handle the stresses of a steering box.

 

im gonna run a yota IFS box..

 

034x4 and Edge Wannabe also run them IIRC, I also have one for my SAS. and i think Zabeard has also sourced one for his.

 

mine is sitting right next to me as i type this

ya zabeard has one as well

 

Yes, the plating is no problem -- I work in a steel mill that makes 1/4" through 5" plate, lol.

Why the IFS Toyota? Steering shaft and pump compatibility?

What I'm concerned with is the way most IFS setups use a steering box. They usually drive a captive horizontal arm that then has tie rods that drop down to the knuckles similar to the way a rack and pinion controls steering. This is necessitated by the need for independent wheel travel where a drag link can't be used since the wheels move closer and further apart.

So, my questions is: was the 'yota box designed for the stresses a tie-rod type system puts on the output shaft? On the independent type, there is nothing but torsional stess and some radial stress -- but when using a tie-rod/drag-link the angles of applied stress are different.

How is the durability of the 'yota box overall in high-flex conditions? Although I see them being used, I'd like some reassurance that in fact they hold up in a hard used SAS setup?

Thanks.

 

my yota box looks just like what a 77-79 f150 would have.. just slightly smaller

 

Yes, I know what they look like. I'd like to hear some long term reports on the output shaft bearing and seal life. I'm thinking about using an F-150 box but I have no idea if my pump can drive it or not, lol.

 

hmm that im not sure on... ill let ya know in about a year or so..lol