Has anyone here that has done a SAS, cut and boxed their engine crossmember after they removed their TTB? I have found some pics on other sites, but I only see the front section removed mostly. Has anyone removed both the front and back portions and then reinforced it? and if so, any pictures or knowledge you gained from the experience you would like to share?

Most people that do a SAS usually dont have to worry, since they are putting a good amount of lift into it, but me on the other hand, I am going for as little as possible, hopefully 4 inches, 5 at most. I am trying to keep my CG as low as possible, but if I leave the crossmember alone, I will have next to no travel. My plans are for 4-5 inches and 35s with trimmed fenders to keep this thing as low as I can.

I think i remember Kjett saying something about a boxed crossmember, I cant remember exactly though. I have been trying to find as much info on what I can do to get the TTB brackets on the crossmember out of my way, hopefully with the vast knowledgebase on FTE, we will be able to figure something out.

Thanks!

Josh

 

Josh,

The swap really isn't all that difficult. If you use an axle from a 76-79 Bronco/F-150 and most of the suspension parts that go with it (i.e. coils, radius arms, and radius arm brackets). When I searched around, I was told that I needed at least a 4" lift, but when I priced out the coils, I found that the price difference from a 4" to 6" coils was really nothing, so I went with the 6" coils. I went to Bronco Graveyard for a set of their replacement radius arm drop brackets (http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-...racket_kit.htm), 4 degree "C" bushing kit (to include not only the "C's", but the radius arm and track bar bushings), an extended brake line for the 73-79 axle (the 80 and up series uses 2 lines on each side, where the 70's series uses a single line that "T's" at the differential and a flex hole at each knuckle). Also, get their adjustable track bar as it will help center your axle in the frame after the lift. We'll get to the steering parts later.

After you get your old TTB out (to include the center pivots and radius arm brackets!!!), put it aside as you will need some parts off of it. The crossmember was your main question, and here's what I did. I slid the new axle under the truck for a reference of where to trim, marked it out, then pull the axle back out. You will need to remove the power steering line the routes in front of the crossmember, cut the "cooling loop" out and flare the ends so you can slip some rubber line on and plum it to a small trans cooler (I mounted mine to the front of the radiator to keep it in the air to help keep the steering fluid nice and cool). Also, your original brake line runs on the back side of the crossmember, and you will need to remove that as well (hence the reason for the 70's series brake line!). Now that your crossmember is clear, you are ready to trim with your choice if tool, i,e, cut off wheel, hack saw, plasma cutter, torch, sawzall. I ended up using a sawzall and triming about 3-4" off the bottom of my crossmember (front and rear) just to make sure I had enough clearance if I stuffed that axle up. Then as and added bit of strength, I boxed it with some plate (can't remember how thick, but it was about as thick as the crossmember steel was). Now that I look at it, I think I was a little overzealous with the boxing in part, as the crossmember is a stamped piece, and there is still some of the stamped bend (about 2-3") still left and I'm sure it is plenty strong and didn't need to be boxed. If you do end up going to the 6", then you really don't need to trim, but you will need to be cut if you go 4"! After your get the axle rolled back unter the truck (with the radius arms attached), center it under your stock coil mounts and measure back to the front leaf spring hanger (make sure you use the same point on each side!!!) and locate the axle center to the same location each side. Drill holes and bolt up the drop brackets, keep remeasuring so that the mounts are the same distance apart so everything lines up. Bolt everything up using grade 8 hardware so it's nice and strong. After that is all bolted up and the radius arms are in place, bolt in the springs and swing the axle up. Here's comes the tricky part! I made my own drop track bar bracket out of a piece of 2" box tube that was notched to fit the bar and welded/bolted it in place right in front of the driver side spring bucket. I say bolted, because it uses 1 of the steering box bolts, other than that, it's welded in! Make sure it is in the same plane as where your steering arm is, so you limit the amount of bump steer you get. When that's all ready, and you put the weight of the truck on the springs, you need to center the truck over the axle. I made sure the weight of the truck was towards the passenger side and the truck leaned that way a bit when i put the weight on the suspension (keeping jack stands hovering under the frame for safety reasons!!!). I then used a come-a-long to pull the frame so it centered above the axle (I used the old plum bob attached to the top center of the wheel opening on the fender). After that was all centered, I adjusted the track bar to the right lengeth and bolted it up, removed the come-a-long and it was all good. Now you need to make your brake lines up, which if at this point you can't figure it out, this is too big of a job.....

Now for the steering, I looked at several options. First, I went this route from the tech articles here (https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...1995_F150.html) with the F-350 linkage. It worked for a while, but I ended up bending the 78/92 combo steering linkage and finally went with my own linkage of 1.25" o.d. Chromoly tube with Rod End Supply XM series 3/4" joints at all ends. You will need a drop pitman arm for your year truck when you make your linkage, just to get all of the geometry right.

For the rear, I have a 2" and 4" add-a-leaf kit (I had the short 2" kit prior to the SAS, and was given the long leaf 4" kit). My guess is that a 4" or 6" spring kit (depending on the front coils you use) will work. My truck, with both add-a-leaf kits, is a bit stiff, but the truck sits leval and rides nice.

I have no problem clearing 36's with no fender trimming, and actually fit my 38.5"x 11" boggers with no rubbing or trimming issues! Granted, I wouldn't go out and climb rocks with the 38.5's but I run the mud with them. Oh, about at steering stabilizer, I don't run one as the truck rund and tracks down the road fine with NO BUMP STEER. I do have a dual stabilizer kit, but haven't needed to put it on, so your call on that. Here's a set of pics that shows the front axle from VahWho that was taken at a mud bog earlier this year:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=27830

Long post, but a lot of info... If you have any questions, just ask!

 

Oh, and the pics of my truck are with 33's on it.....

 

Holy Smokes!

Way to answer the question and then some! Thats what I call going beyond the call of duty! Thanks for the information, it was way more than I expected, but will be an extremely valuable resource when this gets underway soon.

I now have a very good idea for how I am going to tackle the crossmember issue, now I have to start wearing my dad down to go halfsies on a wire feed welder of some sort...

Once again, thanks for going way beyond the scope of my original question with a ton of very useful answers to questions I probably would have had to ask later!

 

Not a problem. Like I said before, now that I look at it, I really didn't need to add the additional bracing, Now if I were to add a monster big block with some serious HP, then it would have been worth the addtional bracing. As long as you don't get rediculous with the trimming, you should be fine with the cut down crossmember likt it is.

Goo luck!!