ok so i found that my local junkyard will sell me a dana 44 front end for $300ish..(all the other local junkyards either dint have any or they wanted at least $850) and 50-75 is to pull one off if he doesnt already have one off...but ill do that myself...anyways i was wondering before i get too carried away with this what parts am i gonna need from the donor truck to get this done...i know some guys have run the bill to over $5k but basically i want to slap the axle on and get er aligned and be done so is there any ways to do it totally from the junkyard...if i need to fab up some things that will be fine

my main concern is the coil spring buckets...can i use the ones currently on my truck or do i need the ones off the donor...that and radius arms

and if anyone with experience in this could chime in to how long it took them and what they had to do that would be appreciated

thank you

 

I am looking into this my self and what I was told is you can use your current coil buckets and rad arms. The big thing will be getting the Trac bar from donor truck and mounting it onto your truck. As far as brakes and things from there, I don't really know.

 

ya i know steering is a big issue i been reading up on it alot and ive seen that some of the steering off other trucks seems to work ... and i think as far as brakes go i think i can just swap em straight over same with hubs...but im not 100 percent thats why i posted

if your lookin into SAS too heres a link to a really good site its been a big help to me but i dont have lots of time to read through the whole damn thing

Solid Axle Swaps - FSB Forums

 

Yea, i am not sure on the brakes, I would think they would switch right over. and steering I have not heard a whole lot of people saying it was a big issue. I think that it would switch to more like my dads dodge with a drag link coming into one long full length tie rod. Not sure though. Most guys tell me it is as easy or easier than lifting the TTB suspention is.

 

I did the SAS on my 94 F150 reg. cab long bed. and its simpler then most think in my opinoin. I took awhile to get all the bugs worked out like ball joints and such but i should have done that stuff befor putting it in the truck. I used the front axle out of a 79 bronco, also used the radius arm brackets off of it, and shortened the track arm bar. I used the lift springs for the 79 bronco/F150, they mount the same at the coils do on ur truck now with the J-hook. I found my own place to mount the track bar before i shortened it and then mounted it. the key to that is making sure it is centered! Also with ur radious arm brackets I had to square up the front end and mounted the brackets to the arms and drilled holes. After a weekend of working on it and patients it turned out great.I got the death wobble till I switched over to a drag link set up for the F-350's the same year as my truck. The tie rod ends never really tighten up in the knucles and beat the F*** out of you and the rig if u try to do much besides move it around the drive way, and I didnt get the wobble till after a few weeks.

 

ya thats what im goin to do with the drag link and tie rod setup but i gotta get a drop pitman cause im going to lift it 6" at the same time...what was the cost for you as your build seems to be pretty close to what i want to do

 

well .... if I remember correctly i think the only thing i replaced befor installing was brake pads and calipers and i think i might have spent $25 on that. I wish at that point I would have change the wheel bearings also cause about 2 or 3 weeks later maybe 200 miles I had the right front go out when i was going about 60mph( scared the F*** out of me) at that point I had to replace the spindle also at another $65.(and another $60 for the lock outs casue yeah it got destroyed also) Since I regeared it and stuff also at that time to match the rear( wish I would have done before it went in.) I ordered a rebuild kit from broncograveyard.com and I wanna say that was just under $300. I'll be glad to help out with any more questions if I can.

 

so you spend like $300 on this...everything ive read say at least 2k...the axle i want is $300ish...what parts did you grab off the donor truck is the main thing im lookin for...i might hold off on the lift till i get bigger tires though

thanks for your help

 

well that was just stuff I put on the axle, but I used the coils and the radius arm brackets and the pan hard rod. I ended up only spending about 100 on the axle after selling other parts off of it. If you would like I can try to get u some pics of the finished project.

 

sure man that would be cool...if everything goes good i should be gettin the axle within a month

 

but of cource everything is NOT going good now my trans. is acting up with any luck it will be simple but since i said that it will most like cost me 10 of millions of dollas to fix

 

Sorry its taken me so long to reply but at work they decided to start blocking crap on the computers but I found a loop hole. I will get you some pics hopefully in the next few days. PS good lucky with your tranny.

 

yeah just the slave and the shift fork im gettin the forks tonight i will have the truck by tomorow after work then i gotta pay for it....THEN...FINALLY SAS! dunn dunn dunnnn

 

Well if your D44 is a solid axle you will need to do some grinding on the underneath, but if you are going with the 2 pieces or whatever is called it should be a bolt on... just bleed your breaks before you drive off

 

yeah the truck already has a dana 44 but its the TTB (twin traction beam) version so i wanna swap in a solid...i am pretty well set with procedure i just need to collect parts and find the time to do it