Dana 44 and 3 link install

Since the AZ wheeling season is finally upon us, I decided it was time to put my new truck in the shop for a little tweaking to better handle the trails around here. A little about what I started with:

Specs: 5 speed, manual tcase, 5.13's, discs and no slip in rear, 37 MTR's(street) and 36 TSL's(rocks).

The goal for this project was to build something that was able to drive to the hardest trails in AZ, run them successfully, and then drive home. It must also be able to be driven everyday as this is my main source of transportation. All decisions were made with a bias towards trail performance, instead of street comfort.

Build Specs:

Dana 44 - Left over from my last project.
- Warn shafts, CTM's, Detroit, 5.13's, Hi-steer setup, etc.
King Coilovers - 14" travel, 2" body
King Airbumps - 4" travel
Custom 3 link w/ panhard rod

All fabrication work is being performed by 4 Wheelers Supply here in Phoenix.

Work started Monday. Progress as of lunch today.

Old front end has been stripped out, frame rail have been ground smooth in preperation for reinforcement plating, axle location has been determined, ride height is set. Items in the engine compartment have been relocated in preperation for the shock hoops and the crossbar that will connect them across the engine bay(next two pics).

I hope to stop in again at the shop Tues or Wed next week (it is a 45 drive away) and have better progress pics of the actual layout of the links, as well as the hoops for the coilovers.

Estimated completion date is sometime the first week of December.

 

[Randall]

Sweet Jesus that looks nice

 

[Michael]

I drove past 4wheelers twice today and looked for the truck, it must have it's own stall there that I couldn't see.

It is in their fab shop which is the building to the far left as you turn into the parking lot. Good luck with your recovery from the dirt bike incident. I'll ride street bikes, but you couldn't pay me to get on a dirt bike.

 

[Michael]

Sweet Jesus that looks nice

And when are we going to see a Dana 60 install?

 

[93liftedXLT]

I have a Question, and comment

Are these helm joint's chrome-oly or zinc caduim coated or teflon coated?

And what size are they? You might want to weld completely around them,

 

[dreamr]

And what size are they? You might want to weld completely around them,

I believe they were just tacked in place to mock the suspension up.........

 

[j602]

And what size are they? You might want to weld completely around them,

He said himself the suspension components are mocked up, meaning most of them are just tacked in place.

 

[Chew_12]

Im curious why you went to 4wheelparts. The truck is going to be sweet. I hope I see it around. Oh yea and how much is this costing you

 

[rino351]

looks great so far!!

 

[93liftedXLT]

Sorry im not in the welding lingo yet.

 

[IZwack]

Sorry im not in the welding lingo yet.

u bes git with the program and start practicing - cauz its more of an art. and practice welding upside down - half of ur runs will be in that position

about your trac bars - interesting how you used heims all aroud cauz i have heard that heims all around makes the ride just a hair on the hard side. some ppl suggest a non "solid" link somewhere that has a little bit of damping (usually at the chassis mount). but i am interested in how it turns out. so this is my subscription it looks marvelous btw.. those heims look very delish

 

[Trckmagik]

Looks great Micheal.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

That looks so Bad ass thats better then any SAS I would have done on it. Mine would have looked like junk compared to that... WOW

 

[rookieshooter]

Are those tubes threaded full length for the heim ends? Some people leave the jamb nut free to turn so you can lock it down to length. Maybe there will be another nut that is free to turn up against the one that is tacked or mocked up.

 

[410Fortune]

Top notch!
What is planned for the rear? Simple spring over?

 

[Trckmagik]

I will send you some pics of RedBull when she she gets out of the Fab shop again. RedBull is back in getting a 3 link rear installed with fuel cell.

Bye Bye leaf springs

 

[Michael]

Thanks for all the compliments and observations. I'll try to answer everyones questions in turn....

93lifted - Everything is just mocked up right now to ge the length and positioning of the links finalized. Final links will be thick wall DOM tubing with the threaded bungs fully welded. The rod ends on the lower links are 1.25" chromoly. They are huge, the pics do not do justice to them.

Chew - Four Wheelers Supply, not Four Wheel Parts. Big difference.

IZwack - You are 100% right. Most people on a street driven rig would use a rubber bushing at one end of the links to absorb vibrations. However, I am not most people. The vibes will not bother me, and I was not willing to have the bind in the suspension that the bushings would cause. This was one of the points of compromise that I needed to make.

Kris - just wait til the coilovers and airbumps are in. They bring the sickness :smoke:

410 - rear is sprung over on stock leaves for now. I will eventually go with Deavers/Nationals/Alcans/something custom in the rear. I have no plans for a 3/4 link in the rear. The rig should be fairly stable as is with a bias towards front flex. The less flexy rear will force the front to work wereas a linked rear would cause instability w/o some sort of swaybar on there.

Mr. Green - very nice to hear. That was always gonna be my next step with it.

 

[IZwack]

...rod ends on the lower links are 1.25" chromoly. They are huge, the pics do not do justice to them...

the hiem body looks to be about as wide as the axle tube thats hugely huge.

 

[bmxking5]

That is some unbelievable work right there. It's obvious you picked a nice shop to do the job (I knew there was no way that was a 4 wheel parts job ). This is gonna be one sick rig once it's all done.

 

[stkexplorations]

michael, robb and the gang down there always do good work. did you happen to see the yellow jeep they are doing? next time down there ask robb to see richard's jeep. it is one very sic ride.

 

[Michael]

michael, robb and the gang down there always do good work. did you happen to see the yellow jeep they are doing? next time down there ask robb to see richard's jeep. it is one very sic ride.

Robb and I used that jeep as the launching pad for our discussions of what I wanted and what parts we would use. I have the same front end, basicly, just on a different scale.

Todays update. There have been a few delays in getting parts, but things are moving along. The shop will be closed Thurs and Fri so there will be no more progress til next week.

The front end at full stuff. There is just barely enough room for everything to fit in there. These are not the knuckles, steering arms or tie rod we will be using, but everything should fit just the same.

Another angle of the full stuff. You can see the trimming necessary on the engine crossmember to make everything fit. The crossmember will be reinforced with tubing/plate to add strength back.

Driverside coilover and airbump. This is also full stuff. There is going to be about 5.5"-6" of up travel at ride height. The 37's just barely tag the metal inner fender at full stuff and full turn, we will trim later if needed. I still have a nagging fear it is going to be too tall, but Robb assures me it will be fine.

These last two are the engine cage that will house the upper coilover mount. Obviously there will need to be some intake mods, and likely relocation of the battery.

I'll try to get another update on Tuesday next week and we should know by then if we are going to make the Friday Dec 2 deadline.