View single post by 410customs

Posted: Wed Nov 11th, 2020 09:48 am

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410customs
Idahome

Joined: Wed May 2nd, 2018

Location: Panhandle, Idaho USA

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front d shaft is sorted out, Cardan joint ball and U joints will be here today so I can build a complete all new shaft

rear axle is almost finished

Plan is to finish, test and deliver this truck this weekend............ crunch time! If all goes well.................... I don't see a problem :)

So the front driveshaft that fits this truck is a first gen Ranger or Explorer shaft with the cardan joint centering yoke swapped out to one from a 97 F150 (you can also buy the centering yoke new, I just happened to have one in house) We are pretty excited about this, since this truck has a 4406 and a superlift, finding a junk yard solution is AWESOME
So first gen driveshaft with centering yoke removed and swapped to 97 F150 style centering yoke, this gives us the cardan joint at the t case, and the flange needed to bolt to the 4406

Oreillys carries the new Spicer "U joint ball kit" as they call it, basically a new center bearing/ball for the cardan joint and of course 3 new spicer U joints.
Mock up shots:

Now turning attention to the rear axle install

Some notes, Ranger spring perches are 38.5" apart centering pin to centering pin
Stock Ranger pinion angle is 6-8 degrees (call it 7)

When dealing with a 2 u joint rear driveshaft we need the transmission output shaft and the rear axle pinion to be parallel at RIDE HEIGHT

first up need to prep the new spring perches and shock mounts for welding, some time with a grinder and they are ready

Now to mock up the axle, one man crew here so have to get creative to get the axle up that high

with it up high on the big jack stands it was easy to get it on the trans jack so I could raise it into position.

Now to place it under the leaf springs, install the blocks and hang the axle by the U bolts so it can be centered, pinion angle set and finally spring perches measured and shock mounts tack welded in place

Then axle is lowered, cleaned up (bare metal) and then final welded...

All new U bolts (3.25" wide, 12.5" long) were bent up in town