mccustomize
Explorer
Here's a few photos of my swap so far, I still have a lot to go with the truck as a whole but I am on the down hill slope.
Chevy unit bearing hubs bolt directly to Dodge Dana 44 knuckles and stub shafts. With GMT 400 brake rotors you retain your ABS and retain the six lug pattern. I am by no means building a "rock crawler" simply a tougher backwoods rig and mild trail truck. So I stuck to 1/2 ton axles.
Frame stripped of everything GM. Ready for some custom brackets.
Axle located at full compression, clears everything, centered, and moved 2.5 inches forward of factory centerline.
there is a hump in the factory frame on the passenger side that was almost perfectly centered to clear the drag link at full compression.
since I was keeping it around 4-6 inches of lift I punched the stock ball joint out of the pitman arm and welded a sleeve inside it to run a rod end.
Everything mocked up at droop, ready for final welding.
Engine hoop has to be three pieces to snake it in tight.
Measuring for limit straps and clearances. Works like a dream and drives excellent.
I still need to re-gear my front diff 4.56 to match the rear. I also need to tune it to correct the tire and gear ratios and change a few parameters. the rear will be getting a deaver mini pak and air bumps as well to compliment the front. I am going to bring the front down about 3/4" and remove the body lift as well once I swap to hydroboost brakes to clear the shock towers. I have an ENGO 10k winch with synthetic line that will be mounted up front, 2 thomas compressors and 3 gallon tank for onboard air, fullsize spare and of course tools and storage to still finish.
The bushwacker flares are cracking and falling apart so I bought Fiberwerx glass front fenders and will be ordering the bedsides to match. Last piece of the puzzle will be new seat covers and headliner along with a little more audio and new aluminum wheels to replace the steel wheels.
Chevy unit bearing hubs bolt directly to Dodge Dana 44 knuckles and stub shafts. With GMT 400 brake rotors you retain your ABS and retain the six lug pattern. I am by no means building a "rock crawler" simply a tougher backwoods rig and mild trail truck. So I stuck to 1/2 ton axles.
Frame stripped of everything GM. Ready for some custom brackets.
Axle located at full compression, clears everything, centered, and moved 2.5 inches forward of factory centerline.
there is a hump in the factory frame on the passenger side that was almost perfectly centered to clear the drag link at full compression.
since I was keeping it around 4-6 inches of lift I punched the stock ball joint out of the pitman arm and welded a sleeve inside it to run a rod end.
Everything mocked up at droop, ready for final welding.
Engine hoop has to be three pieces to snake it in tight.
Measuring for limit straps and clearances. Works like a dream and drives excellent.
I still need to re-gear my front diff 4.56 to match the rear. I also need to tune it to correct the tire and gear ratios and change a few parameters. the rear will be getting a deaver mini pak and air bumps as well to compliment the front. I am going to bring the front down about 3/4" and remove the body lift as well once I swap to hydroboost brakes to clear the shock towers. I have an ENGO 10k winch with synthetic line that will be mounted up front, 2 thomas compressors and 3 gallon tank for onboard air, fullsize spare and of course tools and storage to still finish.
The bushwacker flares are cracking and falling apart so I bought Fiberwerx glass front fenders and will be ordering the bedsides to match. Last piece of the puzzle will be new seat covers and headliner along with a little more audio and new aluminum wheels to replace the steel wheels.
