The Dana 50 TTB and getting it under my E350 van.

[dingus]

Also, sent an email to Clydesdale about making the ABS work; they happily replied with instructions for how they do it along with the air gap measurement (1/16"). I'll transcribe it over the next couple days, but I was on the right track with machining a hole in the knuckle for the sensor.
I'll be sending him a little thank you in the mail.


Sent via flux capacitor

Yes there very helpful guys at Clydesdale 4x4 there gona send me new Clydesdale 4x4 decals once I get mine repainted to any colour I want im not sure I want decals on it tho it has a Clydesdale decal serial number in the drivers door pillar so I might just be happy with that. they always answer any questions I have to.
Driving there TTB van its just like a 2 wheel drive van as far as handling on the pavement which is where I drive 98 % of the time.

By the way there selling there older E 350 turbo 7.3 PSD company van (on Kijji B.C Canada buy and sell site ) that's a van thats had a ton of stuff done to it with extra batterys in the back and there 4x4 conversion up here in B.C for $32 K Canadian funds which is like 22 K USD for one of there PSD vans would be a good deal for someone in the USA with our Crappy Canadian Dollar that drops more every day . its got there company wrap on it but I think they peel off easy.

 

[350outrage]

I can understand being elusive and not sharing trade secrets and the majority of people will go to Agile to have this done. The 5 or so people
he could help doing a DIY could help save someones life if they did it incorrectly. To me this is a time
he could showcase his expertise and gain customers .

I just have to chime in here: Before I delivered my van to Chris at UJOINT for a full turnkey 4wd conversion, I called and emailed Ramsey for a quote; no response to either. That made the decision for me as to where my money was going. My story on Chris's prompt answers to my inquiries is so ubiquitous as to be boring, so I won't repeat it here. Chris helps everyone he can; there is no "secret sauce". Everyone knows exactly What a UJ conversion is, and that if you decide to do one or even something similar, Chris will try to help you. My point is, this level of sharing and customer service certainly hasn't hurt UJ's business. Quite the opposite. Someone may need to rethink their approach. Sorry for the rant, But this cagey game of "submarine" that Ramsey is playing with the poor OP is just annoying the h*ll out of me.

 

[350outrage]

That business model seems to be working well for ujoint.
Show people exactly how to do it so the ones bringing you the a full conversion understand what goes into it, and sell the conversion parts and jigs to the DIY'ers.
If you really have something to protect you would have patents on the jigs and conversion parts.

Oh wait maybe I shouldn't be sharing this with you.

Well, guess, I didn't need to post; brian94ht had it covered. Best of luck to you on your project Philos!

 

[philos]

Hehe, it's all good.
Really, it's all good in my book. Ramsey isn't under any obligation to do anything, and he's already given up more than he feels comfy with so I'm not going to pressure him.
I will say that it was a big weight off my shoulders to get confirmation on the approach I'm taking.




Sent via flux capacitor

 

[350outrage]

Hehe, it's all good.
Really, it's all good in my book. Ramsey isn't under any obligation to do anything, and he's already given up more than he feels comfy with so I'm not going to pressure him.
I will say that it was a big weight off my shoulders to get confirmation on the approach I'm taking.


Sent via flux capacitor

You have a great attitude, and serve you well it will!

 

[philos]

From Brady at Clydesdale/Sportsman4x4:
"My best advice and what we have done is find an abs sensor the same as yours and cut the back of it off flush. That way you can get the positioning of the sensor correct in the steering knuckle before you have to drill a hole through it. Test fit it all before you put the brake rotor on the hub. It's fairly easy. The hardest part is machining the hub to accept the abs ring. Sometimes we have to machine the hub down and then build a spacer ring that gets heated with the torch and then dropped on. The abs ring is to large to fit the hub, therefore the spacer needs to be built. We usually mount the abs sensor on the front side of the knuckle, away from the brake caliper."

So this ^^^ along with a 1/16th" air gap between the sensor and tone ring should have this particular issue solved.... WOOT!!!

 

[philos]

You have a great attitude, and serve you well it will!

Probably because my folks are Okies... generally nice people.

 

[bcaine]

Thanks for posting in on those pics of the Hawaii Rigs.

It appears to me that those radius arms are the same as those used on the dana44 ttb? Those arms appear to have the integrated spring buckets. Can anyone with a better eye and more knowledge verify.

Follow up: IF those are 44 arms is the axle used on these vans also a 44 or can those (44) arms be elongated and used as a foundation to be used with the 50? Having the coil buckets would already done would be nice, but this looks completely unlike the agile spring mount and it just seems to be too good that the 44 buckets/arms would place the springs right where they needed to be for a 50 axle on an e250+ van.

 

[justcuz]

The factory arms do not have integrated spring buckets. The factory coil spring buckets are a seperate piece that uses the upper radius arm through bolt. The van frame is wider I believe, that's why the springs are further out toward the knuckle end of the beam.
It would be fairly easy to build a spring bucket that would weld to a modified D44 radius arm, or the top of the beam.
Also remember that D44 beams are different than D50 beams. I know for sure the drivers side beam on a D50 is shorter than a D44.
The van in Hawaii appears to have D44 beams.

 

[philos]

I was thinking they looked like arms from a Bronco...
The 44 axle lengths are actually longer in the 44 than they are in the 50, as well as being closer to equal length. <<< That's second-hand info from the interwebs, so I've not vetted that bit to confirm.
Still, it wouldn't be that much more work I'm thinking if one wanted the D44. Pretty sure that's the axle Clydesdale used/uses is the D44HD...

There's a few threads around the web with folks mixing parts between the D50/D44

 

[Pinnacle Campers]

No problem getting these pics. I do wish I would have paid more attention to it now....it was hard to focus then....to many fun things to do nearby.
I'm following along, and would like to see a "no head scratching" conversion kit available. Obviously this would require someone to make some brackets similar to those shown in the pics. Maybe Clydesdale wants to start catering to a DIY market? Did you happen to ask if they would sell you some parts philos?
IF I convert another Ford van it will likely be a TTB as I feel it suits my needs better based on my desire for a lower ride height at a better ride quality/more compliance.

I do have one other pic, isn't that diff stamped "50"?

 

[Pinnacle Campers]

They don't look the same as the ones on the Clydesdale but I wonder if the OEM van radius arms and bracket locations would work/or with little modification...
They are cheap, plentiful, and already on the van.

 

[philos]

Pretty sure the radius arms on the van could be modified to work. I'm planning on extended radius arms, so I'll only be using the ends of my stock radius arms. Pretty sure I'll be able to make the factory radius arm brackets work - find out when I get there!

I did not ask Clydesdale about pivot brackets for the axles... not a bad idea though, maybe after I send him a little thank you for what he's provided so far.

 

[BajaSportsmobile]

Makes it sound simple.

From Brady at Clydesdale/Sportsman4x4:
"My best advice and what we have done is find an abs sensor the same as yours and cut the back of it off flush. That way you can get the positioning of the sensor correct in the steering knuckle before you have to drill a hole through it. Test fit it all before you put the brake rotor on the hub. It's fairly easy. The hardest part is machining the hub to accept the abs ring. Sometimes we have to machine the hub down and then build a spacer ring that gets heated with the torch and then dropped on. The abs ring is to large to fit the hub, therefore the spacer needs to be built. We usually mount the abs sensor on the front side of the knuckle, away from the brake caliper."

So this ^^^ along with a 1/16th" air gap between the sensor and tone ring should have this particular issue solved.... WOOT!!!

 

[BajaSportsmobile]

Half right... almost.

One side on a D44 is longer and the other is shorter. D44 TTB's are 5 lug only and 1/2 ton.

D44HD's are 8 lug, but have small wheel bearings, ball joints, spindles,u-joints, brakes... I wouldn't use one.

D50's are closer to equal length.

I look forward to seeing one of these Homebrew TTB conversions completed.

I was thinking they looked like arms from a Bronco...
The 44 axle lengths are actually longer in the 44 than they are in the 50, as well as being closer to equal length. <<< That's second-hand info from the interwebs, so I've not vetted that bit to confirm.
Still, it wouldn't be that much more work I'm thinking if one wanted the D44. Pretty sure that's the axle Clydesdale used/uses is the D44HD...

There's a few threads around the web with folks mixing parts between the D50/D44