[rockhound]

So I sold my last rig and bought a 98 rango and although at one time I purchased an '01 dakota crew cab off the showroom floor, I would say I am a noob to the IFS wheeling world.

I have driven and built several very nice rigs for myself and others in the past 15 years. here are a few of my own rigs: http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii46/TWINSUMMITS/PAST RIGS/

I have owned my rango for about a week. I had money left over from the sale of my '98 xj and I live on and commute over some of the most dangerous roads in Colorado so I am not waiting to make this rig more capable.

The parts started arriving yesterday so this weekend i will start the first part of the durango's build up. Wish me luck.
I normally do everything from the rocker skids to the suspension and gears myself so I am not used to bolt on projects, but seeing as this rig will not see tremendously hard core wheeling for a few years I am keeping the IFS for now. The rig will see duty as a weekend wheeler and back country explorer to get the family into remote fishing spots and of course run the likes of chinaman's gulch, spring creek, etc. The days of hardcore will be done for a while as this rig is meant to be a DD and keep the miles off my '05 ram dually, and I may stand corrected, but I don't believe the ifs would keep up with my last few rigs. Some of you may argue, but I have not wheeled her yet to know for myself.

parts ordered to be installed this first round of building:

tuff country 5.5" lift
4.56 gears from national drivetrain
powertrax lock right for rear traction
315x57x16 procomp all terrains (35-12.50-16), settled for ride quality and I got a hell of a deal.
new front door from a clunker trade in, chili pepper red to match ( mine had been broken into at one time. Can't really tell from 20 feet, but I want her to look decent also)
sending Dwight my throttle body
new set or rocker skids, i still need to head off to K&K for the steel.

I will post before and after pics when she rolls out of the shop

the second round will include bumpers, f & r and a new smitty built 10K with air compressor, cat back, a real air intake to replace my current shadetree fab, hypertech programmer,

 

[oreoacid]

sounds like fun
you've got a lot of work to do.
haha

 

[boostwhipped24]

So i have a question, i just ordered my body lift, and the instructions say that 4wd requires welding. Is this true

 

[Jarheadoo7]

it might.. but i hear a lot of peopel dont mind the lower shift knob..

 

[boostwhipped24]

So thats all it will do is, just make the 4wd know sit lower, but i will wtill have 4wd and everything

 

[rockhound]

a body lift will of course stretch everything. i ma sure that they are perfectly fine for most applications, i may even do a one inch or so on my rango after i finish the suspension lift.

they will cause clearance issues at every turn but should not affect the way the tcase operates. i am sure that the body lift manufacturer has instructions on what you need to watch out for and has included relocation brackets if necessary.

 

[KotaKid287]

:gotpix2::waiting:

 

[Cbrown]

not that its the same but i never welded in the extention on my 5 spd and i wish i did becsause the boot gets all screwed up and doesnt allow me to shift. i have tried to straight the shifter by heating the bend but i seem SOL i am looking for a new shifter and going to weld in the piece

 

[rockhound]

so the parts started coming off this weeked.

the front end is pretty much back completely torn down. Since i just bought this thing I wanted to go through and fix anything I found. Brakes and a passenger side axle seal have been added to the list.

The front gearing has been swapped out to 4.56 and the rig is ready to put back together. tomorrow I will start the front end portion of the lift. If I can source the axle seal on a Sunday I should have the front end reay top roll by tomorrow evening.

I will post photos of the progress so so far tomorrow evening. I don't know how some guys get photos of their gear pattern, but my camera would not take a decent photo. They look good, so after I get the diff back in the truck I can torque the crush sleeve and it will be good to go. The sleeve takes way too much torque while it is on the ground, no way to keep the diff still to put 170-500 ft lbs on her.

 

[RT 4X4]

Man,with the money you spent on that lift and them gears for the bomb of a front diff.you could have went with a straight axle the first time around.for around $500 you could of had a d44,coil springs,the material to fab up some linkage and the ends and outs to put it together.you can definitely look forward to that front diff exploding then you cant use them gears.so there went that.anyway man,im not trying to bust your balls but damn.:huh:

 

[rockhound]

yeah i thought hard about it. it would not have been the first axle swap i have done by a long shot, but to be honest i just wasn't in the mood to build anything right now. the bolt on and drive set up looked appealing. maybe i am just getting old.

 

[KotaKid287]

You will not be able to get a D44 that will fit right in with 4.56s already installed, all the control or the radius arms, good brakes, wheel bearings, hubs, seals, ball joints and u-joints already installed for $500. And also the front diffs are not as easy to grenade as some make it sound, by no means are they a D60 but still. I beat the snot out of my D35 and 8.25 with 4.56s and 33-35" tires for 3yrs and never had so much as a hiccup from either of the so called scrap pile axles.

 

[rockhound]

added link to new photos

i thought that with the way the front case is cradled in the rig that a lot of the torque that would normally affect it would be eliminated by the installation.

for a rig that will see 90% road and a few nice trails every year i think that i will be fine for a while.

i know i gave up a lot of trail prowess in this purchase, but what the heck.

so the rig has new front gears and the bulk of the lift is on. I am swapping new ball joints and continuing on the lift tonight.

i am not sure about the cost being less or more,

decent used case $250 - 400 in my area
new gears and install kit $300 min. a wash in this case
dom tubing $200
good springs $250-300
metal to fabricate spring perches or kit to weld on $250
new steering set up $200 to build or who knows how much to buy one
camber shims for d44 $78 everyone I have ever swapped needed them
new custom length drive shaft $395 from rocky mountain driveline
frame side spring perches $100 minimum even if fabricated

$1300 for lift kit or $1773 for a new SAS not to mention the additional 40 hours of fabricating and installation

photos here:
http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii46/TWINSUMMITS/98

 

[RT 4X4]

The prices you have for the metal to make the leaf perches and dom tubing for the linkage is just crazy talk.i buy metal from the steel yard all the time and i know its not going to cost you $250 to make some damn leaf spring perches.and $200 for dom tubing to make links,i think not.you can get a stick of dom.they come 22ft long for around $45 and to make leaf spring perches you can get some 1/4 flat stock for about the same,22ft also.you can find d44 for around $100 bucks.gear and instal kit$175-200.you dont have to rebuild them before you put it in,if there in good working condition then there good to go.good used coil springs $50.alot of the time you will find d44's that have come out of bronco's and they already have coil springs already on them and the linkage too.so that dont cost you extra if you go that route cus its already there.use whats there and just fab it up to where you have enough lift for your 35's.the front drive shaft you can get at a junk yard for around $20 or ask the person that you got the d44 from if they have one $5,$10,free?so take it to a drive shaft shop with the original drive shaft from the rango and tell the you want them to cut the end off where it hooks to your case and weld it to the other one.welded and balanced$75 .the steering.with your 35's and if you use coil springs,then you dont need another steering set up.just hook up your steering rod from you d44 to your steering box.you might have to exstend it. anyway,i know there is small in's&out's but you can put a striaght axle under something for around $500,mabey less if you know people and if your a dumb ass and you dont know what your doing then you'll never get it done for that much.

 

[rockhound]

i don't know what type of steel yards you have where you are. it is not worth aguing about. pricing is different here. the last time we bought DOM it was $4 per foot wholesale. i have built several long arms kits. i have a wholesale account at a very reputable steel supplier here in town and they have a minimum $200 purchase, period. the scrap yard where we used to buy small amounts of DOM tubing no longer sells to the public, the other good scrap yard we have here in denver very rarely has any dom and is over 110 mile round trip from my house.

the pricing i gave is a good solid estimate of what it cost in my neck of woods. and i didn't even consider the cost of the heims and bushings.

take a pill, yelling at me about what you can build a rig for is just dumb

 

[RT 4X4]

Im not yelling by far:jester:im just saying what you could of have done,then some one said it coulden't be done for around $500 so i gave the run down.thats all.

 

[KotaKid287]

I guess I'm a dumbass then, or I'm just over building my truck one or the other, cause my SAS has costed me MUCH more then $500 in parts only, no labor cause I've been doing it myself with help only when I needed it from a good freind who is a better fabricator then I am. I've got $2500-3000 into it now, and still lack roughly $750-1000 from being done the way I want it. I only paid $150 for both my D44HP and 9" rear with all the stock steering and suspension links still attached to them.

 

[rockhound]

lift is done,

waiting on the powertrax for the rear and the wheels to show up and she will be ready to roll out of the shop.

i will post new pics tonight and hopefully have the final, at least for now, pics ready by the end of the week,

 

[rockhound]

new pics
http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/...=slideshow&track=share_email_album_view_click

 

[rockhound]

out of the shop and back on the road, with pics

http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/...=slideshow&track=share_email_album_view_click

the rig is out of the shop for now and back on the road.

lift completed, 4.56 gears completed, snag with locker install, will have to do some research. 315/75/16 procomp ATs, air intake in place, modified throttle body thanks to dwight.

replaced the doors where the previous owner had a break in.

5.5 inch tuff country lift netted 9 inches of clearance over the stock suspension.