88 Z71 SAS

DirtyD803

DirtyD803

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 26, 2007
Well I figure I would post this on here since I know I will need some feed back during this.

But this is what I am starting off with. a 1988 Z71 with a 3" BL and 35's.

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And well.. I just ordered my front hanger and rear leafs hangers, 4" Tuff country leafs for the front, and also ordered the ORD 4" shackle flip for the rear, might be ordering the rear leafs with weekin also. depending on how my account looks after I pick up my front and rear axle. My plan is 44/SF14 and 37" Iroks.
 
Well I picked up my front axle this weeking, didn't get a chance to pick up my rear axle because one of my back tires blew out. Also added two "new" doors to the old truck, and did a lil work on the inside.



Before
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After
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cool thanks, my front axle is from a ford, still don't know if i want to convert it to a 6 lug or 8 lug (depending on what rear axle i go with) I am running a ORD front and rear hangers. ( http://www.offroaddirect.com/ ) with 4" Tuff Country leafs, for the rear, Its going to be the ORD ( http://www.offroaddesign.com ) Shackle flip with 3" Tuff country leafs, and a set of Ford shock towers.
 
How much lift do you gain with the ORD brackets in the front? I used SKy Mfg and gained 6 inches. I used 2 inch springs in the front for a total of 8 inches. I did a shackle flip in the rear and 2 inch block which made it level. Is your front axle 5 lug or 8 lug now?
 
^ Change that d44 to 8-lug and get you a 14-boltFF for the rear, then call it a day. That way if you ever wanna go bigger you already have a reliable rear axle!

Nice Project BTW!! I like the OffRoadDirect.com products. They have been working with a company out of Texas designing a bolt on solid axle kit for the s-10s. They just released the leaf spring style, and from what I have been told they are working on a link suspension as well.
 
redneck-up said:
ORD brackets will give me 3". and right now my 44 is 5 lug
Click to expand...

So you should have roughly 7 inches in the front? My 37s rubbed slightly on the lower valance on the bumper so I took it off. I see yours is gone already so you should be good to go. Are you planning on wheeling the truck? If so, lose the body lift and trim the front fenders slightly and you'll have a lower center of gravity and it will look a lot better.

96superflow said:
^ Change that d44 to 8-lug and get you a 14-boltFF for the rear, then call it a day. That way if you ever wanna go bigger you already have a reliable rear axle!
Click to expand...

X2. Don't even consider spending the money to swap it to 6 lug when you can spend roughly the same and swap it to 8 lug. I know the rear will cost you more but it will be well worth it in the long run.
 
SolarYellow05 said:
So you should have roughly 7 inches in the front? My 37s rubbed slightly on the lower valance on the bumper so I took it off. I see yours is gone already so you should be good to go. Are you planning on wheeling the truck? If so, lose the body lift and trim the front fenders slightly and you'll have a lower center of gravity and it will look a lot better.
X2. Don't even consider spending the money to swap it to 6 lug when you can spend roughly the same and swap it to 8 lug. I know the rear will cost you more but it will be well worth it in the long run.
Click to expand...

yea x3 on going with a rear 14 bolt full floater and 8 lug front . . . or Just swap in Rockdubs and Never look back :driver::lol:


In all seriousness though I would leave the body lift on simply due to the fact that it makes it sooo much easier to work on the drivetrain under the truck or get to the backside of the engine if you ever need to. Besides if your taking off a body lift in an effort to trying to actually wheel the truck thats the least of your worries . . . dana 44's won't hold up to much at all, especially not the weight of a fullsize truck trying to wheel, not trying to talk junk, just a heads up.
 
i would like to swap in a FF 14 bolt, but i have yet found one around here, I found two SF 8 lugs at a junk yard. I have also been playing around with the idea of takin the BL off, but we will see how it all feels after the install.
 
Ricky B said:
dana 44's won't hold up to much at all, especially not the weight of a fullsize truck trying to wheel, not trying to talk junk, just a heads up.
Click to expand...

Not to worried about this, I don't wheel like yall do, lol, This truck will see mostly mud and maybe some trails plus there are no mods to my old stock 88 350. i am lucky if i can get over 85mph with it. lol
 
I personally would leave the body lift. Mine has made it so much easer to work on the drive line. Also freed up some room for my f-250 shock towers!
 
well my camlock 4 point harness just came in the mail, along with my Tie-rod
ai789.photobucket.com_albums_yy177_DsZR2_88_20Z71_P1000804.jpg


ai789.photobucket.com_albums_yy177_DsZR2_88_20Z71_P1000805.jpg


and well my son wanted to take a pic with it so here it is.
ai789.photobucket.com_albums_yy177_DsZR2_88_20Z71_P1000806.jpg
 
Well I replaced my doors with doors from a Chevy 3500, since they had them big mirrors, well they only had the brackets for them, so i removed them, and patched the holes.
This was my first time doing body works..

Drive side (still needs to be sanded)
ai789.photobucket.com_albums_yy177_DsZR2_88_20Z71_028.jpg


Pass side, sanded and started priming, ran out of primmer.
ai789.photobucket.com_albums_yy177_DsZR2_88_20Z71_029.jpg
 
There ya go! All you needed was a little time to find the right rear. Now just get your outters on that 44 and you will be good to go!
 
i got it for a good price too. $150 I found outters for the D44 and the guy wants $250 for all the outters.
 
I am SSSOOO glad i started to tear down that dana 44 i got, i just pulled the axle shafts for tha pass side, and the inner shafts are rusted, there is rust and looks like dry clay or mud in the axle tube. doesnt look like there was a outter seal... i will try to get pics.
 
after two days I got my D44 tore down for the most part...

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Here is the pass side axle shaft

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And here is the drive side axle shaft next to the pass side one.

ai789.photobucket.com_albums_yy177_DsZR2_88_20Z71_100_0623.jpg



GOODBYE 5 LUGS
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