Pigeon-Rat - Opel gambler build

[CK5]

Yup. Lol. That is the "vuck". My friends van/truck combo.
At the latest event their friend unveiled the newest creation, the mini-vuck!
View attachment 515073

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Forgot to add, they use the dryer as a beer cooler.

Just don't turn the dryer on... would hate to see warm shaken beer!

 

[BoondocK5]

Just don't turn the dryer on... would hate to see warm shaken beer!

You mean it comes any other way? I’ve been lied to!

 

[ashman]

I've finally started on my eventual goal of swapping to a ford dana35 TTB front end to get more wheel travel. As Pigeonrat currently sits, it has a total of 4" of travel.

I won't know exactly how much I'll get out of the TTB setup until I get further into it, but it'll be a damn site better than 4".

I got the ttb axle all torn down today.


The first step is going to be building a crossmember jig so I can see how everything plays together. Currently, I need to find the measurements for where the beam pivots (red and yellow circles) fit in relation to each other. How far apart should they be left to right, and how much further back is the PS mount compared to the DS. If I can find those measurements, I can start mocking up a crossmember.

Any help would be appreciated. The axle comes from a 1993 Bronco II.



One dumb thing about this axle is getting the axle shafts out. In order to get the PS shaft out, you have to remove a C clip from the diff. Unfortunately, it's a 3rd member type, so the only way to get to the clip is to remove the 3rd member. BUT, in order to do that, you have to remove the DS axle so that you can remove it from that beam. BUT, with the PS axle in the 3rd member you can't pull it back far enough, so you have to remove the PS beam.

And of course, once you get all of that out of the way, pull the clip and try to slide the shaft out of the beam, you find out that the shaft won't fit through the beam unless you take the U-joints apart.



Man, I hope I never break a shaft on this thing on the trail...

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

They are a pain sometimes. There are work arounds for getting rid of c clip.

 

[Truckman4life]

I have a '95 Mazda B3000(Ford Ranger) I daily drive with that front axle. Just redid my front hubs and put Mile Marker locking hubs on it and converted the spindle nuts away from the auto hub garbage. I can get pics and measurements if you need.

 

[ashman]

I have a '95 Mazda B3000(Ford Ranger) I daily drive with that front axle. Just redid my front hubs and put Mile Marker locking hubs on it and converted the spindle nuts away from the auto hub garbage. I can get pics and measurements if you need.

That would be great! Any pics of the crossmember and measurements would be fantastic.

I also have a dana44 ttb axle, so I think I'm going to attempt a dana44 knuckle swap. I found a good page for it here:

Dana 44 Knuckle Swap On To Dana 35 - The Ranger Station

The weak link in a 1990-1997 Dana 35 TTB is the locking hub. Here's how to do a Dana 44 knuckle swap onto a Dana 35.

www.therangerstation.com

Also gotta look into cutting and turning the knuckles for as much lift as I plan.

 

[Truckman4life]

Just did some reading on this on some of the ranger forums. You should separate the rubber boot and remove the outer part of the pass shaft through the knuckle it sounds like and leave the inner u-joint and shaft with the diff when pulling the diff.

This guy did this to eliminate the clip by applying spring pressure at the slip on the pass shaft to keep the inner part of the axle pushed into the diff.

Me personally I think I would cut an access hole/large pipe plug into the front diff housing maybe to be able to access the clip with the diff installed.

 

[Truckman4life]

That would be great! Any pics of the crossmember and measurements would be fantastic.

I also have a dana44 ttb axle, so I think I'm going to attempt a dana44 knuckle swap. I found a good page for it here:

Dana 44 Knuckle Swap On To Dana 35 - The Ranger Station

The weak link in a 1990-1997 Dana 35 TTB is the locking hub. Here's how to do a Dana 44 knuckle swap onto a Dana 35.

www.therangerstation.com

Also gotta look into cutting and turning the knuckles for as much lift as I plan.

I'll see what I can do. Working doubles tonight and thurs and I gotta run up to Provo tomorrow afternoon/evening. Might can do it fri. Gotta go back up to the aquarium on Sat and more up north crap. Busy busy!

 

[Chickntrk]

My buddy runs a Dana 35 in a bronco II wheeling rig, broken axles are a biotch, although it doesn’t happen as often as I thought it would for as small as they are!

 

[Weird Beard]

I have an 84 Donkey II that has a plow on it from day one. Exploded auto hubs. Replaced with Warns. It gets flogged ever time out. Only problem I've ever had was a broken original u joint.

 

[ashman]

My buddy runs a Dana 35 in a bronco II wheeling rig, broken axles are a biotch, although it doesn’t happen as often as I thought it would for as small as they are!

Pigeonrat will never be a hardcore wheeling rig, so I'm probably going to be fine. I hope.

 

[Truckman4life]

Better just go full 4x4 prerunner and do some extended beams. I've seen guys cut and weld them and since you want Dana 44 outters it would be the perfect time to do it.

 

[ashman]

Better just go full 4x4 prerunner and do some extended beams. I've seen guys cut and weld them and since you want Dana 44 outters it would be the perfect time to do it.

I could just use the dana44 ttb axle I have here if I wanted it extended, since it is full size truck width. The thing is, I'm trying to keep pigeonrat small-ish. The plan is to try and get as much travel as I can without getting too much wider. At least that's the thought for now. I might try hanging the dana44 beams under it just to see what it looks like though.

 

[kennyw]

I could just use the dana44 ttb axle I have here if I wanted it extended, since it is full size truck width. The thing is, I'm trying to keep pigeonrat small-ish. The plan is to try and get as much travel as I can without getting too much wider. At least that's the thought for now. I might try hanging the dana44 beams under it just to see what it looks like though.

You can always offset the wheels deeper to tuck them in more later.

 

[Truckman4life]

I could just use the dana44 ttb axle I have here if I wanted it extended, since it is full size truck width. The thing is, I'm trying to keep pigeonrat small-ish. The plan is to try and get as much travel as I can without getting too much wider. At least that's the thought for now. I might try hanging the dana44 beams under it just to see what it looks like though.

Is the TTb plan for better ride and travel? Otherwise why not a Jeep Dana 35 from a Grand Cherokee?

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

It rides good, and you can make cheap travel, plus it looks cool...

 

[ashman]

It rides good, and you can make cheap travel, plus it looks cool...

He's right, it's for the travel mostly. Plus, it does look cool drooped out, and I want Pigeonrat to be different.

 

[ashman]

The nissan rear axle I'm using is 6 lug, and the dana 44 ttb axle hubs are 5 lug. I got wondering if it was possible to use chevy 6 lug hubs/rotors with the Ford knuckle/spindle/calipers.

I found this response on pirate4x4 about someone wanting to go the other direction.

Here's the recipe. You need '76or older Chevy Dana 44 spindles, calipers, and backing plates. Fullsize Jeep '74-76 Dana 44 spindles, calipers and backing plates are exactly the same as the mentioned Chevy parts and could be used in place of or mixed with Chevy stuff. Get Ford '76-92 wheel bearing hubs and rotors. The Ford wheel bearings are the right diameter to use with the Chevy/Jeep spindles. For lockouts buy your choice of brand to fit any Chevy/Ford/Jeep Dana 44. They're all the same.

Seems like it should work if I want to go that route.

 

[ashman]

I got the dana44 torn down so that I can use the knuckles on the d35.



Some jackass before me decided to install greasable u-joints. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to figure out why the damn axle wouldn't fit through the knuckle.

@Truckman4life any time to measure your crossmember this weekend?

 

[ashman]

In order to use the D44 knuckles on the D35 beams, you need to ream out the lower ball joint taper.

Here is the reamer sitting in the D44 beam, taped up to mark the depth:


here it is in the d35 beam:


The upper ball joints are the same in the beams. They both accept a caster adjustment bushing that is the same outside diameter.


The dana35 adjuster is on the left. The dana44 bushing on the right is tapered on the inside, while the dana35 is straight cut.

I got the taper cut for the PS beam, but the DS wouldn't cut all the way. The damn reamer is dull already. New one will be here Saturday.

In the meantime, I got Pigeonrat up on the lift.


That's a lot of stuff to remove.

I did some looking to see what my track width is going to look like.
The original 1991 Nissan Pathfinder chassis I have has a front track width of 56.1".
I got the D35 out of a Bronco II with a track width of 56.9"
the D44 came out of a 1993 bronco so has a track width of 65.1"

Using the D35 and 2" spacers (to convert to 6 lug), I'll be gaining about 5" of track width. If I'd have gone with the d44 it'd be 11" with the spacers. I'm not ready to go that much for now. Of course, as mentioned above, I think I could use chevy hubs and avoid using the spacers to keep it at 9", but I'm going to stick with the d35... for now.