Solid Axle Swap into a 1998 Astro AWD

[SAS H3T]

1999 Ford E-350 Super Duty rear on Ford Powerstroke front springs. I couldn't have calculated the ride any better.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Dean van looks great. question what is the length of your front springs from eye to eye and what are they off from. I'm trying to position my front axle so hopefully the tires don't hit.

The leafs are stock Jeep Wrangler YJ leafs. I forget the specs on length. I did have to use 2 main leafs and a Rancho add-a-leaf to get the proper height.

I'm going to run 31" or 33" tires not sure yet. I wasn't sure if ford springs are shorter or not? Any info will be helpful.

If you are doing a SAS, then 33's will be about the smallest size to look right. You can fit 31's on a simple 5" lift. No idea on Ford springs.

And where did you hook your crossover steering to.

I used a high steer kit from PartsMike.com. I used high steer arms to get the steering over the leafs and the drag link runs from the modified pitman arm to the right front tie rod.

Pic from 1st page...

[jeff hosford]

Thanks for the info Dean. My wife just put my astro in the ditch and hit a culvert with the right front. So no better time them the present to do a sas. It bent the knuckle ,a arms ,tie rods and did damage to the steering gear. Al so I know where I can get yj leafs.

[safariman28]

ok looking at these pic they make sence. For the front axle you think the half ton ford axle would not need the steering modification to clear the spring pack? I say half ton cause my van will be for looks not extreme offroading. let me know what you think.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

I did the high steer to clear the leafs and give more approach angle. If the leafs will be in the line of the steering you may have to do this same type of high steering. Most of the 1/2 ton Ford truck axles were coil sprung. I think this would make a better riding van in the end.

[safariman28]

have you any more pics of the front end leaf spring hangers or how would you go about mounting coils when I have torsion bars (I'm very new at this); and what did you use for the steering shaft? or did the length stay the same?

[LiftedAWDAstro]

All the pics are here or in my photobucket account.

Seeing as you are very new to this, you really must do hours and hours of reading and searching. There is no bolt-on kit for a SAS and there are a thousand different ways to go. Go to Pirate4x4 and start reading. Do not post there as they will burn you bad. That is unless you can take the ridicule. I literally spent 1 year gathering parts and researching so I could do this myself. If you have no fabrication skills this WILL be way over your head.

[potskie]

Go to Pirate4x4 and start reading. Do not post there as they will burn you bad. That is unless you can take the ridicule.

PBB burn you....... Bah never! They are the nicest kindest bunch of people there are. They would never say anything mean or ridicule someone. ( wheres the double bird emoticon on this board lol)

[LiftedAWDAstro]

They never bothered me.

[safariman28]

I'll register and explore the site for awile before I test that theory

[SAS H3T]

Then there's that guy who installed coils under his Astro 4x4.
Eerily enough, I'm building my own HumVee in the garage, and the Astro subframe with those coils and buckets on it is coming up for sale in September or October.
The new owner need only provide a 1975- 1979 Ford F-150 Front D44.
It's all bolt-in. No fab is required.

[GrinderBeatUdown]

Do you have any more pics of the front end, specifically where the shocks were mounted etc. I am thinking about this since I have a donor vehicle but did you use the stock tranny and transfer case? I basically want to get rid of the torsion bar setup..;)

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Here is the upper shock mount. Basically raised it up as high as I could so I could use long travel shocks. On the axle I just welded a couple tabs to bolt the shock to.



The tranny is stock and the t-case was from an S-10 truck. It had already been swapped in place of the AWD t-case.