'89 ram 50 straight axle swap

Well it's been awhile since I've posted anything, you guys helped me threw my 4d56 swap! Now I'm back at it going to finish every thing on the truck now. I've put almost 7k miles since the swap an I love the lil diesel. Now for the good part...I got my hands on a set of tj jeep axles! I'm in the process of changing the gears to 4.88s, I'm doing away with the control arms and using front and rear radius arms off a land rover. I salvaged up wj front knuckles and rear disc! Still in the beginning stages of the build, i am so stinking excited I had to go ahead an start my post! I will start some photos tomorrow, forgot about having to take pictures sideways....

Nice. This will be interesting - I think you'll be asked a lot of questions about how you're reconfiguring the suspension and rear disc set up.

Yes sir,should be some questions for sure! But I think its gonna be a fun process!

These are the radius arms from the land rover.Attachment 24608Attachment 24607Attachment 24609

this is how the rear will look soon as I get some brackets fabbed. Still have working on the removing the factory brackets,then I can install the discs and axle shafts

Tires an wheels came in today!!Attachment 24625

Interesting build.

Gotta see those mounted to your truck! They look tough as :thumbup:

I'm working on it!! Trust me it caint go any faster! Just got the rear end done,knock out the front gears then it's time for the good stuff!Attachment 24627Attachment 24628

Take a ton of pictures for reference material. You never know who will be able to make use of them :)

I recieved my brakes today... this is why jeep people with older jeeps do the WJ knuckle swap! 3 reasons I know of to start
#1Attachment 24639 bigger rotors!
#2Attachment 24640 dual piston calipers! Number three will show up when it's time for steering

Here's a teaser!Attachment 24641

So it's not just going to look awesome, but stop like you hit the back of a bus :) That has really made a massive change to ground clearance too.

geezer101, Ive read the brakes would be a big improvement, but dang soon as I saw it for myself...totally worth it! I'm all bout the new clearance I'm gonna get,plus the benefit of going from 4.22 to 4.88's will be really good! It did good on the interstate but this should help climbing up the hills too,I was running 32,now 33's. So I'm thinking the gears,the brakes, an im hoping the ride will all be worth the effort!

Well,been kinda slow going on the project...honey do's first! But I did get the rear nice an centered as well as brackets all measured up! The rear will get 5.5 lift springs for a jeep TJ,this will give me the room I need for a bumper an possibly a bed cover. Should be on to the front by this weekend!Attachment 24771Attachment 24772

Well,been kinda slow going on the project...honey do's first! But I did get the rear nice an centered as well as brackets all measured up! The rear will get 5.5 lift springs for a jeep TJ,this will give me the room I need for a bumper an possibly a bed cover. Should be on to the front by this weekend!!Attachment 24773Attachment 24774

It...looks...HUGE. What does the rear end donor use for a stabiliser?

I cut the shock bracket off the TJ frame,I'm in the process of fabricating it now. I will use the rear track bar as well from the TJ. The only thing different I will be using is the radius arms off the land rover,VS. the control arm set um the TJ uses. I did this due to the fact there is no room in the front or rear of our frames for the upper an lower control arms to mount. Probably could have made something work,but I love the radius arm set up.

Any pictures of the front mounting yet? I had been trying to figure out the 4-Link front setup, but the radius arm sounds like it would work too. I had never though of that, so I am very excited to see what you come up with. Nice work!

Well I ran 3" exhaust from the turbo back on my truck,so the 4 link was out. I probably could have done a kind of 4 link long arm. I was installing a leveling kit on my wife's truck when I started to get into the radius arm set up. It will look pretty much like this photo, I'm probably going to move the power steering gear box to the front as much as possible, I also will remake a new trans bracket. The front drive shaft will not clear it's new position. The new measurement of the front,top fender opening should be at 43.25" to the ground,the rear is at 44".Attachment 24784

Still forget the photo turning thing..,here's a rough draft of the project!Attachment 24785Attachment 24786

Looking good!

Where did you get this mad scientist idea from? It's freaking ingenious. Hmm, that intercooler is all business too :grin:

Thanks guys,it is madness. My daughter has a jeep jk so I've been all over the suspension,an it can literally go any place. An it turns on a dime! Jeep people do some crazy stuff with their suspension,from rock crawlers to mall crawlers. I've heard people hate on dana 30,35's. But my daughter drives the crap outta hers an its held up for 2 years now. This wouldn't have happened if I didnt get a steal on the axles an partial frame. So I have done all kinds of research on jeep stuff prior to this. It wasn't till a couple months ago I watched a guy on you tube telling what all he has done to his jeep till I saw the radius arm set up. Thats when the light came on for me. I've had most of the parts since November, there is literally no room inside our frames for upper,lower control arms. This is when I started looking at different radius arms on different trucks. My wife has a ram 2500 with coils on all 4 corners,rides like a dream. Wanted something different, so when I found that some land rovers use front and rear arms,I found a complete set on the net for $100

Finally have the rear all together....looking better than the old leaf's. Soon as the shocks turn up I'll add more photo's along with the added sway bar bracket. Now on to the front!! Anybody ever heard or done water to air intercooler? Really thinking about this road,my thoughts were to move the intercooler back into the engine bay,in order to shrink the front bumper I am building. Hopefully someone has ant thoughts.Attachment 25077Attachment 25078Attachment 25079Attachment 25080

There are pros and cons with water to air. It'll make the heat exchanger more compact (a win when space is at a premium) but you have the added plumbing and expense to manage. You need extra plumbing to cool the water efficiently once it's done it's job - great set up for the drag strip but for a road/offroad vehicle it's not practical . I'd have compact fans behind the air intercooler and a surface water sprayer in front of it for the best efficiency cooling you can have under the circumstances.

*Never had experience with intercooling but a fun fact - Spitfire Merlin engines ran dual water to air intercoolers on their superchargers...

there is a mustang in the town nex to me with a centrifugal supercharger using a water to air intercooler.

I think I could hid two 3/4" hoses better than I have two 2.5" pipes. That's all i was looking at when i saw when saw the this kit from Australia this guy is selling. Then I saw a kit on pure diesel performance that he sells that uses a pump from a boat aerator to move the water. I dont know,I'm trying to get everything done while its down,body work,finish interior,ect ect. Thanks for the pros an con's tho geezer,I bet water to air does work good on a supercharger Salteen. Thanks for the info

Well,its been awhile since I've been able to do much to the truck. But here is an updated photo of the progress so far.Attachment 26015

Looking nice!

Rcornsilk,
With Respects ...
Where did You move the "intercooler"

Nice SAS!

Suburu, Ford lightning truck, Chevy Syclone, etc....all had oem air-water coolers. Also check MR2 forums.
Lotsa great info online, with parts lists and proven results - outperform air to air, street cars.
https://www.mr2oc.com/threads/here-g...roject.250533/
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2094094
https://legacygt.com/forums/showthre...er-125496.html

Thanks guys,I'm slowly getting back on it. claych,I went with a water/air intercooler so I will still have a radiator type intercooler up front but I've been mocking up the front an rear bumpers as I wait on parts. I will take more photos.

The water pump I am using is actually for the mustang cobra. This truck has become a Frankenstein I know,but the heart an sole is still a ram 50!

For some reason I can not load photos. I took several tonight an will try to upload later I guess?

Attachment 26018

I dont know what is up with photos,I cannot load any other pictures for some reason...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rcornsilk

I dont know what is up with photos,I cannot load any other pictures for some reason...

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Cyberspace is sometimes strange ~ I thought max photo size allowed here was 800X600 pixels but yesterday I posted a 1000X800 photo !!!

Attachment 26019

Attachment 26020

Not sure if this build ever got finished up, but I’m in the middle of doing the same thing and stumbled across this thread. I’ve bee scratching my head for months and have had a couple failed attempts, does anyone know a good way to connect the Mitsubishi transfer case to the 1310 ujoints of the jeep front axle? Any help would be appreciated thanks

Nice solid axle swap. Still running strong?

Nice job.

I was just looking into this myself wondering the same thing. You can simply get an adapter at the pinion to you ujoint size. That's the nice thing about the jeep axle is there are lots of pinion options to choose from. Have a seac