I have an 87 f-150 and plan on putting one tons under it and that would include a front SAS I’ve been advised to use 86-92 f-350 axles because they have kingpins rather than ball joints. How big of difference does it make? I’ve looked high and low for a donor truck and can’t find one that fits in the suggested category any help in finding a donor tuck or just the axles would be appreciated. I want to do the SAS right but if it makes no difference as far as kingpins versus ball joints I’ll do what I can.

 

kingpin verses ball joint is a toss up .some prefer kingpins, myself included, some prefer ball joints.
but they are both good axles.
now. your truck has coil springs, the D-60 will have leaf springs. so to do the swap, you are going to have to either modify the truck, or axle.
if i were you, i would look for a Dana 44 axle solid axle from a 78-79 bronco.

 

what!!????!!! BAD MOD, we never suggest downgrading axles
there are really only two differences i can think of as to why kingpin axles are better: kp's are cheaper, rebuildable, and most would agree they are stronger than b/j's.

2nd would be hi-steer arms for cross over steering. if i'm remembering right, you have to have the knuckles machined to accept the h/s arms on b/j axles, but the kp knuckles work without machining.

if you are going to keep the steering stock i'd just buy the cheapest d60 you can find. but that brings something up, idk much about the 1/2 ton sas on 80-96 trucks with a d60, but the leaf spring perches might need to be ground off to accept the c's for radius arms depending on the spacing of the mounts. check the tech thread sticky in here and you'll get what i'm saying. paul has some pretty good pics of it from his d60 swap on his 78 bronco.

 

the way i look at it Dan, the D-44 monobeam is still 100 times better than the ifs 44.
and it does not need any modification to either the axle or truck to bolt it in, so it is a 1 day job.
to put a D-60 in a coil spring truck is gonna take a few days work.

unless you find a 05 or newer superduty to steal the axles from. since they use coil front springs they may bolt under the older F-150's i don't know about spring size and placement on those though, but they may work.

 

another option i have thought about in the past (not a great one, but i almost ended up with the axle) is using a 1994 and up dodge d60. driverside drop, they're coilsprung but use a link setup instead of radius arms. but a dodge d60 is more comparable to a dana 50 solid axle than a real d60. they have a weird 2 piece axle shaft and a vacuum disconnect to engage 4x4, and they are unit bearing axles with 30 spline inner and outer shafts, so they are better than a d44, but not something i would go out of my way for unless it was crazy cheap, or almost free like the one i was looking at.

 

I'd say easiest would be run leafs in the front.
Just look how fast Ed could do leaf SAS on broncos/F150s.

 

I failed to mention that leafs in the front was going to be included in the SAS but thanks for your help... now to find a donor truck

 

Where are you at! so we can help find a donor truck!

I to want to do an SAS on my 83 F150, I found a Dana 44 for $75 on the "list", They want $750 or more for Dana 60s around here

 

i am located in Rogersville TN 37857 and well i'd drive twelve hours in any direction to get a donor truck or just the axles depending on the deal maybe further than that any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks for everything

 

Hey who is Ed and how do I get ahold of him to talk to him about the SAS swaps on F150s?

 

75F350 is his user name if I remember right. He use to frequent this forum, but haven't seen him in awhile. Ur guess is as good as mine as to how to get ahold of him. Seen him over at FSB not long ago.

 

Thanks I appreciate it.

 

Looks like last time he was on this site was 7/14/2010. So, you might just have to search n see if u can find pics of his work.

 

What no one asked was what the OP is going to be using his truck for. So, OP, or .87-ford, what are the plans for the truck sir? We may be able to talk you into saving some money and making the swap a hell of a lot easier

 

well, since you plan on doing a leaf spring conversion anyway,
i will change my statement. look for a king pin Dana 60, and get a set of superduty front leaf springs. solid front mounts, with rear shackles.
this will give you good spring geometry, good front axle, and a good ride.