Just today I picked up a bone stock, poorly running 1999 5.4 F250 2 wheel drive.







Put 1900lbs in the back of the bed to get it and the parts rig off the hill.





Parts truck was much farther down the hill. Had very little issue with the weight in the back







Truck had to get spun totally around so I pulled from the hitch at 90* and proceeded up the hill



Parked where it will be parted out



Finally home







So the plans are rebuild the 5.4, install divorced Np205, take the axles off the 2500 Burban (D44/14 Bolt combo). Lift the rear of the truck with blocks and shackle flip, lift the front with spring hangers, longer shackles and rear chevy leaf springs.

Already have 40" Gumbo Monster mudders with wheels ready for the axles.

This is going to be an extremely budget minded build since I have to rebuild the engine. Going to be great though since the truck is a base model . Cheap headlights, rubber floor mats, flat door panels with manual windows. Going to be a great mud truck.

Moses Lake mud flats open July 1st so I hope to be done by then. Funny because I dont have any friends that have mud vehicles. Im a Jeep guy with Jeep friends none of which do mud

 

Your aware that a chevy D44 is a passengers side drop right?

 

funny, i just mentioned this in the "would you run chevy parts thread".

divorced t-case larry, as long as it's a dodge or chevy t-case he's golden. and op, i know you said budget minded build, but i hope you got some spare d44's laying around for parts, cause 40's, a d44, and a 7,000ish pound rig ain't gonna get along too well for too long......look on teh bright side, chevy d60's are cheap

 

i understand the divorced case deal... but id prefer my axle the right way lol

 

Yes, lol

Its actually an international case. But yes its a passenger drop case. Right now I am banking on the engine not being able to push the Dana 44 on 40s to breaking point. If so I can upgrade to chromolly shafts or a Dana 60. I just happen to be getting the axles with the truck. Chevy 8 lug Dana 44s are tough. I ran these 40s on my Blazer with the same axle setup with out issue.

Only time will tell. But upgrades in this department arent that much.




Me too! But I would almost spend more on a Ford Dana 60 king pin than I did on this entire truck.

It just worked out well that I have the T case and chevy axles are plentiful. Let me put it to you like this, TECHNICALLY its not a chevy front end. TECHNICALLY its a dana 44, which are also seen in Fords, IHC, Jeeps etc.

Its the GM 14 Bolt rear that doesnt let me sleep at night

 

I know its Dana axles we've been discussing this in another thread

 

Here's a D60 from a '96 F350 for $800. You could part out that Burban for at least $800 and keep all Ford axles, also the Sterling 10.5 has disc brakes .

Northwest Ford Diesels - 1996 f350 partout

 

and then he'd have mismatched lug patterns....

EDIT: ad says no hubs, which could mean two things. 1. no locking hubs, like $200 for new, $50-75 if a junkyard has some d50's laying around. 2. it may have been a dually axle and he's going to need more than just "hubs". either way, $800 for an incomplete balljoint d60 is a ripoff.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I've been told you can get blank D60 hubs and then drill them to match the 10.5, or you could drill the 8 on 6.5 pattern between the 8 on 170mm rear hub like this guy did... 10.5 SuperDuty Rear Hubs to 8 on 6.5 - PowerStrokeNation : Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

 

it is possible, and i also edited that post while you replied. $800 is not a good price for that axle, and this is supposed to be a cheap budget build, everything you are mentioning adds time, time is money. budget=no money to spare.

 

Agreed. Just throwing out ideas/suggestions. But $800 is actually a decent price for a D60 in Washington State. I looked for months before I found mine for $900 a year ago, and I haven't seen anything for less than $1000 since.

 

Appreciate the thoughts and links but even if I did get a Ford front Dana 60 than I am left with out anything being 4x4. Remember this is a 2wd truck and I would either need to find a divorced Ford t-case or find a 4x4 transmission and Tcase combo out of another truck.

NP 205 I just had and the buban parts rig was given to me with the truck. It just kind of fell into place. As of right now all project money is going to the engine. Nothing happens till it runs correctly and its a good platform to start on .

I will take pictures of the T case and accessories tomorrow and pictures of the truck and information on what I find. I am not engine savvy (not enough to know how to rebuild anyways) so I might bring in a friend this weekend if I cant figure it out tomorrow.

Should have a cutting torch setup by the end of the week too. Probably used but hey im not made of money

 

Oil level didnt even register on the dip stick so I topped it off and I got it started on the trailer and in the 3ish minutes I let it idle this pooled up. Keys there for size reference.



Idles like ****, revs like **** but drives quite nice. Anyways didnt produce much smoke at first till when I parked it. I shut it off and left to take the trailer back. Came back and started it again and it really smokes now.





Spits straight oil out the tail pipe too



And what the hell is this? Ive never seen this before



Tcase







And the bag of goodies. Multiple yokes, double cardan yoke and flat top knuckles.

 

Needs a complete rebuild. Found another engine pretty local for 650 dollars + 125 core. 280k miles on it but good compression at I think he said 180 or 190lbs (that doesnt seem right maybe he said 80 or 90lbs?) and 45lbs of oil pressure.

Gotta do something about the power in these though. My GF owns a F250 with the 5.4 and I just drove it for the first time in months after driving my V10 and it seems pretty anemic.

Anyways I wonder if I should just rebuild what I have now or if I should buy this running engine so I have something that actually at leasts works and then I can eat the core and build this other engine on my own terms since ive never done it before. Get PI heads, punch it out, headers, cam, um?

Thoughts? Should I buy an engine before I build it for conveinance. The engine would probably be used through next summer and build this current engine next winter. That is all assuming the block isnt warped or anything too major like that. Very real possibility...

 

i wouldn't eff around with a "good" high mile engine, even for a short term deal. just seems like wasted money and time/effort. i'm sure if you look around a bit and wait it out a little longer you can find a decent runner with less miles. but to be honest since it's a wheeler and a low buck one at that, i'd look around for what ever motor you prefer that you can find for cheap or build for cheap. i'd 460/c-6 that sumbish in a heart beat.