In the distant future, I have intentions to pick up a set of 4WD axles from an F450/550 to put on my 2000 F-350 DRW. But, as I'm in no rush, I feel it'd be wise to start "window shopping" early (that, and I'm a complete addict to car modifying and cannot help myself).

Being that I desire the following things:
19.5" factory wheels for the commercial tire options
Dana "Super" 60 for its improved turning ability and stronger u-bolts
Increased braking capacity
Coil spring front suspension
4.1 gearing ratio
(Cool to me) 10-lug

... I came down to looking at the factory axles from an 05-07 F-450/550 or 08-10 F-450/550. I haven't found much beyond the fact that they're both 10x225 bolt pattern, and both "Super" 60 axles up front.

I would love to find out more, but... being rather new to the whole Ford truck scene, I'm still learning about the 'ins and 'outs of the truck.

 

I don't really know a lot on this subject but I'll try to help you out a little bit.
Up to the 2005 models the F450 had the Dana 80 axle and the F550 had the Dana 135 axle. After 2005 I think both the 450 and 550s had the stronger Dana S110 axle with gears ranging from 4.30 to 4.88. My dad has a 2006 F550 with Dana S110 with 4.88 gears, which was the maximum towing/payload package for that year. According to Wikipedia (I know I know, Wikipedia, but I'm 99% sure its accurate) the 08-10 450s and 550s had the same axle as the 05-07 models. As far as I know they both had the Dana Super 60s up front as well. I'm pretty sure that my Dad's truck has all the same things that you listed for the most part too (except the grears).

Heres the Wikipedia page on the Dana S110 Dana S 110 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and you could probably google Dana S110 and find some more info too.
Hope this helped some.

 

Ahh, I knew I'd have something askew. Big thanks for squaring up the gearing issue (4.3 not 4.1 as I posted above). If there really isn't huge differences between the two generations of chassis, it'll definitely make looking for a donor chassis easier.

 

Yeah 4.30 would be the lowest and 4.88 would be the highest for S110. Just to warn you, even the 4.30 will probably be higher than the stock gearing of your F350 so you might see a drop in fuel mileage because of the taller gears, just letting you know.

I'm not sure it will all mount up, but I would assume that the updated suspension should all bolt up pretty well. It might ride a bit better with the updated coil suspension upfront but I'm not for sure on that, and will definitlely tow better and handle being under weight better. I also just thought that you will probably need the springs for the rear as well. The rear springs are stiffer and might actually ride rougher and 19.5 wheels don't really help either because there is more wheel and less tire to cushion the ride. So I don't really know how it will affect ride quality. But I do know that my Dads truck can ride pretty rough, but I don't really mind it, and it is probably better with weight in the back.

 

From what I've seen thus far, I'll probably need to do some fabricating/welding/drilling/tapping to make it all fit just right. But, the majority of components will swap over without much changing. I'm not unprepared for that, though. Having a couple welders, a full shop, and being a tool & die maker might help me make the changes necessary to put the new axles on board.

As for the gearing, I did notice that the gearing would make the truck consume more fuel. But, I may try to source some 6.75" wide wheels to run some wider/taller tires to compensate. We'll see when that time comes. I'm not 100% set on what I'll do, just yet. My track car tends to see far more attention, on the building front anyways. I just like the truck a lot, and want to do what I can to make it a "renovated" 7.3.

 

I think the Stock 19.5 wheels that you were looking at are 6.75 inches wide. My dad runs Continental HSR in the front, but I can't quite remember the rear wheels. I can check the tire and wheel specs for you tomorrow.

 

From what I've seen through parts catalogs and pictures, they've been 6" wide with 225/70's on them. I'd love to get some 245's or so on the truck, just to make it more appealing... but its not life or death. The Harley-Davidson F-450 wheels are quite sharp, as well.

 

Actually what you're saying about the wheels and tires does sound about right now, but I'll still check tomorrow. The Harley Davidson wheels look pretty good too but I would have to assume that they were the same width as the other wheels. The 225/70s don't look too bad but they do look a little small sometimes, depends how you look at it.
Another place to look for aftermarket wheels is American Force Wheels. The only thing is that they can be pretty pricey, and most of there wheels are in the 22 inch and up range. Not sure of that's exactly what you're looking for, and some of there stuff is too flashy for me, but still worth giving them a look.

 

The axles from F450's and 550's come off cab and chassis models which have a frame width of 34 inches.The pickup truck chassis are 38 inches wide, so the leaf spring perches will have to be moved outward. And for the front, since your 2000 model had leafs originally, I am not sure how that will work out, But I have seen it done before. There was an article in one of the Diesel magazines where someone did the exact thing you want to do and it turned out very nicely.

 

I haven't seen many designs from them that look all that great. I'm not much for the "show" style wheels. Something similar to a Peterbuilt wheel would look sharp (which their HD model looks like), but it has that stupid writing along the wheel lip.


I don't mind having to relocate the spring perches. I figured there would be some modification involved, so its not really a big hassle. I'm just thinking of what all else would be needed for the swap.

 

How'd you ever make out on this swap idea? Im thinking of using a set of 07 F550 axles on my 01 2WD truck.

 

Happy New Year! Any chance you remember what magazine? I have sourced the donor truck to do the same thing but have found very little info on other people doing this swap