I have a 1986 ford f150 4.9 straight 6 single cab. Im a long time lover of dually trucks and i love my ford. Im currently preparing to turn my f150 into a dually and was wondering if anybody could give me some tips or info on the project.

 

My 90 has a service bed on it and duals would sure make it more stable. J C Whitney used to make a kit that had a spacer and real long nuts to put duals an dang near anything, but there are drawbacks. We had a set on an 80 F-250 and they stuck out really far, even wider than a regular dually. On a semi-floating axle, like your F150, they put a HUGE strain on the axle flange. Just bumping a curb could break off the axle. If yours is a 2WD I would suggest a dually axle transplant and some short tires to match the fronts. If its a 4WD, you have a big job ahead of you. I wonder if anybody makes custom wheels, like 2 wheels fastened together side-by-side?

 

Drop your cab, bed, and powertrain onto a donor dually chassis.

 

It has so much underneath rust that if I took it apart, there wouldn't be anything left to put on the donor chassis!

 

sometimes ya gotta know when it's best to let go,move on and start with another one.there's no shortage of old used ford trucks.

tip 1.
don't do it.if you want a dually,get into the HD platform first.just a few parts of a proper dually convert would greatly surpass the value of your truck (no offense intended) and you'd be left with something without any real use and costly to operate.you'd get all the cons of owning a DRW while gaining none of their pro's.

 

I'm gonna drive it till the wheels fall off! I agree with you on the "Don't do it". Sometimes hybrids are cool, but not real world useable. However putting your strait 6 powertrain and cab on a same year donor dually chassis would give you those benefits, wouldn't it?

 

Get a dually rear axle and put it under there. Done

 

Yeah thats what i planned on doing.

 

I don't think it will be quite that easy. Spring perches may need to be moved. The u-joint sizes will be different. And if it's 4WD your gear ratios and tire sizes will be off. Not saying it can't be done, but get ready for a job!

 

Having a 5 lug front end and an 8 lug rear end sounds like a PITA.

 

There were some guys around here that did 8 lug rear axles on 150 trucks. They were old beater cord wood trucks and they just hacked them together with a welder. Even the best one's didn't work cause they beat the front ends out in short time. Donor frame may be the best way to get something unique and functional. Just plan on keeping it forever and don't plan on selling it for anything close to what you have in it. There is a buyer out there somewhere for everything and I might get surprised on this. If this is a dream and you have the resources to do it right, go for it. This forum will be here to help you work out the bugs. Build it and be proud.