Okay, I have read through a couple things but am confused on a lot still lol.

I have an 89 bronco with a 351w. I would love to do a 7.3psd swap. I am thinking of finding a 94.5 to 97 psd f250 and swapping the axles, engine, trans, tcase, and all the wiring.

Would the ttb be a direct swap after mounting the hangers?

Are the frames the same?

I know the stock axles can hold a lot of weight... i have a 93 bronco with a 351w and a 7.5 western hanging on it, but I also have airbags in the coils.

But id rather the 250 axles for durability. And if i buy a whole truck... id have them... and I already have a set laying around. (After i finish my 88f250)

So any info would be great

 

sounds like you got it all in order. are you going to convert the F250 axle to spring vs leafs

are you looking for a manual or auto donor truck?

you will want to use your dash and the newer instrument cluster, may need to install 92-96 dash for proper fitment of the cluster.

frame should be the same.

 

Id probably look for an auto, but I love driving stick. It'll just depend on what I find. I feel like auto would be slightly easier.

How hard is converting the axle to coil up front? I honestly didn't know that was an option.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...esel-time.html

Check this thread out.

 

Wow thanks! Totally cool!

 

Would a 99-03 f250 work? Like would the front axle bolt on like the obs axles?

 

better yet find axles from an 05-07, those are running the same setup as our coil sprung bronco's are already.

trying to go with a leaf sprung front end will require welding skills since there is not any sort of bolt in kit.

or you keep your current D44 up front and just convert the ends to 8 lug. this has also been done by others with little effort.

with your year bronco I would recommend a manual trans or a C6 for the diesel. trying to run the e40d auto may be a wireing/computer challenge.

 

Do run the leafs from an obs wouldn't it be a bolt up since the 89 bronco frame is the same as the f250? I'm okay getting coils if i can find them though. Just getting as much info as possible.

On the e4od note, what would be the wiring issues? I figured if i found a donner truck id pull most of the wiring and ecu and tcm. Or I'll look for a zf5 or zf6.

I appreciate the info, I'm way more familiar with gasser and f250s.

 

the bronco is coil sprung front end. the frame is different to a degree from the f250 of same year or later years.

having the donor will help for an e40d. Might be easier putting the bronco body on the F250 frame to be honest.

 

When it comes to swapping the axles, that's the part I have not yet undertaken. I've been using the stock 96 Bronco axles and suspension with no issues as of yet. I'd imagine I'd run into issues if I decided to start towing heavily, but I have no plans to do that for quite some time. I'm not being that easy on the Bronco either, and have no indication of my axles being stressed. Now, I don't try to burnout or anything either so that helps, and I have 33" tires which I don't plan on going any bigger.

Swapping anything in place of the TTB axle in the front of the Bronco is going to take some pretty extensive and most likely expensive work (if you can't do it yourself.) Welding will definitely be involved.

That is unless the 05-07 axles fit in place in the front as Kemicalburns is suggesting. I have not looked into that and would be quite pleased if that were the case, but I'd still be cautious on it being a simple swap. I'll definitely be looking into this. If this is the case, you'll need to make sure to get a 99 or above rear end because they changed the wheel lug spacing when they switched to the super duty style in 99.

I already made up my mind that I'm going to do the 8-lug swap on the front end eventually like Kemicalburns also mentioned once I get around to getting a 3:55 dana 60 rear and some new wheels. This is a pretty easy swap, somewhat strengthens the front (not really much to brag about, but some of the parts are a little beefier), and allows you to match the front end with the rear if you do swap in an 8 lug rear. The challenging thing about this swap is collecting all the necessary parts. It requires mixing and matching some Chevy parts from some older trucks, and also some cutting of the Bronco's knuckle (potentially finding an older style knuckle as well.) There should be some pretty good threads about this around the net if you are interested, and I think this would be all that's needed with out trucks.


As for swapping out the rear, that should be very simple. It's pretty much just unbolting your old axle, and bolting the heavier duty one up. You probably don't want to do this if you don't have the same lugs on the front though, and you definitely want to make sure to match the gearing of the rear axle with your front axle (whether you keep if the TTB or do a swap) so you can still use your 4WD.




Anyways with my rambling aside, you should be able to get by on your current axles if they are in good shape IF you don't plan on towing much (at least not more than your original motor would handle) and don't plan on going with 35+ tires and romping around all over. I've broken my tires loose a few times but haven't had any issues with my axle or driveshaft. I also have stage 1 injectors, better exhaust and intake, and a tune to match so I'm making a bit more power than the stock 7.3 puts out. You'd be surprised what our stock axles can handle!

 

I thought heavily about this idea as well. The main issue with this is that none of the frames with the 7.3's were the same length as any of the Broncos. Therefore, the frame would have to be cut and welded which I'd imagine would be quite expensive.

Once that is done, then you'd have to somewhat fabricate the rear body mounts due to the difference in mounting on the bronco chassis and the F250/350 bed. I don't think this would be too hard, but it's something to consider as well.


Swapping in the 7.3 to my Bronco was almost a direct bolt in procedure. The only three modifications I had to do were:

1. Drill some holes in the driver side frame/crossmember for the motor mount bracket.

2. Elongate the transmission crossmember mounting holes slightly (used a dremel tool for this)

3. Have my rear driveshaft shortened and front driveshaft lengthened.



That being said, I did have to mess slightly with some wiring harnesses and go about doing all the unbolting and bolting back up.


Swapping the cab onto the F350/350 frame could save a lot of work though too. If you feel comfortable with taking everything apart, measuring the frame of the Bronco and the axle mounting positions relative to the cab, then having the F250/350s frame cut and welded back, it may be the route to go. You'd have the axles and heavier duty frame.

Since I kept my original axles however and didn't really have a way/money to bring my frame in, I swapped stuff onto my Bronco's frame.

 

Wow! Thanks for the info. I have the luxury of having a 95 psd. That I can use as a reference for when. I get my donor truck.

The main reason I was planning on using the ttb dana50 was because I have a set that only needs the rear rebuilt. I was thinking of trying to get the axles under there and then when I found a truck I would "just" swap over the engine and trans and all the wiring.

Also i was reading that the 91 and older broncos have the same front frame section as the f250s. So I would only have to hang the hangers and shackles. And move where the shocks are located. I plan on measuring and inspecting the Broncos frame tomorrow and measuring it compared to the axles and the 95obs.

 

I don't plan on really running anything bigger than 33s and the biggest thing I have is an enclosed trailer I have that I haul atvs with.

 

Hmm you may be luckier without the crumple zone like I have when it comes to putting in the dana 50 TTB. I'm not sure how much work is involved in putting in the leaf spring shackles, but maybe it's not quite as difficult as I imagine, especially if you don't have to worry about cutting off and welding in a new frame section.

I'm still not too worried about my axle setup now with the 7.3 in there. I do plan on eventually towing something like a car trailer, but never plan on towing a fifth wheel sized trailer with the Bronco. I know the dana 44s can handle a lot more than people give them credit for. I believe the early 6.9 diesels came with dana 44s as well. I know it's not the 7.3 by any means, but it shows they can at least handle the weight of these engines.

 

Oh yeah, I agree with the weight wise. I have a 93 bronco. I have the 5.8w and a 7.5 western on the front, used to have an 8 but swapped it when I got the 95 f250. I have airbag assists in the coils. I've never towed with it though because it didnt have a hitch and didn't make sense to put one on since it is light duty compared to my 2 250s.

Im hoping without the crumple zone it may, but we'll see when I get under them and start measuring.