How many of you if any have swapped out the 50 for something better?
I am really thinking of swapping a 60 out of a 02-04 350. At first I looked at the Dynatrac conversion then added in the price of gears and what not, it seems like I could get a whole axle for damn near the same price.

What say you

 

well teh dynatrac kit changes teh unit bearings to old school hubs and bearings, teh 02 to 05 d60 has teh same setup as yourd50 it is just a d60, and i am pretty sure it will bolt in just grab the 350 front driveshaft as well.

 

Their was a guy on here a while ago that swaped a entire 05 front end on his truck. When i say front end, i dont mean grille, i mean suspension. He also swaped the 05 rear suspension on his Excursion. I think it was a 2000 model year. His name was something like 7.3x?

 

Good point on still having the unit bearings.
I guess my hangup is whether to buy the Dynatrac kit and run it till something breaks
or
Buy a complete Dynatrac front axle assembly with the gears I want and a locker installed


It would be a while before I am able to do either but I guess I will keep looking around. You guys know any other decent axle builders that offer a complete axle to my specs.


My next step is lights and a rear locker. My Bumper looks lonely with all the empty places for lights and a winch.

One step at a time.

 

Ur probally better of buying a complete front end assembly with the gears u want since u have the lift and bigger tires. What type of gears whereu looking to get? Also have u tryed to search on google for makers?

 

What type of off-roading do you plan to take your Excursion on that you think would over tax the D50 and that the D60's slightly larger axle shafts would help? Seems like an awful lot of dough to be spending for a little bit more metal.

 

Yeah I think the complete front end will be the way to go.
I have 3.73's stock but think 4.10's would be the way to go with my 35's. I have done quite a bit of looking and found a bunch of custom makers but most of them are out of my price range right now. I am also going to start looking at some of the older 350's that came with 60's before they went to the unit hub and see if they will match up. I do want to retain my ABS because I drive quite a bit on the road as well.

I will keep making wishlists I guess.

 

Like ken said, y r u changing ur front axle out?

 

It is not that I need the 60 I just am comparing prices between upgrading my axle and buying new.
By the time I install new gears, and dynatracs bearing kit with high steer the price is pretty close to ordering a new axle to my specs.

The main things I dont like about my 50 is the unit bearings. I havent burned one up yet but part of the reason I am looking into this to begin with is that the cost of replacing both bearing units up front is pretty big. I know I will burn them up eventually running my 35's

I might just keep everything as is and buy a bronco to off road. But where is the fun in that.....

 

Their is no fun buying a bronco to offroad, a ex is just more fun to offroad in.

 

I agree, but when I was sliding down this icy hill backwards it would easier to fix a beater bronco with a cage than a 40+ thousand truck

I love my ex, I just am finding that it has a few limitations.

 

ya u got that right. If it isnt offroading where u can flip ur x, then i would us it

 

I use it all the time since I moved down to Nevada. Run any old mining trail I can find. Works great when I want to get out to the middle of nowhere to go shooting. I will keep upgrading my truck but eventually I will need something a tiny bit smaller and lighter to try my hand at some harder stuff.

 

Dang, i wish i had some trails near my place