Hey fellas,
Been toying with the idea of a Dana 50 TTB conversion...
On the F150's, the Twin I-Beam 2wd can be converted over to 4x4 Dana 44 TTB using the same bracketry, so I'm wondering if it's somewhat the same on the F250/350's...?
Now, before everyone screams "don't waste your money, go with a 60!" Please understand that my rig is an 85 F350 long wheelbase 2wd that I have converted over to Single Rear Wheels.
My current plan is to take a 7' x 12' enclsoed trailer with rear barn doors, chop the axle and suspenion out, then mount a scissor hoist under the trailer and mount it all on my truck...creating a dumping enclosed box truck! The cab is 6.5' wide, so a 7' wide unit would only be 3" wider on each side. I'm a landscaper, so come spring and fall the truck gets loaded up with lawn debris and when I go to the dump site, it can be pretty muddy and because it's manure/compost, you sink right in quick and deep! This has been manageable in the past since I've been in school and not actually taking on too much work. Well, this fall was my first year without school in my way and let me tell you...I'm sick of messing around, it's time to be more efficient if I'm gonna make money! Shift into 4x4 and get out easily rather than shoveling my way out!

ANYWAYS, I've never seen a Dana 50 in person. Is it similar to the Dana 44 TTB? I have a buddy who has a D44 TTB HD under a diesel F250 that I can take a look at and take some measurements. I also have a buddy with a regualr D44 TTB under an F150 I can look at. Are the D44 and D50 similar in terms of mounting measurements? I'd like to keep my coil springs, I don't want leaves, I really want the nice coil-spring rde. An experienced welder could probably rig me up some bracketry to make this work. Also, any ideas of how much lift I would expect? I'd like to keep the lift to a minimum, so hopefully it doesn't jack me up too high.

 

2wd ride hight compared to 4x4 ride height not even close to the same and no you wont keep your coil spring front suspension with the D50 or D60 its not set up for it and personally i hate the old coil spring front suspension just more things to go wrong..... leaf spring is stronger its not that bad going down the road if you have good bushings in the springs and good shocks mine went from rough as **** to nice and smooth when i put new bushings in and new shocks on.

 

Problem you'll run into is that F150 uses a coil spring while the 250/350 (and therefore the Dana 50) use leaf springs.

If you have a complete donor complete with all the brackets etc you can do the swap, but you'll be drilling new holes etc.

 

the dana 50 is what you'll need i wouldn't mess with a 44 of any type if a 50 is able to be had now a 60 if one a those popped up id jump on it in a heartbeat 44 is light duty 50 is heavy duty 60 is really heavy duty

the 44 HD is still not as good as a 50 a regular 44 and 44 HD didn't come on diesels they came on trucks 1/2 tons and gas 3/4 tons we have a 93 F250 351w with a HD 44 and all 3 F250 diesels we bought have 50's

 

I had a thread similar to this one a while back:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...o-an-f250.html

 

BlueOvalBud, if I remember, you live pretty close to me, I'm in Ludlow. In my yard I have the remains of the Twin I-beam that came off my 2wd F250. I also have a gasser F250 parts truck that has a Dana 50 TTB in it. You're more than welcome to come over and take a look. If you wanted, we could try and pull half of the Dana 50 off and see if the 2wd stuff will bolt up. If it does, or is pretty close, you'd know what you're in for. It might not be too hard to get the coil stuff to work.

I'd also be willing to part with the Dana 50 if I can get the 2wd stuff to bolt up (need some way to roll it around the yard until I get rid of it...)

 

I do realize that the D44 HD and D50 were leaf-sprung, I would just prefer to keep it coil-sprung and I could have an experienced welder make the necessary brackets to make the coils work. John's idea of using F150/Bronco Dana 44 that's already coil-sprung is a great idea. I've seen F150's put a whopping on the stock axles and all survived just fine.
When the F150's are converted from 2wd to 4x4, they gain a 2" lift in the front according to those who have done the swap. (I'll be doing the swap next summer on my 95 F150 chassis with 65 body, I'll verify at that time)
I really don't want a 60 is the thing. I've sat in a long wheelbase 4x4 F350 and the thing was way too tall for me. I'd prefer to keep the ride height as low as possible, the truck sees 70% of is time on the road and 30% of its time working off road in dump sites getting stuck lol I don't need a huge Dana 60 just to pull me out of some mud 30% of the time.
The Dana 44 HD came under all F250 HD's from 83-86 that had the diesel. In 87 it was upgraded to a Dana 50. The 85.5 and older F350 4x4's used a Dana 50. In 85.5 and later F350's, the Dana 60 is used.
John, I remember reading your thread and I've been thinking about it on and off recently because I am also sick of getting stuck in wet grass and 3" of snow!! LOL! Although I'm a loyal FTE member and don't bother going on other sites, so the link doesn't work for me. I do remember reading on the other 87-96 forum that the D44 HD had thicker beams than the regular D44. I also remember reading that members have used Dana 50 shafts in the Dana 44 axle because the inner U-jont on the passenger side of the D44 is a weak link. I even seem to remember that standard 8 lug D44 parts can't be swapped onto a regualr 5 lug D44, that must be what your link referred to.

As I recall, Star put a 6.9 into a 70's F100 wth a Dana 44 solid axle and a 9". That was around the same time that a member was trying to stuff a 7.3 into a 65 F100 2wd. I recall telling him the F150 was too light duty, but Star sad the F150 would be fine. Star said he busted the spyder gears in the D44 when he stood on the skinny pedal in 4Low but otherwise the stock axles stood up fine. So with that said, the only thing I see a problem using the F150/Bronco D44 is the thickness of the axle beams since the Dana 44 HD uses slightly thicker beams.

 

Tecgod, you remember right, Southwick to be exact. I remember asking you about your 2wd to 4x4 conversion. I think I'll take you up on that offer, but after Christmas and New Years are over with. I still have another week of landscape work to do outside before the snow hits us this weekend. After the snow hits, all my time is directed to truck crap!
I agree about the coils, if there is enough room on the axle beam then I know 2 very capable mobile welders in town who could rig something up.
Here's the brainstorm I've come up with. On the F150/Bronco, the twin I-Beam 2wd can be swapped for a Dana 44 TTB exactly bolt for bolt. In john's thread, kenbopuck says the Dana 50 needs different holes drilled to mount up. This is all based off his bronco when he swapped the 44 for the 50 and will soon be installing the 60 out of his parts truck. So, theoretically the twin I-Beam and Dana 44 would use the same holes and the Dana 50 would use different holes. Makes me lean towards a D44 HD if all my mess of a brainstorm makes sense. D44 HD axle, D50 shafts, Twin I-Beam coil springs...sounds like a mutt to me!

 

The link I included is just a link to the thread I had going. I intend to look closer into putting the F150 TTB into my F250 later this year after it warms up.........

 

Oh yeah, I followed that link John to gt to your thread. It's the link in your thread to goes over to OilBurners that I can't follow.

 

ah ok, forgot i had posted that lol. If I swap one into mine and it seems ok I figure on looking into what I can upgrade on it to make it heavier. I only really need it to keep from getting stuck, and maybe playing in the snow............

 

Search this out. I forget who but somone here or another forum had did exactly what you want. I too want to keep my coils but I'm hoping to do a 60 since I have a complete donor vehicle. The person used stock radius arm brackets on the frame but built radius arms using 2x2x.25wall square tubing. He even made it bolt up using ubolts on the axle so axle swaps would be a breeze.
I'll see if I can find it or atleast pics.
Easier yet get a Bronco (95) as a donor. They were coil springs in the front and 4x4.

 

Found it. Here's a link to my post awhile back. click the link of one of the responders for pics.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l-springs.html

 

I almost said Southwick, but wasn't sure. Your right, we did talk about my swap at some point.

I seem to remember noticing the that the brackets looked a little different on the two frames between 2wd and 4wd. So there maybe some truth to the Dana 50 not the same as a Dana 44, but Dana 44 will fit twin I-beam. It did look similar, and if I hadn't found the D60 with the right gears, I probably would have looked into it more.

I'll be home on vacation the week between christmas and new years if you get the landscaping done by then. But whenever you get the time just hit me up with a PM.

 

keep in mind that F150 with engine don't weigh anything compared to a F250 with a diesel engine the coil springs would most certainly be a weak link in that setup i have the dana 50 with leaf springs and honestly i could use another spring or two in there to get it up a bit off the bump stops a bit more since i drive it thorough fields across ditches ect.... hit a speed bump it could bottom out..... if i put my engine on a dana 44 coil spring setup i don't think it would even lift off the stops its your decision how you want to go just something to think about.....