Has anyone swapped gears in their front IFS differential?
I have an 83' with 3.55's and my 84' has 3.08's. I thought I could just swap the entire rearend without going into the pumpkin. But the IFS with the 3.55's in it is damaged so I would need to just grab the gears and swap them into my 84' which is the one I am building.
How tough is it to do the gear swap on the IFS? I would really prefer the 3.55's for all the usual reasons. Who knows why FORD even made 4x4 BRONCOS with 3.08's in them!! BTW I have a 4 speed manual tranny in both rigs if that makes a difference.
Thanks Guys.

 

first let me clarify somethin for u..ford did'nt put ifs in the broncos its TTB...and second the swaps not that hard...pull the center pumpkin from the 3.55 axle assemblys... leave the gears and passenger stub axle together and bolt it into your 3.08 housing... its really quit simple, but time involved..pm me for more info if needed

 

Thanks - what's TTB?

 

T.T.B. is the correct term for the front suspension on your bronco... Ford calls it twin traction beam...don't mind the refrence just some info... if your really gonna use the truck off road with big tire sid suggest aa straight axle swap on the front..

 

TTB is IFS.... TTB = Twin Traction Beam meaning the two halves of the D44 axle assembly were INDEPENDENTLY articulated thereby making the front axle of the F-series and Bronco's that had them IFS (which is to say they had Independent Front Suspension).

IFS and TTB are one and the same in the case of Ford full-size trucks between about 1980 and 1996-7.

Twin Traction Beam was just the name Ford gave to the specially designed Dana 44 and Dana 50 front axles that gave the front end of the trucks Independent Front Suspension. The D44 TTB axle can handle up to about 36" tires before the unsprung weight becomes an issue for internal components. I've run TTB in EVERY off-road situation I've ever been in and it has never failed. There are laws of physics at work here... But I've explained it before and really don't feel like doing it again here.

As for swapping gears, its really not any different than swapping gears in a 9" or any axle assembly that has no inspection cover. This is because the axle housing IS the "inspection cover" for the D44 and D50 differential housings.