I just bought a 96 bronco to add to my collection of fine fords. has anyone out there done a 3/4 ton axle swap and got rid of the twin I beam and put in a straight axle. if so how difficult is it and is it worth it.

 

its been done a lot. do a good search for bronco solid axle swap. if you can fabricate then the cost comes down a tad. generally figure at least $1000 - $2000 just for the front end. this depends on many factors of course. the price could go up even more depending on what goodies you add. rear end can be done for $150 - $1000 again depending on many factors and parts selection.

is it worth, well thats the million dollor question. it all depends on how you plan to use this bronco. if its a daily driver and will see pavement 95% of the time i would say no. Shoot mine is pretty much a dedicated wheeler with the occasional drive into work and its still got the TTb up front. all i can say is DO YOUR RESEARCH

 

I appriciate the info. it will be pretty much a daily driver but i also need it for some pretty serious towing on occasion. and maybe some off road as well. I can do all the fabrication I need as that is what i do for a living. I was considering a 10.25 rear and maybe staying with the ttb up front. just looking at some of the other threads it looks like I would be better off that way. I found a guy here in Houston that says he can do it I just havnt decided yet. also considering a diesel swap but thats later. once again thanks for the info.

 

A Bronco makes a terrible tow vehicle because of the short wheelbase. Try it once, and when you manage to pry your fingers from the steering wheel when you're done, you'll understand why.

 

depends on what your towing but i would agree with andym. and haveing a solid axle up front wont change the behavior of a short wheelbase rig for towing.

you can swap a 10.25 and then do an 8 lug swap up front so your running the same wheels.

 

I did a Dana 44 solid axle swap, and a 9" in the rear. If you got with the solid axle you need at least a 4" lift, if not you will have to modify the engine cross member. I did the swap because I wanted a 6" lift and I knew the ttb was hard to align with a lift that size, plus not everyone has a solid front axle and a 9" on a 1989 f150 so it is something different.

If you are going to put the solid axle in your ford, ask me some question and I will try to answer.

I had roughly $800 tied up into it. I found a Dana 44, ford 9" and 4" suspension for $300, but I had to rebuild the axles and the 9" needed a new ring and pinion. I just bought a 6.5" lift and the rest of the thing I needed to put the lift on. I got about $1200 in it total.

 

Difficult to align if you don't do it right. Difficult to align if you try to skip changing shims. Difficult to align if you ignore the options you have for making it easier. Tuff Country's axle drop brackets, Superlift's ball joint shims are just two ways to make alignment after a lift much much simpler.

But then, as Kemicaburns has already mentioned... DO YOUR RESEARCH! That's how I know about these things.

I've never seen the need to make a swap because I accept that my Bronco is (and was designed to be) a 1/2-ton truck and that its too short to tow anything more than about 25-26' long INCLUDING tongue. Tow vehicle should be no less than 1/3 the length (this is wheelbase length, not overall length) and weight of what you are towing. Wheelbase of a full-size born after 1979 is 104.7" (Again, research).

Now, if you are into re-engineering a 1/2-ton truck to be a 3/4 or 1-ton then you are on the right track with the swap and the heavier axles. Just remember that the suspension and mountings for it are still of a 1/2-ton design and capacity.

 

I appreciate all the replies. let me clarify myself about the serious towing. Im not really talking about a lot of weight persay but long distance and various kinds of terrain. I work mainly pipeline work and travel quite often. I am using the bronco for a cargo trailer so evrything doesnt have to go in the back of my haul truck while im pulling my travel trailer. the only reason i was thinking about the 8 lug swap is so I can interchange wheels and tires between trucks if needed.not to mention its easier to keep up with tire sizes when they are all the same.

 

My 8.8 rearend is pretty sloppy, I wish I had put a bigger axle in.. gonna try to regear it and see if it helps, but it's the only big mechanical part on the Bronco that has really broken when abused. If they had a better option than the F250s TTB for a IFS swap, I would have done it already.

You're going to lose a lot of frontend control without the TTB. Solid axles are for slow , heavy movers, just keep that in mind before you do the swap. Potholes and traintracks are a lot easier to keep control over with the TTB than with a solid front. I was considering a solid axle swap until I got on some gravel and dirt roads at 30mph+ and loved it, then at 50 and 60, some of the biggest dips and holes you would ever see in my backcountry town and had nothing but control. I'm now a big TTB fan..

I pull an 18' boat all over the place with almost 0 issue, so I think everyone else is full of it when they say the Bronco isn't a great tow vehicle. I'm not gonna pull a 20' trailer with a car and a ton of gravel on it, but typical, normal towing you would do with any half-ton will be fine.

errm.. I do think if it's a matter of tire changes you should go ahead and do it. I can relate.. you dunno how many times I wished I had 8-lugs just because it's easier to find the heavy duty tires and rims I need on an 8-lug. Plus, I really, really don't trust the 8.8 for towing, I think it's the weakest link in my Bronco's drivetrain (short of the driveshaft's CV joint). I'd swap a bigger rearend in if I could match up the front D44 TTB, but I can't..

 

And I don't think you know what you're talking about. Put a 24' travel trailer behind a Bronco and let me know how it works out for you. A boat is one thing, a large trailer that is a lot more subject to crosswinds is a whole different story.

 

Thats why I said treat it like a half ton, don't pull stuff you shouldn't be pulling in an f150 either, like a 20ft travel trailer in heavy crosswinds. To be fair, I can barely drive the bronco in heavy crosswinds by itself.
And an 18ft boat isn't small, was scary pulling it in a safari, which is basically an overweight half ton with a v6.

 

A 20' travel trailer behind a long wheel base F-150 is quite manageable.

I had a 22' TT and I towed it behind both a long bed reg cab F-150 and a short bed reg cab F-150 and while the long bed handled it without a problem, the short bed was borderline nightmarish. I can't even begin to imagine how nerve-wracking it would be to put behind something with an even shorter wheelbase.

BTW I never said "heavy crosswinds".

 

Ok, you're right, the Bronco sucks and can't do everything your F150 does.. this guy shouldn't bother towing with a Bronco, it's the worst towing vehicle ever.

Why are you even argueing this? Seriously, compared to a full size half-ton or something bigger the Bronco is bad at towing? uh?! Ok, fine, I'll admit, a fullsize F150 tows better than Bronco, so does an F350 dually and towtrucks and stuff.. ?

 

Girls, girls, you are BOTH pretty! Now everybody relax and let's all agree to have differing opinions about the towing application of the Ford full-size truck line! If you want the facts, Ford provided them when they built these trucks in the first place.

 

Thanks greystreak, I know I'm pretty, I feel pretty but noone ever tells me.

and again, I say do the SAS and this is coming from a hardcore TTB fan. Unless you wanna be a prerunner, do a lot of jumping and crazy stuff offroad and spend a lot of time at highspeed on rough terrain (anywhere in Indiana) then you'll appreciate the changes.