I have a set of wheel adapters on they way. They will make up for the offset. They are 1.25" thick and convert the 5 x 5.5" to a 5 x 4.5"

 

Got some wheel adapters today to space the high offset rims out a bit as well as adapt from 5x5.5" to 5x4.5". The just kept on plugging away at boxing the frame and got the rear a-arm bushings mounted. I will most likely build a cross member between the two bushings once I figure out where the motor is going to sit.

Still a few more welds to make on the frame but it's coming along. Just had to quite since it's like 2am. I was falling asleep in the shop.

 

While my 4 year old daughter took her nap I finished te welding and threw on some paint. Also got started cleaning off the aluminum parts with some wheel cleaner acid stuff I found.

 

While i typically dont like lowered trucks i really like your build. Its always nice to see factory parts that can be moved from year to year to make a nice ride. Nothing beats the looks of an old ride coupled with the ride and amenities of a modern car.

 

Engine mounts made easy by Pick-n-Pull, The answer to my problem was in a 77 Ford 4x4 with a 300 under the hood!

 

Damn that does make it easy! I'm guessing with the shackle/hanger drop in the back it will have a pretty steep rake to it? If the CV IFS does drop it 5", it's been my experience that shackles only drop the rear 1". I'd be real surprised if you get 3" out of shackles and hangers, even though they claim 4". Didn't see if you measured it, but I'd appreciate how much the rear actually dropped for some decisions of my own.

Edit- actually I think I found it in the first post - only dropped the rear two inches?

 

Yeah about 2" in the rear on the outermost bolt holes. If it isn't enough then axle flip and c-notch prolly in the future. We'll see how it sits once the engine and hood/fenders are back on.

 

If I was doing this swap I'd be tempted just to pull the brake setup off a 5x4.5 explorer and use 4.5" axles. discs + matching lug pattern.

If you're cool with an 8.8 i suppose you could pull the whole rear, but I'm not sure what the width comes out to.

 

I didn't get out to take measurements on the Explorer 8.8's but I know a few folks have just swapped the whole rear end out.

With the offset of the wheels the spacers worked out great giving me the right look and fit with the new rims. Plus it was alot less work, haha.

 

I put the entire 95 Explorer 8.8 in mine, has trac loc with 3.73's, disc brakes and sway bar and since I was flipping the axle anyhow I thought I might as well swap out the factory rear. But it is narrower, with my 17x10.5 wheels I still added two inch wheel spacers to each side.

 

How wide are the wheels and what size tires are you running?

 

8.5" wide, 255/55/18's

 

Just so you know, I'm mostly waiting to see how yours turns out before deciding to do mine or not. No pressure, lol!

 

This swap has been done in many bumps. The trucks are basically the same. There is plenty of information out there for other years. I do believe this is one of if not the first dent documented online.

Here is my bump with the swap

 

Mainly wanting to see how low his comes out compared to where mine sits now. Ideally I only want to drop the front 2-3 inches. I know I could build the subframe spacers on the bottom of the frame instead of the top. I also worry about the highly positive offset wheels being "sucked in" to the fenderwells too much. A lot of the pics I see look that way. I guess I could always run spacers. If the OP could take some pics like my "New truck" thread that would be just awesome. I haven't seen really good all-around pics of a dentside with the CV swap like that yet. I don't want my truck to look like a "lowrider" and I also have a steep-*** driveway approach at my house.