Hi, I have a 94 E-150 hi-top conversion that I was thinking about converting to four wheel drive. I have a NP271 transfer case already, my question is the front axle. Most threads I've seen about this conversion say to swap in 3/4 or 1-ton axles since swapping the TTB from a F-150 is a pain. Wouldn't it be easier to swap in a mid-90's Dodge 1500 front axle since the bolt pattern is the same? No new wheels and only one axle to buy seems to be a better option. The suspension would have to be modified either way so I would think that's a wash. Any insight, opinions, or experience is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Vic

 

E-150 vans are heavy, ~7000lbs loaded. The 1500 uses a Dana 44, with a GAWR of 3600lbs and a GVWR of around 5000lbs. It will work, but it would be easily overloaded. I would get a Dana 60 from an F250 or F350 (or Excursion). While you are in there, jack the 10.5 from the rear.

UJOR can help you get them both attached to your van. Expect additional work no matter what option you go for.

You are gonna pay around the same (i can get an 00-03 F250 pickups front and rear axles for about 600 bucks out here) and you are building the vehicle yourself. You might as well select the heavier duty option.

Also, to fit your NP271 you are gonna need a 4wd e4od. They don't convert. Your fuel tank will get in the way, so you will have to trim it (ujor has a pretty awesome kit to help with this) and weld on a plate. You will have to trim the crossmember unless you want to lift the whole van 6+ inches. You will have to reroute the exhaust a bit too. Then you have to connect the linkages. I used a cable style, much easier though perhaps not as 'awesome.' Still need to have custom shafts made, rewire the speedometer, and rework the ABS.

The 4wd trans was ~2.5k. I'm into the axles for about 1800 (I decided to rebuild them..) The transfer case was about 1k. Another k for 4 leaf springs, plus ordering mounts, plus fabricating steering...

I'm about 6000 into it and this project is a long way from finished.

 

You CAN convert a 2wd E4OD to 4wd. It involves a complete teardown, changing the output shaft,and reassembling the trans. The extension housing also needs to be changed. It's a lot of work, but a lot less than $2,500.

 

You would also need a few special tools and might as well rebuild while you are up to your nuts in it (his van is quite old...)

I elected to get a new torque converter and replaced the aux transmission cooler with a slightly larger unit. Mostly because the old one was damaged, I'm fairly certain Ford knew what they were doing when they sized the original.

The transmission itself was actually only about 1300 bucks, but I ate the 500 core charge. Shipping and the new TC were not cheap.

Hes gonna have to lower his transmission to get clearance for the tcase. At least I did on my project 95. I also used the opportunity to modify the engine mounts and set myself up with better angles for the rear driveline. I forgot about having to remove all the spring perches from the axles and weld on new ones, but that has to be done too. You will want to properly calculate your pinion angle (eyeballing it is no good).

In my case, i also spent about 600 bucks having my front Dana 60 'retubed.' This allowed the differential to be rotated upwards without screwing with the steering geometry (no more so than i did before.) In turn, i was able to use a Double Cardan (AKA CV, though technically incorrect) drive shaft between the t-case and front axle.

Edit (spelling and correct bad terminology)

 

If it's going to be $6K+ I might as well just get an extended cab 4x4 F-150 and be that much ahead. I don't get how a solid axle Dana 44 is less capable than the twin beam ifs. It's a piece of metal with a spindle on the end. We use it for taking the boat to the lake and camping at state parks here in michigan. There are rustic and off the beaten path campgrounds but the trails going to them are not friendly to a van with 4 inches of ground clearance.

 

The Front IFS on the E-series can be rated up to 5000lbs (in the E450, for example.) The 44 probably CAN handle it, but its not RATED to handle it. I have seen some early 4x4 vans running 44s, but the converters have switched to 60s now. They probably had a reason.

As far as cost, I am sure it could be done cheaper if you didnt do as much engineering as I have. I'm building the vehicle to be as happy at 80mph on the road as it is at 3mph pushing over a boulder.