I know this topic has been ran into the ground by everyone wanting to turn their 2wd into a 4x4...yes I know its better to sell your 2wd and just buy a 4x4 but I want a challenge,I have a perfectly good 86 Bronco that just needs an engine but after reading all the posts of converting the 2wd I think I want to give it a shot after all its completely a bolt in job as the frames are almost identical with the exception of the passenger side frame rail not being boxed in, that's why I'm here asking a question today,I know some people who have done this exact conversion who have not boxed in the frame rail and it leads me to wonder if that could cause problems down the road? Could the frame rail crack from not having that extra reinforcement or will it not really matter if you don't abuse your truck? I have an 88 2 wd that Ithought might be fun to "convert" with my Bronco parts... How would you "box" in the passenger side frame rail like the factory 4x4's? Only thing I can come up with is a piece of c channel

 

It won't be a problem unless you are really wheeling it hard and/or you put a big, giant Ranch Hand FER on it.

 

I agree with Jas, it's no issue. I converted the '92 in my sig from 2wd to 4wd last summer. Got my parts from a 1990 F150 with a blown engine and just took the entire drivetrain and swapped it into my '92.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the conversion, since I obviously have the experience of doing this.

 

Hey of you don't mind I'd really appreciate that, it would be really beneficial to actually visit with someone who's actually done this....I also want to make the 4x4 lights on the dash work aswell,I want it to appear as it came from the factory a 4x4 and not a hackjob

 

Ford would do anything to save a buck. That's how companies work, they try to save as much money as possible but still give a good product. So do you really think that Ford would put the time and money into engineering and developing their frame set up just to have a useless portion of it? The boxed in part is there for a reason, and if Ford saw fit to put it there, then I would go ahead and box it in on the 2wd. But that's just my opinion

 

i agree with you on that too,i guess all you can use is "c" channel unless theres something i dont know about

 

If you really find it necessary to box in that side of the frame, then by all means go for it. But I didn't even mess with that. I have ridden my truck pretty damn hard on some trails while off roading, and I have had no issues. I'm only 18 and I accomplished this fairly easily. Air powered tools make it a heck of a lot easier, especially when you live in the Rust Belt.

 

The only problem I'm seeing is the fact I don't have any air tools or a garage so this is going to be a "driveway" project lol....wish you didn't live so far away or I'd offer to Pay you to come help me! I'm just going to be a one man operation

 

I converted mine several years ago, did not box the frame, and have had no problems. Sure, Ford did it for a reason, but I am saying they built the frame to be tougher and last longer than many of us require.

 

How do you get the 4 low and 4 hi lights to work in the dash? I've heard the wiring is all there on these year models but I've also heard there isn't any wiring...I'm ocd so if I do this everything has to look and perform like factory or it will drive me nuts!

 

Help is really nice... it was kinda hard just getting the TTB into place with the help of my stepdad. Which he was a mechanic in the military for about 10 years so that also really sped up the process of converting my truck, and just having the necessary tools available. I hope you have a second vehicle, because as easy as it may sound, it can be very time consuming. Especially if you are replacing all of the parts in the front end like I did, ball joints, wheel bearings, differential fluid, u-joints, etc.

On my '92, there was a wiring plug attached to the transmission crossmember with a cap over it. I took the cap off and hooked it up to the wiring plug from the transfer case. My 4x4 light in the dash still doesn't work, for whatever reason. But I mean it's not very hard to tell if you are in 4wd with a manual shift transfer case

 

On mine the wiring behind the dash was there, what was not there was the wiring harness for the xfer case under the truck (but minnesota fisherman says his had it so maybe the later trucks did). If yours is like mine you will need the harness that goes to the trans from the 4x4 donor truck, it will have the xfer case harness with it. On my trucks the bulbs were also not there so I had to pull the instrument cluster and add those.

 

minnesotafisherman will back me up on this, what is fun about this conversion is how easy it is juxtaposed against how many people on this forum will tell you it can't be done, you should just sell your truck and get a 4x4, it's not worth it, yada, yada, yada.

 

Oh yea I understand the wanting to say ha! I did it to all the critics who say it isn't worth the trouble....let me just run something else by you guys and get an outside opinion...I also have a super clean 78 f100 long bed 2wd and I have access to a rusted out 78 f150 4x4 with a good chassis and I know Alot of guys take these 73 to 79 trucks like mine and put them on aa 4x4 chassis of a similar year...basically unbolt the cab and bed and swap bodies....which do you think would be less work and would be the overall neatest truck as a 4x4 the 78 or the 88?

 

Man only you can decide which one you would rather have or which is the "neatest".