My 2005 F350 DRW has a bolt on adapter that installs onto what appears to be a normal brake rotor for an F250.

 

if you are doing this for functionality and not just for looks, sell your SRW and buy a DRW... I'm not kidding.

A SRW cannot be "converted" without tearing the whole thing apart and replacing springs, the master cylinder, the brake booster, the calipers, the rotors, the pads, the rear end, the driveshaft, the running lights, and the rear quarters...

...not to mention, once you've done this you've taken on liability for negligence should a failure cause property damage or death.

 

SRW and DRW 350s (and some 250s) use the same springs, master cylinder, brake booster, calipers, rear rotors, brake pads, and driveshaft.

We're talking about a rear axle swap, front rotor swap (and maybe front spindles, that's the last piece of the puzzle I'm working out), and adding fenders to the bed. Wiring in four marker lights isn't a major engineering feat. Doesn't sound like there's a need to "tear anything apart".

My truck is paid for and I don't want to trade it, I want to do this conversion both for functionality (stability) and because I like doing stuff like this.
Liability for swapping in factory parts? Kinda doubt it!
I guess I should be scared to death to drive my Jeep, with all the modifications to the frame and suspension. And no way should I even be allowed to sit on my motorcycle, it might cause my death with all of the mods I've done to it.

If you have something factual to add, please do so.

 

That seems to be the case for 4x4 trucks with unit bearings. The 2wd trucks use rotors with pressed in bearing cones and tapered roller bearings (old school style). You know, the annoying ones where you have to remove the spindle nut to remove the brake rotor with wheel bearings in it on the front instead of a slip on rotor.

 

I have a question....why do you HAVE to change the front end? Why not just leave it as is and dually the rear out?

 

You don't actually have to. But if you don't you'll have to run different wheels and carry two spares and not be able to do a complete tire rotation.

 

Who needs a spare when you have four wheels on the back? Lol

 

https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...kups_PRINT.PDF

That will show you every difference between what is on your current pickup and what is on the pickup you want... for instance, the brake booster on DRW is a hydraboost while the SRW (250 and 350) has vacuum boost (FACT).

 

I have 'thought' about doing a conversion as well, but not to the extreme as some of the pictures. Just a standard factory look. I contacted Arrowcraft (Michigan company) and this is the response I got from them....

Starting in '05 Ford made changes to the both single and dual wheels trucks that made converting the single much harder. They took both styles to a stock size 17" wheel, but left the single wheels w/ the previous bolt pattern (8x170mm) and changed the duallies to 8x200mm. These 2 bolt patterns are not really compatible. So that was the first problem. Next was in the aftermarket there was no proper combination of wheels 8x170 and 17". We couldn't drop to 16's as to get those to clear the brakes it made the truck over 8ft wide (not street legal). The problem was that w/ aftermarket alum. wheels you have to run an inner steel...no 17" steel wheels 8x170.

So we ended up having to have wheels made specifically to match the bolt pattern and hub diameter of the SRW but in a 17". So the only thing I have to offer for your truck is a complete kit. It consists of:

6 - 17" polished alum. dual wheels (we can run the 2 alum. in rear as we had the wheels made to be truly hub centric).
Front & Rear adaptors
Hardware
Wheel accessories

The kit before fenders is $1,961 with fenders it is $2,586.

......Thought this might shed some light on the subject. My pickup is not a daily driver, but I doubt I'll do the conversion. A dually can be a pita....my folks had a 94 2wd crew cab, long box, diesel and its only job was to pull a 38' gooseneck horse trailer. Talk about a pain to park. Hope this helps

 

Honestly if i were to ever do it, i would leave the front axle /rims as is. I never liked the convex outward look of the front wheels on dually trucks. As far as spares, i dont even have a spare on my f250. I keep a can of fixoflat and roll the dice that if i have an issue i can limp home via a roadside fixoflat fill up. I do need to get a spare though lol

 

Yeah, but it's awesome to be traveling down the road with big hips when those turds are flying at you on the wrong side of the road. Still have to chuckle every time I see one of them yank their wheel to the right Just sucks replacing 6 tires at once!!! 08 F350 CC SB Dually

 

That's an interesting FACT, since my truck has hydroboost. I don't feel like trying to figure out how to post a picture from my phone, but it sure as hell has the hydraulic booster.

And, I would also like to point out that I'm not trying to increase the GCWR of my truck (which would be the reason for different brakes), as I'm not a licensed chassis builder and can't do that. I just want the stability that the duals offer when towing on twisty mountain roads.

I have gone to multiple parts catalogs and the rear rotors, calipers, and pads, are the same. The master cylinder and booster are the same. The front calipers and pads are the same. The front springs are the same, and by counting leaves I have the next to highest rated rear springs on my truck already (which were also put on some of the DRW trucks). I'm not trying to argue with anyone and I don't really want your opinion on whether it's a good idea or not. I'm simply trying to figure out now if the knuckles and spindles are the same.

I do realize I could leave the front as is and run different wheels, but I'd much rather have the same wheels all the way around so I can do a 7 tire rotation with the spare in the mix.

If anyone knows where I can find a parts fiche that will show the knuckles and spindles for the 2003 model SRW and DRW 2wd trucks I would appreciate the info so that I can compare the part numbers. (Unless someone can just tell me that info).


EDIT: You must have been directing that to the OP since you posted a data sheet for 2010 trucks.
Maybe I should have started my own thread, I didn't mean to hijack someone else's. It just seemed silly to have another thread on the same topic.


.

 

Hydra-boost is not limited to dual wheel trucks or diesel for that matter. I've had 4 hydraboost equipped trucks.
99 F250 single wheel 7.3 diesel had hydra-boost
01 F350 dually 7.3 diesel had hydra-boost
89 Chevy dually 454 gas had hydra-boost
00 C3500 chassi single wheel 350 gas had hydra-boost

There were differences between my 250 and 350. But plenty of people dually single wheel trucks for stability. As long as you're not dually' ing the truck and expect higher cargo or towing capacity I don't see a issue.

 

Yes, mailman, I missed that you have a 2003. It was 2008, I believe, when they started making all SRW with vacuum boost and all DRW with hydraboost. Prior to that the brake system depended on the engine as diesels generally got hydraboost while most gasoline got vacuum. I was under the impression we were still talking about a '10.

For parts and illustrations head to Official Ford Parts Site | Buy Motorcraft & OEM Ford Parts Online | FordParts.com

 

The biggest issue comes if/when you sell it. Sure, you know what it's capable of and the limitations of the faux DRW, but should it leave your hands the next driver will more than likely not understand the difference.