I've been wanting to do a solid axle swap in my truck for years and finally located a king pin Dana 60 with 3.54 gears last fall for a reasonable price. I had planned on doing it as a winter project but my plans changed when I decided to clean and paint the frame while I had everything apart. Since I don't have a heated shop, that meant waiting for warmer weather so I finally got started at this swap about a month ago.

First, the old TTB. Years ago I installed a Tuff Country 2 1/2" lift. While it did ride decent it still didn't give me quite as much lift as I wanted. This truck is only street driven so a D60 is complete overkill, but I love the look of a solid axle under these trucks.





And yes, dirt floors suck. Big time. I'm hoping to remedy that later this summer with a new shop/garage.

Another TTB for the parts stash. I have about five of these taking up space in my shed from various trucks I've parted out over the years.





When I had the body off the frame about 17 years ago I cleaned and sprayed the frame with plain old Rust-Oleum black. It didn't hold up very well...the frame still had surface rust under the paint so most of it flaked and peeled off over the years. I decided now is the time to do something with it before starting to put it back together, so I scraped and wire brushed all the loose scale off that I could, then washed it well with lots of soapy water. There's several different paint over rust products out there and after lots of research I decided to give Chassis Saver a try rather than POR-15. They're very similar but some people swear that CS is better. I'm not going to endorse either product but I'm very pleased with how easy it went on and how tough it is once dry. Like POR-15 though, CS is not UV resistant so if you don't want it to fade you'll have to topcoat it. I applied two coats of CS about three hours apart, then while the second coat of CS was still tacky I topcoated it with Rust-Oleum Topside marine paint in gloss black, which is UV resistant.



With all that out of the way, time to start re-assembly. I used Sky Off Road's track bar bracket because out of all the choices it looked like it was the most robust. Since the D60 was not an option in '84, the holes are not punched for the track bar like on late '85 and newer trucks. The top left hole is already there though from the TTB axle pivot bracket, so I put that bolt in to hold the track bar bracket in place and drilled the other two.



I did a lot of research on different lift options. While I'm sure the RSK rides better than lift springs, I don't like the idea of boxing and welding my frame. I'm good with a welder but I've always avoided making permanent modifications to any of my trucks because I want the option to change it back to stock if I ever want to. So, I chose the Skyjacker 4" lift with new springs for the rear as well instead of lift blocks. I also sourced a used set of factory F350 spacer blocks for the rear springs from another FTE member. As an FYI: there IS a front and back to the front springs as well as the rear. The rear springs will only fit one way because the bushings are sized differently, but the fronts will fit either way. I didn't realize I had managed to put both front springs in backwards until I rolled the axle into place and found it was too far back. Oops.



I also wanted dual steering stabilizers. While not necessary, I love the look. Skyjacker's dual stabilizer kit mounts the outboard end to the frame with the shocks running diagonally to the drag link. I didn't like that particular layout, so I re-engineered it to move the stabilizers to the stock location behind the tie rods but stacked on top of each other. To do this I had to build my own brackets. After lots of cutting, drilling and grinding; this was the result. The one in the foreground started as a piece of 3/8 x 4" angle which I cut down on one side. I used a die grinder with a carbide burr to make the slotted holes. The other piece is 1/4 x 1 1/4 x 2 angle welded to a piece of 1/4 x 3 flat. That piece mounts under the lower U bolt plate on the right side. I goofed while drilling holes so there's an extra hole in it.



I also installed an ARB diff cover, purely for looks. Its a very tight fit, I had to grind a small notch in the side of the front U bolt for clearance.

 

And here she is...just rolled it out of the shed this morning for the first time.








A few things worth mentioning: I ordered a complete lift kit for a '86 F350. Everything fit except the front shocks. Apparently they changed the upper shock mount around that time and by the time I realized my mistake I could no longer return them. I ended up buying another pair of front shocks for a lifted F250. Also, I have a NP 208 transfer case. D60 trucks use a double cardan front driveshaft with a unique yoke. While I did find the correct shaft and yoke for the swap, the yoke did not fit my 208. The shaft diameter is the same but the spline count is different. I do have several 1356 cases but rather than swap transfer cases I just re-used my original front shaft. It fits but it does run pretty close to the cross member with the extra lift. This truck is never taken off road anyway, its strictly a show truck/toy so I haven't even had the transfer case locked in for many years. If I were going to use it in 4x4 I would probably swap the transfer case and use the correct yoke and shaft, but I don't forsee any problems running it this way for now.

 

Looks good! Great job.

 

I just re-did my suspension lift over the last wo weekends. I removed the Skyjacker 6" suspension lift (with rear blocks) and replaced with Skyjacker "Soft Ride" 4" spring lift (w/ rear spring lift). I replaced all the bushings and front and rear shackles while everything was apart. I also have a 3 inch body lift so plenty of tire clearance for 37s.


That was on a concrete pad, and it was still a pain. Must have been real tough moving your floor jack around on the dirt.


My truck has lengthened drive shafts - did you need to lengthen yours.


Also my rear drive line angles are off a little due to the lift. The rear springs angle the pinion to the same angle as driveshaft (about 10 degrees) but the transfer case yoke (engine centerline) is about 0 degrees. I'm thinking of getting a new rear driveshaft with the double caradan joint (CV). The pinion angle to driveshaft angle is perfect for this type of driveshaft (with out CV driveshaft, transfer case yoke angle and pinion angle should be the same (or with 3 degrees)).


The mismatch in U-joint operating angles may explain the slight vibration I get around 40mph. I've been running with the 6" suspension lift for many years without any major issues or serious vibrations, but this time I want to do everything right and correct some things that were overlooked on the first lift.


Nice looking truck!

 

I have an air bumper jack that I did most of the lifting with. About the only place I needed the floor jack was to lower the two halves of the TTB out. It obviously doesn't roll very well on dirt. I had wheels on the D60 so I just rolled that in under the truck and lowered it down on top of it.

I didn't have any issues with length on the driveshafts. The rear shaft is pulled out only slightly farther on the slip yoke from where it was before. The rear springs have wedges at the bottom to help correct the pinion angle. Hopefully I won't have any issues with vibrations. I don't want to drive it very far until I get the alignment checked and I have that scheduled for Wednesday morning.