4 hours huh? I don't know if I could do it in 4 hours though. I'll damn sure give it a shot. You've done a lot more of them that I have! I'm worried about having to drill the spring brackets off the top of the coil springs. Just out of curiosity is there some reason why it wouldn't work? That is bolting it all up as one piece? I took it off that way and it was just as simple as take the steering rod off of the pitman arm, unbolt the shocks and sway bar mounts and then unbolt the brackets that hold the leaf springs and it just fell off. Of course it was on a bent frame so it was a little wiggling to get the bolts out.

Also, does the whole front I-beam suspension come off as one piece or is it a one piece at a time thing? Joel said you had to make a really deep socket to take the springs off because the nuts are on the bottom. Is this true? Or does the I-beam come off with the spring still attached to it? I actually have no idea how to take the I-beam suspension off

I already have rear 4-in lift blocks and longer u-bolts from Joel's parts truck. I took all that off and we were scrapping the frame. His truck looked good with the 4 inch rear lift.
f it doesn't need it I won't use it because it's hard enough to get to my toolbox as it is because I'm short.

 

Tristan, it sounds like you may be ordering new brake hoses/lines. There are two different kinds for the driver side based on what fitting you have for your brake line at the top of your wheel well on the driver side. One is a T and the other is a straight fitting.

I will post more details and pictures tomorrow when I am on my laptop. That way if/when you go to install the old or new lines, you will know what you are looking for ahead of time.

 

I thought about using the ones that came off of the parts truck but, they held the weight of the differential up for a minute or so and I don't know how strong those lines are. Although they look perfectly fine they had a lot of weight on them. Someone told me the factory hoses were long enough. Some other thread I was reading somewhere. But even so I guess it's not worth taking a chance and being down a day waiting on hoses. I hate it because I just replaced the hoses on the front of the truck last year was new. I remember that my driver side had a t fitting on it. When I replace the hoses there was a bunch of extra slack in them. I may not need to replace them.

In the very bottom right of the picture you can see the t fitting a little bit. This is the driver side.

 

The hardest part is removing the rivets for the coil buckets. The fastest way is plasma cutter or oxy/acetylene, but skill is required to not cut your frame. Some people like to use a cutoff wheel and cut a cross in each rivet, then use air chisel to finish removing heads. A 7in angle grinder and aggressive wheel makes short work too.

You’ll remove shocks and sway bar, unbolt the radius arms from frame brackets and the I-beam bolts and that whole assembly comes out in one piece. It comes out fast.

 

Nobody will be open tomorrow because it's New years and nobody was open today except Walmart so I got the only 75w90 gear oil that Walmart had left. It was more than I wanted to spend but I'm sure it's really good oil.


I also painted my locking hubs and took my pitman arm bolt off the steering gear and counted my splines. 32. I just need to get a E99 4x4 pitman arm and I'll be good on that. Also some steering gear seals.

 

Seems easy enough. Only thing that looks / sounds annoying are those giant rivets. I have a 4-in grinder. I've been meaning to pick up an air chisel anyway. I'll make do somehow.

 

I've been in the same boat tool wise. I was working on a Ranger not an F-250, but I imagine the frame rivets are about the same. Torch or plasma is probably best option, but I didn't have either. What I did have is a 4' or 4.5" grinder like you've got. I tried the the cutoff wheel and air chisel, didn't work for me, but may have been due to not having enough air or big enough air hammer. The regular grinding wheel was way too slow for me. What I found to work best is a course flap sanding disk on the grinder. Like one of these:


I don't recall the exact grit of what I used but it was course, no finer than the 80 grit. I got them at either Harbor Freight, Lowes/HD, or Tractor Supply. I've used them from all three and they work well.

Once the head is ground down flush, time for a punch and big hammer to knock the rest out.

 

That absolutely works. The coarsest grit you can get is best.

If you can drive rivets out while HOT from grinding, they should be easier.

I haven’t done this job for a couple of years, so I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few details. But, I’ll start one on Monday and plan to document it in a way others can follow. I actually talked to another customer the other day who wants a 4wd swap, so I have (2) to do in the coming weeks.

 

I know you’re kidding about that but don’t rush any jobs, especially the first time you are doing it. Take the time to be methodical. This is what happens when you don’t:

 

I see you are already aware of the T-fitting vs. straight through fitting of the hoses. Sometimes people make the mistake of not checking before ordering hoses and Murphy steps in to delay the work.

I thought I knew where the pictures were at, but I cannot find them and we are headed out the door shortly. No matter though as you know what I was/am referring to. There does appear to be a lot of slack in that line, it might work for the new 4x4 setup.

I have to commend you Tristan, for your determination. You started out looking for advice on a ball joint job and are now doing a full 2WD to 4WD swap. I guess we will no longer be able to watch you make a run or 3 at the SSJ Ranch hill because you kept getting stuck with the 2WD.

Keep up the good work sir, you are getting there.

 

Brake hoses should never hold weight. I would definitely change them out based on this. They can break down inside and allow internal material to act like a check valve blocking flow. I’ve had it happen and not release causing a sticking brake.

 

Of course I was kidding! I will have 2 days set aside for this job and I'm hoping I can finish it within those two days!

 

I will keep all of that in mind! Grinding wheels, cutting wheels, flap discs, air hammer / chisel, and anything else that can fit within the back of my truck and I might be able to get the rivets off in less that an hour a piece!🤣
Kidding aside, I will follow through as you do your swap and in the meantime I will be getting things ready for mine!

 

That's what I thought too! I won't reuse the old ones. As stated up there somewhere^^^^ i think the ones that are on my truck that I replaced last year are long enough. Of course I will have to see once I get the axle in there but I might just get lucky! I did read on another power stroke forum on a different website that he factory brake line will work but you might have to put a slight bend in the metal with a pipe bender to make it want to sit flush or something. Luckily I have a pipe bender from doing the hutch mod in the fuel tank and from making my power steering line the other day! And that could be why these calipers were stuck in the first place! I might hold on to these calipers that came off of that parts truck and rebuild them just because I've never done it before and, why not!? There might not be anything wrong with them. It could be the hoses were messed up. They're not even Rusty!

 

I can't remember but I may have bought a 4x4 hose when I replace them if that's what they had. I have no idea as that was the first job I believe I did to this truck when I got it. Or the parts store guy could have mixed up a 4x4 hose with what I was getting. No clue!

Thank you very much for the compliment, you guys are too nice to me, Truly!

You will probably get to see it one more time!
It's probably going to be a bit before I can find a transfer case, so more than likely I will be driving up to this next get-together in February with a Bluetooth driveshaft!
That being said I'll put on a show for you guys again! I'll try to get a better running start and not let off until I'm out of the hole this time


Pulling the transmission out should be pretty easy compared to the first time I did it so I'm not worried about that. I will probably take the transmission and transfer case to a shop and pay them to put it together. Although with instructions I feel like I could do it but, that is an expensive mistake that could be made!