As some of y’all know from helping me out, I am taking my (1996 F350 CC LB DRW ZF5 410:1) and doing a 4x4 conversion, so this will be the documentation of my adventure!


This is the “build truck” it was my dad’s truck, I bought it when he got to where the zf5 was too much for him and sold my SD 7.3
My goal is to have a clean reliable truck with a little pep in her step. We have a 20’ bumper pull for weekend trips around Tx, a boat, flatbed and a few other things that need to be hauled around but mainly it’s my daily.
So far I’ve done,
Bellowed Up-Pipes
Strictly’s E-Fuel
UVCH
Wicked Wheel 2
Deleted Pedestal
3” down pipe
And a few other odds and ends

 

This is the donor truck, CC LB ZF5 same 4.10 gears. The driveshafts should swap right over T-Case and tranny will swap right over! Pretty fortunate to find this, it’s got a good 7.3 in it that rats went to town on, good parts truck to have around! Got it for $2,200

 

I’ve tore down the Dana 60 and cleaned it up. I wanted to replace all the bearings and pinion seal but decided to just clean up the old ones (bearings) and put in new inner seals and hub seals and call it good. Found DRW 4x4 front hubs, $200 for the pair (have the # for a fella that found a pair for me in 30 min if anyone’s interested) Between the two sets of hubs I had one full set of bearings that looked decent. All the races seem to be in good shape!
This axle has sure gone thru one heck of a life, never seen anything so neglected!
The way I got the carrier out was by putting a shop towel between the ring and pinion and as I turned the pinion yolk and carrier it pulled the rag in, and pop went the carrier!

 

Here’s some stuff that you yankees could sure use up there where they put salt on the road or someone like me on the coast!
Corroseal $50 a gallon, I have never seen anything like this before, it paints on white like half and half creamer and as it dries it turns a beautiful gloss black! Rust converting metal primer, absolutely incredible! After this I’ll put on some Rust-Oleum and should be good for another 25 years
Got the axle shafts, spindles, hubs and knuckles all cleaned up and ready for paint.
The U- Joints we’re beyond trashed, the needle bearings turned into ball bearings in the caps

 

That back glass has any scratches? I might ****** them from you. That's all I'm missing to get my new fronts on and re tint them so they won't look purple.

 

For the conversion I am doing a Reverse Shackle Kit (RSK) With Super Duty springs.
I got the RSK from Sky’s Offroad, they were extremely helpful and always quick to respond via email when it was too late to call.
I purchased the following from them,
2” RSK for SD springs
3”-4” pitman arm
3” pan hard drop bracket
Adjustable pan hard/track bar
U Bolts
Dual shock mounts
Low Pro shackle hangars (to give the springs the most flex possible)
Sway bar extensions
Brake line brackets
and frame boxing kit

I ordered X Code springs from ATS, Jr was very helpful in choosing the springs, I ended up going with X codes for the little extra lift and being it’s a CC LB DRW with a Diesel engine I figure I could use a little more strength!

From Complete Performance I ordered Bilstien 5100 series shocks 4 for the front and 2 for the rear I also ordered brake lines from them too as they were out of stock at Sky’s when I placed the order. CP has pretty competitive prices for a lot of stuff, the shocks were 15$ cheaper a piece than anywhere else I could find.

I got all Moog ball joints and steering components from Amazon, fast shipping and free returns!

I will be using the 4” blocks off the donor truck for the time being but my plan is to do 11-16 rear springs and while I'm there a disk brake conversion.

I’ll also be taking the rear sway bar links off the donor

I think that’s about it, everything needs to be painted and then we’ll be ready to throw it all together!

 

Ill check next time I’m out freaky

 

I'm curious to see how this goes, there's a guy here at work with a dana 60 I'm thinking about buying it's the same gearing as I have

 

Im following it too lol we’ll see how it goes!
I would tell you that this would be pretty hard if you don’t have a donor truck. There are a lot of odds and ends that add up that are hard to account for in the beginning, but that being said if you can get it for a good deal then wahoo!

 

I think he wanted 1000 or less for the pair (front rear) but said he'd separate them and sell me just the front (it's a dodge Dana 60 - already coil spring) - said he might have a transfer case already too. I can't imagine it would be cheap to have the output shaft on my transmission changed.
I do hope the OP has good luck with his! I've seen a swap "guide" and it's a pita

 

Got the carrier slapped back in after new inner seals, I went with the old style, they worked well enough for 20 some years that’s good enough for me! The cheap seal tool was crap, it’s a one size fits all and it was a pain to use!
Inner Axle Side Seal Installation...
I buffed up all the surfaces with fine steel-wool before installing the seals and carrier

Cleaned the bearings and washed down the carrier with diesel to get rid of all the grime that it caught while out.
Cleaned the housing as well with paper towels
Used Motorcraft RTV on the inner seals and diff cover had some laying around from a turbo job Edit- apparently you’re not supposed to use that stuff (motorcraft) it’s more permanent than what I needed

I stamped the bearing caps to make sure I got them put back the same but upon further inspection they were already stamped with a vertical (N) and horizontal (N)….. Or a (Z) there’s always that one guy!

Im going to flush it out with oil once I have it all put together and drain it thru the plug while it’s out of the truck, no real reason, just want to make sure it’s decent
I snugged the bearing caps to 80 foot lbs I’ve read 65-85
The carrier went in with a 4x4 and hammer pretty easy
Primed and ready for paint!

 

That "motorshaft rtv" wasnt ta31 I hope. Never getting that diff cover off.

 

Personally I’d shoot for something a little easier, going over to dodge parts you’re going to have a lot of stuff that will need “fabricated” to go from Ford to dodge, driveshafts steering components dodge t-case to Ford transmission. But hey it’s possible for sure!

 

lookin good!

 

Sure was lol
How “never” are we talking??
Should I go yank it off while it’s wet?