I know this subject has been covered countless times so sorry if i offend anyone but I’ve read about 30 different ones and can’t find the answers I’m looking for. I know some people are gonna say just buy a 4x4 but that’s out of the question, these trucks are still 8-15k in my area (San Diego) so if I can convert it for half that I will be happy.

finding a crashed or blown up f250 is even hard haven’t seen any 4x4s in the last year almost, but there are some cheap excursions,
does everything bolt right up from an excursion?
What will or won’t work from excursions ?

my truck is a 2001 f250 v10 crew cab,(4 door) standard bed,

if I did find a blown up truck does it have to be the exact same truck for the driveshaft and everything to work? I obviously want to get the truck or excursion that the most parts are gonna work for me so I have to buy the least amount of other stuff.

I need 4x4 for my property, this thing is pathetic if my dirt is wet at all, even on mud terrain 37” tires completely air’d down to almost nothing, it’s useless. My 2wd navigator did better than this thing. Which is what I traded for it. Which I drove 2 hours to trade for a 4x4 f250, but when I got there the guy had this 2wd I noticed right away. Didn’t even want to trade but even a 2wd f250 is worth way more than a navigator, I couldn’t sell that Navigator for 2k bucks. I tried.
But also want to swap out this transmission because it barely stays in Park, my son was playing in there and yanked on the gear shifter one day and it just popped right out and rolled back into my wife’s suv! Luckily she was behind me. So now I just chalk the wheels every time I park it.

any help is much appreciated thanks for reading

 

As an option keep in mind a 4x4 is a 2x4 unless you have lockers or LSD diffs, and your 2wd is a 1x4 basically. Right rear and front left is all you'll get. I had big plans for my 99 V10 CC 4x4 but after getting it stuck twice now in some mud and using my wifes 04 4runner to pull it out I gave up. Im back to my jeep and a trailer to cut firewood in the forest. I also used my wifes rig to pull a 2000 F350 4x4 with a lowboy and a couple restored JD tractors on it when he pulled off the pavement to park for our local parade. 15K lbs of American iron yanked free by a jap suv with a 4.7 V8. If you need that truck for work or towing, I get it,thats why I hang onto my 99, if not find a lighter more capable 4x4 thats not a 7000 boat anchor in the mud. Just my $.02 worth.

 

Don't use excursion axles unless they fall into your lap. Best option is to find later super duty axles and base the build around those, lots of info on those swaps on here and other forums. Of course, if a donor truck of your vintage is punching you in the face, go for that too.

 

Excursions use a front Dana 50 ( which is basically a Dana 60 housing with a Dana 44 sized ring gear), whereas superduty trucks use an actual Dana 60.
LOTS more locker and re-gear options for a Dana 60 compared to a Dana 50.

I even swapped out my Excursion’s stock Dana 50 front for a junkyard superduty Dana 60. Paid $250 for the D60 at a local (central Texas) junkyard, the original D50 is slowly sinking in the dirt in a corner of my backyard because it’s literally worth more as scrap than as a used front axle.
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Hmm. Too bad I wasn’t closer… I’d take that leaf d50 off your hands for you for a sas on a gmt400.

One man’s junk….


OP, my local junkyard has a set of ‘06 SD (d60/10.5) axles, if I remove everything I want less the axles them selves, for $1,000 Cdn / $700 USD. For an example of pricing.

4r100? Don’t forget about transmission as well. Output shaft will need to be changed.

 

ive had that axle posted for sale a bunch of places, only offer I’ve had was for $75 if I delivered it an hour away,,,so it’s still sinking in the dirt.
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Personally, If I was gonna go through the work of converting to 4wd, I wouldn't be using a 99-04 leaf spring axle. I've seen whole 05+ front frame cut offs on FB market for under $1000 that have everything you need to swap an axle under the front of your truck. I've read it's pretty much a bolt on deal with the 99-04 2wd trucks, but I've never done it.

As for the trans, I'd probably try to find a compatible 4x4 4r100/tcase combo and have it gone through at a shop before stabbing it in. Then figure out the driveshaft situation

 

to answer your root question. any 2000-2005 Excursion suspension will fit any 1999-2004 Superduty. the Excursion sits ~2" lower than a Superduty. So you would need to factor in a lift if using the Excursion leafs. Which I'd highly recommend avoiding. They are absolute trash. Use leafs from a Superduty.

Rear Axle: 99-04 (05 X) - The rear axles are 100% interchangeable. Zero difference except drivers caliper position on early 1999/2000 models vs later models. Depends on the donor rig wheelbase and engine combo for driveshaft need. Measure and compare. You already have a 10.5 sterling...so besides driveshaft, axle not needed for your application.

Front Axle: 99-04 (05 X) - front axle and driveshaft are interchangeable across the board. As noted above, the X will have a D50. What they don't mention is that many 1999-2001 Superduty trucks also had a D50 axle up front. Only F350 DRW was guaranteed to have the D60. Wasn't until 2002 that the Superduty went exclusively with the D60. The D50 will bolt up just fine with zero issues. You won't really have a problem with the D50 until you start to actually go what I call "hard" offroad. For the occasional "I need 4x4 because the grass is slick", boat ramps, mild mudding...a D50 is plenty sufficient.

If you find a good donor gasser Excursion look at the axle tag. Many came with 4.30 gears (and limited slip) when paired with the V-10. Would be very worth your while to swap a set of these over to your truck if you find one.
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Here is a trick for when you have 1 tire fire and need extra traction. Click the e-brake on a few clicks. It will create drag on the free-spinning tire and transfer power to the opposite tire. Old school trick that isn't talked about much anymore. For the swap, I would swap to a 05+ coil spring setup. Just remember you need front and rear axles because they are 4" wider than 99-04's. They turn better and have a better ride. it's a 100% bolt-up as well. Just need the donor truck. But can't always be picky. It's an easy swap going leaf or coils. Hardest part is figuring out the t-case. I personally would swap a manual case from a XL model in

 

Man thank you all for the responses!! A lot of good info, so basically **** that excursion hahaha I’m gonna keep looking for a blown up superduty, hopefully I can find an 05+. swap front and rear axles, but if a 99-04 falls in my lap I will only need the front axel? And my current rear will be fine?
and obviously the trans, t case and driveshaft.

that’s a good trick with the e brake I’ve never heard of that but definitely gonna try it, would a rear locker help me at all you think? Or don’t waste my money? It would at least fix the one tire fire, I want to take the family camping I’m not gonna be doing any rock crawling, definitely not going to the rubicon or anything crazy, so maybe invest in a locker and winch for now? until I find a doaner truck? But I’m assuming the locker is different for the 05+ and mine, so I probably need to know which doaner truck I’m gonna use.

truck was having a low rpm misfire and when I took out #4 spark plug on driver side a threaded insert came out with it! And one had some water in it, misfire is gone but now I’m worried about that plug.

 

Shouldn't be, the last time I checked all Sterling 10.5's use the same locker. For a general all-around type truck, I like the Detroit-Eaton TrueTrac. Technically the TrueTrac isn't a locker, it's a helical gear limited slip, but it just flat works everywhere, plays nice on the street and when towing too. I like them so much I have one in the rear of my Excursion and one in the rear of my Dodge truck .The Excursion also has a lunchbox style locker in the front Dana 60, so it does pretty well off-road for what it is, it certainly isn't going to keep up with rock buggy, but it's way better than most would think.

And if you're not changing the gear ratio, a rear traction aid (locker or limited slip) is an easy driveway install (messy / smelly for sure, but easy) with the only special tool needed being a dial indictor with a magnetic base (available cheap on Amazon or Harbor Freight)




As for winches (probably get some hate for this), for non-hardcore guys that aren't using their winch every day, the Harbor Freight Badlands series of winches are kinda hard to beat for the price (see link below). I have three of their 12K pound winches and all have been great for me.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automo...ope-59407.html
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Yeah I heard some good stuff about those winches also, from some off-road old timers at my work. Haha
and I will check out that locker.

I did find some complete axel drops on eBay, front and rear for 900 bucks 400 for shipping tho, from an 06 superduty, 3.73.
I want to put like a 4” lift on it anyways so would I still need a bunch of suspension ****?
or mainly just driveshaft, t case and tranny?

 

Yeah, you'll still need a bunch of suspension **** too considering you're trying to convert from 2wd to 4x4. (and of course transmission, transfer case, and driveshafts too).

About the only thing you already have suspension wise is the coil buckets and I'm not even sure those are the right ones. There is a reason the VAST majority say that if you want a 4x4, you should just buy a truck that's 4x4. Converting a 2wd is certainly possible, but it's rarely (if ever) the cheaper way even not counting your labor as part of the cost. That's why 4x4 conversions are generally reserved for trucks where the owner has some other sentimental value or attachment to the particular truck.
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yep, anything from 99-04 you will only need the front suspension components and t-case. They are identical with what you have already in the rear

the 2wd buckets are different from 4wd buckets. Some people have used the 2wd buckets and just repositioned to higher on the frame. But "making it work" isn't worth the effort to me. Converting to 4x4 (leaf or coil) doesn't require drilling a single hole. it's 100% bolt-on. I've seen several complete donor trucks locally (99-07) for under $2k. Which is a good deal really considering they also had the offset 05+ rims that'd be needed when swapping to coil. I'm holding out for a 08-16 truck for my rig. That way I can convert to coil spring and upgrade rear bumper/dash/sheet metal all at the same time. Almost had a 2012 last month. Guy sold it before I could find a trailer.

 

In the brief bit of research I did before deciding to stay with leaf springs I read about one person intentionally using 2wd buckets to supposedly give them more lift (truck was already a 4x4, they were just coil spring converting it).

I went with the simplest/ most reliable setup I could think of , a mechanically injected Cummins 12 valve, manual transmission, manual transfer case, mechanical limited slip rear , mechanical locker up front and kept leaf springs all the way around. The dang excursion is basically an old farm truck as far a running gear goes (simple and reliable) , but has heated leather memory seats and dual air conditioning (normal 05 limited excursion stuff) inside. The only real downside to front leaf springs is turning radius. Articulation and ride quality can be tuned with spring rate and shocks on leaf front ends to make them articulate and ride pretty nice, but there's really no getting around the turning radius advantage that front coils offer (which really helps in parking lot situations).
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