I have a 1971 f100 4x4 with a 9" rear and dana 44 high pinion out of a 76 f100 coil front. I want to swap in a dana 60 front. I am thinking of buying a 79 f350 4x4 and swapping in the dana 60's. Can anyone tell me where in the Fresno California area I can go to get the leaf dana 60 front out of the 79 f350 converted to fit my coil front ? I may not use the 60 rear I have aquired a dana 70 rear disc out of a 2002 excursion . All help greatly appreciated.

 

I think Off Road Unlimited sells a kit to convert a Dana 60 leaf sprung axle to coils. I haven't looked for about a year but I think Fabritech might make that kit.

 

If you find a 79 F350 4x4 why not just keep the whole truck and not bother swaping in anything? I would love to have a 79 F350 but these things are rare.

 

James duff sells the wedges to weld on the axle. If you have money to burn I am pretty sure dynatrac will make you one.

I did my own install of my front 60 into my 78 bronco. Took a while but I am very happy how everything I did turned out.

 

sell the excursion axle and make some BLING. You'd have to carry two different spares. the SD axles have metric lugs...

 

bre's right about the different lug patterns...they changed over in 99! I too would just keep the 79 f350 but if you are still looking to hack the truck up i would take it to a competent machine shop to do it right. they should know how it goes together. but expect to shell out some $$$'s! If i was you I would toy around with it and try to do it yourself! it isn't as hard as it sounds.

-cutts-

 

Goodold71,

If I understand correctly, youre looking for a shop to do the work, right?

If so, I can suggest some places not to go. FIRST is VanNess Auto. If you want the skinny on THAT, I'll be happy to fill you in, and I can show you an example of their work. It's a "rebuilt" 400 in my '79 Bronco that's sitting my driveway. Ever seen cylinder walls scratched? How about worn cam and main bearings? Scuffed pistons? What about an engine bored .060 over? Well, I have all that. ugh.

Anyhow. 4wheel parts would be able to do that sorta thing, but I'm fairly sure you'd have to do alllll of the research on how to do it yourself.

There's a place in Clovis called Fresno AutoHaus. The owner, Derryl does alot of wheeling in his own vehicle. So do some of his partners. They primarily work on high end cars, but they know what they are doing when it comes to some custom work like what youre doing.

Marlin Crawler would also be able to at least point you in the right direction, even though he deals with Toys.

If you decide to do this, I'm in Fresno, and I'd be interested in following your work, if you dont mind.

My Email is david.aswad@us.army.mil

-Dave

 

Thanks for the info Dave. I am currently searching for a complete 78 or 79 f350 4x4 because that seems to be the cheapest way to get all the parts I want for my project. I have several people asking me why I dont just buy a 78 or 79 and get rid of the half ton...well I have been building it for about 6 yrs now and I want to keep what I have built and continue to build it the way I intended when I started . I have powder coated the frame and most of the metal parts on the truck.I have a decent trail rig right now but I want to build it for the mud boggs yet still run the trails so one ton stuff breaks less . I am going to look into these places I have a friend who has an old land cruiser I think its a 64' he goes to Marlin Crawler I think .Well thanks. Tony