hey all. my company is shutting job down from friday until new years so i have some time to tackle this truck of mine since garage seems to be avoiding the beast, and here is the question-

how much trouble would you all foresee in swapping axles from a 79 4x4 to a 66 4x4???? both are dana 44 front and 9 inch rear, 66 is manual steer coming out in fender well to a top mounted plate and drag link between wheels and leaf springs, 79 i think is pitman arm and coil springs w/ ps

i have a parts truck 79 for all parts but i want to keep it leaf setup, so do need to swap steering box from 79 (prefer to for ps if can be done)? axle width diff isn't big deal since this is a modified project anyway and since i am swapping both axles gear ratio isn't an issue either.. assuming i have to fab spring and shock mounts? but otherwise how difficult a project is this for say a ten day spare timer without garage space but lots of warm clothes? lol

in case ya'll wanted to know, missing and worn parts that are very hard to find or expensive is the reason for the swap along with front disc. parts truck only cost 500 us and can get pb setup along with a lot of odds and ends i am putting in the 57 cab like seat belts, a very nice seat, maybe the visors and i am hoping to get winshield washers, electrical relays, voltage regulator and alternator into the beast at a later time. oh yeah hoping to snag the fuse block too. basically i am updating all i can to 79 except awesome 57/60 mix body and the 66 drivetrain 352 4x4 4 speed unmarried dana tc.

any input would be very very helpful and appreciated and ya'll get first dibs on any parts in good condition for any 70's projects of your own (two hoods, motor, tranny, tc, fenders don't look bad, let you know what else).. thx in advance, you guys are the best

 

Your rear end spring perchs are wider for the 79 rear end, you will need to move them in, the front will bolt right up, or you could change from the knuckles out, to get the disc brakes. I just got done doing the same swap on a friends 67 4x4 and it worked great, we are still working on the power steering, it's not a direct bolt up.

 

will that eliminate the trunnion bushings because that is one item giving me trouble, according to garage, was looking to get ball joints from 79 design there? and rear is mostly for all e-brake hardware and 66 bearings shot but if wider front and rear was going to just swap all, can live with armstrong steering if that saves a lot of work, if i keep old axle i have to weld up some shock mounts anyway so 79 axle swap is just about same amount of work lol

 

well the po is a bonehead, this is not a 66 f100, it is either a 65 or its an f250, 79 will not bolt up, but i found a bearing shop that can find what i need to get the front end inspected and i can do rest at home. might just leave both axles in and grab the 3.73s out of 79 along with anything i can use on the beast, make it easier to send it to its demise when i am done with it, hopefully the disc swap will still be ok???

 

ok if po used entire chassis and drivetrain from one truck it must be a 66 f250, search on a 65 f100 showed no 352 engine option, so arggghh i can't wait to get this thing down to where i know what parts fit where and what year is what lol

 

All kinds of issues making those axles work on a 66. None major, but they will be time consuming. It sounds like it would be much easier to swap the 66's body to the 79's frame. you wouldn't have to re plumb for brakes, you wouldn't have to make and move perches on both axles. you wouldn't have to fight with adapting a hybrid steering. The cab mounts should all lign up, and the moter mounts between the engines should be interchangable. 95% of the job will be bolting things up. If there is a diffrence in wheel base, it will be only on the back axle, so that should be the only thing you need to do any welding for.

 

check my gallery beater this isn't exactly a swap over by any means, the 66? frame is shortened and on a 57 body with 60 clip so unless i start over i need to apply parts where i can, undercarriage has very little rust where the 79 is a little rougher too, i'll let you know more as i dive into this one monday-thursday with pics for the gallery of any successful moves lol, even my darn custom dash bezel didn't fit, measured wrong somewhere by about 3/16". at least i am learning a lot about older ford 4wd systems, should be a lot of help to next years version of me lmao

 

well here is the update:

put the beast on jackstands, stripped front end and found bearing in lower drivers side knuckle DESTROYED, massive play, took pass side apart, lower was slightly worn but intact. went to local bearing shop and had two new ones in 10 minutes and 30 dollars. garage had truck for six weeks looking for them (bearing shop was 8 miles from garage lol). front back together and solid with approx. 6 man hrs using handtools total. BUT now gaskets in back of knuckles are looking like they need replaced, so gotta check on that on way to get e-brake out of parts truck. also looks like i'll just fit these guages to the original bezel, it was in worse shape than it looked, not much use to restorer, but good enough to trim, putty and paint, so that should go well too.

if anyone is following this thread, heres a dumb question, never hooked up a tach before, is the small wire going from pass side of dizzy to coil on the fe a tach signal? if not can i get a signal from original dizzy? i'll be getting after that wiring as soon as e-brake is in and working, at least original speedo cable hole in firewall is perfect for my wireloom, going to redo whole engine compartment, po looks like he just twists and tapes lol. i solder, heat shrink, and wireloom my stuff. plus can someone post up the water temp sender position, oil press sender looks to be right above filter but water looked like it was right beside it unhooked and that can't be right

 

Water temp should be on the intake, behind the dizzy. what is beside the oil pressure sender is for the idiot light for the oil. its a simple off-on sensor

 

thx beater, getting on that tomorrow..... had to order new cables for the 79 e-brake swap and they won't be in till friday, so thurs is guage day. still wonder about tach signal, leave it off till i know for sure. don't want to fry somewhat pricey digital speedo/tach/odo with 0-60 and 1/4 mile measurements because i don't know what i am doing lol