Sorry for the long post in advanced

basiclly i have a '82 F-150 swb that i am going to be able to start working on soon. my plans are eventually to have dana 60's front and rear and build my own lift for it. it is mostly going to be street driven. i've started rebuilding the rear dana 60, 4:10 gears and a power-lok diff. I think i have the idea on how to do the shackle flip for this but am curious on what would be the best angle of the shackle. This truck is going to get a flareside box so it will pretty much never haul that much weight in the bed but i would like the piece of mind to be able to haul a car trailer on occasion. I was also thinking of making some custom beefier shackles, possibly extending them for a bit more lift but no more than 1.5" longer. does anyone have some pictures of good custom shackles.

anyway the more important question is on the front shackle reversal. i plan on eventually getting a dana 60 out of a 86 - 96 F-350 without abs. but at the moment can't find one with out buying a whole truck for $5000 or more which is out of the question. in order to get things moving i would like to install the dana 50 i currently have but will a shackle reversal still work on this. i figured that if i can do the shackle reversal on the dana 50 once i was able to find a dana 60 it would be a simple install. i was also thinking of custom/extended shackles on the front. also, is the ORU kit worth the money or is this something that can be done reletively easy. any detailed pictures of this would also be appreciated.

FORDS_FORLIFE

 

first, if you want true 1 ton truck status dont do D60 front and rear. you want something like sterling 10.25, Dana 70, or Corp 14 bolt. D60 rear is not a 1 ton and will fail you under hard conditions (which is the point of a 1 ton axle setup, too hold up when no other axle will). since you dont plan on wheelin muchmay i suggest just doing a D60 rear and a D44HD up front? easier/cheaper to find and will do everything you need it to do

i didn't make any shackles but i built a shackle reversal on my white truck.

you can do the shackle reversal with the Dana 50 BUT if the reversal lifts your truck (like the ORU kit) then you will need to get TTB drop down brackets. i wouldn't suggest doing this, just do it all at once.

BTW.... the Sky Manufacturing kit is cheaper. never actually ran one of the reversal kits but hear great things about them

-cutts-

 

well first off i don't think i'll ever wheel this truck as hard as i know some of you guys on the offroad forum do. I'm basiclly building this as my ideal truck that i can drive everyday which means the body will be restored with some mods the frame will be beefed up and it won't have an extreme lift (4"-6" and no fender trimming ) radial tires, etc.. although i do want leaf springs and 8 lugs even though it is a half ton right now.

the dana 44 sounds really good but i thought the leaf spring mount was cast into the diff on those and seeing how they didn't use them in the '80s how would i get the right spring spacing on the axle for the frame ( i would rather have the spacing same as a stock leaf spring setup and not have to fab some weird inboard setup, if you get what i mean) if the pad is cast on the drivers side what would have to be done to get the right spacing.

FORDS_FORLIFE

 

ha, fishman it's good to know that not only the half ton frames flex like that!

FORDS_FORLIFE

 

bump to the top

 

the D44 HD and the the D60 will interchange and directly swap around. the leaf spacing is exactly the same.

however since you will have to be welding spring mounts anyways might i suggest doing a coil swap. you will have a MUCH better ride if done right than a standard leaf setup. sure you can dial leafs in but the coils are a lil easier to get to ride smooth and you could even push the front axle forward a few inches for better weight displacement!

just a suggestion. but yes leafs would be easier to just weld in and go

good luck

-cutts-

BTW... the frame offers some nice flex when the springs max out

 

that's why i like this forum, you can get some ideas you never even thought of. so i could find a HD dana 44 and get the radius arms and lower coil spring retainer from a reg. dana 44. then i would need the brackets that go on the axle from bronco graveyard (or does anyone else make these and are they cast iron or steel i can't tell from the pic) to mount the radius arms. my factory coil buckets will work though right? i would then also need the lift coil springs, if i am doing a shackle reversal on the rear with possibly a 1.5" extended shackle what size lift coils should i get?

FORDS_FORLIFE

 

here's what you need to do. find a junked F150 (late 70's) and grab the radius arms from them, thats what you are looking for. then go out to broncograveyard and buy the C-wedges that you weld on... yes they are mild steel. now all you have to do is weld the wedges on where you want it (line it up PERFECTLY with the radius arm bushings... thats what tracks the whole front end). the radius arms i speak of have 2 bolt holes in the tops and thats where you bolt the coil to on the axle. now on the framemeasure/figure out where you want your coil tower to sit on the frame and voila! thats pretty much it.

i am doing this exact swap right now except with a Dana 60 from a 78 F350. if ya want i can take some pics here and there for ya before you start your project, if in fact this is the route you wish to take!

-cutts-

 

pics would be great. it actually sounds like a little less work to convert the hd dana 44 to coils seeing as how i should be able to leave the upper bucket alone and both rear radius arm brackets are already just bolted on from earlier replacement of bushings so i won't have a lot of grinding down rivets to do.

BTW: thanks for putting up with all the questions, I just have a few more.

Will my current radius arm brackets work with the 70's arms?

I need a track bar with the coil setup also, right? If so, is the one off the 70's truck the right length or do i need one off a 86-96 F-350?

I've heard of using dom tubing to extend the radius arms, is this a good idea or would it be asking for trouble. does anyone have some good pictures of this?

If i leave the coil buckets in their factory locations does using the 70's radius arms and coils (although i plan to get lift springs) add any lift so say i use 6" lift springs, would i get more or less than 6" of lift?

If using 6" lift springs and having to weld on the mounts for the radius arms to the axle i don't want to use degreed bushings because i'll have the ability to change the angle of the radius arms when i weld the brackets on, right? and would it then be a good idea to drop the radius arm brackets (on the frame) down a few inches or would that not be needed?

Thanks agian for all the help, I really appreciate it!

FORDS_FORLIFE

 

The current arms should, but I can't say for certain. For the trac bar, you can use the 70's truck trac bar, you'll just need to build the trac bar mount and reinforce it properly.

For the extended radius arms...go...here: B&T Rad Arm Extensions - http://www.bentandtwisted.com/catalo...ff61c6f72a971c

Those are the Bent and Twisted radius arm extensions. 10.5" extension which you hammer onto the end of the current radius arm, plate/box as needed, then you can add a bend if you wish to clear your tires better. Good stuff, and at 120 bucks I think they're a great alternative to building your own (takes alot of fab skill) or buying 500+ dollar rad arm's.

I can't help you with the second to last question, but on the last question - degreed bushings is a touch thing. You don't really want to bracket the rad arm mounts down off the frame because they are then exposed to possible damage. So instead you use a degreed bushing to angle the rad arms up and meet the mount alot closer. It's a fine line, I think I might end up with a little less then optimal caster, and may need to get some 4* C-bushings for when I SAS. We'll see. That's a matter of you taking lots of measurments and figuring out what you want to do. If you're not going to be seriously going at it, then dropped bracketry would probably be fine.