How much trouble is it to convert a '60 F100 2wd to 4wd, I know it is a good bit of work, has anyone done it?? What is a good donor vehicle for axles, t-case, etc...? Thanks a lot!

 

im pretty suprised that you dont have alot of responses here, id think it would be a pretty popular swapover. im looking into it for my 1960... after i swap out the 223 with something a little easier to get parts for.
im a IH nut and from my little comparing of my ih's to my ford the early 60's ih truck is just a little wider, the problem with that is finding rims and parts. scout ii's dana 44's and 30's are a little narrower but very easy to find and get parts for. the best thing to do would be to find a 1959-1962? 4x4 i think these years had the same rolling chasis, these would bot right up and be done in 2 weekends, good luck cause ive seen maybe 2 in my life.
On a solid front axel a swap like this would be fairly easy, make sure you are going to keep your motor the way it is befor you get your drivelines cut, the most difficult thing we delt with on my scouts is the steering, its a real pain getting them right for me, the 78 axel was set up quite different from the 62 steering, but putting it on was a breaze
i still have an easy to fix problem of being able to make a sharper right than left. the other thing that takes a little thought is the t-case shifter.
any info on an easy motor swap let me know...

 

Hi Sled, help my memory here, do you have leafs or coils up front? If it were me, I would be looking for a solid axle truck with disk brakes as a donor maybe '76-79. I would stay away from twin traction beams, that would only make things more complicated. Here in Michigan we have an abundance of rusted out trucks with running drivetrains, some for as little as $500. If I found a good '57-'60 body I would want to do what you're considering. If you want to do some on line studying, the very 'best' explanation of 2 to 4wd I've seen is by Steve Best, who converted his ford van to drive in Nova Scotia Canada. His page is @ http://www.glinx.com/^sbest/ Lots of technical details on how he did it. DF

 

Okay..... Just tested my link and it didn't work, lets try again for Steve Best's web site http://www.glinx.com/~sbest/ I orginally found him when using a search engine under 4wd vans DF

 

Thanks for the feedback! My '60 has leafs in the front, so I was thinking it would be fairly straight forward...but..we know how that goes I will check out that sight and see. Thanks!

 

Hey Sled, I've been thinking about another option you may want to consider.How about putting your body on another frame? Like maybe a '76 or newer, disk brakes and power steering are nice. I don't know how wide your frame is,but if the frame you want to put your body on is different from what you have now, how about using some 3 inch square tubing on top of the mounts of the new frame, to space the body mount holes in or out as needed. Think about it, 4wd and modern running gear and a 3 inch body lift all at the same time! DF

 

that would be pretty trick, I think it would be a shame to do that to my truck though, the thing is just in too good of shape. I wouldn't mind finding another 59 or 60 and doing that. Could be something to think about in the future, that would be cool though, think about this....shorten the box up and put it on a bronco frame!! That would be awesome!

 

Good discussion. I have a 49 Pickup. And to convert over to 4 wheel drive I used the running gear of a 1973 ford f-250. It works great and boy does it climb. Anyway, you may want to consider changing the running gear.