Ok, so I want to swap over a 2005 F150 2x4 to a 4x4. At 1st I was going to get a F150 donor truck and just swap everything over. But why do all that work w/out really upgrading anything.....do you guys think it'd be worth throwing in a solid front axle in the front of my F150? What if I got a 250/350 4x4 donor truck(newer model) and just switched everything over, the rear axle too. Does any1 have a list of kinds of axles for the 250/350's and the years they came on the truck. I know its alot of work, thats okay, I just want to figure if I should just get a F150 donor or if I should go the next step and make my F150 a 3/4 or 1ton.....opinions please, and no I'm not gonna sell the truck to buy another one, thats the easy way out, lol !!!

I'm aiming towards 1 ton axles, newer dana 60's front and rear? How will the axle widths fit the body of my F150, wider? Will I need to cut down the axles a little bit? Thanks in advance guys. I have posted on 2 other Ford Truck forums, but still haven't gotten anywhere on info.....

 

well im not sure about anything your asking, im just responding with comments. I like your idea. this WILL, and i know you will get it done, be a one off ford truck and thats kick ***. the only thing i can add that might be of some significance is that my 04 fx4 doesnt have a solid front axle so im not sure how one would fit under the eng, frame, etc.... if you use just an f150 donor , i bet there is a dana 60 for the f150. front and rear. and as far as ive seen, the f150 uses electronic 4x4 instead of a shifter on the floor. a manual shifter is the way i would go. more reliable and less parts to go bad.

 

This topic gets discussed occasionally around here; a search of the forums will give you more insight.

In my opinion, there are two ways of looking at this topic. The first is the 2x4 guy who wishes he bought/wants a 4x4. If you want a 4x4 for winter and occasoinal mudding, the 2x4 --> 4x4 conversion is a bad choice. The total investment will be way more than just trading yours for a 4x4.

The second way of thinking is wanting a kick-a$$ truck. Your suggestions seem to put you in this area. I would say go for it if you want to, but you need to realize that you are going to spend lots of $$$ if you go this route.

good luck -jim

 

I really like the SAS idea to Dana60 in the front. The rear axle is a 9.75" which is the same as Dana60 so there should be no need to swap the rear imo.
I was actually thinking the same, doing a SAS with a donor D60 in the front 'cause I really want to run 41-44" tires like many do here in Iceland.
SAS is often done here but no-one has done it with a F150 (yet), which IMO would be a very nice truck for offroading and driving in/on snow, like we do here in Iceland alot.
The cost is propably worth it if wanting a good offroader, but if it's just to get the 4x4, I would trade to a 4x4.

just my .02$

 

It's a good idea if your into some heavy 4 wheeling but as others have stated not a good idea for an every day driver. First off I dont know the exact details or demensions because I have never seen it done on your truck but I do not believe it will be a buy a donor truck and swap.

The advandtage that your 05 is going to have is that it has coil overs and not torsion bars. Your going to have to have all the linkage made up to hold the axle, and all the brackets welded to the frame, if you can find the front axle out of one of the coil spring front end super dutys the coil buckets on your truck may just line up, saving some effort, then you just need the linkage(3 link, 4 link, 5 link, which ever you choose) custom fabbed up and and the brackets fabbed and installed. After that you need to find, or make, a steering linkage system that will work. I can almost bet unless you have some serious fab skills or friends that do, it will not be a weekend project, probally a few weekend project. and it's not going to be cheap, that front axle alone may run you close to or over $1000.

The other option that may work, again I dont know the dimensions, is that you may be able to have the proper spring hangers mounted, shock mounts installed, and then install a leaf spring front axle, and again find or make up a steering linkage system that will work. That will still be time consuming and will not ride nearly as nice and the coil over set up, I'm assuming because you bought a 1/2 ton in the first place that your probally concerned about how well it ride some.

Good luck to ya and keep us up to date

 

If you look at the home page of this site, scroll down to the special features area. There you will see links to photos from the 2006 SEMA show. On the 1st page of truck photos there is a lifted supercrew f-150 ('04-'07 MY) that has been lifted and modified. One of the photos appears to show a solid front axle on this truck. From the sides, it also looks like it has 8 lug wheels as well and manual hubs burried in the big rims. So putting F-250/350 axles on these trucks can be done and it looks good, too.

 

I guess if you want to spend $5,000-$10,000 and a lot of work to turn a $20,000 truck into a $15,000 truck, you must know what you want.