Has anyone ever changed a 2wd into a 4wd with an automatic. Besides redoing the transmission, how much trouble did you have. Should I keep the indipendent suspension or just go with a stright axle. Does everything bolt up or did you have to drill hose in the frame? I Have been looking for a 1 ton junker 4x4 but very hard to find whithout giving a leg for it. Its the only 2wd I have and when it gets stuck, well it cost me about 6 hours of digging and a large tractor. I know I would have made it out in most situations in 4x4 but the front end is so heavy, when in 2wd it just can't be pushed. I tried chains, but they just dig holes. Any Input or Ideas that would be absolutly awsome. Thanks

 

I have not done this yet, but a freind of mine has an 86 F350 dually crew cab with two wheel drive.
The cab and chassis only have 88,000 miles on them.

I parked my 4x4 86 regular cab beside it and did some looking.

As far as I can see, all the holes are in the frame.
But there is a lot of suspension brackets that would have to be cut off the two wheel and four wheel drive chassis's to swap from coil to leaf springs.

My 86 originally had a Dana 44 HD IFS front axle.
Same axle as the F150 and big Bronco used except the hubs had 8 lugs.
The Bronco and F150 have coil front springs.
I have wondered how hard it would be to swap hubs and use the front axle from an F150 to convert to 4x4.
That route may be easier than swapping from coil to leaf springs.

As fast as I say that, I also have to say that I am much happer with the monobeam D 60 I have under my truck now than I was with the IFS.
I get about 10,000 more miles out of a set of tires now than I did then.
Also my snow plow does not tear up the ball joints and tie rod ends on the 60 like it did on the 44.
I also have not broken a stub axle with the 60 like I did several times with the 44.

That is one fine looking truck you have there, what is the wheel base?

 

from working around them you are better off finding a donor truck for the parts , like dave said a lot of rivets to cut off and use grade 8 or better bolts to reattach the suspension brackets , if i were to change over i would only use the mono beam . personally from seeing the trucks i work on

 

Is the mono beam as in a stright solid front axle. Thanks for doing the side by side comparison dave. I Have not found one to even compare with yet. As for the wheel base, I will measure when I go to work tonight.

I will definaty be using the grade 8 bolts now that you mention it. I usually get whatever is the chepest but this is an exception.

Thanks

 

mono beam is the straight solid tube axle

 

I also toyed with the idea of using a D44 TTB in my truck because of the possibility of 3.07 gears, but for all the trouble of TTB, I would rather go with a D60. The only time TTB really shines is off road at high speed, we have many logging roads here, and I was very impressed with how stable my F150 was at higher speeds on rough roads (just would not slide). But wheel alignment is more complicated (most shops don't do it properly), and adding a load changes the camber and toe in of the front end, way more trouble than its worth in the real world. Good for racing, but not much else.

I spent some time under a few wrecked fords and from what I can tell, the frame rail itself is either made in the same stamp, or is close enough that you can adapt the hardware from one to the other (2wd vs 4wd). On F150s, the 4wd conversion is a bolt on job. On the F250s the spring shackle for the front of the spring has a notch cut out of the bottom of the channel and a reinforcing in the web for the bolt to mount into on the 4wd. The bolt holes for the rear spring bracket can easily be drilled if they are not already there, but if they are stamped in all the frames, then your work is done for you. Now the other nagging thought is that the 4wds usually have more boxed portions in the front end, I wonder if this extra meat should also be swapped over since the 2wd does not have load supported as far forward on the frame.

Dave, out of curiosity, what is the amount of suspension travel on your front end?

 

When I added the Dana 60 I also added two leaves to the front springs.

It would take about 5 inches to hit the bump stops, but as rigid as the front suspension is, I don't think I want to be in the truck when they touch.

My plow weighs just under 900 pounds, the front bumper don't move when I pick it up.

 

Thanks for all the input! I know exactly what you mean about getting the front end aligned. I have had mine aligned twice with the same set of tires and it seems that the outside of the tread still wears down very fast. When the tires were new, the outside tread lasted about 10000 miles so i switched them with the rear inside duals since they were new and had it aligned again. They still look like they are wearing! I noticed how it does change camber under load unlike GMs front indipendent suspension. Never had any alignment trouble with it.

Now I just need to find a junk truck and get to work. By the way, what is the stock front stright axle in most fords, dana 60? I don't know much about them because this is my first ford.

Also, dave, the length of the wheelbase is a little over 16ft and bumber to bumber is about 23.5 feet. Not sure, only had a 16 ft tape measure

 

I belive most F150 were D44 IFS the F250 were D44 or D50 IFS. The later F350s (86+ I believe) were monobeam D60, first ones came with Kingpins then they switched to ball joints.

 

I am curious, would the D44 from F150 bolt right up since they came with coil springs? Or would there be other weaknesses? I am not sure I would bother putting in a D44 if I was going through the trouble of changing it out, but if there was nothing to change and the 3.08 option is there it might be worth exploring for an occaisional driving in the snow and dirt roads.

Due to the extra weight of the IDI engine were the springs heavier in the diesels?

 

I thought of that myself, but all I'm sure about is that the diesel has stronger springs than the gassers, I have no idea if the dimensions will match. But leaf springs are easy to hang, and you can even make your own hangers if needed. I'm actually wondering if the older D44HD from the late 70s would work, it came in a solid axle....

 

92 thru 97 Dana 60 axles have ball joints.
The 70's Dana 60 have considerably different steering linkages, more stuff to change to use them.

If you used an axle from an F150 or big Bronco, you would have to change the hubs so you could run 8 lug 16" wheels.
Springs would probably have to be custom to get enough height and weight carrying capacity.
Stock 2 wheel drive springs would be to short, stock 150 springs would be to weak.

As for the early Dana 44 solid axles, never compared to steering linkage or measured one of them.

 

Converting isn't that bad of a job. I have done one. It is alot easier if you can find a 4x4 frame. The rear leaf spring hangers can be bought easier then making them. The "boxed" portion of the front of the frame where the front hanger goes can be cut off a 4x4 frame and welded in to your 4x2 frame. When you do this take the front end off the truck and it will be alot nicer to do. Core support, fenders ect.

The front hanger can be bought cheap. I have bought several sets when I have rebushed the front ends. I need to get a set for my 94 now.

A couple things about bolts. Get "flange head" bolts and nuts. We always called them frame rail bolts. I have done ALOT of frame rail work on road tractors and they will stay tight. Regular bolts with washers can work loose. Well the lock nuts will stay tight but over time the washer will wear front frame flex and they will get thin which makes it seem like the bolt loosened up. They aren't hard to get. Also Ford screwed up on their spring pin bolts. The hole in the spring hangers and the spring bushing is a 9/16 hole and they used 14mm bolts from thew factory so they are loose from the getgo.

A straight axle would be the easiest. You can also look up in the late models. Ford used Dana 50 up to at least 2000 models. You can probably get older hubs and to work on them. I know a 94 Dana 60 used the same bearings as a 95 Dana 50 Independent.

 

So I guess I will be going with the stright front axle (probably the d60 unless there is better one), grade 8 flanged Head bolts. Which is better, the ball joint axle or the one with king pins? King pins I believe would be tougher (I just don't see how they do king pins in a stright axle. I guess I will go look at one) Thanks