After owning a 2wd pickup in Michigan for a little over a year I have come to realize I cannot due without a 4x4. Ever since I got my driver's license I have always had a 4wd truck until this one. I love the truck but I am tired of getting stuck in the snow and ice and not being able to hit the trails every once in a while. To add to that I also use this truck in my delivery business to deliver building supplies to jobsites, some of these places don't have driveways. Recently the M5OD in my 96 F150 2wd bit the dust, broke the 1st to 2nd gear shift fork. I have been talking about converting this truck to a 4wd since last winter (go figure) now I have a good reason to follow through with it. I was never too happy with the way the Mazda 5 speed was geared, first and reverse were too tall; it made taking off on a hill with a load and backing trailers up rather frustrating and hard on the clutch. With that being said, I have located: a 4wd small block ZF 5 speed, BW1356 manual shift t-case, 4wd crossmember, driveshafts, a set of axles with 3.55 gears (mine are 2.73) and shifter linkage. I am pretty sure I have everything I need to complete the conversion, to add to that I have a used 2.5" Rough Country suspension lift laying around I plan on throwing on there while I am at it. I am thinking I will step up to a 31x10.50 all terrain tire and transplanting the Powertrax No-Slip over to the new rear end. This truck doesn't seem to be any worse on fuel mileage than any of my other 4wd Ford trucks, so I don't think it's going to hurt me that badly at the pump. Just thought I would ask any of you who have completed this conversion on a similar truck for any pointers or advice. I am fully confident it will go smoothly without too many snags. Any further info is greatly appreciated!

 

"I am fully confident it will go smoothly without too many snags. Any further info is greatly appreciated!"

Sounds like you have a good pile of stuff arranged to do the swap. I know that the frames allow this but I do have a concern about how smoothly this will go on a 13 yr old Michigan truck if you have rust like we do here in Minnesota. I assume you have invested in a few gallons of PB Blaster or equivalent, a good hot wrench set up and a good source for all the stuff you will fight/break/twist off making this happen. Also as an aside, now would be a good time to take a hard, hard look at those radius arm brackets and rear spring hangers, etc that tend to dissolve in the rust belt. I wish you the best of luck!

 

Yea more work then I'd take on with a Mi. truck, I live in Mi. I'd sell that truck and buy one already a 4wheel model. Prices are low now so you can about name your price, even to the point of keeping the 2wheel for summer work.

Way to many rusty crusty bolts in hard to get at places to make it a easy job, not saying it can't be done. Just that what is your time worth? even if you way under value your time, it still not low enough to make the job worth it in the end.

 

Good luck man keep us updated

 

The truck, other than the typical body rust is pretty solid. The spring hangers and radius arm brackets have been replaced by the P.O. It also is lower mileage (127k) than your typical 1996 model year vehicle. I wouldn't even concider converting it to 4wd if I didn't think it was worth it. One thing to concider about buying a factory equipped 4x4, think about how hard it could have been abused by the P.O. It seems to me that 4x4 trucks get beat on much harder than 4x2s... so I look at it this way I am dealing with a frame and suspension that hasn't been thrashed to death off road, or plowing, etc. I am not too worried about rusted bolts I have a torch, PB Blaster, and air tools.

 

a good angle grinder, and a strong air chizel man!!!
I too live in MI, and hae done this swap. it takes a good weekend, at least that is what it took me, and I was all by myself.
gotta kill lots of rivets. you will need to keep your mouth shut while impacting
rust is sure tasty!!!

I am guessing 16hours, if you know exactly what you are doing, and don't need to swap steering knuckles.

Chris

 

Actually I am lucky in the case of this one, all of the brackets that are normally riveted have be removed/replaced and bolted on. I had the radius arm brackets off last winter (new bushings) so they shouldn't be too bad. I have a good air compressor and an impact gun with plenty of *****... when all else fails a little heat and some PB Blaster is readily available. Yep, I know all too well about frame rivets, I am doing a frame off resto/mod on my 84 F150. All but one (the main crossmember under the engine) of the crossmembers have been removed for sand blasting and painting, same thing with all the upper shock brackets, coil spring towers, rear spring hangers, cab mounts, etc. Everything was reassembled with grade 8 bolts and nuts. Yes it will be a lot of work but it will definately be worth it, it's going to make the truck just that much more useful to me all year round. I just got my new (used) ZF 5spd this afternoon, wow that's one beefcake of a tranny! I am really looking forward to having the 5.72 first gear, trailer towing should be much easier. Unfortunately I have two projects going at once... which is not normally the way I do things; but when your daily driver goes down and you're forced to wait on parts. Might as well keep plugging away on something!

 

are we talking ttb front end,or leaf sprung? I did the ttb,and swear by god allmighty himself I will NEVER do that one again! whew! what a pita that was! check out the gallery photos. good luck.

 

The 1980 thru 96 F150s all had coil sprung front suspension on 4x2 and 4x4 models, everything accept the radius arms and I-beams are interchangeable. I am dealing with the coil spring set up, I have worked on several TTB frontends and I didn't think it was all that difficult. Although the driver's side TTB is pretty heavy once you have the center chunk bolted in. I made an adapter for my floor jack that makes it a snap.

 

I remember there was something about 3" wide rear springs on 4x4 and 2.5" wide on 4x2 also, not sure if that matters to you but the 4x2 springs are weaker.

 

Yes I am aware of the 2.5" wide rear springs, I am not too worried about it really. I am thinking I will use a Rough Country add-a-leaf in the rear instead of using the 2 inch block used from the factory on 4x4s. This will also give me a little more payload capacity. As far as the springs only being 2.5" wide, I can't see how they would be any weaker to where it would cause a problem. Heck, my 77 F250 4x4 has 2.25" wide rear springs.

 

i would buy a 4x4 and be done with it.

winter is just around the corner.

prices are not that bad right now.

might not be too easy to unload the 4x2 though.

 

Yeah I know it won't be easy to sell that truck being it's a 4x2, and because it's a Ford. Most people in my area hate Fords and refuse to own a 2wd truck. Besides I have owned this truck long enough to have pretty much all the bugs worked out, it's low mileage and runs great... still looks pretty nice too. I have been underneath it scoping things out, it's a painfully simple conversion... there is vertially no cutting, welding, and little if any drilling to be done. You need to keep in mind I am in completion of a frame off resto/mod on my 84 F150... after going through that, anything less than a frame off will be cake walk for me.

 

good luck and keep us up to date on the progress.

 

well if your that sure about it, GET TO WORK!
Make a thread about it, keep us informed, then do a final write up of the whole ordeal.