I replaced all 8 bushings and 2 came out with a press... then it broke... and the rest by torch... gota love the smell of burning rubber...lol
I used the enegery kit and wow what a difference it made... but the old ones did have 250 thousand miles on them and the through bolts were 1/8th worn... I couldnt believe how worn out the bolts were... and how 90% of the rattles and squeaks were gone afterwords... it was a huge diference

 

Eight bushings? I thought there were 6 leaf spring bushings, perhaps you did the track bar too? Im unsure the mileage of my truck, but I have a suspicion that the bolts are prolly worn down too....

But first thing first is cleaning up the old alxe...it came off of a plow truck with a salt spreader, which was apparently mounted up front cuz this thing has alot of surface rust, calipers were shot, luckily there was a bad engine leak which added a protective oil,grease/grime coating on the axle. the truck was so rusty, the exhaust manifold rotted off the truck...the whole thing was eventually parted out...I imagine I will pressure wash/wirebrush the whole thing and paint it Rustoleum Hammered Gray...replace seals, etc.
on my next day off, I will do a full examination on it and report back the findings....

goodBOY, how har was it to swap the newer front clip on the 91? Im considering the same swap....but wayyyyy down the road.......

 

it was actually more than eight I think with the shackles and all. and the front clip took me and my pa about 10 hrs total over the weekend... but that did include allot of beers...lol. I'm a heavy equipment operator and although I did do some time turning wrenches when I was young I had never done much body work and was a bit worried at first doing the front clip, all the body lines meeting up and stuff... but it wasnt that hard just a bunch of bolts and wires...

ya cleaning up that dif before ya put her in is a good idea... whish I would've

edit: I did front and back axles thats why I was thinking 8

 

if your thinking of replacing the axle seals (require's carier removal) it'a real PITA and usually requires a case spreader.. I got lucky and the carrier came out but with some serious sweat and blood loss...lol. And the calipers should be the same so if your old ones are good than you can reuse them. The other thing is I thinhk the hubs and spindles are the same ( but I'm not positive)so you want to keep them if your going to throw out the D50...

 

I will have to reuse the d50 hub/rotor assemblies, since the truck was a drw and mine is not, thats partly why I got the axle cheaper, he kept the drw hub assemblies...It doesnt appear to be leaking so the axle seals may be reused, but the wheel seals are gonna have to be replaced...perhaps just repack the bearings with grease....but new wheel joints are a must, might as well since I have this thing apart...have you rebuilt the calipers on your truck? It doesnt seem that hard and would save an boat load of money doing it myself...just some compressed air, fine grit sandpaper and brake clean(oh and fresh fluid for lubrication)... you could get both sides done for less than 8 bux....

 

Thanks for the reps 75F350.

goodBOY, the previous owner had a 2" lift kit (which I removed) on the truck when I bought it so, I didn't have the original pitman arm to compare with, since it was replaced with one that had a 2" drop, as seen on my web site.

I didn't replace any spring bushings, they were good.

The D50 spindels are not the same as the D60, refer to my site from above post. The hub, rotor and calipers are the same. On my D60, I used the D50 hubs and rotors and put new calipers and pads on them.

 

When I worked at my dads shop we allways rebuilt our own calipers... and ur right it'll cost ya about 8 bucks as long as the pistons are good.... a wire wheel usually cleans them up. And if you cant get the pistons out with air a grease gun will work too... atleast thats what I used but I cant remember exactly how I did it, I'm thinking a grease nipple in the bleader hole and a bolt ware the hose goes...not too sure. but it sounds like you know what ur doin...

EDIT: those calipers have two pistons...and I havent rebuilt mine or any others for 20yrs... the grease gun trick works real good with single piston calipers, but with dual piston just dont let the pistons come all the way out till there both loose

 

I'd buy rubber grease too if I was to rebuild my calipers or rear cycl's.. gota be rubber grease though... brake fluid is ok too

I looked at the spindles earlier and thought they were the same... but your right there's a difference in the depth of the flange... missed that the first look

 

yea i think two piston calipers, you have to clamp one caliper with a c/clamp, then blow out the other....I watched it on tv, therefore im a pro....hahaha, but I did see it on tv tho...

 

This is a great thread, thanks to all. I scorded a DRW D60 too but mine was cut out of the donor truck so I'm lookng for the track bar, track bar mounting bracket and drivers side mounting plate for the U-bolts. Any idea for sourcing these parts?

 

Credit where credit is due my friend. You have completed a fantastic swap, and have documented it very well.

Btw, Is that spindle I sent you still hanging in there?

 

Thanks! No problems at all with the spindle.

 

Update!!! I realized that the spring/ubolt plate dude gave me appears to really thin and flimsy, with no curve to fit around the axle...It looks like a rear axle plate..it looks nothing like the driverside plate on my bros 95 F350..Therefore I dont think it will work and I priced one on Gleebay and the only one I found was $100. yikes!!!

Now im more interested in doing the ubolt swap. I was just thinking of using 3/8" plate, drill some holes for the ubolts and pin, and then find a way to attach the shock mount to the 3/8 plate. ???? perhaps slim it down to fit on the 3/8" plate and weld it???? Suggestions????

Oh and I will try to take pics and post them in my gallery as I go along, but with work and the weather, its kinda hard....

 

Flat plate has less resistance to bending. I think you could do it with over 1/2", but My advice would be to weld angle iron on it to stiffen it. Other than that, 3/8" should be plenty stout.

 

I think my problem is adverted...I found a stock f350 spring mount/plate, so I will go the the factory set up. Which is better off for me since Im trying to make this a quick and easy swap. I hate having a vehicle down for any amount of time. I cleaned out the garage today and hopefully this wk Im gonna bring it into the garage to clean it up and paint it...Its too dang cold ....