I'm doing as much research as I can about the 4x4 conversion because that is what I plan on doing this summer. Plan "A" is to get a cheap 4x4, diesel, dually, manual. Since it will take awhile to find that in my neck of the woods, I need a back-up. Plan "B" is to find any f-350 4x4 with a dana 60 front and swap all the brackets, hangars, springs, etc onto the '85.... But I still want to keep all the wheels the same, so is it possible to change the hubs on the dana 60 to accommodate the dually rims if it came from a SRW?

Thanks

 

Ford dually 4x4's are fairly rare one word of caution if the dually rear come off a cab and chassis it will not go under your truck. It has to come off a truck that came from the factory with a dually bed on it not a flatbed. Most 350 4x4 are srw's but you can get adapters to run dually wheels front and rear some people dont like them but I have them on 2 rigs with no problems and my wrecker has withstood some serious abuse and overloads on the rear axle with them.

 

I'm just wondering about the front....not going to swap the rear, I hope. So I can just get some spacers to allow me to keep the dually rims and still be able to hold up to the extra stress of a future plow and HD bumper?

 

Yes they make an adapter for the front It bolts to the existing studs and has its own studs. It is plenty stout on mine and has been trouble free I see what you are doing now I didn't realize you already had a dually rear. The only thing I can see that might cause a problem is if yours is a cab and chassis your dually rear is narrower than a regular dually and the adapters might make your front end wider (dont know about this).

 

Thanks, yes it is a Cab/chassis. How much narrower is a C/C axle than a reg DRW axle?

 

I'm thinking about 4" but not positive.

 

Cab and chassis rear springs are narrower, 2 1/2" wide if I remember right.
SRW trucks have 3" spring leaves.
Trucks that left the factory with a pickup box installed hace 37.5" frame widths.
Cab and chassis trucks, have 34" wide frames.

The rear axle in a SRW truck and under a cab and chassis vehicle is the same axle with identical back plate to back plate measurements, but the spring perches are in different places.

A true dually axle is 4" longer than a SRW axle measuring back plate to back plate in the same location on both.

If you run a spacer on the front axle with bud wheels, the dish offset in the wheel keeps the tire on the same place.

 

Dave with a cab/chassis rear and you installed a d60 with a dually adapter and converted to 4x would the front wheels track right with the narrower rear. Or only with a dually rear.

 

I'd put an add on craig's list saying you want to swap parts with somebody.
I have a Dodge dually Dana 60, I would LOVE to swaps parts with somebody to make mine a "SRW" front end.

 

Is your diesel a dually or something else your playing with.

 

No my Dodge diesel is a SRW.
This front end is out of an off-road fire truck with 4:88 gears.

 

Take a look on e-bay, I see Ford Dually hubs(actual cast hubs, not spacers) on there fairly often, usually a simple e-bay motors search for Dana 60 will provide results.
These guys usually have them on hand also:
Used Ford Dana 60 DRW Wheel Hubs, Pair

If I dig around I should have 2 sets myself... I have no idea where though.

Dodge/Cummins, for your SRW hubs, that could well be interesting, unless you want to buy new, or are willing to run externals and Selectros or flanges, nothing else seems to hold up...
A friend of mine is working on putting Ford SRW hubs on his Dodge 60 in his Toyota to rid himself of needing to carry a spare set of hubs and a set of flanges in the truck for a weekends wheeling... LOL
He had the outer wheel bearing surface moved in 5/8" on the spindle, 5/8" more thread cut, and the same amount trimmed off the end of the spindle, and the stub needs to be trimmed the same amount. Little bit of machine work, but everything else went pretty straightforward. Of course he's not running stock calipers on it(15" wheels,) so, I'm not sure how that would work out for running stock Dodge brakes on there. It's a thought nonetheless, makes it nice and easy to find SRW hubs if nothing else.

 

I can get rid of the "adapters" and do some lathe work on the rotor/hub and make it work with some new studs. It already has Selectro hubs on it.
I'd rather upgrade to the newer hud/spindle assembly like my diesel has but I don't want to pay for it. That's why it would be nice to swap the whole assembly with someone wanting to go dually. It's easy on a Dodge as all of the '72-'93 axles all have the same spring perch width. If you want to go dually it's bolt on wheels in the rear or bolt in a dually axle.

 

After looking at those hubs.....Can you separate the rotor from the hub? Even on the 2x4 front hub...because I noticed a small hairline crack on the pass. rotor the other day.

That would be mighty expensive if it was one package.

 

You won't find a 4x4 350 dually, other then a Cab and Chassis, in the pre power stroke years. I don't think they offered it until 99 or 2000..??