ok. ive got a 95 f150 flareside. it is a single cab. i had always toyed with the idea of a SAS. earlier today i ran into a buddy that is going to be parting out his truck this summer. he has a 94 f350 single wheel rear. he has a bds lift on it with d60 in front, and what ever came in the rear. both have been regeared. currently he is running 36's. he mentioned selling the axles to me, and i got interested. what i am wondering is how difficult it would be to swap it all in to my 95 f150. this would give it 1 ton pre geared axles with the lift already there. all i would have to buy is shocks, and tires. he said he would sell it all to me for 1200. everything lift and axle wise from what i saw looks good. so is this a good deal, is it possible to do, and if so how hard. i figure i mite need to do new driveshafts.

 

something smells fishy here

IMO, thats a killer deal even without the lift included! the rear for the most part will bolt in. you may need some small things like a different u-joint or parking brake adapter but she outta go!

for the front, its a lil more labor intensive. you have coils and ttb. you will need to get the brackets (hopefully from your buddy!?!) and then bolt them on. i dont recall if 1/2 tons have the bracket holes or not. you will just have to check. other than that it should be smooth sailing.

go ahead and get the parts and start on it. if/when you have questions, post back up so we can help! i always love hearing guys upgrade and build their own trucks rather than pay someone.

oh, thats another question... do you have a better assortment of tools than the average person? the more you have the easier it will be! if all you have a socket set up to a 3/4" then you need to either invest in more tools, or just take it to a shop!

EDIT... on another note, if you have some fab skills, tools, and the time i would like to see you convert the 60 front to coil, talk about a nice ride!

-cutts-

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

Other than the lack of leaf springs, and all that Fishy (Cutts) mentioned, you also have to think about the crumple zone front end, and ABS issues.
Ditching the ABS is not a bad idea, except that you will always have an ABS light illuminated.
The crumple zone front end can be tolerated and easy to overcome. In many cases, this wont be an issue. It has not been for any of my builds. Does not make this the rule, it might be the exception.
Anyway, the problem I see is that you will have to preform a shackle reversal, and you will gain almost 4 inches of lift. Add to this the lift springs, and you will be way in the air.
Stock front F350 leafs (from this era) can clear 38 inch tires, and stock SD springs will clear 36's.
Believe it or not, with properly placed axles, the stock drivelines will work. If your new axle has a 1350 rear u-joint, you an obtain a new slip joint that has a 1350 joint on it, and it wil slide right on your stock shaft.
Ive done this several times without driveshaft mods.
You will have to remove the factory hanger from the donor truck so you can hang the shackle. This is the hanger at the rear of the front spring.

Should look like this:



Where you locate it depends upon which spring you use. Shackle angle is critical.

Stock steering can be used, and the drag link will bolt right up to the stock pitman arm. No need to upgrade if you plan to keep 36's:



1 ton conversions are not all that difficult. Just gotta have some time, and a few friends to help.





Couple cold adult beverages never hurt.

Shackle flip in the rear and a small block is all that you will need:




Enjoy the flex, and welcome to the 1 ton club:

 

I don't think he will have any ABS issues, IIRC, it was only the broncos that got 4 wheel, and the Sterling has the tone ring and VSS. Shouldn't be any issues there, but, at the same time the RWAL is kind of a joke.

 

ya. i can get anything off the truck suspension and axle wise so that wont be a problem. like i said earlier he has a BDS lift on it right now, which makes his 36's look little. he could go with more but doesnt..ohh well. but ya for the front, it will bolt up to the pittman arm on my truck just fine? he has a drop pittman arm on his truck as well. would the drop pittman arm off of his truck fit mine as well? after looking at his setup and then mine, it honestly looks pretty straight forward. i work at a local auto shop and have plenty of tools, and if i dont have it another guy there will, so tools wont be a problem. are there any other things or issues that i should keep and eye out for when and if i am able to go through with this install?

 

i would grab the driveshafts as well, whether you need them or not. spares are nice. pitman arms are the same as far as i know, hell i'd grab the steering box too if you plan to wheel it. i busted a sector shaft in mine last winter.

 

Do grab as much as you can. You do not require a drop pitman arm for this mild lift.
While a small amount of drop is not bad, it is not necessary. I would not remove the stock pitman arm, because it is not necessary.
See the blue bronco? It has a bone stock pitman arm, and inverted 'T' steering. Everything is bone stock. Actually the black one is stock too. The black one does have crossover and some spherical rod ends, but you can see that the angle is not bad.
Both steer well.

I do think that the f one fittys still have sensors for ABS up front, though I could be wrong. I do think I remember the sensors being on the TTB front ends for both the f one fittys and broncos.
Either way, you wont have front ABS any more.

 

i bypassed it now, but i thought the abs was on the front of my 1994 f350.master cylinder lines came down to what i assume was an abs pump, two came out to the front, one line to the rear. currently i don't have my rear brake line hooked up, it was a quick fix, i only drive the truck in town right now at low speeds. the abs light comes on for a few seconds at start up but then shuts off. i left the wires hooked up to the pump, so maybe he won't have that bothersome warning light bugging him. this is my first vehicle with abs, so i don't know too much about abs. a line broke at the pump and i just bypassed it

 

abs is usually on the rear if it's only on one axle