so won't the drop brackets from a 95 work?

 

no, they wouldn't. The distance between the radius arms on the D44 TTB is greater than the distance between the radius arms on the solid. It would cause too much binding.

 

no no no, i planned on moving the drop bracket back, all the way to the cab mount. i was told this could be done, and had read about someone doing it. i guess you have to notch the edge of the cab mount to get it back far enough and then it would work. supposedly it provides mad amounts of articulation because the arm is so low.

 

The TTB radius arm brackets will not work, the distance from side to side when measuring from the center of the hole for the radius arm is wider than the solid axle. The measurement of the tips of the radius arms are narrow on the solid axle than on the TTB axle.

Its because the TTB bracket comes out off the side of the frame rail, where as the solid axle brackets drops directly below the fram rail. Even these brackets require some fabricating because they were made for a box frame not a "C" frame. I have yet to find any "bolt on" brackets, only weld on. I dont want to weld anything to my frame, So I am fabricating new brackets.

The 78-79 brackets wont work because they are made to bolt to a crossmember that is not present on the newer truck. You have to use early bronco brackets because they bolt to JUST the frame rail, not the crossmember.

Dont forget about the trackbar bracket you have to fabricate. I really thing that fabritech's SAS kit is worth the $1800, it comes with all bolts and ALL conversion brackets. Very complete kit.

But I cant afford it... So fabricating everything.

Hope this helps.

 

okay another question........ can i use the 95 4 inch superlift coils i have now? all i would have to do is use 80-96 coil buckets in place of the stock ones on the axle right?


and since id be only using 4 inch lift springs, i probably wouldn't clear the frame crossmember. how hard would it be to completely cut that out and have a different one fabricated and welded in? and would that be as safe or as strong than the stock frame design? im sure it could be reinforced quite a bit.

 

The conversion gives you another 2" of lift, you'll have 6" total, that will clear the xmember. If not, just trim the corner of it. You cant remove it because your motor mounts to it, and there are cooler lines wrapped in it.

You can use the 80-96 coils, but you have to fabricate a peice for the bottom that bolts to the top of the radius arm and has a stud coming up out of it for your spring clamp.

This swap isn't as easy as some people are making it sound. It has to be done right in order to be worth the swap. Doing it right means ALOT of custom detailed work. OR purchasing a kit from fabritech at setstr8.com

Just to let you know, I am about $700 into this, and I got my axle housing for free. I still have to spend about another $450 to complete the swap. It would be worth the $1600 conversion kit offered by them, plus their kit installs COMPLETELY bolt on in one afternoon. Wishing I would have just done it. Didn't have the money at the time though. didn't know it was going to cost this much by peicing it all together slowly.

Good luck!

 

hmmmm.... so would it be a wise move to just use the springs i already have and do some fabricating? or should i go with 73-79 lift springs instead? i know this swap isn't easy, i have been researching it as much as i can the past few weeks and crawlin under my truck looking at stuff. what i plan to do is know every step of the process and have everything all ready to go before i so much as touch my truck. im still not completely positive im gonna do the swap yet, i just might sell the axles i got and forget about it. shore would be nice tho!

 

I would use the springs you have and fab the lower coil support blocks. It's cheaper & looks better that way.

If you were to change out the upper coil support it would look weird.

I can help you with just about any questions you may have, this is our 4th or 5th swap. I know all the parts you need & how much $ they cost.

It's expensive, unless you want to fab everything. I wanted to stay away from that and try to use everything stock from different vehicles to use on my truck so it appeared stock, clean.

I will have pictures of the swap on here soon.

 

With all the talk of 80-96 coils and mounting them to the D44 solid, i've been thinking about having a machine shop fabricate a new "coil bucket" for me that goes in place of the small block that gets bolted between the radius arm and the c-cup where the original coil bucket would bolt to. This block would be a T shape with a threaded hole for the stud in the center of the top of the T. The top of the T being roughly 3/4" giving that much more lift. Also not many have mentioned a very important part. The track bar, I don't know if this is true or not BUT i have read somewhere that you can use the trackbar and trackbar bracket off a '92 (i don't know why only '92) F250 with a solid axle.

 

The "T" coil support is a great idea, that is what I have, but it doesn't bolt in between the c-cap & radius arm... it bolts to the outside of the c-cap using slightly longer bolts. It requires some grinding of the outside of the c-cap so that it sits flush. This part works great.

Once the "T" support is bolted on, the bolt stud threads down into it and your stock (80-96) coil block slips over the top of it, giving 2" of lift, then your coil sits on that and the washer and nut hold it down.

I dont know about the '92 tracbar & bracket. That would make this ALOT easier. If anyone is reading, if this will work let us know!

Thanks!

 

First off, did you make your own "T" coil support or did you have a machine shop do it. I have no tools that i could cut stock steel into a "T". I'll call around to some local shops and see what they say.

Second, steering. Lets say i'm able to pick up a complete steering system off a 80-96 solid axle truck, would this bolt right up to the D44. I'm trying to make this as painless as possible.

Lastly, the bronco i am getting the axle from has a lift on it. I has the radius arm drop brackets and the crossmember that they bolt too, whos to say i can't take that crossmember and bolt it up to my truck?

I'm trying to get the downtime to about 2-3 days, i want this as painless as possible!

 

The T brackets I have came from Fabritech. But they dont sell individual parts, you have to buy the whole kit. I just happened to come accross them. I'd say your looking to spend $80-90 on them from a shop.

You need the tierod (knuckle to knuckle) from the '78-79 axle($50), you need the adjustable draglink from a '96 F-350 Dana60 ($250). You cant use the tierod from 80-96 solid axles because they are slightly longer. But the draglink is the perfect length on the '96 F-350.

I dont think the crossmember idea will work because your stock crossmember is in the way. Those dropbrackets you have, do they bolt to the outside of the frame rail also? Most of them bolt to the bottom of the frame & the side of the crossmember. Some aftermarket ones also come up the outside of the frame for a couple bolts. If yours have that you could probably use them, and rig something off your stock crossmember to bolt them to.

But the more custom stuff that has to be done on the spot, the longer your downtime. Thats why that damn kit from fabritech is such a good thing.

I think you can do this in 2-3 days. Are you having any friends over to help? Do they have any experience with this type of a swap? Do you have a welder?

 

Steering parts sound great, that will save a bunch of time, as for the coil pads, i don't know if $80 - 90 is worth it, just get 78-79 6" lift coils?

I will have around 5 friends helping me with the swap, all newbies at this . I do have a welder, so anything that needs to be welded is not a problem.

I was looking at my friends 79 bronco today, it has a 4" lift and has the drop brackets, the the top of the bracket was an L shape with boltholes on the botton and side, i still have to get my brackets off the donor truck but i think they are the same and look like that will fit up to my frame.

 

coming into this convo a little late guys, sorry....anyway...i have performed 4 of these straight axle conversions so far, and working on the fifth right now. all i want to know is why is everyone getting rid of thier ttb??? understandably there are some purpose built vehicles that a straight axle would much better serve, but 3 of the conversions i have done were abortions of a mint ride in the making. i understand it eats tires, and looks odd, but i love it in the rocky new england trails. if however a straight axle is your fancy, wich my own 85 bronco has, i have found that you can take any kind of radius arm bracket you can find and make it work with little hassle. i prefer superlift 6" drop...they are cast iron and bolt on quick and easy. spring buckets i have done many different custom homegrown ways, and all have worked great. and another thing that is free and works great when trying to adjust height after the swap, is raising or lowering the shock/spring tower. its only riveted on, so grind them out, put it atr the height you want, drill, and bolt. i have found this to be the most economical, adjustable, just the way you want it thing to do. as far as radius arms...if you want longer than the stock 79 style, i would recomend going into the world of 5 link front. my 85 sports it, and it is a much better performer than any radius arm setup i have run. just my opinion though!

 

Yes you can get 78-79 lift coils, but then you have to get 78-79 upper coil mounts. Or keep 80-96 coils and fab a lower coil mount.

So either way, you have to change something to fit the coils.