Hey All,

I have a '99 F-350 PSD SD thats lifted 8" running 36 Swampers, the truck only has 60,000Km on it and I now have to replace the Unit bearings, but personnally I think that spending $450 per side to replace the bearings and not gain any strength or improvement is a waste of money.

I know this problem is prevalent with these trucks, got 3 friends who have had to pay to have the bearings replaced.

So I am looking for a little bit of information to see if a swap is worth attempting,

I know there are aftermarket kits to do this but 3g's is to much.

here is what i am proposing:

using the Dana 60 outer knuckles from a ford f-350 94-97 (pre unit bearing)
then also taking the spindle, wheel bearings, hub, outer stub shaft, locking hubs and all the associated seals and such from the same year.

replace the outer knuckle, unit bearing, hub, stub shaft.

here are the questions I have not been able to find good answers for:

Will the Dana 60 outer knuckle fit on the Dana 50 inner knuckle?

Do the brake calipers mount the same way on then Dana 60 Knuckles?

Is the stub shaft a direct replacement?

What rotor should I use, one from the same year as all the new parts or the existing ones for the truck ( I will be redrilling the hub to the new 8*170mm pattern)???

Will the steering linkages be in the same locations (steering arms and such)?

will the tie rods match up ( same taper used)?

Will this mess up the Anti lock sensor?

I know i will have to re-drill the bolt pattern on the hub to 8*170mm if I want to reuse my wheels

Thanks in advance

Paul


__________________
Father-Torque

99' F-350 SD XLT Lariat 7.3L PSD 6sp, 8" superlift, 36" swampers

 

i would post this in the ford section of pirate4x4.com

you more likely to get an answer over there, and a good one at that....i would search first before you post it though.

good thinking

 

Thanks 85351

I'll give that a try.

Just suprises me that with all the problems people have had with these bearings that no one has come up with an easy and economical swap to fix the problem

i've read tons of threads bout people trying to replace the bearings in the sealed hubs and stuff.

we'll see what i find there.

Thanks

 

I do know of a company who developed heavy duty fixed spindle hubs for the SD to replace the unit bearing setup. Price won't be that bad compared to a replacement stock unit bearing.

Last I heard they should be available for sale within the next few months....if production goes as expected on them.



Hope this helps.

 

I believe in peterson's 4wheel and offroad, they said that dynatrac had came up with a conversion to swap on regular spindle bearings and stuff...

http://www.dynatrac.com/ford-convert.htm

A little pricey, but I am not sure what you get with this setup.

 

if you can get a hold a complete dana60 i would swap in the whole cause it wouls be a whole lot easier then swaping parts. You might get lucking a find a wrecked SD at the wreckers with a 60 and you might be able to get the front axle complete.

 

all the superduties have the crappy unit bearing stuff. i dont know the perch width on the superduties, but if its 36.5 then just find a 85-97 dana 60 and bolt it under there, thatd be alot easier

the dynatrac kit is nice, but i think it comes with a bunch of extra crap you dont need, like crossover steering

 

I'm pretty sure that the old F350 Dana 60 won't swap with the SD axles...

 

i doubt it will too, but ive never measured?....any body know the centerpin-centerpin measurement on the front of superduties

 

From my checking the dana 60 from a pre 97 isn't a direct bolt in,
the spring mounting hardware, trackbar bracket and sway bar are all different.
would probably require cutting and reattaching all the brackets from the 50 to the 60

did the 97 f-350 come with front abs???
how many pistons do the 97 f350 brake calipers have???

 

I don't know about the ABS, but it has dual piston calipers.

 

does anyone know the centerpin to centerpin measurement for the superduties?

 

8531,

just measured mine and its 38" from center of center pin to center pin

 

sweet, thanks

 

I think the wheel bolt pattern is also different between the old trucks and the SD's. The older trucks had an 8/6.5 bolt pattern, the SD's are metric 8x170mm (6.69 in). Don't know if you can get around this without some adapters? or two spares...