Solid front axle swap
01-31-2008, 04:49 PM
#43
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You need to look at a 84-87 full size chevy truck for all your ideas on were and what to mount everything. Also check out Off- Road Designs website. You'll find allot of good parts that you can use on your swap. BTW rear shackles for sure, unless you want your front d-shaft pulling apart anytime you take it off-road.
02-03-2008, 08:29 PM
#44
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Im doing the same type of swap on my 97 chevy 2wd. Im using a dana 44 out of a 79 bronco, and a np241 case. why are you using leaf springs? im using the radius arms and coil springs and it seems to be much easier. i notched my frame where the stock coil spring seats were and made it wider for the 44 springs. Most of the parts are pretty easy to find at a wrecking yard cheap.
02-03-2008, 11:21 PM
#46
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I made all my brackets and mounted it in a day. plus i already had all the suspension stuff out of the bronco and i didnt have any leaf springs laying around so thats why i went that direction with it. plus you gain a lot of room in front of the axle for the steering and trac bar.
02-06-2008, 09:37 PM
#47
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$10k is an easy number to reach with a lot of extras, I have a 3rd of that simply in parts in my front D60 and still have normal 1514 axle shafts and Spicer 806x joints.
You don't have to sacrifice comfort, in fact you can make it ride better, it just requires work and money. I'm putting dual rate coilovers and airbumps on my rig right now with a dual triangulated 4-link and a sway-bar with disco's. The parts are pricey but the reward is the quality of ride and performance.
Plaese don't just build everything out of 1/4" plate, everybody builds everything out of 1/4" because they think it has to be. Just design it worth a damn and use thinner material in efficient planes. Weight is not your friend.
D60 balljoint shafts on 91-96 Ford axles are the same as the previous kingpin versions. On the 99-05 Superduties the shafts did shrink a little and the stubs are different as a result of the unit hubs.
You can't keep ABS on an older axle as there is no tone ring and no mount for the sensor. The only way to keep it would be to use a newer axle from an 94+ Dodge HD or a 99+ Superduty but those axles are undesirable as a result of the balljoints, strange shafts and unit hubs.
Balljoints really aren't that much worse than kingpins, you don't see anybody breaking them on 60's. They don't wear out quickly like IFS either as they only move in one plane. The biggest draw back is the need to buy a crossover knuckle to get them to work on a swap without using some craptacular Y-link. Those knuckles are pricey.
Put the shackles in the rear but unlike previously posted the driveshaft will need a lot more slip travel compared to having them up front. The reason being the springs wont just pivot on the rear bracket with a shackle up front, they will swing out and forward away from the t-case requiring the driveshaft length to change. WIth my old setup and long shackles I had to have ~8"s of slip in my driveshaft to keep up.
You don't have to sacrifice comfort, in fact you can make it ride better, it just requires work and money. I'm putting dual rate coilovers and airbumps on my rig right now with a dual triangulated 4-link and a sway-bar with disco's. The parts are pricey but the reward is the quality of ride and performance.
Plaese don't just build everything out of 1/4" plate, everybody builds everything out of 1/4" because they think it has to be. Just design it worth a damn and use thinner material in efficient planes. Weight is not your friend.
D60 balljoint shafts on 91-96 Ford axles are the same as the previous kingpin versions. On the 99-05 Superduties the shafts did shrink a little and the stubs are different as a result of the unit hubs.
You can't keep ABS on an older axle as there is no tone ring and no mount for the sensor. The only way to keep it would be to use a newer axle from an 94+ Dodge HD or a 99+ Superduty but those axles are undesirable as a result of the balljoints, strange shafts and unit hubs.
Balljoints really aren't that much worse than kingpins, you don't see anybody breaking them on 60's. They don't wear out quickly like IFS either as they only move in one plane. The biggest draw back is the need to buy a crossover knuckle to get them to work on a swap without using some craptacular Y-link. Those knuckles are pricey.
Put the shackles in the rear but unlike previously posted the driveshaft will need a lot more slip travel compared to having them up front. The reason being the springs wont just pivot on the rear bracket with a shackle up front, they will swing out and forward away from the t-case requiring the driveshaft length to change. WIth my old setup and long shackles I had to have ~8"s of slip in my driveshaft to keep up.
02-10-2008, 09:06 AM
#48
formerly 20032wdsilverado (8/29/2011)
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ok, im picking up a 14 bolt FF from a dually for 100, is that gonna work or am i gonna have to modify it to work on a SRW?
02-10-2008, 11:19 AM
#49
The shock mounts might need to be moved
ABS - may not work
Your brake backing plate can be swapped over . . . if it was a chevy axle
Do a little searching on pirate4x4 . . . . there's a few that have already done the swap. It takes out the guess work.
-Use the search before you post on that site !
