My F250 axle swap - D50 to D60

This is my D60 swap story.

Truck is a 1994, axle was donated from a 1993 diesel 350.

My D50 needed a lot of help. I have very bad tire wear and the truck front looked down right sad. At 270,000 Km on the clock the steering parts needed to be changed, and my few-year-old Moog ball joints I was not impressed with. I debated doing a swap or repairing the D50 but I really prefer the simplicity and reliability of the mono-axle. I was concerned about two things: ride quality, and ride height - I don't want the truck raised significantly.

Last year I picked up a junk F350 with a good front axle. After removing valuable components and distributing parts to our members all over North America I scrapped the chassis and basically paid $50 for the D60 (well, plus shipping costs that I paid sending parts out to members). The D60 was in rough shape, specifically the steering was destroyed (drag links are not good tow points!) but I would have had to change everything on my D50 anyway.

I did not have the F350 front drive shaft (transfer case to front diff) so I measured from the front u-joint to the nearest rear spring bolt. I compared the D50 to D60 dimensions and they were bang on! Great, my existing drive shaft will fit.

The D60 was completely stripped of parts, scrapped, wire brushed, etched, primed and painted with implement paint.



This is the parts list for my rebuild of the D60; I have included the vendors that I used and I recommend all of them for great service and excellent pricing. All of these parts are top of the line – XRF Chassis, Bilstein, Energy Suspension. The front u-joints were replaced with Spicer greasable.

MIBearings
2 x XRF ES3009R, ES3009R, 401-1425, ES2915R TIE ROD END (XRF-ES3009R) =$76.94
1 x XRF DS1068, DS1068, 410-1033, DS1068 DRAG LINK (XRF-DS1068) = $59.90
2 x XRF ES2012S, ES2012S, 425-1011, ES2012S ADJUSTER SLEEVE (XRF-ES2012S) =$21.43

Ebay purchase from "carpartssupplier123"
Steering Tie Rod End Front Right Outer XRF DS1071 = $67.14

The Tire Club
(2)k80026(2)k8607t Xrf Ball Joints K80026K8607T $125.00

Energy Suspension Parts
Part Number: 4.7115 Product Name: Front Track Arm Bushings $9.99

Autoplicity
Dana Spicer Axle Products AXLE U-JOINT KIT DANA 60 FRONT AXLE SKU: DQS-SPL554X $49.62 2 = $99.24
Energy Suspension Leaf Spring Bushing Set Red SKU: E21-42121R $43.04 1 = $43.04
Dana Spicer Axle Products D60 F SEAL & GUIDE TUBE SKU: DQS-36487 $6.01 2 = $12.02
Bilstein 46mm Monotube Shock Absorber SKU: BIL-24016179 $61.79 2 = $123.58

My parts pile!


D60 is cleaned up and steering components installed. Two inner seals replaced also.


The D50 was completely removed in a little less than two hours. Ready to install the track bar bracket.


I am now ready to stick the D60 under the truck. Having a loader with forks makes this pretty easy, especially when working alone.


A few bolts later...


cont'd...

...cont'd...

Back on it's feet again!


Lessons learned (aka mistakes)
This actually went together really well. I forgot to take some good 'before' pictures for comparison and I also forgot to measure the wheel well height before removing the D50 I think the front is up about two inches over the D50.

I have added a few more pictures that might help others. I had done a lot of research on parts compatibility between the D50 to the D60, I have added some details and pictures for clarity. In a nutshell, the inner axles, u-joints, outer axles are not the same. Anything attached to the hub (seals, bearings) is the same. Everything attached to the knuckle is the same (caliper, ball joints) but the knuckle itself is completely different. Pittman arm is different (longer on the D60).

Outer axle (D50 - D60 respectively)


Spindle (D50 - D60 respectively). The D50 spindle will work on the D60, and the D60 spindle will *probably* work on the D50. The flange is longer on the D60


Steering Knuckle. D50 in front of the painted D60 knuckle


Pittman arm (D50 - D60 respectively)

My costs so far. Excluding shipping (i.e. parts cost only) I have $660 from the parts list in my first post. Since that parts order I had to replace one inner axle ($125) and I do need to replace both outer axles (probably $150). I will also change spindle seals, needle bearings, etc. Total for this upgrade is just under $1000 - and everything is top of the line.

Good deal. I just primed my housing last night. Are you going to swap the blocks out in the back or stick with the short blocks? I bought a pro comp block and ubolt kit for a newer truck that looks like it should work dandy for the leveling of the truck. The 1 ton blocks I believe are 4" and the 3/4 ton blocks I think are 1.5 to 2 inches.

I don't have the 350 anymore and it was missing all of the rear suspension when I got it. I am not sure what parts are needed.

I think it's just a taller block in the rear. The ones off the 350 donor were toast. Here is what I bought. Pro Comp 62244

http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Comp-6224...qid=1404745503&sr=8-1&keywords=Pro+Comp+62244

They look like they should fit just fine. Height is about the same as the 350 blocks that were trashed.

250 = 2" rear blocks
350 = 4" rear blocks,

got one of each out front, and know this well...

Nice Swap man very very nice swap, and parts list is super good too. Good info and thanks for the pictures!

I've got some more parts I'm hoping to grab for my KP 60 before I go and assemble it here, inner spindle bearings for one, and new ujoints, both are good but...but...replace now while rebuilding right? As well I'd like to add some HD rotors and pads and 4" extended stainless brake lines...maybe 6" lines, for flex.

Again, thanks for the info, and I'll be watching how this rides etc for ya with those energy suspension bushings.

I'd like to add 4" lift springs to my setup so keep us aprised as to how those work.

I was hoping to keep close to the original height; I guess I will have to change the rear blocks or maybe re-arch the fronts to lower. If I go that route then I would probably order new fronts with the right arch (basically flat?). I like the looks of the front now but I don't need a monster truck for loading!

So far I am very happy with the ride. My front tires are beat (from the D50) and make a lot of noise but the ride is great. I wouldn't say the ride is any rougher than the D50; it certainly responses differently (a more obvious bump up). I think the D60 actually rides better but maybe I just want it to. I have only put about 10 Km on the truck since the change, will know better tomorrow morning!

My Energy bushings came with the really think silicon grease; no squeaking and a very tight feel. I am very happy with all of the parts I used.

riotwarrior said:

250 = 2" rear blocks
350 = 4" rear blocks,

got one of each out front, and know this well...

Click to expand...

Is it easy for you post a picture of those side by side? Wondering if I can modify my existing blocks. That Pro-Comp kit looks good though.

You could stack them but I wouldn't. If you are happy with how it looks and don't mind it being a little nose up, I don't think there is any reason you have to run the taller blocks other than just to level the truck. I'll try to get you a pic tonight if Al doesn't beat me to it.

Here's the different blocks I have.



The thin one is the 250, the thicker one in the middle is stock 350 (tore up) and the third is the pro comp. It's got a little taper to it unlike the others but all that should do is straighten out your driveline angle a bit.

Double post.

here's a link to the lift blocks I found... Pretty simple to make! http://www.newtonlifts.com/store/

You could do that but I'm not sure I would use aluminum after seeing how tore up my stock blocks were. If the U bolts work loose and you wouldn't realize it, it would eat those aluminum blocks up pretty quick. If you don't care about the bump stops, you can get generic lift blocks for around $50-60. Stacking them seems like a bad idea to me but maybe it's standard practice.

For the money, the pro comp was a pretty good deal I think because I got the blocks and Ubolts for $114. If you price U-bolts, they are not exactly cheap. You will need them anyway, regardless of philosophy on changing them, because the old ones will probably be too short. I figure I got the blocks for about 55-60 after I take out the price of the U-bolts so I could live with that. Of course, I had already ordered U-bolts so now I have a spare set.

Aluminum? those are thick steel!

Oh, I get it... The link doesn't remember the page I was looking at. the set I was interested in are pictured here (and are definitely not aluminum!) http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1143813-newton-rear-lift-blocks-installed-pics.html

Definitely not stacking. I would rather lower the front back down but getting re-arched springs might be a hassle.