2WD TO 4WD, DANA 60 UNDER MY F250

A few pics of this weekends Dana 60 front axle swap carnage. (That's the old man in the pic, not me...) 7" of lift over the stock, sagged 2wd in the front, 4" in the rear....Load's of work, more than I expected. Took me and the old man 7hrs yesterday, 2.5hrs last night by myself and another 7.5hrs today for me and the old man, we are pooped but we took it for a drive - mucho F'n cool.....Still needs the steady bearing shimmed down, gotta drop the driveshaft some to stop a vibration we noticed/expected. Next up is the NP205 transfer case install.

It went in fairly easy, no stock 2wd hangers or brackets were needed by the engine mounts so they were removed completely. The only snag I had was on the wheel studs.....The 4wd studs were too long once I removed the spacer that was on the D60 hubs for the previous 19" wheels. The 2wd studs were the right length but the "teeth" were in the wrong spot to grab the hubs.....$50 at the dealer and I had new wheel studs. Made up some brake line brackets, had to re-use the L/S hose (junction block )....I also mounted the shock mounts 3/4" lower on the frame to compensate for the higher than expected lift.

It needs some minor adjustments-tweeking but it drives ok and brakes good....It's a 40 acre truck now - doesn't turn very sharp. I posted a pic of the shackles too so you guys could see that they aren't sitting too straight...The springs were arched 2" over stock and the 3rd leaf was added. I havent' decided on wether to put the sway bars back on or not - might need longer links in the front.

Nice work BRT

With that much lift you're going to want a dropped pitman arm to prevent any bump steer but they're pretty cheap and readily available. Truck sits really 'proud' with all the new goods. The swaybar links are pretty easy to accomplish, I just cut mine in two and 'sleeved' them with some 1/2"" galv. pipe. Just measure the original length vs height and then the new height and add that much to the length cut the pipe and weld 'em back together. Here's a pic of the back

DUDE we need to talk.
Im going to be doing this to my low mile 83 soon, not a D60 but the twin beam F250 axle. I couldnt afford the D60. Anyway. How did you remove the brackets without damaging them, and how did you drill the frame holes for the extra bolts? I have a frame drill, and plan on using templates to get the holes right. How about the little "dent" in the front of the frame for the hangar?

I think the stock rear links will be ok, I used the 4" F350 lift blocks and I have the links that cam on the donor truck that the blocks were removed from. I will have to lengthen the front links though. The steering is ok, returns to center very well and it drives ok. I'm going to get a steering staybilizer kit from from fleabay as added insurance. It would probably equate to 5" of total lift in the front as the old 2wd front springs were were sqautting bad. The steady bearing on the driveshaft needs to come down about 2" I figure to get the shaft angle right. I'll do that next weekend, I'm outta town this week for 4 days on a Freightliner electrical course for work so it made sense to do it this weekend as I don't need to drive the truck this week.

I took the brackets off with a torch and a hammer/punch, burn the head off and drive the rivet out. I forgot to bring my air hammer home. I drilled the frame with a 3/8" Dewalt drill and some decent bits I got from work, I used off the shelf hand tools as that's all I have at home. As for the dimple in the frame, I have 2 4wd frame pieces here to measure from, one from the front at the shackle and the other at the rear spring mount. It gave me a reference to put the hangers in the right place. I made 2 spacers from 2" solid round stock, 3/4" thick with a 5/8" hole in it. Drilled the frame in the right spot and welded it on in that location. I'll keep an eye on things for the next little while to make sure nothing is getting loose and make adjustments as needed. Sor far I'm into the swap for $1400cdn witn new and used parts.

Very nice Stuart, very nice indeed.

I knew it would be a fair amount of work to do the conversion. The truck looks real sharp and not too high for everyday use. Glad to hear it drives well.

Why are you worried about the steady bearing when you will be putting the NP205 in there real soon? That should bout eliminate the steady bearing wouldn't it?

I still think when I do mine I'll be doing a shackle reversal though for the extra time it takes. Plus it allows me to make a nice cross member up front to tighten and strengthen the frame seeing as I'll be installing a Warn 8274 winch up front.

Again Nice job!

The shackle reversal is nice but I had to get this done quick as I can't lay it up for more than a weekend....tis' my daily driver. I can't remove the steady bearing or else my front shaft might be too long and it will need a steady bearing, atleast that's what my buddy at the driveline shop said when he looked at it.....I'm looking at a short input shaft, short shaft to the steady bearing and then the stock shaft in the rear....I have to shim it down anyways so I can drive it until I get time to make my t-case crossmember. I don't want make the u-joints take a dump...

I'm off for a Freightliner electrical course for 4 days out of town, leaving in the early AM tommorow. I'll finish the fine tuning on the beast next weekend so I can drive it to work on Monday morning. I just drove it around the subdivision yesterday so I need to double check everything is tight and etc.

I have to tidy up my swap this weekend. I might have a front shock issue - too short. As they stand right now the front shocks are only 2-3/4" from their full length at ride height, sitting still. Anyone got a part number for a longer front shock? I'm going to take some more pic's in the daylight too... ....I have to shim the driveshaft steady bearing down and tie up my brake lines.

Got the driveshaft shimmed down, took it for a drive and it works good. I'll stop at the driveline shop on Monday and have my buddy check it out for me.

SWEET!!!!!!!!!

Damn man....that looks Shawweeeet!

Working out good so far, think I'll leave the 3rd leaf in for good....I think I found my "pull to the right"....The top king-pin on the drivers side is toast - or atleast the bushing is....Minor detail on a big ship.

On the bright side, I went to see my buddy at the driveline shop this morning about a few items to do with my swap while I was out for a test drive ....I asked if he had any steering stabilizer brackets laying around...He did and he said he would bring them down to my shop at lunch.....He comes down and hands me a brand new Rough Country steering stabilizer kit.....Freebie!!!.....I damn near crapped my pants right there .....Turns out the owner of a local speed shop owes him quite a bit of money so he stopped in to see him and came out with the kit for me......I like how he operates. ...

I'm getting a 2wd diesel 5spd trans, complete 90 F150 supercab 4x4 (5.0/5spd), Bare supercab shell and some other crap for $200 from him as well this week....More parts to roll for a tidy profit.... Time to get a 6" drop hitch for my truck and get that puppy to the junkyard.

Looky what showed up today, my Spicer 1350 yokes came in for the 205 t-case, $232 later and they are mine... ....They fit like a glove so now I can start fitting this thing under my truck. ...Stay tuned for pics in the next week or so as I start into fabrication mode.

looks real nice man , Swaps like that can be a PITA but the end result is always worth the effort

Yeah, I think this thing will be killer, 7.3IDI, 5spd, kingpin D60 front, Posi 10.25" rear and a divorced t-case to boot....Should be pretty rugged in the woods with the right tires.

BigRigTech said:

Yeah, I think this thing will be killer, 7.3IDI, 5spd, kingpin D60 front, Posi 10.25" rear and a divorced t-case to boot....Should be pretty rugged in the woods with the right tires.

Click to expand...

almost the same as me (minus the divorced t-case) and its a tank. pretty much point and go