Well, the Moosestang returned to the road last night after a 6 month period of non-use. Back in June, it somehow sucked a rag into the right front brake caliper, which started a downward spiral that ended in the "top-hat" style lockout hub melting. Ford wanted $270 for this part, and since the 87' top-hat axles are rare, and I had been wanting to convert to 8 lug for a while (for looks, and to standardize parts) I decided this was the impetus needed to get me started on that conversion project. I knew the back would be easy, but the front took me down a rabbit trail that was very painful, had a steep learning curve, and was financially distructive. I'll be doing a tech article on that, and when I publish it I will delve into the details on that. Suffice it to say, that the front now sports the Ford IFS that came on the truck, but everything from the knuckle out is done with a mix of Chevy and Dana parts, some speed shop stuff and many trips to Autozone, Advance, and Rock Auto. The difference in effort requred to do the front versus the rear is a dichotomy of unparralleled equal. The factory rear axle was swapped out literally, with the 3.08 axle that I got from Flatlander. Gotta love Ford's standardization. My test drive with the 3.08's was liberating. First gear is much more usable now, and there was no noticable loss of power. Before, the ol' girl would have to spin 2500 RPM's just to do the speed limit, but now I'll be able to keep the R's way down and zing along offering even greater danger to the BMW's and Audi's of the last half of my commute. I may even re-evaluate the need to install the ZF that I have waiting in the wings as my next enhancement to this ever different truck. If I do the manual trans swap, overdrive on top of the 3.08's will make this rig the lowest turning thing on the planet, as I suspect I'll be able to do the speed limit at 1200 RPM, with a top speed insanely dangerous in such a short wheelbase rig. After I get my tire and rim situation corrected (I have a mish mash at the moment) I'll post pictures. I also still need to swap out the front gears for a set of 3.08's that have been promised by another member here, but on which I am still waiting.