Easiest 4x4 conversion?

franklin2 said:

If you do not want to do any fabrication, sky off road design makes a front shackle reversal kit that you can use to install the front axle in a 2wd. It does give you a slight lift also.

85-91 Ford F-350 4x4 2

Description: NOW AVAILABLE IN BLACK POWDERCOAT Kit provides much better ride than stock by moving shackle to rear of spring. Eliminates the weak front shackle design. Levels truck by lifting 2" and allows use of 35's NEW OPTION! 2wd -> 4wd frame plates. Put a Dana 60 in your 2wd! Application...

www.skysoffroaddesign.com

They have some other stuff also.

92-97 F-250/350 Front Suspension (Leaf Spring)

92-97 Ford F-250 / F-350 Front Suspension parts. Lift Kits, Solid Axle Swaps, Suspension Systems, hard to find obsolete parts, SAS, OBS

www.skysoffroaddesign.com

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From what I gather, this kit only works on the Dana 60, not a twin I beam 4x4. Is a good option.

Hubs by Warn here: www.warn.com

u2slow said:

Ford has used front dually adapters since '99. Dodge since '94 and Chevy since '88. I don't see the problem.

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IDIBRONCO said:

No. The 87-91 are called Brick Nose. 92-94 (for IDI applications) are called OBS.

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I didn't know that! Still learning about these old Ford trucks. And trucks in general. Old Ford tractors on the other hand.

hacked89 said:

My first demo derby car i flux cored the safety bars and broke them during a hard hit. I then went to night school for stick and oxy and have much more confidence in my stick welding. I’m sure your tombstone and some 7018 can do more than you feel.

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I appreciate the vote of confidence. And you're right. I know my welds can hold weight, it's just the speed that scares me. But I guess that isn't as much of an issue in an idi lol. Won't know until I try!

Thoughts on the SD conversion? I'm going to look at a '94 SD tomorrow with a factory installed turbo. At the price he's asking it'll be a steal as long as it's in reasonable shape.

Seems like a Dana 60 front end and hub adapters would be the way to go for that. Would I want to use 350 springs. Seems like a straight axle instead of the stock dropped I-beam would have me with about 6" of lift in the front otherwise.

Use the 350 springs with the Dana 60, if you use 250 it'll be too bouncy

bumblebeer said:

Seems like a Dana 60 front end and hub adapters would be the way to go for that. Would I want to use 350 springs. Seems like a straight axle instead of the stock dropped I-beam would have me with about 6" of lift in the front otherwise.

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People use the F-Superduty springs for lifting an F350. If you want it lower, use F350 springs.

Nobody has mentioned the gearing difference. The f super duty will probably have 4.88s or 5.13s. meaning if you swap in an f350 front axle, you will have to regear one of them to match. The f350s had 3.55s,3.73s,4.10s, and sometimes 4.56s. there will be a difference in gearing either way.

Rock

I have a 93. So a 92-94 would work? Gas or diesel matter any?

5.13 and 4.63 come to mind for the Dana 80 on the F-Superduty.

kbenz said:

I have a 93. So a 92-94 would work? Gas or diesel matter any?

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85-97 all work. 85-94 is the same brakes. 95-97 the brakes change. Somewhere around 91-92 they change from kingpin to balljoint.

I did a fair amount of research before I started and went with the Sky's Offroad kit. Truck started life as an '87 F350 4x2 crew cab dually, 6.9, ZF-5. When I got it, it hadn't been running in about 20 years. Anyway, I've always wanted a crew cab diesel dually 4x4 so I decided to build one.

I did a solid axle swap with a king pin Dana 60 from a 1990 F350 SRW. Sourced an S47 ZF5 4x4 trans; rebuild ongoing. Still have to rebuild the 1356 transfer case. Engine is now a 7.3 IDI turbo with bits from Justin at R&D IDI -- hoping for 250/550 at the rear wheels. Short block is coming together this weekend.

Anyway, Sky's kit is quite good, and they posted a link to my video on their Facebook page (may also be on their website?) but here's a link so you don't have to search for it -



Happy to answer any questions you (or anyone else) might have.

Scott

bulletpruf said:

Engine is now a 7.3 IDI turbo with bits from Justin at R&D IDI -- hoping for 250/550 at the rear wheels.

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He can easily get you there.

No shout out to oilburners?

In reality though, that's a slick setup that they make, wish I had known about it years before I cut up my old 2x4 frame.

I wish to convert my F-Superduty to 4WD at some point, want to make sure I didn’t skip something…

-Potentially change spring hangers
-Build adapter for tail of trans case for parking brake
-Either regear front axle to 5.13 or regear rear axle to 4.10
-Order 10 lug front adapters. I am not scared of front adapters, OEM on some things
-Shorten rear driveshaft
-Acquire front driveshaft and possibly modify length.

Am I missing anything?

Staying with the stock front springs will yield something like 4-6" lift.

I think the brake adapter on the aluminum BW case will be difficult. May be better to source a np205 where brake kits are available.

u2slow said:

Staying with the stock front springs will yield something like 4-6" lift.

I think the brake adapter on the aluminum BW case will be difficult. May be better to source a np205 where brake kits are available.

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I was planning on using F350 front springs, if possible.

Did NP205 have brakes on the back of them in some applications? Do they bolt to a ZF5?

KansasIDI said:

Did NP205 have brakes on the back of them in some applications? Do they bolt to a ZF5?

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No, but I have read that the brake off some old np200 cases can be swapped (possibly).

Np205 fits after you notch the round flange. Its well documented - google it.