99-04 SuperDuty Axle Swap Trac Bar

[Autumn_84]

Super Duty axle swap guys, i beg of
thee; teach me your ways!
i have finally cycled around projects and
gotten my ‘99 dana 50 bolted into Sky’s RSK on my ‘84 f250, and tying up all the loose ends.
i need advice with the trac bar. i have learned the purpose of it and how to make sure it’s set up correctly (i think, i’ve read a LOT of forums, but i’ve never been this in depth with a truck before), but im curious how to set this up for the axle swap.
my understanding is a ttb d50 didn’t use a trac bar, because they have leaves and axle arm brackets, but d60 trucks did. my truck was 2wd. in searching for a trac bar bracket, i found PMF and Sky’s both make an option that mounts under the engine crossmember? it looks funky to me, maybe that design would work on my bronco 2 when i SAS that, but in my f250 the trac bar is about 4-5” forward of the crossmember, and would interfere with the steering box/pitman arm.
the trac bar DOES however line up under the frame rail, behind the steering box. does anyone make a bracket for this placement or do i get to put my welding…”skills” to work and fab a bracket?
from what i remember it needs to be parallel to the drag link from the pitman arm, but please correct me if i’m wrong.
thank you for reading and any advice you may have!

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[u2slow]

The factory trac bar on the 85-97 f350 is shorter, and mounts to the belly of the engine cradle. Maybe find that bracket off an f350 and shorten your bar.

On a 78-79 Bronco the bracket is vertical on the outboard side of the frame and hangs down to hook up to the bar.

 

[franklin2]

Your steering linkage and the bar look like they are in a awfully steep angle. Are you running a dropped pitman arm? Looks like you should. The longer the track bar is, the better. It should be close to the steering linkage angle, and be at least as long or longer than the steering linkage.

 

[Autumn_84]

Franklin, yes, i do have a 4” drop pitman arm (i believe it’s 4” i don’t know how to verify for sure) that came off the same truck the leaf springs did. this stock steering system will probably be swapped out for one of Sky’s upgrades in the future.
does the 85-97 trac bar mount on the rear side of the diff housing?
i can mount a bracket under the steering box similar to the 99-04 super duty frame, and that would keep the angles happy.

 

[u2slow]

does the 85-97 trac bar mount on the rear side of the diff housing?

Yes.

 

[Austin86250]

Here is where the factory Trac arm brackets mounts, get an adjustable one

 

[u2slow]

Have you tried it without a trac bar?

You may not need it since you have a reverse shackle on there. The factory front shackle isn't very stable, and that's why they used one.

 

[Autumn_84]

Austin; thank you! that photo helps me out so much! my super duty axle’s trac bar is located on the front side of the tube, so my bar is too far away from the factory 85-97 bracket. looks like i’m going to run the 78-79 bronco, and 99-04 super duty style under the frame behind the steering box.

u2slow i have not tried driving it yet to see if i need the RSK. still have a bunch of loose ends under the truck to tie up before i can drop batteries back in it, although i may try a test run to see how she rides. i assumed it was required since its appearance on the 99-04 sd’s, which have the shackle in the rear of the leaf spring from factory.

maybe im just nervous about this rig,
everything underneath it is technically not supposed to be there

 

[u2slow]

Lots of guys put crossover steering on their older Chevs and Dodges. The really tall and/or flexy ones end up needing a trac bar, but the lower-lift ones generally don't.

 

[IDIoit]

i did a 85 F250 chassis with SD axles in my sons 61.
i ordered a track bar kit from ruffstuff specialties

 

[03wr250f]

this is what you need

92-97 Ford F-250/350 - 99-04 SuperDuty Axle Conversion PanHard Kit

Description: -Aids in Superduty axle swaps by offering a solution for the panhard mount being in front-of-the-axle. (Instead of the factory 85-97 behind-the-axle mounts on 85-97 Dana 60's) -Allows use of Superduty Dana 50/60 factory panhard mount -Designed for 2-4" lifts, can work up to a 6" but...

www.skysoffroaddesign.com

 

[IDIBRONCO]

this is what you need

That should do the trick!

 

[u2slow]

At that price, I would be trying without a trac bar first.