how much will a 1/2 ton frame handle??

[Dieselguy123]

Just out of curiosity, would my 95, f150 4x4 handle 3/4 ton axles and an IDI and not break in half, its got a 351, auto right now but I need more, also would this be a worthwhile swap or would I be better off just to get a heavy duty frame?-Brad-

 

[gabbyr100rs]

Mel transplanted an IDI into a Bronco--isn't that just a shortened up 1/2 ton frame??

I don't know whether he is using HD axles yet or not.

 

[Diesel JD]

Yes and no, for some reason the Ford engineers decided that the Broncos should have a frame that was almost as HD as the F250 from what Agenem has said. He does have the F350 springs and axles I believe. I think if you have the HD axles and springs you'll have no problems damaging the frame,
J.D.

 

[85hauler]

For about a year and a half I had a '81 half ton 4X4. We had installed a 460 nothing special a stock '86 motor. Any way this past New Years we had a flood where our shop was. I was pulling cars out to dry ground and the water was deep enough that it was coming over the hood ( with 33" tires mind you). After this the fan was hitting the shroud No problem I thought the water had moved it. Nope couldn't be more wrong!! The engine cross member cracked in 3 places and both frame rails cracked behind the crossmember. I always said I could break a half ton well I sure did.

I would be cautious about using a half ton for any major power or serious work.

 

[Ironman03R]

Several years ago I measured the frames on a 76 and 77 ford truck. One was 1/2 ton one 3/4 ton, and they were the same. The reason I had to measure was that the 3/4 ton was rusted bad and I had a prefect 1/2 ton we wanted to section in. Never happened though

 

[towcat]

Several years ago I measured the frames on a 76 and 77 ford truck. One was 1/2 ton one 3/4 ton, and they were the same. The reason I had to measure was that the 3/4 ton was rusted bad and I had a prefect 1/2 ton we wanted to section in. Never happened though

80-97 saw some major changes on the frames compared to the older generation. When you put the 80 and up frames next to each other, you'll see the obvious differences. Now if you think the f250/f350 frames are stout....wait 'till you see a ORIGINAL f450 frame Now there's some steel there I tell everyone willing to listen, I became a furd convert due to the brakes and frame strength on the f450. Downside of these tough frames...cabs are shredded by 600k miles full-on cab replacement is a must at that point.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

I'm just going to shadow what Towcat said. You could load up the old 1/2 tons and you were prefectly fine. I remember loading up my 71 F100 completely full of steel and the truck acting like it wasn't even there. In 1980 they were trying to shed as much weight as possible, a lot of that came from the frame.

Back in the 70's the F350 SRW was very rare, I don't think I've ever seen one. All the F250's came with full floater rear ands and you basically ordered the heaviest springs and you had a light 1 ton truck. In the 80's the F250's were little more than glorified 1/2 tons.

 

[Agnem]

Yes and no, for some reason the Ford engineers decided that the Broncos should have a frame that was almost as HD as the F250 from what Agenem has said. He does have the F350 springs and axles I believe. I think if you have the HD axles and springs you'll have no problems damaging the frame,
J.D.

I'm not there yet. I ran into time/material constraints on my 8 lug conversion. The rear axle is a no-brainer, but I'm going to have to swap the knuckles in order to get 8 lug spindles up front. Consequently, the original Bronco suspension has been toting around the diesel for over a year with no problems. I've been wanting to do an episode of Moose TV to bring everyone up to date on the Bronco, but haven't had good weather to do it yet. I'm pretty sure I've put about 30,000 miles on the conversion with no issues. I have no doubt that an F-150 of the same vintage can handle an IDI conversion. The frame is the same with the exception of the front cross member, which is not as wide. I recently learned as I shared in another post, that Ford did pilot IDI Bronco's back in the early 80's, but didn't put them into production for several reasons, one of which was because they felt the frames didn't hold up under their testing, which involved some pretty serious abuse. I don't think the average Joe could ever dish out the kind of punishment Ford expects a truck to survive.