independent to straight front end swap

[killer931]

My truck has the dana 50 front end in it. How had would it be to swap it over to the straight axle like found on the ton trucks?

 

[Goofyexponent]

It's the easiest thing you can do to the truck.

All you need is a one ton front axle from an F350, the track bar and bracket and the front leaf springs. Everything bolts in.

Me and BigRigTech did it to my truck in the matter of a couple of hours from start to finish.

 

[killer931]

The 50 in it right now is trashed, actually the whole front end is trashed. I bought a new chunk from the junk yard and was waitin until i can afford to replace the ball joints and everything but would rather have the straight axle.

 

[forcefed]

Like said above, its a piece of cake and will make your truck handle so much better. You can use your spindles and hubs, brakes off of your dana 50 if the ones on your dana 60 are junk too, or just keep them for spare parts.

 

[Rot Box]

Make sure the D60 isn't newer than 97 or older than 85.5 and it will go right in

Also the trac bar is a must have and make sure you install it! One of the scariest times of my life was when the bolt in mine let loose. At 35mph the wheel went from full lock to lock position at one million miles an hour (bad enough to squish all the grease out of the ball joints) and the front of my crew cab started bouncing violently off the ground You should have seen the look on my wife's face!!!

 

[hesutton]

On my F250, The front drive shaft would hit the tranny crossmember. I have a suspension lift and that may have been the biggest issue. I simply used the tranny crossmember from the donor F350 to solve the problem. Using the F350's front drive shaft would have solved the problem as well.

Heath

 

[rjjp]

Heath, what is the difference in the drive shafts?

 

[hesutton]

Heath, what is the difference in the drive shafts?

The F350 shaft has two u-joints on the T-case end and can easily accomodate a higher angle and because of the two u-joints, that angle is pushed forward of the tranny crossmember. Both reasons give the clearence needed.

The F250 shaft is single jointed at both ends.

 

[Goofyexponent]

The F350 shaft has two u-joints on the T-case end and can easily accomodate a higher angle and because of the two u-joints, that angle is pushed forward of the tranny crossmember. Both reasons give the clearence needed.

The F250 shaft is single jointed at both ends.

This is an excellent point Heath! I forgot all about the double cardigan joint in the F350 shaft. However, with this being said. My truck is a factory ride height truck...and the F250 shaft worked just fine without binding. Lifted trucks, certainly would need the other shaft.

 

[killer931]

thanks for the advice. anybody want to buy a good d50? and does anybody know where to find a good 60 reasonable?

 

[MUDKICKR]

i have one for sale.

 

[RedTruck]

The '84 and earlier chassis doesn't have the bolt holes pre-drilled in the front cross member and frame for the stabilizer and track bar.

What year is your rig?

Paul

 

[fuzzydog]

I am on the verge of doing this - I have a Kingpin D60 and the track bar but why would I need the F350 leaf springs? How are they different than the F250?
My F250 is a 1991.

Also, there is one other item I have read about and that is the driver side ubolt plate. I have read you can get around it with some custom ubolts but if you get the ubolt plate from the F350 it goes in much easier.

 

[johnboggs21]

I am on the verge of doing this - I have a Kingpin D60 and the track bar but why would I need the F350 leaf springs? How are they different than the F250?
My F250 is a 1991.

Also, there is one other item I have read about and that is the driver side ubolt plate. I have read you can get around it with some custom ubolts but if you get the ubolt plate from the F350 it goes in much easier.

F250 springs have a negative arch, and F350 springs have a positive arch I think. I have been wrong before though.

 

[forcefed]

Actually you can buy a u-bolt flip kit for alot cheaper than buying a stock driver side axle plate for the d60 (unless you know where one is) I made my own top plates and bought new u-bolt that face up instead of down. I just trimmed my d50 axle plates with the shock mounts to fit between the u-bolts and welded them to my new top plates. If your front end has all good bushings everywhere you can get by without the track bar but I would install it soon as you could. I ran my truck without a trac bar for about 4 months with no problem at all.