Hey everyone I have plans to SAS my F150, no time soon, I want to have all the peices I need ready to go in before I tear the truck apart. My original plan was to just get a d44 from a 78-79 F150\Bronco\etc and throw it under there, but I ran across a deal. A guy I work has a set of axles from a 78 W200, a rear Dana 60 LSD 4.10 and an 8-lug D44 possibly LSD, also 4.10 gears (came form same truck). I haven't been out to see them, and don't know much about Dodge axles, but I'm in the midst of researching now.

I'm that this truck being a 78 will not have a VSS, but my truck (being an 89) only uses the VSS for RABS. Is RABS worth it on these trucks? I very rarely drive above 45-55 mph now that I'm out in the country(ish).

The D44 is leaf sprung, he has the leaves, but doesn't have them for the rear. He's asking $75 for the set, sounds like a good deal to me, but what all would I have to do to get these under my truck? What do you guys think?

 

i think the steering linkage is different plus ud have to get perches and shakels and it woulnt be bolt in in the front.

make sure the diff is on the same side or else ud be doin alot of extra work.

im not sure about the 78 dodge but i had a 96 and i blew the rear a few times along with the trans

its a good deal but if it were me id buy a donor truck so you know you have everything insted of alot of down time looking for/making parts

or if you have the money to drop jbg has a strate axle conversion for 1900 and it comes with everything

but either way u go donor truck or these axels its a good idea to inspect the spiders and ring/pinion back lash new fluid new balljoints breaks and lines check axel seals so u have no suprizes after you install them

 

Yea, the plan is to rebuild them slowly (at least the outers and seals) so they'll be reliable when the swap comes around. The guy has most of the parts from the truck, so I'm 99% sure I can get the steering set up too. I did verify with him that it wasn't a passenger side pumpkin so that aspect is good. I just need to make sure it's a HP D44 too.

 

sweet id ask if u could pull the diff plates just to look at the gear before you buy them just to make sure nothign ate up inside them or filled with water

 

I work with the guy and he seems pretty legit, but yea, I'll pull them just to be safe. He says the front is still in the truck (which is why i think the steering stuff is still there) and when I asked him on price he asked if I would help him pull the axle itself. He wants to help me with the whole swap, nice guy (or so it seems so far). He thinks I should go with a divorced transfer case instead of a full replacement tranny\transfer case, since my truck only has 75,000 miles on it. I'm not to sure on that one yet...

 

are u makin a cuizer/ mud/trai truck? if so id leave the tranny n tansfer case id put a shiftkit in the trans if its auto but if ur not doin some seriouse rock crawlin the stock tcase n slightly upgreaded auto tranny will do fine if you have stick id swap a t18 or zf in m5ods are great but t18 and zf have granny gear

 

It's an AOD and it'll be DD for awhile, but eventually a camping rig too. He's only saying the divorced route because the tranny is low mileage. I'm thinking it's more trouble than its worth

 

it is ud have to get a 2wd tailshaft diffrent tcase new mounting custom driveshafts. the only thing id do tranny swap wise is either a c6 if your not running highway or a e4od if running highway but a shift kit will make nice firmer shifts witch cause less ware on the bands and clutches and with that the tranny will last longer.

but heres what i would do if the front axel and everything is still in the old truck park both next to eachother and look up under both side by side and compair them

 

That's what I was thinking, I'd like to go e40d, but that'd require either a standalone controller or another ECM. Who knows, maybe I'll throw a MAF conversion in on this round too...that's gonna be a lot of work at once though...

 

I didn't read you twoses conversation (yeah that's kinda a word)
But hey man 75 bucks I'd go for it, if it don't work no biggee, guarantee you can recoup that money if they axles ain't shot. Then pick up the correct d44.
It will be some more fab work due to larger springs and the rear will need the bigger hangers n stuff, but if you planned on goin to a large tire, it's worth it.

 

Only in New Jersy!!!

Seriously, booba, I love your truck just the way it is. If I had a low mileage rig like yours I'd leave it alone. It's a survivor. buuuuutttttttt........... A SAS on a 87 - 91 brick n' a bed would be pretty Pimp as well.

BTW your offer still good on those wheels?

 

I've been stick between a rock n a hard place lately whether I should keep my old brick or upgrade..
really want me one of theses. (there's on of them wordses again hahah)

That particular one is 8500 right now, super cheap and has a new clutch n some other stuff.
But then there's this old girl

Sorry thread jacked. I say do it to it dude. If you can afford to do it all at once, I'd hate to see you get halfway through and run out of ambition.

 

Well, the plan for my truck is to give it to my son when he's old enough (21), and he's only 5 months old lol. My grandpa bought it when I was 4, put a pop up camper on it and every summer we went "camping" all over the nation, 35 some odd states. Camper is gone now, but I want my boy to have the same kind of fond memories I do, but with camping. If I SAS this thing, along with some other stuff, it'll go anywhere I want to camp.

Rims are yours man, I've moved, still in Ava, literally across the street from the high school. No rush on trying to get rid of them, I have plenty of storage in our new place so just lemme know when you wanna come get them.
No worries man, I've been up in the air on the whole thing, but my mind is made up. If I were you I'd do it, yours would be a LOT easier than mine, you are starting out with a 4x4. As far as this deal, I dunno if it's gonna work out, every 78 W200 I've seen on Google images is a passenger side pumpkin, which isn't gonna work for me. I'm still gonna look at them to be sure, but who knows. I have other friends that I've been talking to the SAS about and they're part hunting for me now lol.

 

Sweet, thanks i'll shoot you a pm before I come out to see if your free. I understand all to well about the truck, grandpa, and son. I kinda have the same thing going on with my truck(s.) Are you looking for particular axles for the swap? I'm sure you want driver side pumpkin. Let me know what your looking for and I'll keep my eyes open for it around here.