Well guy's was out working on the truck tonight replacing the second set of wheel bearngs on ole True Blue in less than a month....Yes thinking it cause the wheels are so wide with that-25mm offset and me and the neighbor we shootin the S&^% the thought of throwing a Dana 44 in the front with leaf springs and a manual transfercase came up. i am going to lift it 3 or 4 more inches and 38's is going to happen eventually (hopefully this winters project) Am i crazy for even thinking this? I know id need to have custom axle shafts built with the 5x135 pattern and finding a manual transfer case wouldnt be easy nor cheap..But i really love this truck and i think for me it might be worth the investment for the sake of wearing parts out on the front end...Oh and id think it look sweet with a chrome diff cover under the front end to match the back! HAHA! i have a good plasma cutter and welder and im sure i could get a dana 44 to build on CL. Id love your thoughts and comments negitive or positive. using this rig at silver lake is my new goal. Thanks in advance fella's!

 

that would be a really cool idea. Google turboexplorer full width SAS and check out that truck. I helped build that truck in school and I would suggest doing everything we did on the explorer. it was done right and built for a purpose. Radius arms, koil overs, and a trussed D44 would probably be just fine under your truck. Just plan, plan, plan everything out.

 

wow - ambitious project. this will put your mad fab skillz to the test! Turboexplorer's thread is really worth the read.

 

if youre going to do it, do it right! i would run D60's front and rear with atleast a locker on the rear.


this will help you if you ever decide to do it.

http://fordtruckworld.tenmagazines.c....asp?id=460544

 

If it were me, going through all of that hassle and money I'd go with atleast a 3/4 ton running gear.

On a side note, what bearings are you using?

 

The bearings are rollin in the head and ive been watching way to much extreme 4x4! LOL so i think ive decided to take my time and start looking for a sterling 10.5 and dana 60 out of a super duty. im sure i can shorten the track with on them to match my truck only think i dont like is needing to buy new rims..Ive gotten attached to these and there discontinued...But the 3/4 ton axles would meke this truck one of a kind. Ive put in two sets of napa brand wheel bearings they start making horrible noise within 100 miles or so..gant figure out if im doing somthing wrong but install is pretty strait forward. i thighten 1 turn then back off a half. couldnt really find a good torque spec for em.

 

First you have to make sure they seat properly in the rotor while tightening them. Then as for tightening I'd get it as tight as i could without any resistance on the rotor, then back it off a few turns then tighten it up with my bare hands (all while constantly rotating the rotor). There's many ways to do it, but this is what works for me. Guys have had issues before with burning through wheel bearings and having wide wheels and Timken brand bearings seemed to fix their problems.

 

SAS is cool, but on a side note, I think something else is going on with your wheel bearings. I have never replaced my wheel bearings and I have run 37 and 38" tires for over 80,000 miles.

 

+1 on that note. I ran a 38x15.50, the 35x14.50s and now 37x12.50s on a a replaced wheel bearing without issue

 

That would be more work to convert to 4wd than anything... and costly.