I have been researching solid axle swaps for my truck. im curious how people have liked the setup after they completed it. My axles are coming from a 77 1-ton ford. has anyone done such a swap, and if so, what kind of problems did you run into??? thanks for any info

 

There's a guy on here that has done a solid axle on a nice 2003 Ranger.. Can't recall his name at the moment, but he's done some awesome work on his Ranger! All Fabricated too!

It can be done with enough skill, knowledge and $$!

Mitch

 

you are gonna be looking at around 5K for everything. Maybe cheaper if you can find deals and do all the fabrication yourself.

You will need to decided what you want. 4 link, Leaf sprung, Radius Arm... any of these will work.

The best bet would be to go with D60's you will want to upgrade gears in them and possibly rebuild the axle totally.

Im working on this now but have came up on some hard times hopefully it will be done before the May.

 

zabeard had done 2 different SASs on his Ranger IIRC, he does great work and has a great looking truck.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ge...tons-pics.html

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...6-zabeard.html

http://www.zabeard.com/copper/

 

I've got an 87 Bronco II with 76 F150 Axles under it! (HP D44 and Big Bearing Ford 9")

I might be able to provide some info?!? I can also provide some pictures of the swap if you think it would help.

Although I'm not sure the RBV is a good comparision to what would be involved in a SAS to a newer F150? The concept would be the same though!

Good luck

Cheers

Nemi

 

ok, here is what i am looking at doing:

I have a 77 1 ton ford, that I use to race and it will be supplying the donor parts. It has a dana 60 front and rear. I stuffed it with 4.88 gears and I think about the only think that would need to be upgraded would be the breaks do to sitting for the last 3 and half years. on top of the axles sit a set of custom leaf springs from atlas with 17 inches of lift on the front and 16 in the rear. as far as steering components go, I plan on using a combo from the 77 and my 97 to get everything to work right, unless someone has a good idea to simplify everything. Oh, both the axles have a slip style leaf spring mount on them all ready, so all i would need to do is position the axle at the correct angles and adjust the pads to the correct position under the frame.

What kind of problems have you ran into while doing your swap? My swap wont take place until i return from iraq, which should be later this spring, so i have some time, so save up some money, and get some good ideas in mind. thanks for the help!!!



this is similar to what i have on the axles allready^

 

Where is the speed sensor on your truck? If it's in the axle you will need to relocate it to the x-fer case. I THOUGHT Ballistic made a kit but i couldn't find it off the bat. I've seen home brew ones though. You won't need your ABS equipment, rip it out and re-plumb everything to the MC. Leafs shouldn't be hard, just a couple of mounts/x-members. You'll have to figure out steering as well. I'd see if I could use the 76 steering box...I have no clue if it'd work/fit though. I would definitely weld those spring perches on though.

I'm in the middle of doing an coil/RA SAS on my 93 explorer.

 

i am going to try and use the power steering from the 77, much stronger in my opinion. As far as the transfer case, i was tossing around the idea of stealing the divorced np205 from the 77. it has been put through a lot and is still going strong, that would also help keep my front drive shaft angle from being extreme. I guess my next question would be is it possible to swap in a 2 wheel drive tranny, and mate it to the divorced t-case. i would like to get rid of the stick setup i have now, in favor of an auto, unless someone has a good reason why i shouldn't???
this is going to become a summer project, so im not worried about the countless hours of fab that will be required, how ever i do want to be practical in the sense that, this truck will become a trailer queen to and from the mud, rocks, or what ever i can find. i

 

Does your truck currently have a steering box or is it a rack and pinion? I'm not sure when they switched. X-fer case plan sounds good. I have a manual in my explorer. Not the easiest to run off road but a hand throttle helps alot! One question, what size tires and how much lift? Sounds like you're planning on having it up in the air a good bit!. I'm going to run 35 or 36"s and have less than 6"s of total lift. It does require a good deal of trimming/hacking but it keeps the truck so much lower which if you're actually gonna use it is good. Just wondering. Sounds like a good project!!

 

i plan on running 38's for now, but i want to be able to run 44's when i finrd a set. My parts truck that is doanting everything, also has a set of atlas custom arched springs with 16 and 17 inches of lift. The majority of the places we go wheeling, are bottomless pits and it pays off to have it sitting skyhigh... Probably where my truck got the nick name... Ridnskyhigh lol

 

Ok that's cool. I'm in Indy, where in Il are you? Been to badlands?

 

im in central il, about 2.5 hour south of chicago and 2.5 north of st. louis. peoria area if you have an idea where that is. ive been to the badlands once a long time ago, took a jeep and a bunch of quads out there. i heard anything bigger than a jeep or yota cant really fit out there... is that true???

 

There are alot of areas where you can have fun. The Quarry is a BLAST and no trees but it's more rocks. Dunes are fun as well. The trails can be quite tight. That's one reason I'm building the explorer, good width for these trails. The trails also have pretty steep breakovers so rocker protection is a must and many off camber situations. I don't really think i'd want a fullsize in the trails...unless you're ready for body damage. I've kissed a tree and have a scar above my rear door. Once the cage goes in i'm going to build roof sliders so I can lean it against trees and not worry