I have a wild thought of makin my front axle a solid front axle. Couple questions... How mush would it cost for an axle, parts and such? And how much work would it take? And what all will I need to do it?

 

Do a search on here and you'll find the info you need. Suffice to say that depending on your fab level you can get a D44 under your truck for under $500 which would be close to a stockish setup, but more than likely the axle will take some rebuilding. This cost all depends on how good your junkyards are and how good you can scrounge up parts.

If you're incapable of that then Jesse at farmboyfabrications just came out with a 97-03 F150 SAS kit with leaves which is around $2500 minus the axles. That kit is far from a stock setup.

 

sweet thanks man. how good are them Farm boy fabrication guys. i have seen some of there work and looks purdy good.

 

Cost will depend mainly on what you want. D44, D60, leafs, linked coils, coil overs etc etc etc. Also, like Powerstroke said...your scrounging ability will play a huge role. Can it be done for 500...sure but usually the guys who can pull that off have quite a few parts laying around.

I have around 2k in my explorer d44/9" swap (and it's nothing special), a lot of that was tools though.

Farmboys kit is pretty nice I think. Trimble knows the Jesse I think but from what i've seen here an on other sites he makes nice stuff. But that's just what i've seen on the internet...talk to Trimble he'll give you a much better review.

I'm hoping that one day I can throw a d60 or 609 (hybrid d60/9") in the front and a 14 bolt in the rear. But my f150 is my tow pig for now haha

 

Jesse's stuff is pretty good quality, though I still think leaves suck I've known Jesse for about 8 years now and he's a standup guy. It might be worth a phone call to him as I know he's done his research on this kit.

 

I also would like to do this to my 02 screw. I was wanting to run coils or coil overs up front w/ a D44. Does anyone know if they make axles for the 9.75 rear that would convert it to a 5x5.5 bolt pattern like the D44 I plan to use up front.

 

Sure they make them, but they're going to be custom built one off shafts. Then you'll have to fab up a set of brakes since what you have now won't work.


The only way you're going to get a matching pattern to the D44 is with an older 8.8 with the VSS sensor.

 

FORDFAN how high do you want to go? This will play a pretty big part in the price game aswell.

A good set of axles (FORD Dana 60 front, and 10.25,10.5 or 14 bolt rear) that wont take a rebuild will push you up and ever the 1,500-2,000 range pretty easy. Now you can find cheaper axles and rebuild them and save money (if you know what to look for), you could even go to a Dana 44 or Dana 44 HD (8 lug) these axles will save you money but sacrifice strength. So that brings the question up again how big do you want to go, what do you intend to use the truck for?

Im one of the first people to get a few of these parts from Farmboy Fabrications and all i have to say is its top notch. I gave Jesse a few recommendations but besides that everything is A+

And Jesse i know your lurking around somewhere, I got my hiem for the trac bar yesterday thanks man.

 

I don't know anything about this stuff so i don't know how high i want to go. I will use this truck for good old fashion muddin, beach driving and back and forth to school in the week. I was just asking on here to see what the different options are, and what my price range will be. Im just askin around

 

Basic rule of thumb is up to 36" tires a D44 will live mudding. If you want up to about a 42, maybe a 44, tire you need to be looking at D60s. If you want bigger than 44s then you're looking at rockwells.

To give you an idea on axle prices. The local you pull it yard any axle is $45, but the biggest you'll ever see there is a D44. I bought my 87-91 D60 for $850 that needs to be rebuilt (all new bearings, kingpins, and seals). There is a 78/79 D60 with new king pins, all new bearings and seals, 4.56 gears, and a detroit locker for $1300 (though this axle has to be assembled). If it was assembled and painted it'd be worth $2000-2500. These are all Ford D60s, not Chevy or Dodge which are cheaper.


I keep trying to talk myself out of going up and buying that D60 and flipping it for some quick cash. Though I'm tempted to buy it and part it out and save the knuckles for a rear steer 14 bolt.

 

Tires are the most exspensive part, well kinda.

If your driving it to school I wouldn't go above a 44, thats when things start becoming a headache!

farmboys stuff looks alright, but you can make stronger for cheaper.

Leafs do suck, more axle wrap, and when you go somewhat big they can cause a horrible death wobble that is uncontrollable, I would stay 42's and smaller on a dana44/14bolt cheapest choice out there.

Stay ford on your front axle, your driveline angles will match closer w/o doing other things.

If you want to wait a little bit I'll be having alot of stuff forsale cheap, I'm going with a different set-up

 

Thanks guys. yea im only lookin to get tire 35-37". get to big and gas MPG goes down and brakes and crap have to be fixed to. and i dont have unlimited money here.

 

Look at a for a Ford Dana 44 if happen to run across a Ford 9" front end that will do great.

 

FWIW, a quality IFS lift will turn 35's fine. on 37's, expect ball joints, cv joints, tie rods, and hub bearings to start to crap out.