1998 F150 straight axle conversion ?????

[fabnut]

My father wants to put a dana 60 in the front of his 1998 ford F150. However, I have contacted every one from fabtech to cage off road for ideas. All I have found is that there are no kits for the swap in production but they will be happy to do a custom job for him. Anyone one here ever done the conversion or have any pointers????

And before anyone says it, Ive already try to search the board for similar builds.

Right now I have a ford 9.25 rear axle and the full front suspension and HP dana 44 from a 1979 ford f150. Should we use these as a starting point or just ditch the idea of coils in the front and go leaf springs.

[HalfFastFord]

look up biggreen on this board. he has a 97 I think with a solid front axle.

[Panthers65]

a 78-79 1/2 ton d44 front will be the easiest to swap in if he's building a show truck. If he's building a wheeling truck the 1/2 won't hold up and you'll need to look at a 60 up front. the 78-79's will be the easiest to swap in because they've got more room on the drivers side axle tube. the 80-96 sfa 60 and the superduty 50/60 will swap in too, but on our trucks it's kind of hard to to a leaf swap due to the way the frame bends both down and out where the front leaf spring mounts behind the front tire. BigGreen made some trick shackles to do his, so it is possible, just takes a helluva lot of measurements and some short leaf springs if you don't want to stretch the front wheel base, put the shackles up front, or lift the truck a mile high.

Fabritech does make a SFA conversion, but the kit is an overprices piece of shit, I wouldn't even consider it. for the money the kit costs, you could pay a shop to do a comparable swap with much more quality components/welds

[fabnut]

Well he really wants to go with the 60 since he wants 39-40 on it. Im thinking that when it comes down to it we should just go with a four link and pirate some coilovers from one of the many super duty kits out there. Im not so much worried about the suspension as I am about stearing and if his transfer case is going to work. The idea is to keep the truck streetable, like he wants to be able to still drive it on 6 hour trips. Because of this full hydro is out for the stearing.

[Panthers65]

http://fordtruckworld.tenmagazines.c...82&album=55686

http://offroadworld.tenmagazines.com...&album=1&pos=2

Take a look through these 2 galleries. The second one is a member on here too and abuses those shackles he made very well. Just to give you an idea. The rear is easy and the front of the front leaf spring is easy. Both these guys mounted the rear/shackle of the front leaf spring different ways. The first gallery looks like easiest way, but IMO the second way looks a lot cooler.

Also if your pops is wanting to drive it that much, I'd look into the later superduty axles like these guys did to keep your abs and all that fun stuff working. Plus superduty axles can actually be found pretty cheap, although you will have to deal with unit bearing hubs instead of standard spindle hubs, one trade off for another i guess. The coilovers/link idea is pretty good, but you'll have to get a lil fancy with the link mount on the drivers side, not enough room for a JJ unless you do some trimming of the housing.

[fabnut]

thanks for the help, the info will help alot

[BOGGER1966]

def. check out farmboy fabs. bigreen's rig....its setup nice....

[HalfFastFord]

there is a 4 link sduty kit for sale in the parts section. 1500 isn't a bad price for all that's there.

[okgearhead]

Hey Fabnut, You might try Setstr8.com, they have a 4 link kit for your truck. When you go to their web site, click on new products,then on ford f150. It looks like a nice set-up. Good luck.

[Panthers65]

dumbass, that would be the fabritech kit, it's a fuckin piece of shit, the brackets are made like hell and even then most of them don't fit right. It's no where near the 2 grand they charge you for it

[okgearhead]

Well excuse me DUMBASS, I just found it on a search, didnt know the product.

[Panthers65]

it says FABRITECH in big letters at the top, how could you not know what it is? Know something about the product before you recommend it to someone, thats how shitty products like that stay in the market.

[bigreen]

Heres my shackles...shows the offset needed. Did it this way so i wouldnt have to make an offset bracket underneath, and then a real short shackle hanging way down. 3 years and going strong!

forgive the crappy brakelines






My only regret is that it is a fucking trail whale...but cant make it fit all terrains AND the road.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Damn BigGreen. That is nice. Simple, Strong, and effective. I like it. I have a 2000 F-150 that I have been running the 5" Superlift suspension on with a 3" body lift for about 5 years now. Works fine but I would love a solid front axle. To date I just haven't had the time or resources to research the conversion. And like stated above I just wasn't impressed with the Fabritech's kit. It does look like crap for the amount of money they are asking for it. So until I stumbled across this site and this thread I haven't been pursuing it as much. Did you make any layouts or a parts lists. Drawings of your bracketry and shackles. I would be interested in that if you did. Either way, kudos on the truck. Sweet ride and looks great.

[cool_racer]

big green- what springs are you running? also the drive shaft is looking pretty steep, are you running a high angle CV? stock engine/trans/tcase?