SuperMotors.net Forums
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 Posted:5/10/2003 23:46 |
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Ok, well I think I am going to buy the 1980 F-150 (refer to "Should I Buy This? Diamond in the Ruff?"). All the information I have been able to gather seems to indicate this would be a pretty good vehicle. The striaght six can be upgraded, the NP435 or T-18 is a good tranny, the transfer case is decent but could be swapped for a 205, and the 9-inch is a good axle.
That leaves the front D44TTB. In the future I would like to swap it out. First of all where can I find info on the swap including lift info and should I go with a dana 44 or a dana 60? Would the 60 be overkill and would it be a mismatch with the 9-inch? Are there any donor vehicles I could scronge from?
Thanks
Chris   |
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mike koernke
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• ann arbor, MI, USA |
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• Registered on 5/11/2003 |
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• 3 posts |
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 Posted:5/11/2003 13:46 |
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I am currently in the same situation.
for your axle swap I would look into a leaf sprung 84 f250.
that vehicle has a dana 60 rear and a dana 44 front end.
also another good canidate is a 79 ford bronco. the suspension would bolt up on a
coil frontend without mods. |
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 Posted:5/11/2003 15:11 |
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Cool. Quik question, do you think I should swap the 9 inch out for the 60? That is assumeing I can find a donor vehicle with both axles. |
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Posted:5/11/2003 22:09 |
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| Quote: | | Cool. Quik question, do you think I should swap the 9 inch out for the 60? That is assumeing I can find a donor vehicle with both axles. |
Depends what you want to do. The benefit of a Dana 60 is not only the larger rearend but the axle size as well. 9" rears can have up to 31-spline axles. If you plan on running large tires while doing heavy offroading, then you should consider upgrading the axles. You can still have a lot of fun with a 9" rear and a dana 44 frontend and not have a lot of breakage.
I would worry about the frontend first, though. If you're going to go through the effort of swapping to a solid axle frontend, then go with a dana 60. The only reason to swap from an IFS dana 44 to a solid axle dana 44 is for articulation. Solid axles will render better articulation.
It all depends what you ultimately want to do with the vehicle.
-Eric
'67 Galaxie 500 - 390 FE, .030" over, FE to AOD adapter, disc brake conversion. The Daily Driver.
'00 Excursion - 7.3L PSD, LANDYOT Gen-II Radius Rods, Factory Tech Valve Body, 200K+ miles and going |
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Posted:5/12/2003 00:21 |
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Ok, yeah I guess it would make sense to tell ya what I want to do with it. I will probably use it for on road driving mostly, however, I am very spontaneos and turn off on any dirt road that looks fun or interesting. So, I am planning on running 33s to 35s. I live in the desert so I am not building a monster mudder. I would like to build more of a trail truck than anything else. I like to crawl rocks so I would like articulation and mild lift.
I went on a trial ride with my stock Bronco 2 and it did very well compared to the Jeeps and a such especially considering the failing Japanese 5 speed gearbox and dinky tires with the TTB front end. About 30-40,000 miles later I had the tranny rebuilt and they practicly poored the remains of the old bearings out of the tranny |
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Posted:5/12/2003 06:32 |
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| Quote: | Ok, yeah I guess it would make sense to tell ya what I want to do with it. I will probably use it for on road driving mostly, however, I am very spontaneos and turn off on any dirt road that looks fun or interesting. So, I am planning on running 33s to 35s. I live in the desert so I am not building a monster mudder. I would like to build more of a trail truck than anything else. I like to crawl rocks so I would like articulation and mild lift.
I went on a trial ride with my stock Bronco 2 and it did very well compared to the Jeeps and a such especially considering the failing Japanese 5 speed gearbox and dinky tires with the TTB front end. About 30-40,000 miles later I had the tranny rebuilt and they practicly poored the remains of the old bearings out of the tranny |
What kind of traction device will you be running in your front and rearends? Limited slip or locker?
A 3/4 rearend should be very easy to find should you ever want to upgrade. Just keep in mind that you'd have to run 8-lug wheels and get the tires to fit. Running the same tire/wheel combo on all four corners is of benefit because you'll only need to carry one spare.
You can convert a dana 44 to an 8-lug as well, but not much is gained in terms of strength. The inner axles are still tiny dana 44 axles.
If you have a solid axle dana 44 up front and a 9" in the back and don't run anything larger than 35's, you should be very happy with what you'll be able to do. Since you mentioned desert, I would imagine you'll be running a less aggressive all terrain tire (as opposed to a mud terrain tire)?
-Eric
'67 Galaxie 500 - 390 FE, .030" over, FE to AOD adapter, disc brake conversion. The Daily Driver.
'00 Excursion - 7.3L PSD, LANDYOT Gen-II Radius Rods, Factory Tech Valve Body, 200K+ miles and going |
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Posted:6/6/2003 23:11 |
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I have a 80 F150 it has a 3" Tuff Country lift and clears 36" tires ( little rub when weel turned to lock but they are 14" tread width) I put a detroit in the back and a aulburn posi in the front with 456:1 gears and I can drive aroun most any thing its like driving a tractor!( keep it in 2wd to make it moor fun!) Been running it in trees rocks creekbeds gravel, only killed one wheel joint in the ttb. |
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Posted:6/18/2003 15:24 |
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I swapped in a 78 Dana 44 front in my 94 F1504x4 fairly easily, with minimum fabrication. If you need more info, email jlcsjh@aol |
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