solid axle front who has one?

[Bowtiewarrior]

I've always considered this but not many people do it when it seems so easy. has any one done it?

 

[Greg]

couple guys on here either have or are in the process of doing it.

check out the lifted/offroad areas of the forum and there should be a couple SAS or SFA threads on there.

 

[Mike]

Easy? For some people yes. Expensive? Definitely - if you want to make it burly enough to go wheeling. That's why most people don't do it. You can easily drop 10 grand on a good setup.

 

[Bowtiewarrior]

Easy? For some people yes. Expensive? Definitely - if you want to make it burly enough to go wheeling. That's why most people don't do it. You can easily drop 10 grand on a good setup.

10K seems far too much maybe if you wanted some crazy coil over suspension. I have an off road rig its not a gmt400 its an 1989 K5 I've put some cash into it making it a 1-ton and a stick but I might have $3000 in the truck and I'll take it anywhere.

The GMT400 I know for a fact in the early 90's they made trucks with solid front axles or there was a company making them. all 3500HD chassis cab trucks came with a beam axle and leaf sprung front that would be simple to convert to a leaf spring ford dana 60 and a t-case out of any IFS truck.

 

[6chevy9]

i never knew about that. red97 has a bunch of pics of a sas in the build threds i belive. i have a d44 that i was going to use but after reading it just doesnt seem worth the time and money to do the sas with anything less than a d60. and that was all priced out with me already having an axle to use. so make sure you consider the d60 atleast before you decide.

 

[Red97]

I have one, there are a lot of variables involved. do you have all of the easy parts? axles, springs, shocks, tires? are they ready to go? or do they need bearings, gears u-joints? you can spend 1500-3000 just in rebuilding the axles if you want. do you have acess to a welder? fab tools? will you have to purchase everything steering sas kit? all or the extra bs, like brake lines, nuts/bolts, lines will cost a lot plus all of the parts runs. I have under $2500 into my swap. but i have amachiene shop and had the donr truck to take all of the othe rparts from. For most people it cant be done for under $3000-4000. It is worth it if yo are going to keep the truck. IMO

 

[Bowtiewarrior]

if you have a 6 lug truck I can see it being a nightmare because its pretty much ford axles you need to use but if you have 8 lug there 2 options the weaker 44HD that comes 8 lug or the 60 and the best part is they both are High pinion so it helps out so much the drive shaft angles and fitment

I agree with red 97 having a donor truck is ideal because here in IL a ford dana 60 can run 400-1500 in any condition and I've purchased F350 4X4's for cheaper that 1500 lol I would have to say yes 1500-4000k sounds about right but I really never looked into it but IFS lifts can't be cheap and even the high end ones still suck solid axle is just so much better for wheeling IMO

 

[Red97]

you can swap the shafts, knuckles,spindles, hubs off of a 6lug axle onto the ford d44 to make it six lug also. you can also use the corperate 10 bolt front for the parts wich can be had for $100-250 all dayif you dont wheel hard or often you do not absolutly need a d60 unless it is cheap I have had a 10 bolt last with 44's until i got a 60 for the mud truck Just my opinion

 

[MUDDER TRUCKER]

i have a dana60 hp ford front 513 gears and a detroit locker!

 

[Clutch1819]

dont know if anyone is familiar with this but heres a kit for a front leaf setup. not a bad price either. http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=64