Solid Axle Conversion Tech

[95gmcd6014]

Those are old pictures. His trucks another 5" or so higher with 44"s and he has the front driveshaft on.

[wolf10851]

ok 1 simple question what is the advantage to doing the ifs - sfa swap?

[wolf10851]

one other thing on the SFA swap putting ford parts on a chevy well that's almost sacreligious aint it??

[JerrysZ71]

96chevysfa, if you get a chance can you measure from the bottom of your bumper to the ground, I just want to know because im taking truck in tomorrow to start the swap and I want to know how bad bumper height will be with 38"s. Also if anyone would like to through in any trouble they had during the install or anything your recommend me doing to make troubles easier please let me know. Like about moving the axle forward, why do I need to and how much and from where do I move it.

[DirtySouthZ71]

wolf10851 ok 1 simple question what is the advantage to doing the ifs - sfa swap?

I did it for strength and articulation. There are many advantages.

wolf10851one other thing on the SFA swap putting ford parts on a chevy well that's almost sacreligious aint it??

What Ford parts? The Hp Dana front axle? Its not Ford its made by the Dana Corp.

JerrysZ71Also if anyone would like to through in any trouble they had during the install or anything your recommend me doing to make troubles easier please let me know.

Get all your parts together before hand. Be paitent and don't expect it to go together without minor problems.

[Just Lurking]

What do you guys think of this for a Tahoe?

HPD44, 14ff, 4.56 gears, detroit rear, locrite front, 35" Mt tires, 2" brackets, 4" front spring, ORD shackle flip rear, Zero rate (to lift 1", and move axle back in original location), 2" AAL, remove stock overload

How does that sound to you guys? I am not sure what wheel I'd like to go with, and I don't really want to go real big on the tires. My Tahoe tows a lot, and I'd like to keep my power to a maximum.

[Smith]

ok i read the first couple posts but thats it cause im short on time right now but please clarify a few things for me. When the ORU kit is installed what springs do i choose? Ones from lets say Superlift or whoever that would give me however much lift i need. Lets say a 9 inch lift for a 87 chevy correct? ALso would any dana 60 work? WHen ordering the ORU kit do i need to specify what axles is going up front? Will i need the Ram assist? Lets say i wanted to keep the some what stock height for a while afterwards of the install (money issues would be why). Would i be able to use my stock 90 springs with a set of springs of an 87?

Thanks for any help guys

[Sled_Dog]

all I have to say is don't do it. I thought about it but every single person I've seen do it says it cost more than they expected. Don't do it unless you prepared to spend a lot of money, unless you want to do it a not so good way in which case tahts on you, I say do it right the first time. There are no 9" lift springs for an 87 truck if you want about that much lift you would choose 6" lift springs for an 87.

[95gmcd6014]

You wouldnt have to get a 6" lift because they sell 8" and 10" kits for 87's.

[Sled_Dog]

they sell 8, 10, 12, 22 if you want the ORU brackets give you 2-3" of lift so with 6" springs your riding on the equivalent of 9" of lift was my point there boss.

[Smith]

Originally posted by Sled_Dog
they sell 8, 10, 12, 22 if you want the ORU brackets give you 2-3" of lift so with 6" springs your riding on the equivalent of 9" of lift was my point there boss.

For some reason i was thinking it went 6 9 12 and so on. OH well. Anyway can you tell me anything about the other questions i had?

[95gmcd6014]

If anyone is looking to do an SFA swap Ive got a good pair for sale HERE

[heavychevy]

i know its been a while since i been on but anyhows as some of you know i have said the sfa swap can be done just as cheap as a ifs lift if you do it yourself , well for the last few weeks me and a buddy have been doing a sfa on his 92 modle and here is where we are at so far , picked up a dodge dana 60 with 456 gears for 350 , since we are using the dodge front axle the t case is having to be changed and the 241 was to weak we thought anyhows so we got a np 205 from a 91 modle , it is a circle six bolt pattern with 32 splines from behind a 400 turbo trans , it cost 400 , paid more than what we wanted to but at the time we needed it and it was the onlt one we had found , i later picked one up for 200 bucks trans and all but sometimes you get a good deal and sometimes not i guess , this trans need an adapter to mate up to the nv4500 and it cost 90 bucks , picked up a ford hp dana44 front axle with 8 inch lift springs , they are 56 inches long for 150 bucks , we got a rear 14 bolt from a military surplus with 456 gears and detroit locker for 125 , we cut the old ifs stuff out of the way and welded a peice of 3 inch squar tubing across the front of the frame and the spring mount dropped of of that , for the back brackets for the front springs we welded a peice of 1/2 inch plate onto the inside of the frame for spacing and support , we then took and welded a peice of 3 icnh sqare tubing , that had one side cut out of it , onto the plate metal , we then took a set of old gm rear shackles and bolted them inbetween the square tubing and then bolted the spring to the other end of the shackle , the spacing came out perfect for the axle and it took very little time to fab this up , i have detailed picks of the process and when it is complete i will post them and give a detailed price list of all the small stuff and other modifications but even going this rout it isnt costing alot at all , if we would have decided to go with the ford dana44 it could have been done for less that 500 bucks

[coolgmc]

well guys im lookin at a solid axle swap on the gmc. I have a buddy whos sellin his dana 60 he was building to put on his HD. He's getting engaged now so his project died. Hes got a 78 ford dana 60 high pinion. The casings been gone through and sandblasted reapainted. The nuckles have been powdercoated. Hes got new Brake rotors, new calipers, and a trac loc locker for it. All I need to do is get gears a diff cover and locking hubs and it will be complete. It also comes with a 14 bolt ff that needs rebuilding. He want's $1500 for the whole set up. I think this is one hell of a deal. Im pretty sure im gonna get it from him. What do you guys think.

[1Down5Up]

Sounds like your getting a good deal, as 14FF's are worth 50-100 bux and the damn dana 60 is usually 1200+!!! If it's been cleaned up and ready to go almost you're making out bro. I think I am going to let ORU build my Dana 60, but its going to be a 3500 axle I have a feeling. If only I wasnt sooo poor and in college, haha.

Steve

[coolgmc]

Yea, I know how you feel man Im in my second year of college and it sucks not being able to have money to play with. But I am still gonna get the axles. I have enough saved up that it will last me. But this will suck me dry. Oh well its money well spent. Better to blow it on my truck then on some other worthless ****. So they will just be sitting until at least summer. But even then who knows what will happen. Its just a deal I can't pass up.

[Z71OffRoadin']

95gmcd6014 and 96chevysfa what kind of tranny are yall running? Any mods to them?

[Z71OffRoadin']

I assume i also have a np241 transfer case in my 90 model right?

[DirtySouthZ71]

Originally posted by Z71OffRoadin'
I assume i also have a np241 transfer case in my 90 model right?

yep

[DarkEternal]

Ok I have a few questions.

1) does oru make a kit for my truck? A NBS half ton, if not how hard is it going to be to fab one.

2) what is the better option:
a: ford 79 dana 60 with ford np205
b: ford newer dana 60 with ford np 205
c: gm dana 60 with gm np205

3) how hard will it be honestly to switch the sides of my tansfer case, from drivers to passenger

4) how are these cases going to bolt up to my 4L60e tranny?