Solid Axle Conversion Tech

[Smith]

if you stick a ford dana in your truck there is no need to switch T-cases.

[DarkEternal]

Originally posted by Smith
if you stick a ford dana in your truck there is no need to switch T-cases.

Yeah there is, autotrac... It would burn up fast

[95gmcd6014]

1) I'm almost 100% sure that its No. How hard it is to make one depends on how much you are able to do. If you are talking about making a kit yourself you at least have to know how to weld, have access to equipment, know all your measurments etc...If you question you ability at all to make the brackets dont attempt it.

2) IMO a. is the best option. You might want to consider running a divorced ford 205 behind your stock t-case. This will let you have a longer front driveshaft, save money and time from buying an adapter and/or replacing the output shaft on the transmission, as well as dealing with adapting the speedometer and other sensors on the 205. Running the divorced case you wont have problems running in 4 hi and 4 lo in your stock case but switching to 4 lo in the 205 or double 4 lo will probably have an affect on the shift points.

3) Well you need a new t-case, an adapter, a modified crossmember, and some way of adpating the sensors to the 205 so it will shift correctly and read the speedometer. I'd ask 96chevysfa about the last part because I don't know much about it and I know he has dealt with swapping in a 208 and now a 205 to his 4l60E. As long as you have all the parts and know its going to work correctly it shouldn't be too bad if you have the time and the right tools.

4) All the necesarry parts such as adapters and shafts for the transmission should be available to adapt any of the old chevy cases (203,208,205, etc...). Most will probably require they come from behind a th350. If you want to know all the details call up or email places like advanced adapters and ORD.

[DarkEternal]

Ok, say I had to get my own brackets fabbed up, what would be the advantage of running a 79 ford 60 over a new one, like early 90s? I would think the newer ones would be a LOT easier to find and alot cheaper.

[95gmcd6014]

Originally posted by DarkEternal
Ok, say I had to get my own brackets fabbed up, what would be the advantage of running a 79 ford 60 over a new one, like early 90s? I would think the newer ones would be a LOT easier to find and alot cheaper.

The major reason is the spring pad spacing on the older 60's. The older 60's are around 32" why the newer ones are at about 36". The narrower spacing helps eliminate the spring rub at full turn. Im using a 97 60 with the 36" spacing and with my 4 5/8" BS wheels my 38" tsl lugs hit the spring at full turn. Its more of an annoyance than a problem. Another reason is the king pins which are generally regarded as being stronger than ball joints and easier to do steering on. There is no need for custom knuckles or machining with king pin knuckles. I'd look for an axle in this order 1.) 77-79 2.) 86-91 3.) 92-97. The newer axles are probably easier to find nowadays but there not going to be much cheaper than the older ones. check the pirate4x4 for sale forums I see ford 60's over there quite a bit.

[DarkEternal]

Ok good deal. So I should also be looking for a ford np205 now also right. What adapter wll I need to hook it up to my tranny? Im going to Call ORU tomarow and see if they have a kit for my truck, if not ill have to design my own it looks like.

[DarkEternal]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=2438514 520

What do you think of this case? Its in Houston so would be easy for me to get...

[coolgmc]

Question, do ford and gm np205's have the same bolt pattern to bolt up to gm tranny's or do you need an adapter??

[DarkEternal]

Originally posted by coolgmc
Question, do ford and gm np205's have the same bolt pattern to bolt up to gm tranny's or do you need an adapter??

I dont think the fords have the same, an adapter is needed. I am also thinking about running a chevy np205 in front of a divorced ford np205, that way i would have the option of a low low range and also have a longer front shaft.

[96chevysfa]

why run a gm 205 infront of the ford 205, just run ur autotrac case, it wont make any differnce since there is no shaft on it.

[DarkEternal]

SMART!!! I just bought a ford 205 to rebuild...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2438514520

[95gmcd6014]

Usually the bad part about running a divorced case behind one with the same drop is having to rotate the 2nd case to clear the 1st. Usually end up losing a lot of clearance. The nice thing about the 88+ trucks is they have a pretty flat belly.

[DarkEternal]

Say I only ran the ford 205, what am I going to need to bolt it up to the 4l60e? Part numbers or links for adapters would be greatly apreciated.

[Luke2kZ71]

Originally posted by DarkEternal
Say I only ran the ford 205, what am I going to need to bolt it up to the 4l60e? Part numbers or links for adapters would be greatly apreciated.

If you run a divoraced np205, all you need to a 2wd connection for the rear of the tranny, and a small shaft to connect the 2

[DarkEternal]

Thats a good idea and a great backup plan if I cant get it to work directly!

[snailrail]

I did a SFA swap about 3 years ago on my '88. I used a 1986 Jeep J-10 Dana 44HD front axle. It has a driver side dif with 6-lug hubs already! I use 4" lift springs for an 80's chevy which gave me 9.5" of lift. I fabbed my own front brackets, and used a shackle flip, add-a-leaves, and some 2" blocks in the back.

For steering: After a failed attempt at hydraulics...I bought a passenger side flat top knuckle and a steering arm from foothill offroad. I made my own draglink using 1-ton ball joints.

The hardest part of the whole thing was the little parts; front driveshaft, brakeline fittings, etc.

My grand total for the swap, including all parts, regearing the front and rear as well as two lockers, $3200. The gears, lockers and some Warn 4340 axle shafts came out to a little over $2000

[Smith]

If i was to do a SFA swap would i have to get crossover steering? I really dont understand the concept of Crossover steering all i know is a lot of people do it and its expensive. Is there anyway i could avoid the crossover for a while?

[snailrail]

Crossover is actually the easiest setup you can do, and it is not all that expensive. Basically all you are doing is connecting a bar (draglink) from the pitman arm to either the passenger knuckle or the tie-rod (the bar that connects both knuckles together)somewhere near the the knuckle. It gives you the shallowest angle of the drag link. The flatter it is the easier it steers and the less bump-steer you get back. My truck uses a passenger side knuckle that has an arm bolted to the top of it. This gives you the highest mounting point. I also have a dropped pitman arm. The combo gives you about the flattest draglink you can get with a crossover setup. I ended up paying for a new knuckle and steering arm, which ran around $200-250. If you shop around, and depending on what axle you have up front, you can probably find the parts used for about a 1/4 of that. I don't have anypics of my setup, all of my images are from when I ran hydraulic steering. Talk about expensive, and wasn't worth it.

What all have you done to your truck so far?

[Smith]

Originally posted by snailrail
Crossover is actually the easiest setup you can do, and it is not all that expensive. Basically all you are doing is connecting a bar (draglink) from the pitman arm to either the passenger knuckle or the tie-rod (the bar that connects both knuckles together)somewhere near the the knuckle. It gives you the shallowest angle of the drag link. The flatter it is the easier it steers and the less bump-steer you get back. My truck uses a passenger side knuckle that has an arm bolted to the top of it. This gives you the highest mounting point. I also have a dropped pitman arm. The combo gives you about the flattest draglink you can get with a crossover setup. I ended up paying for a new knuckle and steering arm, which ran around $200-250. If you shop around, and depending on what axle you have up front, you can probably find the parts used for about a 1/4 of that. I don't have anypics of my setup, all of my images are from when I ran hydraulic steering. Talk about expensive, and wasn't worth it.

What all have you done to your truck so far?

So far, nothing. In fact im not driving it right now because its sitting in our barn while i do some work on it for the winter.

How were you able to do your crossover so cheap? The guy that wants to put on my sfa lift wants like 1200 bucks to do the crossover + 600 for the lift itself. He told me the crossover wasnt neccesary but should be done. Also ORU's kits for crossover are like 1000+ i think. Do you have links to what all you bought?

[DirtySouthZ71]

Originally posted by Smith


So far, nothing. In fact im not driving it right now because its sitting in our barn while i do some work on it for the winter.

How were you able to do your crossover so cheap? The guy that wants to put on my sfa lift wants like 1200 bucks to do the crossover + 600 for the lift itself. He told me the crossover wasnt neccesary but should be done. Also ORU's kits for crossover are like 1000+ i think. Do you have links to what all you bought?

Steering arm for the knuckle some threaded stock and 2 1 ton tie rods.