Credit: Marinebroncoii
I wanted to swap in a Dana 44HD out of a '79 F-250 but did not want to use the leaf spring setup that came on the axle. So I ordered axle wedges from James Duff and welded them to my axle. Then I got '70s F-150/fullsize Bronco radius arms and put them on the axle. Before this swap I had a 2.5" susp. lift on my truck so I moved the blocks and crossmember that the stock radius arms bolt into back about 14" on the frame so that I could bolt the longer F-150 radius arms into them and have them at a better angle because of the lift blocks. I didn't want to move my stock spring buckets, so I made my own mounts for the bottom of the spring. I did this using 3/4' stock. I took one piece and drilled and countersunk hole to bolt it onto the radius arm, then I took another piece and drilled an counter sunk for a 1" bolt to stick up through. I bolted down the bottom one then welded the 1" bolt into the top one and stacked the two together and welded them. Then on top I welded a bushing that fit tightly in the bottom coil of my spring around the bolt. Then all I did was put the spring in and use a big washer and nut to hold it down, the bushing holds it center on the mount pad. I got my coils from a local spring shop, I just told them what vehicle I had and that I had the added weight of the V8 and fullsize Tranny and T-case and how long I wanted them when they were compressed and they hooked me up with coils that were the right diameter for the spring buckets and the height and spring rate I needed for under $100. I used the steering off of an F-150 solid D44 axle and only had to cut the piece that goes from the steering gear box to the solid drag link. Now my steering isn't on too much of an angle with the crossover steering setup. All of this would also work on a Dana 60 front from a 1-ton that came coil sprung. Here's Marinebroncoii's rig with the Front and Rear swapped: Tech. Page written and edited by: 91Sploder |
