hey i have a 95 f1550 2wd i was wonderin is it possible to do a solid front axle swap onto my truck, is it possible? if so how hard we did a solid swap to my friends 96 250 4wd it wasnt really hard but just curious and if i did that id want a diff rear end too but any just some opinions thanks

 

So are you doing the axle swap TO the the 96 250 4wd?

 

Its not as simple as it is on the f250. But its not insanely hard. There is a little custom fab work to be done. Doing a solid axle swap on a 4x4 f150 and a 2wd f150 are the exact same. Your best bet is to go over to fullsizebronco.com, and look at some of their builds. Lots of SAS's over there. Broncos and F150s have the same front suspension, btw.

 

yes it would be pretty much the same as in a 4x4 except you would need 4x4 t case driveshaft etc. if you go with a d44 leave the 8.8 in the rear. if you go with the dana 60 you should probably get a 10.25 out of a f-250/350 non dually and swap that in it should pretty much bolt right up. make sure if you do the 10.25 rear it comes from a post 87 truck so you have abs or else your tranny will never be the same

 

well know ican put a 1ton rear but for the front i could get a dan 44 but then could i go with a divorce transfer case so i dont have o change my 2wd trans? but a dana 44 would go right up like the rear?

 

and if i didnt want to go to a 4x4 couldn i just get a straight axle off a 2wd 1ton and swap? i know i could do the rear but i dont wanna have 8 lug back and 5 lug front my rear is shot in my truck so thats why im swappin it

 

2wd 1-tons don't have a straight axle.

And its probably a lot cheaper (and no fab involved), if you swap in a 4x4 trans/tcase. A lot simpler than building an intermediate shaft and a tcase crossmember...

 

Is it just me or would rebuilding the rear that's broke be the easier route? Why muck about with all this transmission, transfer case, front axle, solid or not business!??!!? You could easily rebuild the entire rear for around $300 bucks.

 

well the thing is i can buy a rear end for my truck off a 250 for 200 bucks that i found i mean hell it would be easier but if im gonna re do my rear end i want it to be stronger and i dont want 2.73 gears or whatever i have i think thats it but anyhow idk i know i could get diff gears for it but i have wanted my truck to be 4wd so damn bad and if it wouldnt kill me i would like to do it if i gotta plan and everything

 

I see your point but, would still have to disagree. The 8.8" rear is plenty tough and there are 1,000's of options to make it stronger. Here's a few:

C Clip eliminators
Endless locker/ LSD options
Endless ring and pinion options

....and the list goes on, and on. Heck, if you want 8 lug axles, you can even swap those in! The housing itself, as long as it's not broken, is no different (that I know of) than the 150's. The biggest difference is the axles. Same gears, bearings (there are 2 different bearings on the 8.8" rear 'small' and 'large'), differential, etc. etc.

And really, IMHO, the only difference between the 5 lug axle and 8 lug axle is... erm... ahem... 3 lugs. I don't know that there is any strength difference, at all. Remember, the 8.8" rear was used in EVERYTHING from Mustangs, to trucks, to SUV's to Lincoln Town cars and Mercury Grand Marquis'.

Still, IMHO, the best most economical thing to do, is fix the broken parts and keep on drivin'.....

My 2 or 3 pence.....