HiTekRedNek

Are any of you hardcore off-roaders doing straight axle swaps to the front of these late model F50's? 2004+. If so, what axle are you using, from what exactly and is there a write up of a few trucks? I've swaped a Dana 44 into the front of a Toyota with awsome success. But in a 1/2 ton truck you really need 3/4-1 ton axles. I don't see many F150's riding around on 1 tons front and rear and sitting on 38's. Is the Factory IFS and 4wd rear axle decent? If so, for how much? 35's, 37's,?

camstng66

What is it that you want to do with the truck that you want the axle swap for???

GATORB8

I haven't seen anyone do a swap yet.

I've been surprised, though (also coming from the yota world). I haven't seen any complaints about broken front diff/cvs either. Even with extreme angles, it seems like the only parts I ever hear about breaking/wearing out are ball joints, even with several guys running blown 5.4s offroad.

Of course you don't see many/any trail rigs and rock crawlers with full size trucks. That's probably why the OEM front end is beefy enough.

camstng66

http://www.f150online.com/forums/200...as-swap-2.html

Also found a guy who is working with Farmboyfabrication.com for his 03-previous rig...

The link above had:

http://www.bluetorchfab.com/

build it for him I guess... Google does wonders...

mustangwarrior

i like the finger gussets, haha

HiTekRedNek

I just don't have very much confidence in IFS. For serious off-roading Straight axles are the shiz. Man that White SAS'd F150 is nice!!! I agree, the pinion needed rotated to have a 0-2* angle and then run a CV at the Tcase. He would have to remove and re-weld the spring mounts and 4-link brackets. Still nice I just like Straight axle rigs.

camstng66

The easiest way to get it SA is to buy a f250 then... My thought is if you are going to want the SA full size truck then go with a long bed single cab f250. V8, V10, diesel are all available options and the truck is already going to be pretty stout, just gives an awesome base to work with for a hell of a lot cheaper than sasing a f150...

06 F150 XLT

I did a solid axle swap on my truck. It is a 2wd and I wanted 4x4. The front axle is a Dana 60 from a 04 F350 SRW, and the rear is a Sterling 10.5" running 5.13 gears. Got all the suspension from my buddy who had a donor truck and did leafs cause it was cheaper. I'm only like $4000 in the lift and wheels and tires. It's a 12" lift on 38" military XML.

Tony Raine

I'm not much help, but I would love to see some SAS's on on these newer trucks. I ripped the TTB out of a Bronco II and swapped in full-size truck axles. but that is an entirely different animal because it is a 75% bolt on swap with about 90% factory ford parts.

i would love to SAS my '12 when its paid off. why? because i want to, and its my truck (almost). yeah, its 2wd, but i have access to a divorced T-case. I would use a factory 70's style radius arm/ track bar combo, although a leaf setup would be easier (but not for me, because i already have an extra '79 f150 front axle with C wedges). even cooler would be if i could modify some wagoneer outers to keep 6 lug (6 to 6 adapters sounds much easier than 5 to 6), and use the factory '12 brakes/traction control.

biggest issue for me would be steering. I dont know much about rack & pinion steering or electric assist.

jp360cj

I think steering would be the biggest issue, but like you, I don't know much of anything about rack & pinion steering, or EPAS.

As for the Tcase, I wonder if it would be possible to use a Super duty case on the 6R80? Those can still be had with manual shift, which I think would make the swap easier. Or if you could get the tcase to shift with a toggle switch, that would give you better gearing than a 203 or 205. If it's possible, a switch for low/hi range and a 2wd/4wd switch would be like twin sticking a chain drive case.

If you're using a D44, you should be able to get a 6 lug pretty easy....FSJs and Chevy's used the same outers. But they come in 2 different size spindles. One of the spindles uses the same bearing as a Ford spindle. I used a Chevy D44 with correct spindle and a Ford 5 lug hub/disc. Kept the Chevy caliper and pads. Although, you would lose 1" of width with a 5 lug to 6 lug swap. But you would still end up with needing adapters.

I wonder what kind of ABS issues you would have to deal with?