SuperDuty 4wd Conversion?

imelmo

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How tough is it to convert a 2wd 7.3 SuperDuty to 4wd? Seems like I've seen a couple threads on it but I can't find 'em. What all parts would I need? What welding and fabbing would need to be done?

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Cat_rebel

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What year Danny? I've done a couple 99-04 2wd to 4x4 swaps. On my Ma's 2wd reg cab 00 F250 we found a donor reg cab F250 4x4 & swapped everything over. Took a couple days in the middle of winter without head & no air tools. :doh:

Hardest part is grinding the rivets off the 2wd coil buckets & wrestling the TTB out-


4x4swap017.jpg


Unbolted the axle/springs/hangers as one unit on the donor truck. No grinding/cutting required-

4x4swap020.jpg


Just slide under & bolt up with pre existing holes-

4x4swap053.jpg


Calipers are interchangeable AFAIK but you'll need to unhook the line when you pull the coil bucket off. You'll need the trac bar bracket & the 4x4 tie rod/steering linkage. You'll also need to pull off your 2wd pitman arm & swap on a 4x4 pitman arm, I got a brand new Mooge for around $60 at O'rileys. Switch to 4x4 front shocks, swap the transmission to a 4x4 tranny or have a shop take your tranny apart & swap the tail & get a T case, drive shafts & your done.

The other 4x4 we did was on Trailerhauler's early 99 F350 dually.



Grinding the old buckets off-

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Getting the 2 rivets on the bottom of the bucket-

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Differences in the 2wd vrs the 4x4 pitman arm-

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Buckets off-

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Axle set in place with 3 people & 2 floor jacks in about 45 mins-

33615_1646312561527_1348293957_1683309_5656140_n.jpg




On an 05+ it is bolt on as well, no welding/fab work should be needed.
 

JoeDaddy

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Just do yourself a favor and haul your mess to michigan. Those boys work for beer and pizza. Odds are they'd be done before the 5th case was gone LOL
 

co04cobra

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If your goning to MI ill sell you a complete front end for the swap.
 

imelmo

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What year Danny? I've done a couple 99-04 2wd to 4x4 swaps. On my Ma's 2wd reg cab 00 F250 we found a donor reg cab F250 4x4 & swapped everything over. Took a couple days in the middle of winter without head & no air tools. :doh:

Hardest part is grinding the rivets off the 2wd coil buckets & wrestling the TTB out-


Yeah, I was pretty sure yours was one of the threads I was trying to find. Thanx for the info. It'd be on an early '99.

.
 

Cat_rebel

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Easy enough swap, let me know if you have any other questions Danny.
On a side note, Trailerhauler ran his dually with the Dana 60 under the front & a 2wd tranny for awhile until he could find a deal on a 4x4 ZF6 & T case. He was piecing the swap together & got a good deal on the axle first & got sick of it taking up room in his garage. So we spent roughly a day R&Ring the front.
 

bryan.d

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Imelo im not to far from you on the othe side of new orleams in st chales parish. Im getting ready to do this swap on an e99 also. I plan on putting an 05+ axle under the front. I have been having the axle for a couple months now i just need to find the time. So far looking at what is involved it dosen't seem that difficult. Need to drill a few holes in the frame for the track bar bracket. I think the most difficult part is getting the coil buckets off. Everything else seems to be bolt on. Hope this helps. I can contact you when i get it installed.
 

BigRed97

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like most of these guys said, it doenst get much easier

on my CC it took me about 1 hour to have the 2wd suspension on the floor and outa the way, another hour to rip the 4wd suspension outa the other truck and another hour to have it installed in the CC. then 1 more bonus hour to drink the case of beer


the frames are the same and all the holes are there
 

neverkickn

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like most of these guys said, it doenst get much easier

on my CC it took me about 1 hour to have the 2wd suspension on the floor and outa the way, another hour to rip the 4wd suspension outa the other truck and another hour to have it installed in the CC. then 1 more bonus hour to drink the case of beer


the frames are the same and all the holes are there

Three hour 4wd conversion????

If that isn't a typo and you aren't full of crap then you sir are bad azz.
 

BigRed97

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Yea just the front suspension/axle.
but that's the majority of it anyway...transmission swaps get VERY fast when you've done it 6 or 7 times in 2 yrs
 

neverkickn

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Yea just the front suspension/axle.
but that's the majority of it anyway...transmission swaps get VERY fast when you've done it 6 or 7 times in 2 yrs

Hats off:bowfast:

I would eventually like to do this. Is it possible to do a conversion using a coilover suspension? Is there any real advantage to the coilover?
 

co04cobra

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I personally dont see an advantage to the coil over. Cary has a kit to do the swap, but if iirc it is pretty well all bolt in job. If anybody is interested in that route I have complete coil front ends for sale, as well as leaf springs. The only advantage with the coil setup is has a shorter turning radius and bigger brakes in the front.

Like big red and Cat we have done the swap several times to 4x4 its really not too bad once you get started. Red is about spot on with the times about an hour to 1 1/2 to get each front end out of the truck.
 

Lysons

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Yea just the front suspension/axle.
but that's the majority of it anyway...transmission swaps get VERY fast when you've done it 6 or 7 times in 2 yrs

I dunno, they still seem to take a long ass time after the third one LOL

And Elmo, are you maybe thinking of going to an 05+ front end?
 

jngreen

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This thread is from 2011. I'm pretty sure he swapped his 03 to 4x4.
 
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