Full width axle swap 76 f150

[Digger]

That's great guys, as I already have a 3/4 " metal bit and access to a press

How is everyone going about trac bars? I wanna make sure I cure all bump steering in this process.

Iwas tossing around the idea of possibly pushing the front axle forward an inch or so as the the BNG arms have some adjustment , but wouldn't this cause the trac bar bushings to bind ? Anyone ever make their own with hiem joints on either end to avoid that? Or am I just over thinking and complica6 things to much?


Thanks guys

I left mine in the stock position. Justin could speak more about what it takes to push the axle forward. Usually springs, shocks, steer box all need to move with the axle.

Switching the tie rods to the top of the knuckles may result in clearance issues. I had to relocate the frame-side trac-bar mount rearward 2 inches. I also built a trac-bar riser on the axle side to improve the suspension geometry. This however required a custom trac-bar with a slight hook in the end to clear the frame and spring buckets at full jounce.


Tie rod interference and moving the frame bracket




Trac-bar riser



Watch your axle clearances to the frame and oil pan too!



FWIW I avoid rod ends for a street driven vehicle. There are better options these days that will perform better and last longer. I used a JK tracbar bushing and an aftermarket cross-axis ball joint on my rear track bar. I will likely do the same on the front. You will appreciate have some isolation in the system and a cross axis joint can handle mis-alignment.

[Gunnibronco]

I pushed my axle forward, but haven't seen the road with the new set up yet. I was adding full width coil spring hangers and 4x4x2 box as well. I pushed everything forward, including my track bar bracket. I switched from the heim joints to Metal Cloak joints on the BKG arms because of what Digger said above. The Metal Cloak joints have a rubber bushing, instead of a solid heim joint. They also have a longer threaded shank than the BKG joints, so you could easily gain 1" without relocating the brackets.

[Justin]

Take a read over my build thread, as the specifics are relatively well documented there. My front axle went forward about 1.5", which required moving the steering box forward 1", which required cutting a hole in the front of the truck, which required reinforcement. Would still do it again. Could move it a little more forward, maybe, but my drag link rubs on the crossmember under heavy compression, so crossmember mods would be required. For the track bar, I used a heim on one end and a TJ upper link bushing on the other. You want a little compliance in the track bar, but only a little. I opted for the heim on one end due to the amount of travel I have and it was the suggestion of the guys at Metalcloak. You'll want the track bar and drag link as long as possible, and ideally as closely matching in length as possible. The closer all that is, the less bump steer you'll get.

[rooster]

Great info guys really appreciate the advice. Digger that is some great work, I really like how the track bar is double sheer

[rooster]

Also Justin when you swapped to 4.56 gears you didn't happen to keep the 4.11s did you?

[Justin]

Nope. They're long gone.

[rooster]

Justin that is a very well built beast! Really cool ,lots of great info on your thread.


I think I will probably keep the able where it's at as both my drive shafts are about a .25" of each other and I would like to keep it that way.

What's the best way to go about the chevy TRE swap? Just buy the ends at a auto parts store and get some dom with the right weld inserts?, or mabey a good kit? Been spending a lot of moolah latley so would like to keep cost down if at all possible


Thanks

[Justin]

Thanks! It's been fun to build. I did the DOM, welded inserts and parts store ends. Works great.

[rooster]

Scored this 5.8l from a buddy who owed me , anyways it has the fox swap oil pan on it, anyone know if full widths will clear this pan with 3.5" lift?

[Justin]

My guess would be no. My trac bar has left a dent in my stock 302 pan in the past. It'll depend on your wheel travel.

[Digger]

In reality, you need to fit everything up and cycle the suspension without the springs installed. There are too many factors to know for sure.

For example:
What engine mounts due you have?
Where are your bumpstops located?
What are the bumpstops made of, shaped like, etc? (How much will they squish under load?)
Are the bumpstops impacting a different part of the full width axle that would affect travel?
How much up-travel are you planning for?
etc
etc

Yes, it will clear at ride height, but how much uptravel you'll have depends on your exact combination of parts that make up your truck.

Here is a picture of my mockup trackbar, steering tie rod and steering draglink with the suspension compressed. It was still short of where I wanted to be. By moving the frame mount back 2" and changing the shape of the track bar, I gained another 1" of travel. As you can see checking clearances is very important. There are 4 items in this photo that could hit the oil pan or frame.



Even after building a new track bar, it was still the first item to impact the frame and I needed to add small extensions to the bump stops to guarantee that they stopped the axle and not the track bar.

[Gunnibronco]

Here is a pic of how mine ended up. Pushed the steering box, coil buckets & track bar mount forward enough to move the axle forward 2" from stock. My BKG arms hit the frame, near the mounting brackets before anything else hits. No exhaust is in yet.

[rooster]

Good info , digger where did you get those bump stops, they look awesome.

Also gunnibronco I see you have adjustable coil towers, how do you like them? And do they stick out farther than stock?

Thanks

[Gunnibronco]

Also gunnibronco I see you have adjustable coil towers, how do you like them? And do they stick out farther than stock?

They were made for my full width axles, so they are wider than stock. The company that made them isn't in business any more. It's too bad they aren't available, but the company sucked to deal with. (Mustangjohnny's truck also has these coil towers) I could template them if you are interested, maybe you can have a set made locally. I haven't driven the truck since I installed them. I ran the truck for several years with stock coil towers with the wide axles & it drove nice. I'm switching to 5.5" lift Deaver springs, but setting it to run a 3.5" lift. A 3.5" spring won't allow as much axle drop as the long arms will, so this should help match up all the components on the suspension for max articulation.

[rooster]

That is exactly what I was planning to do, I will definitely check out mustang Johnny's coil towers.

Ballistic fab also makes a generic adjustable coil tower set ,done some research and looks as though it's compatible with EB springs

[Digger]

Good info , digger where did you get those bump stops, they look awesome.

Also gunnibronco I see you have adjustable coil towers, how do you like them? And do they stick out farther than stock?

Thanks

They are SPC/Light Racing 3" JounceShocks.
http://www.spcalignment.com/index.php?option=com_spc&task=part_description&pid=25715&Submit_form=Submit



SPC is slowing phasing them out. You can still get them from Jegs/Summit etc. Street price is ~$220 I think. There some other companies that make hydraulic bumpstops like King and Fox. The SPC units are nice for packaging inside of the coils.


I had to make my own mounting brackets.

[Justin]

Ballistic will customize their designs. I needed a set of their brackets with different bolt spacing and it only cost me an extra week or two and a $20 upcharge.

[rooster]

Thanks for all the great info guys, I will keep updated on my progress, waiting for tax money

[rooster]

Been slow going on my swap do to life getting in the way,
I Ordered nearly everything I need in order to rebuild my axles, and I managed to swap the ARB and set up ring and pinnion ( not fun for a first timer lol)
Anyway my question is i can't find a good answer on what C-bushing degree I need . I've read that the HP 44s have more caster built in to them, i am running the BNG cage style long arms .so anybody running long arms like BNG or cage or james duff along with a 3 1/2 inch lift what C-bushings are you using? What would be your recommendation?


Thanks

[Gunnibronco]

I'm running that set up (but 78/79 axles). I had 6.5* bushings, I think, from my 3.5" lift. With the 6.5* bushings I had 13* caster. I flipped them over and ended up with around 8*. Stock 0* or 2* is what you'll probably want.

[rooster]

Thanks for the quick reply gunnibronco!, I read over your build thread, I really like how you did your track bar, I think I will be copying it , what size heim did you use?

[Gunnibronco]

I can't exactly remember, it was from Ruffstuff. I think it was a 3/4" heim (don't remember what the shank thread was) with misalignment spacers that brought it to a 9/16" bolt.

[rooster]

Still holding up good?

[Gunnibronco]

Yes its fine. I think the jamb nut had loosened up and helped me develop death wobble (also had loose tie rod ends & frame cracking around my steering box). At that point, I parked the truck and started the 'project' I'm still working on 2.5 years later. I'm switching to a SPC sealed rod end now. I replaced/moved my track bar frame bracket when I pushed the axle forward. This will require a longer track bar. The shank on the Ruffstuff heim wasn't long enough, but the SPC joint had a much longer threaded shank, so it will allow me to keep my track bar. Probably the only thing I didn't have to change on this build.

[rooster]

Did you use the stock trac bar mount, or go aftermarket ? Also ever think about double Nuting it? Mabey that would help keep it tight

[Gunnibronco]

I was using the stock track bar mount at the frame. I'm no expert on rod ends, but maybe using 2 jamb nuts would work. Or just checking it occasionally. I noticed 1/2 way into my tear down. The cracking frame, the fact I had all the stuff for a 4x4x2 box, and new wider upper spring hangers, Atlas, ZF, etc all in the garage, led to the mess I'm trying to dig out of.

I have an extra Roughstuff heim, misalignment spacer, and threaded bung, if you are interested. I'll have to go find it all, but I'll sell it all since I'm not using it. Let me know if you are interested & I'll round it all up and get pics & a price for you. I probably still have the misalignment spacer I made smaller to fit inside the stock track bar mount too.

[rooster]

I actually just ordered everything I needed from ruffstuff yesterday, otherwise I would've jumped on it, decided to go with a 4 degree bushing as suggested by a guy at james duff

[rooster]

I was also wondering if anyone could help me out,

If I were to bring my knuckles and pitman arm ,is there anyone out there that would be willing to ream them out for my gm 1 ton TRO conversion? And if so how much?

[ZOSO]

I was also wondering if anyone could help me out,

If I were to bring my knuckles and pitman arm ,is there anyone out there that would be willing to ream them out for my gm 1 ton TRO conversion? And if so how much?

I could but that being said I don't know where my reamer is. Im not sure if anyone in the club has it as I haven't seen it in a long while.

[Justin]

I have it and can ream your knuckles.