1972 F-250 2wd to 4wd build

['84 Bronco II]

Aghh, very close...
5520 with me and ~25 gal of fuel. So about 5170 empty. I put extra emphasis on not adding un-needed weight throughout the build. I 'needed' a BBF, tons and 40s, though.
57%/43% distribution

That's a lot better than I would have expected. My stock regular cab '84 F250 4x4 with a 6.9L and a T19 weighs between 5,500-5,600 depending on how much fuel I have in it.

 

[Projectjunkie]

Sure, I did it twice.... Yes the 80-96 box seems to work fine and is plentiful/cheap. yes 4.10s.

Didn't really need to recess. could use spacers on the bolts. Why I have to complicate things I don't know.

Thank you, and fab work

 

[rattle_snake]

Installed new mirrors on the old Ford. I had really cheap plastic 80s style mirrors that wouldn't stay in position and vibrated badly at speed. door hinge bracket, carriage bolts?

To impatient for a set of west coast Jr.'s, I replaced with a supposedly higher quality version of a similar style from LMC truck. I bent the hoop a bit more to fit the door profile. They are metal, have better HW, but won't stay in position and vibrated badly at speed. Aghh.. Now door has 14 holes instead of just 10.

While I had door apart I went ahead and installed Killmat inside the doors. Not a fun job but now the whole cab is complete, and made a difference on the road. Installed 18 sheets so a significant area. Door has more of a thud sound now, happy with result.

 

[rattle_snake]

Made a cup holder for critical beverages. Just a 3" ABS coupler secured with a small L bracket to existing shifter bezel. quick, easy. I guess if I am farting around on stuff like this I can't complain to much.

Location works well with my 4-legged passengers.

 

[rattle_snake]

I swapped front tires and pull to right is gone. Happy to have that figured out.

 

[rattle_snake]

Due to excessive complaints from essentially every passenger, it was strongly suggested that I install a access aid to ease ingress and egress. While this truck may have become a bit taller, it didn't seem necessary to me...
I found some old school simple loop steps in black to minimize there appearance and was able to install with drilling only one hole. Lowers step in height from 36" to a mere 26".
They are a very thin, light weight cast material and should easily crumble if they come in contact with a rock. Doubt it would do any damage to rocker sheet metal. So a sacrificial item that shouldn't impede breakover angle issues on the trail to much.

Dog approved, for what that is worth.

 

[dignifiedWT]

Love this damn thing!

 

[rattle_snake]

I'm getting to trust the truck more and enjoying driving it. Hasn't broke down yet.

Installed limit straps on the front end so I can put the truck up on the lift without drag link binding up. The drag link only needed 1/2" or so less down travel, but I decided to limit it further for the drive shaft. Math indicated it needed to be 1.5" less than the original design spec of 12" total travel, so it's set for 10.5". Since I don't really know where driveshaft limit will be, and didn't want to drill holes, I decided to use an existing hole in the frame (the only one I didn't weld shut) and an upper arm bolt for mounting. This configuration needed a 15" strap (16.25" stretched) corrected for the angle it is at. I can move mount holes or get a different length strap if needed later.

 

[rattle_snake]

Put the truck on the lift to check limit strap and start on parking brake job. Actual limit was very close to calculated value, which is 1/2" short of target, which is close enough. Can see that rear now has 3" more of down travel than the front.
Rear shackle angle is still slightly back even at full droop. I guessed pretty good, haha. I get some vibes when accelerating so plan to angle pinion down a bit more and see what happens.

 

[rattle_snake]

Re-checked rear pinion angle, it was about 2.5* down, too much. I lengthened upper traction bar link by rotating rod end 3 turns. This yielded about 1* pinion down. Vibes under acceleration are now gone.

Got the parking brake system installed. Original setup was ran down the center/right of truck, not a good fit with exhaust system. I moved the cables to the left side above traction bar. The 90s style wheel-end cables are a different type, longer overall but a short amount of exposed cable. To make them work I needed the rear mount quite a bit farther forward. I ended up making a bracket attached to one of the bed supports instead of the frame cross members. Had to shim one cable end to get lengths equal for spreader bar.

 

[350TacoZilla]

One question for you on the traction bar. I always thought with that style bar the frame end should be frame mounted on the bottom of shackle and traction bar mounted to the top so that it can still swing for articulation but would center itself on acceleration. Am I just remembering wrong or is there a pro and con to each mount style?

 

[evernoob]

One question for you on the traction bar. I always thought with that style bar the frame end should be frame mounted on the bottom of shackle and traction bar mounted to the top so that it can still swing for articulation but would center itself on acceleration. Am I just remembering wrong or is there a pro and con to each mount style?

The way it is, seems like it will have two different length links trying to hold the axle at their angle. That will fight each other on articulation. The short link is leaf spring, axle to front hangar, that length doesn't change. It's going to try to tilt the axle up while the trac bar holds it.

 

[rattle_snake]

One question for you on the traction bar. I always thought with that style bar the frame end should be frame mounted on the bottom of shackle and traction bar mounted to the top so that it can still swing for articulation but would center itself on acceleration. Am I just remembering wrong or is there a pro and con to each mount style?

Having the bar above or below the rigid fame mount just puts the shackle in compression or tension. Just like a leaf spring, can be either way, with subtle differences in the mechanics. For packaging reasons I put bar below, so under acceleration the shackle is in compression.

As long as the shackle is near vertical the difference between the 2 methods are minimized. In the case of this traction bar the shackle angle is adjustable (with the big rod end on lower link), and is almost vertical across the whole range of motion.

There is complicated math and theory on the subject but I'll leave that to the reader. Stable vs unstable under certain conditions. Think about the case of inverted shackle where angle goes past horizontal.

 

[rattle_snake]

Picked up a Trimax adjustable drop hitch. Foot long version. Guys with big trucks need long extensions, making up for something I guess.
I have keyed-alike pins and locks on all my trucks and trailers, and this will match as well. One key for everything.
The shank wouldn't fit into the receiver tube, so I had to re-radius the corners. Took quite awhile with a flap wheel. The only piece of the original hitch I didn't cut off and replace, go figure.

 

[rockota]

Re-checked rear pinion angle, it was about 2.5* down, too much. I lengthened upper traction bar link by rotating rod end 3 turns. This yielded about 1* pinion down. Vibes under acceleration are now gone.

Is it only the traction bar holding the pinion angle now? I.E. instead of spring perch? Curious how long the track bar bushings last with the pressure on them.

 

[rattle_snake]

Is it only the traction bar holding the pinion angle now? I.E. instead of spring perch? Curious how long the track bar bushings last with the pressure on them.

Yes, traction bar forces pinion angle. I guessed at initial spring perch angle, then went back and set them once chassis was farther along and driveshaft type was decided. Once truck was at full weight, I set traction bar to neutral position (no preload), which happened to be about 2.5* down. At 1*, it takes a little pressure to lift the arm up about a 1/2" and slide the shackle bolt in. So force on bushings is minimal, as spring perch angle is close. If they were way off the front half of the leaf would have to bend to accommodate, and shackle would have a lot of pressure on it.

So far I'm really happy with it. Does solid, stable burnouts. The instant center/lift point is right at seat position. It would be better to have it farther forward to reduce body lift and get rear to squat, but not really possible with packaging. Need to test deep sand at WOT.

 

[rattle_snake]

So the track width of the 60 is 4" wider than the 10.25. Worried the rear tire will rub the inner wheel well flexed. Looking at wheel spacers. There are aluminum, lug centric options around $100. Anyone use them? recommended brand/vendor?

I found only one set of hub centric ($$$). The studs are 2" long. The back side of wheels have a relief that would allow the stud to protrude 1/2", so a 1.5" space would work also. Looks like there are 126 and 130mm center bore options. Hard to measure hub accurately with studs installed, not sure what I need.

https://www.nitro-gear.com/NWS8X6-5-...s8x6.5-1.5.htm
https://www.uswheeladapters.com/shop...l-spacer-9-16/
bunch of cheap stuff on amazon .... reviews are either great or wheel fell off bad.

 

[arse_sidewards]

I assume you have a 10.25 out of a DRW if it's 4" shorter.

I would just run it for now and keep your eye out for a 10.25 from a pickup. Considering that these axle can be found for $200 or less if you're patient the price will be about the same as spacers.

 

[350TacoZilla]

I'll be the first to admit to running cheap spacers on everything from wheeling rigs to DD's, only time I wont is on the rear of a heavy tow pig type of deal (DRW or SRW), I will still run a spacer if the situation calls for it but will step up to the hub centric type. I have had 0 problems with spacers and I just use serviceable loc-tite and torque them to same spec as the wheel calls for on that rig, I then run the lugs of wheel down with rattle gun and never worry about it. 15 years ago and would re-torque them all the time or take them off and check for cracks etc then kinda figured if OEM's trust them enough to sell 3500 duallies with a 4" bolt on spacer (hub centric naturally) on the steer axle of an 8K truck with a 1200lb diesel and snow plows hanging above them to the general public I'll probably be fine.

As long as your aftermarket aluminum wheels are lug centric and your not pulling 10k all the time chances are the aluminum 2" lug centric spacer is fine, if you want extra peace of mind go hub centric since you already have $$$ in this truck and they are not a wear item that you will be replacing all the time.

 

[rattle_snake]

I assume you have a 10.25 out of a DRW if it's 4" shorter.

I would just run it for now and keep your eye out for a 10.25 from a pickup. Considering that these axle can be found for $200 or less if you're patient the price will be about the same as spacers.

The rear axle is out of a 1994 SRW F350, same as the front. All the OBS 250/350 have similar track width mismatch.

I've heard the van rear ends are wider, but I have this axle sealed up and my crap welded on it so not wanting to swap housings at this time.

 

[Projectjunkie]

I forget how the sterling plays, but you may be able to mix and match dually, or cab and chassis parts to get where you want to be

 

[Snowracer]

for what its worth im running 2" MrLugnut spacers on the back or my truck as needed shock clearance, truck gets beat on and jumped ect and zero issues. i was worried about running them as always hear horror stories.

 

[bradp674]

I had the Ballistic Fab spacers on the 14 bolt in my Landcruiser. With 43" TSL SX stickies. I had zero problems with them.

https://www.ballisticfabrication.co...ucts/wheel-spacers-8-x-6-5-pair-with-hardware

 

[rattle_snake]

thanks for feedback. Guess I could just slip 16 cheap sockets over the studs and get each nut on a thread or two?

Or a rotary positioner for my mill and waste a bunch of time and money making something I can already buy.

 

[rattle_snake]

Ready to start on rear wheel wells so figured I should see where the limits were first, understand what is needed and why. The irrigation head in my front yard seemed like it would work well enough. Sadly the truck is still a 2WD, and had to chew some holes in my road to get up on it. Couldn't get bluetooth front driveshaft to connect...
So, poser pics

Can see the rear is doing most of the flex, but the radius arm front does have some.

Tire was contacting fender at this point. Suspension has more flex than this but need to chop up bed sides first. Could just move axle back and call it a day, but I want to lower the whole truck down and have custom big wheel wells.

]

 

[rattle_snake]

After contemplating where to cut, I drew some lines and cut a big hole. Removed 2" strip at the top. This will make the bottom wider by 2" as well.

But simply moving the whole thing up isn't going to work

So cut into 3 pieces to retain the body lines. lower ends are moved out into the lower edge. Needs 2 simple scabs.

Now the front and rear wheel openings are the same height and more of the same size. Better matched. Still need to move the axle back a 1/2 or so. Ignore the burnout marks on the concrete.

 

['84 Bronco II]

Nice to see you cutting and sectioning the bedsides. It is a really clean way of doing it

You probably mentioned it earlier, but what did your spring rate on your coil overs end up being? I am curious if the lack of flex is due to stiff springs or binding because I would expect the front to be doing more of the flexing since most of the weight is over the front end.

 

[rattle_snake]

Well, somebody has to cut up rust free old Fords. :)

Front coilover springs are 250/350. Now that I have real weights I need to get different springs to lower ride height and get some adjustability.

The limited flex is bushing bind inherent to a radius arm style. Weigh distribution is 57/43.

 

[FleshEater]

Well, somebody has to cut up rust free old Fords. :)

 

[rattle_snake]

I ordered new coil over springs from Accutune to lower the front. Unfortunately they are not in 'new' condition so can't just swap them as planned. Ended up with 14" 200#/" / 16" 300#/". This should lower 1" at current weight. Once I get a winch (I should win the Warn 9.0RC and not one of you bitches!) and associated bumper weight I may go back to the 250/350 combo.

Ordered some U bolts from Barns for shorter rear blocks. I have a 1.9" set out of my 2014 F250 that I plan to use, mainly for the bump stop perches. otherwise the bump stop spacers have to be really long to reach axle tube. I also want to move axle back a 1/2" so going to move the upper pin hole in block and mod the spring plates. Thinking of adding a piece of 0.25" plate to the top to make overall height 2.15" and drill hole in new location. I think the blocks are cast steel, so should be able to weld to them. Will see.

have one side of bed welded and almost finished. Getting ready to cut the other side. Body work sucks.