F-150 2wd to 4wd swap?

[nubreed71]

I've been kicking this idea around in my head, and want to try to figure out what would be cheaper/easier...swapping 4wd into my existing 2wd F-150 or buying a 4x4 truck and swapping some parts from my 2wd over to that vehicle.

What would I need to do the swap? TTB's, spindles/hubs, front 3rd member, front and rear driveshafts, transmission and transfer case. Any other parts I'd need?

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Engine crossmembers are different if i remember correctly.

[nubreed71]

Ahhhhhh, yeah, so would need to reconfigure crossmembers and such. I'm starting to think swapping some of my parts onto another 4wd truck would be easier/cheaper.

[ChaseTruck754]

I'm starting to think swapping some of my parts onto another 4wd truck would be easier/cheaper.

Good thought

[cs_drums]

How do the crossmembers differ?

[ChaseTruck754]

Beam mounting location is the main deal.

Philo should know, so maybe there's a bit more to it

[funinthesun95]

Pretty sure Dana 44 will bolt right up and work fine.....but yes Philo if you please.....

[ebroten]

X2 Im almost positive the 2wd and 4wd brackets are the same so D44 will bolt right up

[ChaseTruck754]

you guys are probably right. The more I think about it the more it seems I may be remembering ranger mounting points for beams. So yeah... paging Philo...

[nubreed71]

Here's an idea that I got from trading PM's with another gfb'er. One option would be to bolt up some cut and turned Dana 44 ttb's with a third member but no axles or driveshaft. Seems like there would be quite a few benefits:

1. Can mount coilovers off the front which would help with fitting my 14" 9100s in the engine compartment.

2. Gives me the ability to go uniball at the pivots instead of those rubber bushings.

3. Could run a taller ride height without alignment issues. (Right now I'm stuck with 4" coils since my alignment cams are maxed out with the current 4" autofab bent beams). As I understand it, you can run a much taller ride height with the swp cut and turned beams.

4. Upgrade to larger d44 bearings/spindles.

Then later on down the road I've got the option to continue with the conversion or just run it as 2wd if I decide that 4wd isn't needed.

Thoughts?

[ChaseTruck754]

It's an idea I haven't heard of or thought of before but it makes sense. If the things will bolt in - you may have a good idea.

Keep in mind the radius arm mounting attachment to the beams are different 2wd to 4wd (the TTB beams are taller than the 2wd i-beams) so you'd be looking at different radius arms too.

[nubreed71]

I'd thought about the radius arms, but hey, perfect excuse to switch from bushing radius arms to heim radius arms, right?

[cs_drums]

GO for it! my 4wd is a 2wd till I have the money for gears hahaha

[philofab]

1/2 Ton 2WD to 1/2 ton TTB 4WD is an easy swap.

Beams bolt right in with the correct 4wd radius arms.
Wiring for the T-case is already there as long as you get the extension harness with the t-case.

You will need:

trans, t-case, drivelines, complete TTB, crossmember, and whatever your t-case needs to swap IE dash switch and t-case harness or manual shift linkage and floor bezel/boot.

Most 92+ trucks I have seen already have the cutout in the floor for the shifter. My F250 did.

[nubreed71]

Thanks for the info Philo...much appreciated. Another thing to think of, that a friend pointed out to me, is this all really hinges on the engine. Right now my truck has the 5.0. If I'm happy with the 5.0, then it probably makes more sense to swap in 4WD because of all the other work i've done on the truck. If i think I'd rather step up to the 5.8, then it probably makes more sense to get a new truck with 4wd and the 5.8 and swap parts over from the old truck and sell the old truck.

[AussieRod]

1/2 Ton 2WD to 1/2 ton TTB 4WD is an easy swap.

Beams bolt right in with the correct 4wd radius arms.
Wiring for the T-case is already there as long as you get the extension harness with the t-case.

You will need:

trans, t-case, drivelines, complete TTB, crossmember, and whatever your t-case needs to swap IE dash switch and t-case harness or manual shift linkage and floor bezel/boot.

Most 92+ trucks I have seen already have the cutout in the floor for the shifter. My F250 did.

I'll vouch for this. I'm doing that exact swap, so the parts list will be: Trans/ t-case, trans & Tcase specific harness, driveshafts (dependant on trans type), trans x member, complete TTB with radius arms, make sure calipers are same type as brake hoses differ, model specific boot/bezel,etc. Front of Truck/Bronco will sit about 1 1/2 - 2" higher due to TTB beams being deeper and no 2WD stub drop. Anything I forget Philo will add/correct

[nubreed71]

Thanks for the info Rod...I never figured that was why the 4x trucks/broncos always seemed to sit a little bit higher than the 2wd, but that makes sense.

[nubreed71]

Maybe Philo can chime in on this one...my truck currently has the AOD-E trans in it. If I was to swap in an E4OD trans + a transfer case, is my current wiring harness gonna play nice with that trans? Or am I gonna have to deal with some sort of wiring harness swap to make them get along?

[philofab]

Maybe Philo can chime in on this one...my truck currently has the AOD-E trans in it. If I was to swap in an E4OD trans + a transfer case, is my current wiring harness gonna play nice with that trans? Or am I gonna have to deal with some sort of wiring harness swap to make them get along?

E4OD is going to require a new harness and ECM. You could possibly rework your current harness for all the E4OD stuff but it would be way more work.

[baja-chris]

Or the other option is a stand alone trans computer.