1989 F150 mild restoration build

[Mudhound]

Yeah. The brackets are "taller" if I remember right. Always thought it was weird that GM offered the 3/4 ton with 15" wheels available. Saw that in the junkyard that I worked in, and was like, Wait-WTH???? looked in our Hollander books, sure enough. Was a late 70's thing, though.

 

[brinker88]

^ Haha yep. Definitely offered a 15" wheel. I ran them on my old Straight axled F150 back in the day. I had to grind the living piss out of the caliper to make them fit though haha.

So I got laid off and this is what I've been doing with my time. Cleaned up a spare set of beams I purchased and built a truss.

 

[brinker88]

So much good in this photo...

 

[brinker88]

Finally found the GM small lockout hubs I've been looking for (Thanks SVT!) Got the spindles, hubs, axle shafts, and caliper brackets painted with Rust-Oleum rusty primer and gloss black. Also freshened up the differential with new seals. Completely tore it apart. Thank god I did because I found a broken shim on the pinion. Replaced all pinion shims (inner and outer with new inner pinion bearing baffle) and painted it. This is my D44 TTB 4.10 diff.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Question... Why not solid axle? 8 lug 44s are pretty cheap and hold a alignment soo much better and seem to always track better than TTB. The TTB beams being stamped steal just seem to have soo much flex and give....even trussed. TIB seem to be just fine with the forged/cast beams.

 

[brinker88]

Honestly, it all comes down to $$$. I'll have less than $600 into completely rebuilding the front and rear axles and installing them. I was looking at 5x that if I were to SAS it. I had most of the parts I need and in a daily driver that isn't going to see trails, this was by far my best option. Plus finding a mono beam dana 44 around here is next to impossible.

 

[brinker88]

Going to pick up a rust free 8' bed and 4 inch superlift with extended radius arms on Thursday. Got both for $500.

 

[brinker88]

 

[Hagan]

Looks good! I have a 4" lift on my '92 F150. I have no idea what brand it is though. What size tires are you going to run?

 

[brinker88]

Planning on 285/75/16s which is a narrowish 33" tire. The lift will be going on the same time as the 3/4 ton swap. The 3/4 ton axles have 4.10s in them so it should be perfect for the tire size.

 

[Hagan]

I think narrow tires look good on these trucks. I have 33x10.5-r15 on mine and I think it looks good.

Are you doing a dana 44 or dana 50?

 

[brinker88]

Dana 44 TTB with chevy 8 lug outers. I will also be modifying the super runner steering so I can replace the t.r.e's individually. I'll be using chevy 1 ton t.r.e's.

 

[brinker88]

Been slow going. Laid off really takes its toll on projects. Ordered all my body filler, glaze, sand paper, and sanding blocks yesterday. $250 ouch. Will be getting the dents filled and prepping for primer. Stay tuned...

 

[brinker88]

This pig's getting repainted next weekend!

 

[brinker88]

Bought the paint today. Went with all PPG Products. JAU Single stage, 2k Surfacer, and Epoxy Primer. This things gonna look good