Would it work???

[bullitproofranger]

I have a 2wd 90 ranger 2.3, and right now I am planning on a Dana 30(XJ, or similar) swap on the front, but theres a guy down the road from me that has had a Chevy/GMC C/K pickup sitting for a number of years, and I was thinking about saving up and offering him some $ for the axles and the leafs,(the chevy is at least a 3/4 ton, late 70's early 80's truck), and I was thinking about taking the front axle and, grinding off the welds at the knuckles and at the pumpkin, and switching sides with the axle tubes and the pumpkin, welding it back up, and then I would have a drivers side diff. so I could use a ford transfer case. would it work? could be done on a weekend? any input is aprecciated, thanks.

 

[97BlackBetty]

It could most certainly be done. Patov6 was running a chevy D44 with swapped tubes for a while, it also died catostrophically. As far as getting it done in a weekend, I guess it could. That would be one hell of a long weekend though, especially by the time you get the steering worked out, the cross members for the leaf perches, etc. What kind of fab experience do you have? And just a fyi, the tubes for the axles are pressed in, they will be a pain to remove and you will have to flip the c's as well.

 

[dangerranger83]

As far as being able to do it, anything is possible, as far as in a weekend, as long as you have everything in front of you and ready to go. I've never seen a SAS happen in a weekend and ready for monday let alone switch from passenger drop to driver side. A D30 is an almost bolt in thing with just some fab work but like I said never seen one done in a weekend, not saying it cant be done but with some buddies it may go faster.

Or mabey that Chevy/GMC truck can be your 4wd truck or weekend wheeler to make stuff even easier.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

You best plan for having your truck down for more than a weekend.

My SAS was planned to be finished in 4 months, It's now been 8 months. But I'm also doing a whole lot more than a SAS.

None the less, plan for the unknown.

 

[Ozwynn]

you will also need to cut down the long side. because of where the pumpkin is in relation to the knuckle you will be 2 - 3" longer spring to knuckle on the ling side than you will be on the short side......

assisted with a corp 10b swap into a LandCruiser and the long side had to be cut down 1.5" to be the right length spring to knuckle and the FJ60 frame is a little wider than a Ranger.

you might be better off finding a pass drop t-case.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Or you could take that money you plan to spend on this truck, and buy an axle better suited for the swap. Possibly even a matching set of axles.

 

[bullitproofranger]

Oh crap I just remembered that guy also has an old f-series dually that he recently moved in front of the chevy, maybe I could ask him about the ford's front axle and about the chevys rear axle(I dont want to deal with dual wheels), could the ford front and chevy rear be dana 60's(the f-series is I think late 70's to early 80's).

 

[bullitproofranger]

as far as fab skills, I really have never fabbed any thing metal, but I have seen numerous threads on here that give me a very good idea of it, plus I have a freind and an uncle who has fab skills and they both can weld. Although I have been trying to find a CHEAP, decent arc welder to learn on.

 

[dangerranger83]

You pay for cheap you get cheap.

 

[Ozwynn]

the Chevy might be a D60 if it is 70's. If it is 80's and its the stock axle then it will either be a 44 or a corp 10b.

a 1 ton dually ford 4wd? most likely will have a 60...... I have only seen like 3 pre-98 4wd dually fords in my life...... they are rare.

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Run a 2wd transmission, a divorced transfercase, and a chevy axle. Biggest problem will be exhaust in the way.