Club cab short bed 2wd to 4wd swap with crossover steering

[Oldred89]

Here it goes. Always wanted a short bed club cab but I also enjoy having 4x4 when needed. ( im under the impression that dodge never made that combo...?)

Started the conversion today.

1/2 ton with slant six and np435 tranny.

Getting installed- Dana 44 8 lug disc from a dodge pickup.

Today I got the 2wd front end cut out. And the new axle, and accessories cleaned and painted.

The before:



The ifs getting ready to be pulled. With weight on the tires I just heated up the coils so they would collapse making it easier to work with Later.



The ifs torched and on the ground.

[Oldred89]

More pics

The axle. Dana 44 3.54 gears open diff, warn manual hubs. Factory dodge tie rod has been replaced with a ford tie rod to accommodate what I call (junk yard crossover steering).

Before:



After:



Ran out of day light but here is the axle,springs sitting under the jack supported truck!



Next comes a lot of measuring to get this thing square and then a welding party. Keeping my fingers crossed the ford drag link clears the springs.

In this build I am using free or nearly free parts, some things are not permanent.
After I finish the swap I'll be drilling and tapping the ps knuckle to do high steer.

For now my quick fix, I'm using cummins front leafs which will be a rough ride but shouldn't flex much so my drag link can squeek by the leafs and allow me to drive this thing to work and back while I save up money and parts.

My brother is the family welder and he will be over tomorrow to help me finish. Stayed tuned....lots more pictures to come.

[USN78W150]

Club Cab 4x4

Nice truck. My second favorite after the Crew Cab 4x4. Dodge did make what you are building, but you don't see them too often. Great work, keep us posted.

[Oldred89]

Ended up taller than expected and only have the rear blocks in the rear with the stock springs. I will swap out the 1 ton springs when I put in the Dana 70.

My brother did some real nice tig welding.

And if any one needs some good 2wd front end parts. I have a pile for free.

[Gordon Maney]

Great coverage of your project!

[712edf]

I wanted to do the same thing to an 85 D350 crew cab long bed I once owned. Never got it done though.

Nice work.

Bucky

[DODGEBOYS]

how in the world did you get past the the frontend NOT hitting the 2WD frame without it being way to HIGH / this swap has been done hundreds of times and they usually change the engine cross member to clear the frontend

[DODGEBOYS]

also its a very EASY swap because the 2WD and 4x4 frames are the same except the engine cross member so ALL the holes are there to mount the springs and shackels

[Oldred89]

how in the world did you get past the the frontend NOT hitting the 2WD frame without it being way to HIGH / this swap has been done hundreds of times and they usually change the engine cross member to clear the frontend

I will post pictures tomorrow but basically the only difference is the engine crossmember. The 4x4 version is a single layer and the 2wd us boxed in to provide a mount for the lower control arms. I simply torched the bottom half of the crossmember. When I do my motor swap I'll swap crossmembers because that will be easier than grinding all the edges strait and re boxing it.
Also because I welded in a front cross member I basically added 3 or 4 inches more than stock would be

[Oldred89]

the pictures above got deleted some how. here they are again.

[Oldred89]

[Oldred89]

everytime i finish for the day it seems to be dark out. Still need to get the rear 1 ton springs to get the rear height to match.

After some more thinking and measure, i also need to flip my front springs 180 and move my rear shackle mounts to help my pinion angle.

[DODGEBOYS]

dont get me wrong that is NICE work but ALL the holes were in the frame to mount ALL the factory brackets / you did ALOT of work for NO reason

[Oldred89]

dont get me wrong that is NICE work but ALL the holes were in the frame to mount ALL the factory brackets / you did ALOT of work for NO reason

I would of liked the look of going factory and that was my original plan but I went this route to gain clearence with out having to buy lift springs. Most of my decisions are cost driven. And I did all of that in two days. I think it would of taken longer to find a donor truck for the mounts and torch all the rivets.

[Oldred89]

Springs installed in the rear.....not quite tall enough. I'm going to do a shackle reverse when I swap in the d70. For now it my SoCal per runner truck.