Solid Front Axle Swap on a 2001 Z71

Before	After

As many of you know, the IFS in half ton trucks is great for your average driver, and even light to moderate offroad. There are a variety of lift kits available for these trucks ranging from 4-14" in height. The IFS does however, fall short when it comes to the hardcore "extreme" offroading. The answer? Swap in a solid front axle in place of teh IFS. For many this seems like taking a step back, and in some sence it is, your ride wont be as nice etc... but for the extreme offroad group this is a small price to pay for the added strength and durability. This swap is not for everyone, but is essential for some. This page will be a continually updated account of my experiance with my venture of completing a SFA swap on my truck.

I currently have a 6" Procomp lift and a 3" bodylift with 35s, and it has served me well, but it is time to step up to the next level. I decided if I am going to do the swap, I might as well do it right the first time. I have decided to use all 1 ton suspension for strength needed to run 38-42" tires. The first, and possibly most difficult part of the swap is to find all of the parts. Here is a shopping list of the basic parts I have figured that I will need.

Front Axle - 1978-1979 Ford Dana 60 high pinion axle - This is my front axle of choice for many reasons, first of all it is a high pinion axle which will help in driveline angles when running a large amount of lift. Second it has a driver side differential and a narrow spring width (31.5"). This means you can either keep your current transfer case (if you dont have autotrac), or swap in one with the same side drop, making it easier than switching the a passenger side case. The narrower spring width is better than a wider one for tire clearence, there is less of a chance of the tires rubbing the leaf springs when at full turn. It also has a kingpin style design, which is desired for crossover steering in lifted vehicles. These axles arnt easy to come by, but are an excelent axle to use. You CAN also use newer ford axles (pre superduty). Ones after 1979 the wider (36.5") spring width but that is the only difference. The new superduty ones have a balljoint instead of a kingpin and in general that is less desirable.

35 Spline stub shafts - you can replace the stock 30 spline stub shafts in a dana 60 with dana 70 35 spline ones that are stronger. You will have to do some work or use special ones designed for the swap to make them fit on a ford axle but it is doable. Also you will have to use 35 spline lockout hubs or 35 spline drve flanges. Curently Yukon offers 35 spline shafts made of 4340 steel just for the fords, as well as other aftermarket axle shaft producers.

Locker & Gears - The obvious, there are a slew of lockers and gear combos available for the dana 60. Trick is what ones to get. On 4.10 and down you get the 4.10 and down carrier and the right gears, with 4.56 or higher if you get a 4.56 or higher carrier you must you thin gears. The thick gears will work with the 4.10 and down carrier even if it is a 4.56 and up gear. Check with who ever your buying the parts with tomake sure what your getting is right!

Larger Yolk - In stock form the yolk is a 1310 style - very small, you can upgrade it to bigger sizes such as 1330, 1350, 1410... The advatages of a 1410 (what I chose) were clear, its huge and has a higher operating angle.

Stronger inner shafts - There are many available, superior shafts are often considered some of the best. You can also go simple by buying newer spicer shafts that are the "thick" version. The part numbers I listed should get you the thick shaft.

Back Axle - Corprate 14 bolt full floating axle - This is a very common axle and also very strong - why I picked it. It is a full floating axle with a 10.5" ring gear. They are the same 8 lug pattern as the dana 60 so you can run matching rims. They are cheap to buy, and cheap to modify. All pre 2001 axles have drum brakes, but can be easily converted to discs. Spring perch widths vary by year and vehicle, but they can easily be relocted by cutting them off and re-welding them in the right place. Make sure to get one out of a normal truck, not a cab and chasis vehicle. The C&C ones have a 63" WMS-WMS, not a 67" like the normal ones, and have totally different hubs.

Transfer Case - Divorced Ford NP205 or NP241 - If you have autotrac (auto 4wd) you will need to replace your transfer case. If not it will burn up quickly because of the front shaft always spinnig design. There are many options here ,one being a Divorced Ford NP205 case, it is a very strong, gear driven case. It t is also a drivers side drop and the divorced design will only require you to put a 2wd tailshaft on the tansmission and then run a small shaft to the case, no adapter needed. Another option you may pursue is an ifs chevy NP241. This is simply because it will be a bolt up match to my 4l60e transmission. Its not as strong but much easier to instal and has a lower low range gears than the NP205 (2.73 vs 2.0ish) Just make sure if your a half ton you get a 27 spline input, or if your 3/4 or 1 ton you get the 32 spline input. Also if you have autotrac you will have an abundence of extra wires. The autotrac case has 3 vehicle speed sensors (VSS) and the np241 only has one. You only need to plug in the one at the rear slip yolk with the green and purple wire. You can buy the correct plug from GM and just splice it in. This connection is a nessisary or you cant shift, make your speedo work etc...

Brackets to mount axle - Fabritech Solid Axle Swap kit - This is the only kit I know of that will be a bolt on option for swapping in the axle. ORU does not yet offer a kit for the new body style (99+) chevy half ton trucks, but it will be out within a year. The Fabritech kit comes with all mounting hardware, dual shock hoops for the front, and all steering hardware required for crossover. They offer it in 2 models, one which is designed for the 79 Ford Dana 60. It seems like a good kit to me but recently I decided to fab up my own brackets due to cost issues.

Lift Springs - The front springs are the biggest concern. When you try and run teh traditional 45" long, gm front springs you run into problems being able to locate the axle far enough forward due to teh design of the frame and possible mounting positions for the rear shackle hangers. The solution - I found out the hard way, is to run longer 52" springs found in the rear of alot of 77-88 gm trucks. For the back the easiest is to just use springs for a big lift on out trucks or a custom pack. Sizes are available from 4"-12" and even higher with custom packs. Another option for the back is to run a shackle flip and a smaller leaf spring, this will give it more flex but also move the axle foward a few inches.

Drive Shafts - Because of the new transfer case and axles, new shafts will be needed. The rear must have a slip yolk at the case end, and a 1350 At the axle end (if 14 bolt is left with a stock yolk) If you choose to add a slip yolk eliminater to your case you will need a shaft with a slip in it, and the aproproiate joint at the case end. The front will be a CV shaft with a 1330 at the case end and a 1310 or whatever upgrade you put on the front axle (Stock ford dana 60 is a 1310)

Shocks - Any shock can be used, the better the shock the better your truck will perform. Getting the right shock length is an art. If its to short you will loose downward travel by maxing out the shocks, if its to long then you will loose some upward travel because it will be at max compression. I will probably play it safe and get the size up from my suspension at full drop. I rather loose an inch or so of upward travel than max out my shock and damage it.

Wheels - Stazworks 16.5x12 Double Beadlocks - Here is where there are tons of options. I know I want a 16.5" rim because of the variety of tire sizes offered over a 16" rim. The problem is that 16.5" rims have a small safety bead and the tire can easily blow the bead at a low pressure. Answer: beadlocks. Stazworks can make custom beadlocks to any size you want, so I think I will get a set of 16.5x12 double beadlocks. About $250 a rim. Why not use a 15" rim? Because you will have to grind the calipers down on the dana 60 to make them fit, and they often wont fit with a disc brrake conversion on the 14 bolt. More trouble than its worth if you ask me. You can use any size you want though over 15" as long as you have rubber that fits it!

Tires - Again a lot of options. I have looked at TSL 39.5x15s, 42x15s and 39.5x18 boggers. It will all come down to how much money I have etc... I want a decently agressive tire, but no bigger than a 42" so I can still be reasonable as a daily driver that does see the highway. What tire you get is totally up to you and your needs though.

Brakes - Brakes are a nasty subject. I will probably have to make all new lines. When I get down and do it I will post all the part numbers I needed etc... I want to use stainless steel braided lines for durability. Also the ABS will not work with all the wheel sensors removed. A quick fix is to pull the fuse, the light will be on in your dash but if your a redneck like me you will just pull the bulb out. A better fix is to replace the ABS system with a proportioning valve. Its not needed but a good idea, and something I will do as soon as money flows for it. Also the stock master clyinder is not a great choice. The brakes I have now are low drag calipers on the front, and the ford ones arnt. To make a long story short the big dual piston calipers Im putting on take more fluid than my current master clyinder is designed to handle. Also the brakes are designed to be "low drag" and the master cylinder has a quick takeup valve to make thenm work, which does not play well with other calipers like the ones that will be going on! Answer, upgrade to a better master clyinder.

These are the main componets, but certainly not them all. The exact parts and what I payed for them will be in a list later on. The next step will be starting to rebuild the parts I have. I will outline my plans, and then update with what Ive actually done up to date.

Dana 60 - It will undergo a complete rebuild/cleaning and be painted with por15. It needs to be regeared to 5.13 and if I can afford it I would like to put a locker in. If not it will be a future upgrade. Also all steering will have to be made as well as a panhard bar. I will be using crossover for sure and probably hysteer.

14 Bolt - I got very lucky here and found a 14 bolt ff, with EVERYTHING I need done to it. 5.13s with a detroit, and disc brake converted. Suposidly it doesnt need a rebuild. I will tear it apart to make sure. I will probably have to relocate the spring perches, and I am going to weld on custom dual shock tabs. After this I will sandblast/clean the whole thing and paint it with por15.

NP205 - ??

Frame of truck - I plan on stripping all of the rubber coating off the frame and painting it with por15 when I do the swap.

-Bought a 14 bolt full floater. It has 5.13 gears, a detroit locker and has been converted to disc brakes. It looks like someone once had a 4 link setup on it, so I will have to cut that off. The spring perhces will also have to be moved, as well as shock tabs added. Ill tear the brakes apart and clean them up, and also open the cover and check out the gears, grease bearing etc... as soon as I can. I also bought new spring plates to weld on from www.echobit.com.

-This weekend I tore into the 14 bolt. I started off by taking the brake calipers off and all of the old lines. The calipers can probably be reused, but im going to try and get a store to match em up so I can get new ones since they are cheap. I then opened the cover to just check things out. Im no expert but all seems good to me. It also does have a detroit like the seller claimed! There are no bad wear patterns on the gears and very little metal on the magnet. It needs a new seal for sure, and new oil, but other than that it looks good. I put it back on and then started to work on the 4 link crap. It took forever but I was able to use a grinder and grind off the welds, and then did the spring perches in the same manner. Next on the list is to use a wire brush on the grinder and clean the axle off real well, find new calipers, and dissasemble the hubs to check them out.

	Caliper	Removing cover	Cover removed	Gears and carrier	Ring gear
Perch and 4 link gone	Grind old weld smooth	All crap gone!	The junk pile	Half way done, 1 wheel gone	The well used grinder

-Now im off for christmass break so I should be able to get a ton of work done. I started off by cleaning up the axle for a few hours with a wire brush on a grinder. Once I got real bored of that I tore into the hubs. I started by removing the full floating shafts, held on by 8 bolts. After draining the fluid that came out, I removed the hubs from the axle by takeing off the outer, then inner retaining nut. Before you try to undo the nuts you must bend back the tabs from the lock washer beind the first nut. You will see what I am talking about, just use a flat screwdriver and bend them so the nut can be turned. Then onto the nuts, they can be removed the corect way - with a special socket designed for it, OR the redneck way that I used - put a brass punch in one of the divets on the nuts and banging it with a hammer in the direction to loosen it. I will buy the socket though to get them back on (to get the right torque specs). Once the hubs were removed I pounded the studs out and seperated the hubs from the rotors. Make sure to put a wood block over them so you dont screw up the threads. Then on to removing the bearings. You have to POUND the inner bearing seal off, I used a half inch drive extension and hammer, just stick the drive extension in there like your going topry it off and bang away on it with the hammer. You will ruin them, dont worry you need new ones anyways. The inner bearings will then fall right out. To remove the outer bearings you first have to remove a snap clip on the inside of the hub, accesable from the inner side, then pound the race out from the outer side so it falls out the inner side. The race wont want to move! Once again pound away with a brass punch and hammer, just try not to hitthe bearings if you plan on reusing them. I used brake cleaner to clean all of the bearings up, and made sure that they didnt have pitts in them which would call for replacement.

Shaft un-bolted	Axle shafts	Letting gear oil drain, you can see the retaining nut	Hub removed off of the spindle	Spindle nuts and washers, in order they came off	Hub removed, rotor still on	Seal and inner bearings not removed vs removed
Seal and inner bearings removed	Getting all cleaned up!	Work area		New spring perches and calipers	Outer bearings removed vs not removed	Aint it shiney!

Axle painted

End of shafts painted

Hubs cleaned off ready to paint

Hub painted with bearings and seal installed

Rotors installed back on the hubs

Hubs installed on axle

Calipers installed

-Bought a 1979 ford dana 60 for the front. It has superwinch lockout hubs and a dual steering stabilizer. I also bought 2 hysteer arms and a tierod to go with them. I am not sure how the condition of it is, but will regear and put a locker in for sure. I will probably also upgrade the stock 1310 yolk to at least a 1350. Both kingpins will be rebuilt and probably the brakes as well.

Condition when I bought it

Axle and hysteer arms/tierod

Hysteer arms and tierod

Driver side

Passenger side

See the rust line where it sat	Icky rusty oil	Wedge to remove caliper	Outer lockout removed	Removing snap rings	2 Snap rings and outer lockout	Removing inner lockout
Tool I made to get the stuck lockout out	Hub removed off the spindle	Pound on the wood to rseperate the rotors from the hubs	The 2 hubs with the rotors off	Dust shield and caliper bracket	Shafts removed	Oulling the kingpin cap off
Some of the driver side kingpin parts	New steering test fit	Springs on - I think it will work better with the tierod under the arms		Spindle nut socket	Parts shelf - 14 and d60 parts	Both axles and front springs. Its all comming together!!

Tie rod removed

Lower kingpin plates

Outer "C" with steering knuckle removed, kingpin in place

Axle in the process of being cleaned up

All of the new bearings, races, seals and kingpin rebuild kits

Spicer joints and 1350 yolk

Seal and bearings not removed Vs. Removed

Old bearings, races and seals

Caliper brackets cleaned off	Hubs and knuckles cleaned	Caliper brackets painted	Housing with kingpins removed	Old kingpin parts	Removing pinion nut	Removing yolk
Removing bearing retainers	All bearings and seals removed	Old brackets cut off	Nightime sandblasting!	Sandblasted housing		Bracket welds ground smooth
Taped off ready to paint	Painted inside of housing	Gears and instal kit	Painting more parts...	Housing painted...	35 spline stubs and lockouts	Spicer joits installed

dThe swap itself happened in my garage. The first thing was disasembling the truck. I started on the back by removing my procomp trac bars, the bumper, the shocks, the parking brake cable, tailgate and my CB antenas. After all of that was removed the bed came off. Its 8 main bolts. You also have to undo the gas cap and remove the screws holding the filler hose to the bed. Make sure to remove all of the wires that connect the taillights etc... With the bed removed I unbolted the bumpstops, and cut off the stock shock mounts. I also unbolted the exhaust after the Y-pipe to get it out of the way. The fuel tank also came off. It is held on by 2 small bolts on the frame side of the straps that run under it. Make sure you drain the tank before you drop it. All of the fuel lines and wires unplug easily. I labeled them all so I wouldnt forget where they connected. This is a good idea for anything you remove.

The next big step was removing the axle. I lifted the back and set it down on 12 ton jackstands, and then undid the springs straight from the frame and rolled the entire axle assembly out of the way. Next was removing the rear shackle hangers. I used a combination of a grinder and air chisel with a rivet cutting bit to take them off. It wasnt pretty but worked fast. To make the ORD shackle flip work on a half ton truck the rear crossmember has to be ground down. It extends about .25" through the frame, and it must be made flush. In doing this you grind off the weld holding it to the outer frame rail, so I re-welded a bead on the inside of the frame. I preped and painted the area that the flip kit would be bolted onto with por15. The kit bolts right on using the bottom 4 holes. I added a piece of angle iron to the top for extra support, with 2 bolts into the top of the frame. Once this was done the rear leafs are ready to bolt on. I had to get some new grade 8 bolts for the larger bushings on the leafs. Not a big deal. I actually left the leafs off while the frame was preped and being painted by my girlfriend.

I moved further up the truck. I decided to pull the transfer case next. It is held onto the transmission by 6 bolts on the adapter. I pulled the entire adapter and case off. The adapter will bolt right up to a np241 C and will work to mate it to the 4l60e in NBS 4x4 trucks. It will work even if the np241 you got has the 4 bolt adapter on the tranny end. Just pull it off and use the one you already have. When your removing the case make sure to first remove all of the wires and the breather hose. Later on I will explain exactly what all of those wires are and what you will have to do with them.

Now that the case was out I moved onto the front. I proped the front up on some more 12 ton jackstands on my bumper. Most people probably dont have this luxury, so I would use the very very front end of teh frame, where the stock tow hooks connect. You dont want them further back or they will get in the way of the leaf brackets later on. The first thing that had to be done was unloading the torsion bars. I used the actual GM torion bar unloading tool, but a gear puller can work also. If you dont know how to unload these safely dont guess, read this: http://homepage.mac.com/darketernal/TBT.html . Once the torsion bars are removed you can pull the front tires off and give the IFS hell. I had a lift already, so it was also removed. Its easy enough to just unbolt the entire UCA, LCA kncukle assmebly and remove it. Make sure to undo the brake lines, abs sensors, etc.. also. The sway bar, tie rod, shock, and cv joint must also be taken off to remove the assmebly. The tie rod can be taken off very easily by removing the nut on the bottom and smacking the stud out of the knuckle with a hammer. The CV joint is 6 bolts on the differential and the sway bar is just connected via the endlink which comes off like a bolt. You can also remove the shocks and toss them asside. The top stud can be reched easily from the engine bay. Once both sides are removed you can drop the differential. First unplug the actuator on the passenger side of the pumpkin, and the breather tube on the driver side of the pumpkin. There is a lower mounting plate on the drivers side that can be removed with 2 bolts. There are then 2 bolts holding the passenger side in. Both of these can be pulled out. Then the final bolt can be taken out of the top mount on the drivers side and the differential will come out. Try to lower it softly if you ever plan on selling it, the aluminum case cracks easy. You can get a good view of the steering now. You dont even have to bother removing the centerlink off the pitman or idler arm, just unbolt the idler arm assmebly off the frame mount, and remove the pitman arm from the steering box with a pitman arm puller. The sway bar can also be unbolted now. They used these pain in the ass hex head bolts you need to use an allen wrench for. I cut up a cheap one, put the hex in a socket and blew them out with the impact gun. Now that your IFS is removed, you can bust out the torch and remove any brackets that you dont like. The diff mounts can be removed, idler arm mount, shock cups, UCA mounts - all of it. I actually kept the UCA mounts because they will be used in mounting my shock hoops.

Starting to disasemble...		bed removed	Housing with kingpins removed	Cutting off shock mounts	Cleaning frame
Where the frame must be ground smooth	New bead welded on frame		ORD Shackle Flip	Frame being painted...		Transfer case removed
Ditching IFS	Old IFS	IFS gone!	More of the frame painted	IFS brackets getting cut off

Western Union