i have a 94 dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 with a gas burner in it and i just bought a 94 dodge 4x2 with a diesel in it and i was wondering if anyone could tell me how hard it would be to take the front and rear end out of the gas burner and put them in the diesel i know the rear wont be bad it will just be a simple swap but i dont know how hard it is to put the 4x4 front end in the 4x2 truck can anyone tell me what im getting into with this swap thanks

 

I've thought about it with mine, but it's a lot of work for the novice.

The biggest concern for me was frame mounting points for the front suspension parts. Since you have a truck to remove those off of, it is just a stare and compare. Look at the 4wd and then look at the 2wd. See what is different between the two. Rivet removal, cutting and welding may be involved. I was hoping it would only be rivet removal and bolting back, but I'm not sure.

Since you have a "gas" 4wd, the front springs will probably sag some from the weight of the diesel(more for 360v8, less for v10) and if the "gas" is a 360v8, things like the brakes, linkage, and even axle may not be up to the task as they are mostly lighter duty units.

The rear will be easy, only swap the blocks. Keep the springs and axle. I would only think about swapping the rear axle if the gears are different b/w the two trucks.

The trans may not work from a 360v8, though I'm not sure, I thought they were 46Rx series; if so, then no. A v10 trans should work though. The trans, xfer case and front(duh) and I believe the rear driveshaft will have to be used because of the length difference.

I'd like to see what other people may have to say who have actually done the swap and their experiences with it. Or anyone else's knowledge for that matter...

 

the truck has 360 and i dont know if the 3/4 ton with the 360 v8 in them had a dana 60 front end in them that is what was in the diesel i bought when i put the diesel motor and trany in my gas burner short bed single cab so i just put the 60 that came with the parts truck under the short bed but both of those trucks were 4x4 and i used the 1/2 ton lift springs on that swap and it didn't squat down the front to much the 1/2 ton springs held up pretty good just had to put a 2" leveling kit on the truck so as long as the 3/4 ton gas burner has a 60 in the front i,m not worried about it holding up i just need to know how hard it is to switch out all the brackets and spring perches and if i will have to change out the front engine cross member i haven't bought the 2x4 diesel yet so i cant just go look at them see the difference any advice would be helpful thank you

 

i did the same thing to my 2 trucks last year..its not hard jus time consuming, ur best best is to use ur 4wd frame and swap ur 12v in there my 3/4 ton gasser had a dana 60 in the front so i would say u would be fine there. gas transmission will not hold up with the power and torque produced by the power plant so you have to find one that was once behind a 12v, if both the trucks have an auto tranny in it the t-case will work as long as its the 241 series case in ex. 241ldl, 241dhd if ur t-case is outta a manual then it wont bolt up to an auto tranny because the splines are different, if i were u i would find heavier coil springs because theres a big difference between the 3/4 gas and 3/4 diesel ones HUGE weight difference between the 2 motors

 

will a transfer case bolt up to the 4x2 tranny or is there a kit that i can buy to make the 4x2 tranny work in the 4x4 truck other than a devorced transfer case i dont think it will be as easy as bolting a transfer case behind a 4x2 tranny but i need to know if there is a way and if it saves me money vrs going out and buying a 4x4 transmission

 

no theres not a way..what i did was with my nv4500 is i bought a new 4wd mainshaft and a new 4x4 tailhousing from standard transmission down in texas and changed it over to make it a 4x4 tranny