Just thinking here, has anyone did this to a 2WD. Something similar to the setup on a chevy 3500HD from the 90s. I wonder what axle would be suitable? Any ideas appreciated.

 

I dont know... however if your going to do that more then likly youll want a 4x4 converison kit... id bag the rear if it were me though ...most girls dont like getting bounced out of thier clothes.....

 

Why would you want to do this mod? Will be rougher riding and require the reverse rotation setup in the stickies. Would only be an extreme duty mod for sure.

 

There was a factory setup just as you described. In the late 80's I had a friend who, like me was a Mopar nut and collector of odd items. He bought a 79-80 3/4 ton originally sold to the Forestry Service with a tube axle w/4x4 spindles and hubs.

 

Dodgenstein, I thought I had read that some time ago. Thanks for refreshing my memory. That's pretty much the setup I had in mind. Probably not too many of those out there as donor trucks.

 

A fair amount of 2nd Gens that were Cab and Chassis had the same thing, you could remove the control arm brackets and add the leaf spring brackets......... But if I were going that far, I would just do the 4X4 conversion.

 

Maybe not too many donors, but you could use a junk 4x4 axle and cut off the knuckles and build your own.

 

I've been researching converting my '93 to an I beam front axle for a couple years (other projects keep poppin up). A front axle out of a 60's Dodge D200 crewcab will work but hard to find. Its rated at 3500 lbs. I weighed my truck the front end weighs 3100 lbs with driver & full tank of fuel. I figure the I beam axle & leaf springs will be alot lighter than the 2wd crossmember & suspension. There is a disc brake kit available. The ride height of the truck should be about the same height as it is now.
Old Class A motor homes axle could work.
An I beam axle out of a P30 step van with 8 lug wheels may work I haven't been able to measure one.
I've had people ask me why not convert to 4x4. I don't want the the extra weight or height & it doesn't snow enough in Texas to justify a 4x4.
Thomasg