nemo451

I've heard that the 70's 2wds had what was esentially just a tube version of
the 4wd front axle. I'm getting really tired of replacing parts on the front end of my 89 not to mention destroying expensive tires.

BearKiller

My neighbor has a pristine early-70s (??73-I think??) 1-ton DRW Dodge that does, in fact, have a genuine straight-tube front axle with leaf-springs.

According to him, and I have no reason to believe other-wise, the knuckles, bearings, etc. are the same as a 4x4 Dana-60.

It has been a long time since I have seen it with a front wheel off and I can't remember if it has disc or drum front-brakes.


I know one thing for sure, there aren't one-tenth as many pieces on the front-ends of our 4x4 trucks as there are on the wife's 2WD.

I would not hesitate to swap on a straight-axle/leaf-spring set-up.

Partsdude

I do remember the micrfiche of the early trucks showing a straight axle, but I never paid much attention to them. I do know that the early '94 and '95 2nd gens had a straight axle option - it looked like a D60 without the pumpkin in it.

dodgenstein

Many years ago, a friend had a truck that was an ex-forest service 3/4 ton 2wd. It had a tube axle under it, basically a Dana 44 (I believe) without a pumpkin. He had plans to convert it to 4wd, but I never knew what happened to that truck. It had leaf springs, too.

C Pierce

I've always wanted to get the front (beam axle) and rear from a late 90's early 00's ford 2wd superduty and replace evrything under my D350 with it leaf springs and all. I don't really have the need for 4x4 but would like a little lift and the superduty's that I've seen had 19.5's as well and I think the newer ford rear ends have disk brakes as well. I know it wouldn't be a complicated build I just cannot come up with the money