Yukon 400

I was wondering what you guys think about converting a 91 D250 into a solid front axle truck or 4wd? In the past the front suspension has developed major cracking problems in the upper control arm mounts, coil spring buckets, lower a-arm cross member, and steering gear mount, basically everything besides the dog bone mounts. I have addressed these issues with welding everything together and added support pieces where necessary. Currently it seems the steering linkages will need to be rebuilt as the play continues to grow.

After pricing out the tie rods, pitman arm, idler arm, and steering shaft it seems to be quite a bit of money invested into a problematic front suspension. I was thinking about some parts lying around in the house to convert the truck into a solid axle. The parts available include a Dana 44HD, a couple of semi-truck air bags, a few unused shocks from my suburban lift kit, and miscellaneous tubing. These would be made into an air sprung radius arm setup or a 3-link. It seems that hardware and heim joints would cost less than replacing the steering components along with providing a lift and 4wd capability down the road.

The questions are, how well would a Dana 44HD hold up in daily driving, I know the u-joints are the weak link along with ball joints, but it will not have a t-case for a while.

Also I could not find the rating of the air bags, they are for a heavy truck application, but the one from ride tech only supports 2600#, is that going to be an issue with the Cummins?

Is it recommended to cut out the 2wd cross member for a lower profile one or could it be cleared with a good amount of lift?

Here is a picture of the bags, and any comments or suggestions are appreciated, thanks.

BearKiller

It used to be the naysayers reason not to buy 4x4 was the increased expense of front-end upkeep/repair; when, in reality, it costs a BUNCH more to replace 2wd components, than 4x4, and there are a bunch more parts on the 2wd front-end.


Were I in your situation, I would source an entire 1st Gen. compatible 4x4 parts-truck; it need not be a diesel; then, I would simply swap all the necessary components of the front-end.

In my opinion, a leaf-spring straight-axle rides and drives way better than an independent coil set-up.


Earlier 1st Gen. body-style Dodges, before the diesels came along, were available with front leaf-springs and straight-tube front-axles that were identicle to the Dana-60 4x4 front-axle, except lacking a differential and drive-axles.


A neighbor still has a D-300 DRW 2wd with this set-up and our shop has serviced several over the years, although most are rusting away in the fence-row now.


These are not the old body-style Dodges, of which all were leaf-spring/straight-axle; these look just like our trucks, except for differences in the hoods and grilles.

user name

your frame should have the mounts to put leaf springs on. If you don' clearance the cross member you need a 6 inch lift to get the axle down under the lower hanging 2wd center. I would find a 60 if your going that rout I don't think the 44 will like the weight of the cummins over it although it might hold up for street use but probably not offroad. I broke the knuckle off my 10 bolt(knuckle's pretty much interchange with a 44) on 33's offroad and one of my friends was breaking his nearly everytime he went wheeling. and those were both under much lighter trucks. If you do the swap you will also need the steering box off a 4wd because they turn the opposite direction. One of my friends turned his 2wd into 4wd for the same reason of everything in the front end was shot and he had the 60 and trans/tcase laying around so it was cheaper.

Yukon 400

I would love to get Dana 60, but I have been on the outlook for one to use on my suburban, nothing comes less than $1300 still requiring a complete rebuild.

Leaf springs would be easy as the ford springs are still attached to the axle and only spring hangers would be required, it seems that by going with air a better ride will be achieved along with adjust ability.

I thought there was some differences in the Dana 44 and 44hd knuckles and spindles for a heavier duty application.

user name

I think just the bearings and spindle that bolts to the knuckle are bigger and the knuckle itself is the same but I could be wrong. I used a 44 knuckle to get my broken truck with a 10 bolt out of the woods.

91.5 beater

Its funny cause i was just discussin this setup with my buddy Cody (93beater) for some lift and stregnth, let me know how it goes and what you used and how much it was, also how hard it was to do, let me know, Thanks, Kyle