Thanks guys!

I like the front bumper too, i've never been a fan of the "front porch" style bumpers so i built this one to be tight to the body.

I'll try and get some pics, i'm terrible at taking in process pic, once i get wrenching i don't stop for much.

Here is a rough run through of what parts I used, some general costs and what i'd do differently.:

Caveat: I'm of the build philosophy that anything worth building is worth overbuilding, so some of what I did was "unnecessary", but in the interest of reliability and durability, I spent the coin/ time to build a better truck.

Axles:
Dana 60 and 70, fully rebuilt, sand blasted and painted. I rebuilt both axles with brand new brake parts (Calipers, rotors, drums, ect) and new bearings and races, I also added springless crossover parts from partsmike.com

Axles: $700
Rebuild: $600
Sand Blast: $75
Steering Hardware: $200

In retrospect I should have just used a set of chevy axles (60 and 14b) The parts are more readily available and cheaper, plus the rear would have been stronger with better locker availability and stupid easy to rebuild, not to mention getting rid of the stupid ½ studs.

Suspension:
Jungle Jim's Front upper shackle hanger, and 2" drop front spring hanger, I also used a set of stock leaf springs with the main leaf (I cut the bushing ends off) of a 4" chevy lift pack as an add a leaf, with a zero rate on the bottom moving the front axle 1.5" forward to gain fender clearance. I also upgraded everything up front to 5/8 greaseable grade 8 bolts. I added an add-a-leaf and one chevy leaf to the rear pack which brought it up to level. For shock I used what I had on the shelf, a few years ago 4 wheel parts was running a special on the es3000 shocks ($30 ea) so I bought 2 15” travel shocks and 2 11” travel shocks as spares for my wheeling rig and it just so happens they fit the truck perfectly so I tossed them on.

Jungle's Parts: $500
Springs: $50
AAL: $85 (rear) and Free (parts pile) (Front)
Zero Rate: $35
Shocks: $120
Stabilizer: $50

The suspension is my least favorite part of the truck, It wasn’t smooth before but now the old girl rides like a dump truck unloaded. I would have been better off buying a set of aftermarket springs front and rear and going with jungles stock height hangers but I just didn’t have the coin. I think I’ll end up swapping for chevy springs in the future, 52’s up front and 64’s in the back to gain back some ride.

Steering:
I went all out on the steering in hopes that I could avoid the terrible steering these trucks are know for. I built the drag link from a stick of DOM and weld in bungs from rough stuff and included a double adjuster from poly performance. The parts speak for themselves.

New Steering Box: $150
Borgenson Double U-Joint Shaft: $225
WJ Pitman Arm: $50
Draglink Parts: $150
Steering Box Brace: $50
New Hoses: $60

Engine Crossmember:

I have a 4wd crossmember I could have installed but I didn’t want to pull the motor so I opted to cut down the factory 2wd crossmember to fit, Once I chopped it with the torch I cleaned it up with my angle grinder and them welded in 3/8 “ribs” to the inside the u shape to add rigidity and strength.
Welding Wire/ Oxy and Ace Gas
Scrap Steel


Transmission and T-case:
I am yet to install these so there will most likely be additional costs associated that I have not accounted for yet

I am in the process of purchasing and putting together the trans and t-case currently so the truck is still running the 2wd trans and driveline. I chose to reseal and rebuilt everything for max durability, I am also going to twinstick the transfer case to give me 2wd Low, which will be very handy when I put a plow on this coming winter

23 Spline NP205: $350
Paper and Gasket Kit: $50
Modified shift rails: $100
Twin Stick Shifters: $150.00
Drive lines: $100
A518 4wd Trans (crossmember came with it): $200
Trans Rebuild: $650 ( From a Buddy)
DTT vavle body kit and torque converter: $1000
Dreale Trans Pan: $125
Poly Trans Mounts: $45


For the record you cannot unbolt a 2wd overdrive housing and bolt on the 4wd overdrive housing, there are snap rings on the shaft in the 2wd housing that require to trans to be torn down to gain access to them.



All of this puts the rough total for the conversion at $5870 and I paid 2200 for the truck so I’m at 8000 invested. Now before everyone jumps on the should have just bought another truck band wagon, I could have built this whole truck for 1500, just installing the parts I bought and not rebuilding or improving anything and had a functioning 4wd. But I wanted reliability and I wanted to assemble it with proven parts and have a good baseline for everything, I would be hard pressed to find a truck with rebuilt steering, axles, trans, and t case for 8 or less, not to mention I’ve been collecting these parts over the course of the last 8 months and got to gradually spend the money.

 

Great job. $8k in that truck isn't bad. You've got something that you can depend on!

For sure the 52s and 64s would make a HUGE difference in the ride. I did the 64s in the rear of mine, and it's incredible.

--Eric

 

I didn't quite follow the 2wd low for plowing -- pushing snow is when I like twin-shifters the least: long push uphill into pile in 2nd Low 4x4, then shift into reverse high to make a new pass means grab front shifter, then rear shifter, then trans shifter. Except I always grab rear shifter, then front shifter, then rear shifter, then trans. Then dope slap myself. Maybe a custom set of sticks would let you grab both more easily so you could do the lo to hi shift with just one motion, but I haven't gotten it to work for me . . .

The whole project is pretty cool, but I have to say that I really like that front bumper. I really like that shape.

 

Agreed.

Well invested, as with some new shine, it will be a real nice ride.

 

Also agree!! Money well spent!!

Thanks for the list of parts.

 

Brandon has done one helluva job on this rig! Its spent some time in my garage working on odds and ends. So I've given it a once over or two and its built right.

Rick

 

im fixing to convert my daully 4x4,got any more pic of info where you got new parts thanks

 

too 4x4

 

Brandon no longer owns this truck. Its now in my stable. I'll look thru my old pics and see if I can find any for you.

Rick