The front end stuff came from a Bronco, the trans and xfer case came from an F150. The rear driveshaft came from a '97 F150 so I had it cut down and used a yoke from an F250. The front driveshaft I don't know what it came out of but I gotta get it cut down, too, it's too long. I did not have a parts truck so I kinda pieced it together. I have a friend who buys and sells a lot of these trucks and his place is my personal pick-n-pull.

Pics I can get this weekend, it's dark here when I get home from work.

This is a person who has never had a personal relationship with a truck. Once you find one that you love, you don't just throw it out and get another one. It was easily worth my effort to do this swap so I could keep my truck. I could tell you how cheaply I was able to do this by swapping for parts here and there and waiting until the price was right to buy something, but it doesn't matter. I wanted MY truck as a 4x4 and I have that. That's worth way more than what I spent on this deal, which right now is quite a bit below $500 all in, and I have not sold the ZF that I took out yet. I might just break even when it is all said and done.

 

I did not do that - I checked all the front end stuff I had plus the donor, and it was all in pretty good shape. Then I got to thinking about it, I have owned several of these trucks and put about 750K combined miles on them, and I have never replaced so much as a tie rod end. I have a Bronco right now with 250K on the odo and all the front-end stuff is original. Ford's OEM steering/suspension components hold up really well.

If you only replace the stuff that needs it, you can cut your costs quite a bit. I put new rotors, brake pads, bearings and seals on the front end and that was it. The bushings and ball joints I kept and I used my existing tie rods and drag link and such.

 

Holy crap. I didn't expect this many replies LOL. I have a major lack of knowledge on the mechanics involved with cars but could easily do the bolt on stuff myself. Anything to do with the tranny I think I'll bring to a shop to have done. I don't have the money to completely re-do all of the suspension and everything. I am only looking at doing what needs to be done so that it is a functional 4x4. Like jas88 stated, I just can't give up this truck. It would never sell for what I have put into it, especially because it's only a 2WD. I was expecting to hear that "sell it an buy a 4wd" statement, but this truck has 170,000 on it and everything runs perfectly on it. I don't want to end up buying a different truck only to run into problems with it. Anyways, pictures from those who have done it would be great.

 

My post was not meant to discourage you, just to merely suggest that you carefully reconsider the option of just making the 4x4 donor run good and drive it when you need a 4x4. BTW, Jas88 I have a rather long ongoing relationship with the first truck I ever bought, it's a 1970 C-10 long wide that is at the moment my daily driver. Also with a flatfender Jeep sitting in the yard.

 

So, if you decided, for whatever reason, that you would like it to be 4x4, would *you* want someone you don't know telling you that you should just buy a 4x4 and not mess with *your* truck?

 

I took a couple of pics today while I was out and about in the daylight:

 

When I decided I wanted a 4x4 I weigherd the options for turning it into a 4x4 and then went and bought one. Just like I told him to. By the time you get done finding all of the parts to make the swap and figure in your time to do it (which is something) you will just about always end up money ahead to go buy a 4x4. Doesn't matter how good of shape your 4x2 is in.

 

Jas, That is an AWESOME Truck!

How did you go about raising the front end? Or does it just raise itself after the swap?

Do you think you could come up with a list of everything that needed to be done to convert it to 4x4? If there's too much, I understand haha.

 

Sometimes and to many people it is not the cost or the time, it is the personal challenge and pride at the end of the project to say " I did that".....

 

It just dawned on me, you can use a 78-79 Bronco coil spring front axle and do a straight axle swap while you're in there. That would be worth it money wise.

 

It does lift it a bit, the springs are actually the same from 4x2 and 4x4. I already had 2" lift springs on my 4x2 so I just kept those. I didn't measure but the 4x4 is probably 1 to 1 1/2" taller than the 4x2.

Here's what I needed that my truck did not already have:

1) M5OD transmission for 4x4
2) BW-1356 manual shift xfer case + wiring harness
3) xfer case shifter and boot
4) M5OD rear crossmember for 4x4
5) 3.07 gear Dana 44 TTB + new brake rotors, pads, and bearings
6) Used driveshafts that I had cut down to fit and balanced + new u-joints
7) Raybestos alignment bushings for TTB
8) Extended length brake hoses - got them on RockAuto.com for an F350 @ $7 each
9) 1" blocks for rear-end and longer u-bolts
10) Speedo cable for 4x4

I probably forgot a few odds and ends like new shifter ball, gasket between xfer case and trans, stuff like that, but I tried to hit all the major stuff. Like I said, I swapped for a lot of this stuff and paid very little for what I did buy. I was adding it up in my head and I think I spent about $450 or so on everything. I have my 4x2 ZF on CL right now for $350, so I won't break even but I might be out of pocket only $100-$150.

 

You're selling it only for $350?? I bought my '92 F-150 4x2 with 164K on it and it was pretty rusted out for $600. Yours is in great condition and I think it's worth way more than $350, in my opinion at least.

 

I don't think I asked this yet but do you k ow about how long it took for the entire conversion?

 

I've never donr the 2wd to ttb conversion but a 2wd to d44 took a day n a half to get the front done and a day to swap the zf out for the c6 n tcase. I can't imagine the ttb taking that long since you wouldn't have to move radius arm brackets

 

We'll see how long it ends up taking, when I start it in the spring. I guess it depends on how badly everything is rusted in place (Michigan truck)