Alaskan 3/4 ton conversion

[retirednak]

As the title of the thread states, I'd like to get some advise,do's/do not. I was thinking of picking up a new 2014 3/4 & decided I can do without truck payments as of now, plus my truck is just broke in at 114K miles. Since I rarely tow/haul & have grown tired of dual wheels & rough ride. I'd love to find an owner here in Alaska who would like to upgrade to 1 ton so we can swap parts to make the conversion less costly. Anyone in Alaska interested? Can I get advice on the front axle, I have the manual hubs conversion & in my opinion its the best upgrade I spent money on. I'd hate to lose the hubs when swapping front parts, I doubt I could keep the SpynTech kit since I have a dually. Has anybody modified a manual hub conversion to make the hubs work either way? Anyone done this type of hub modifican conversion? Was wondering if the 3/4 ton parts will bolt up to the truck like the spring perch & what not. Out of curiosity, my dually fenders appear like they bolt on to the bed, is there a standard non-dually bed hiding under the dually fenders? Let me know if any locals are interested.
Thank you in advance/or not.:-laf

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I have a 2500 that's converted to a DRW using OEM parts.

I don't have the free spin axle kit but I do know that your kit will work with the front axle once you remove the DRW wheel adaptor off the rotor. Your free spin hubs however will protrude out pretty farther than normal.

As far as the rear fenders go, they do bolt on but you'll be left with abnormally large holes that will need to be welded in using metal patch panels.

If you're wanting to convert your DRW to SRW, it can be done using your existing axles, bed etc without swapping someone parts from a SRW truck.

 

[retirednak]

I know the hubs will stick out further once the adapters are removed,just wondered if anyone tried machining the hubs down. I can't remember that far back when the hubs were installed if there is enough meat to machine the hubs down so they wouldn't stick out as far, I'm doubting there is. As far as the rear goes,the rear end is narrower then SRW if I remember right. I thought about the costs of having the wheels made with the correct off set so they look right, I'd rather not have to deal with rims that have different off sets for front/rear. I don't know squat at this point & sure would make things easier if someone was interested in converting their truck. Either way I go,it will be less expensive then buying a new truck.

 

[RDeFayette]

For all intents and puposes the ONLY difference between a 1 ton dualy and a 3/4 ton SRW is as follows:
Front end/ diff. DRW addition of the front adapter/hub/extension. take it off and now you have a SRW front diff. No need to changes differentials.
Rear end: the rear differntial on a DRW truck is 1.5" wider than a SRW diff (this applies to the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks) springs (tricky part) The one ton truck (doesn't matter if it's SRW OR DRW) has spring persches that are welded to the frame that the overload (top) spring hits. the 3/4 ton trucks do NOT have this perch. Either has to be fabricated or cut off the 1 ton truck and welded on the 3/4 ton truck. Fenders/truck bed. The dually fenders cover a cut out above the wheels on the DRW trucks. Gonna have to change beds.
The "only" changes that need to be made are the rear axle to the narrower SRW (or just live with the 3/4" additional on each side), rear springs (don't really make much of a difference though IMO, I own both 3/4 SRW and 1 ton DRW), bed and just remove the front DRW adapters.
The only rear advantage is the SRW tire availability (sizes), narrower truck and 4 instead of 6 tires.
Personnally I don't see any ride difference between the 2.
Like I said I have both. Just my 0.02

 

[AH64ID]

I would buy the sypntec SRW hubs, it will be a few bucks but nothing crazy.

 

[retirednak]

For all intents and puposes the ONLY difference between a 1 ton dualy and a 3/4 ton SRW is as follows:
Front end/ diff. DRW addition of the front adapter/hub/extension. take it off and now you have a SRW front diff. No need to changes differentials.
Rear end: the rear differntial on a DRW truck is 1.5" wider than a SRW diff (this applies to the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks) springs (tricky part) The one ton truck (doesn't matter if it's SRW OR DRW) has spring persches that are welded to the frame that the overload (top) spring hits. the 3/4 ton trucks do NOT have this perch. Either has to be fabricated or cut off the 1 ton truck and welded on the 3/4 ton truck. Fenders/truck bed. The dually fenders cover a cut out above the wheels on the DRW trucks. Gonna have to change beds.
The "only" changes that need to be made are the rear axle to the narrower SRW (or just live with the 3/4" additional on each side), rear springs (don't really make much of a difference though IMO, I own both 3/4 SRW and 1 ton DRW), bed and just remove the front DRW adapters.
The only rear advantage is the SRW tire availability (sizes), narrower truck and 4 instead of 6 tires.
Personnally I don't see any ride difference between the 2.
Like I said I have both. Just my 0.02

For some reason I thought the DRW was narrower then the SRW. I should be able to find a take out bed rather then welding patch panels on the bed. Thank you fellas for the info.

 

[RDeFayette]

nope it's wider. needs to be otherwise the inner duals would hit the springs.
The 2 biggest issues are the bed and the perches the original 3/4 ton doesn't have. If the perches aren't put on the 3/4 ton there really isn't any point in putting 1 ton springs onto the 3/4 ton. doesn't get him anywhere.

 

[JPul]

I believe that the OP indicated he had a 1 ton dually that he wants to convert to SRW. So the springs and perches are already there and shouldn't be an issue.
Just the narrower axle would be required.

Regards, John

 

[RDeFayette]

I believe that the OP indicated he had a 1 ton dually that he wants to convert to SRW. So the springs and perches are already there and shouldn't be an issue.
Just the narrower axle would be required.

Regards, John

read the post.
He wants to "down rate" his truck with 3/4 ton SRW parts and wants to know if anyone would want to "up rate " their 3/4 ton to a 1 ton DRW. So for him it would not be a problem, for the guy that is "up rating" to a 1 ton it would be a problem as the perches are not there.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

OP- good luck with your conversion if you find the right parts. Changing everything over is a Saturday project.

Here's my thread when I converted mine to DRW. I took measurements of the rear DRW and SRW axles and I listed them on the first page. A lot of people think they know the differences between the two rear ends but most of them have never actually taken one out or apart; I have.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?213442-Part-1-2500-Dually-Conversion

Go for it, it's easy.

Unfortunately, this member is no longer with us and so are the pics. Greg successfully converted his DRW to SRW using the DRW rear end and I believe he used the DRW bed also. Might want to look through these for more info but like I said, the link to the pics are no good.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...RW-conversion-Step-1&highlight=drw+conversion

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...version-is-complete!&highlight=drw+conversion

 

[mfurrh55]

I converted a 2500 to a dually 3500 and i used the 2500 rear end it was a dana 80, all i did was put half inch spacers and longer studs, put the front extensions on and dually wheels, did buy a used dually bed, changed it all for less than 600.00, and had the title changed too.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

^^I wished that the Rams still had the Dana running gear. I'm okay with AAM rear end but I do not like the AAM front axle; those dadgum ball joints are a nightmare^^

 

[retirednak]

Thanks for the wealth of info, I hope to do the conversion in the near future. Bad thing about living here in AK is we don't have many bone yards to find parts. Every time I call one for a part,all say good luck.