Old School--
UPDATE: Where can I find Dave Fritz's website, I want to take a look at his handiwork.
I have, for quite some time pondered this delimma also. I came up with 3 senarios, and none look too cheap.
1) Research the dimensions of a Ford Dana 60. If the outer knuckle pivots on ball joints like the Dodge and the center to center spacing matches, we might have a shot. This would get you real spindles and hubs. If the same series u-joint is used, the short side (drivers)inner axleshaft could be reused, mated to the Ford outer shaft. A new long side shaft would have to be sourced, unless the spline count and shaft length matched from the Ford.
2)If none of this works, it might be possible to machine a spindle that bolts to the stock outer knuckle in place of those stupid non-serviceable unit bearings. (I am a machinist by trade, you should see the custom narrowed Ford 9" Full-Floating rear axle with Toyota disc brakes and hubs/lockouts I built for my '83 Toyota
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) By taking spindle dimensions from an old W250 or W350, the hubs, rotors and brake calipers (if different) could be used (and they'd be all Dodge parts
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) The W250/W350 outer axleshafts should be able to be used, and most likely the short side inner shaft, but again, the long side shaft needs to be sourced.
I wish I had access to the dimensions of the old W series axles, as well as the Fords. It seems to me that this should be doable.
3) The third option, which is probably the easiest but most expensive is to swap a complete Ford solid front axle under the truck. It would require little more than cutting the spring perches off, and welding the required brackets for our trailing arm suspensions on, and possibly a hybrid drag link.
As you can tell, I have been thinking about this for a while. The reason is because the stupid central axle disconnect hasn't been engaging fully and now it jumps when in 4WD. The spline ends and coupler are rounded over enough that I most likely have to replace them, and I'm not sure I even want to know how much that costs. It might be cheaper in my case to find a good used axle.
Anyone else have this happen to them?
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Dean Jahnz
Black '94 dually (first on the block!), TST 230hp, Transgo shift kit, combo guage, 28' gooseneck camper/hauler, '83 Toyota extreme terrain 4x4.
My motto: The Most is Barely Enough!
[This message has been edited by DuallyDean (edited 05-07-2000). ]
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