First Post

[lostfamilyof6]

Hi all,
This is our first post (hopefully not our last) I didn't see where to do an introduction and seeing that this is the part of the forum that we plan on asking most of our questions we thought we would introduce ourselves here.

We are a family of 6. Mom and Dad came up with this brilliant plan to take all of us four kids 12, 11, 5, 3. and do some full time R.V. ing

Mom and Dad are sorely disappointed at the state of our great nation and are really concerned about the education we are receiving in public school so we are starting a great adventure of building and living in our truck.

We could really use some help and education from everybody out there who has been down this road so we don't have to re-event the wheel.

Dad was wondering if anybody knew (he did a search he promises) if there was a conversion out there to turn our 1992 crew cab Ford Super duty from two wheel drive to four wheel drive as that is the first thing on his long list of things to do?

Any help would be awesome.:smilies27
Thanks,
Lost Family of 6.

 

[Lynn]

Welcome!

I'll be gladly following your progress, as we are a family of 'just' four and am looking for the best way to travel for about two month at a time.

Have you seen the Eco-Roamer build thread?

They didn't do a 4x4 conversion, but they did build a kid-friendly live-aboard house truck.

Keep us posted.

 

[lostfamilyof6]

Lynn,

Thanks for the fast response. I did read the entire 44-45 pages of that thread what an awesome vehicle. ours will be a little bit more budget friendly as we don't have the resources that, that great family did.

I will keep this updated as we go. We got the 1992 Super Duty for almost nothing so we are already ahead of our budget :wings:

But I am a little worried about converting it.

It also isn't Eco Friendly it has a 460 gas guzzler, with a 5 speed tranny and PTO take off. In a previous life it was a railroad truck so it is a little over built but that is the way we like em.

Thanks again.

 

[Lynn]

Again, not answering your first question (4x4 conversion), but I thought I would pass along one other thought...

Many people are against wood construction, but my father built a chassis-mount camper for my grandfather back in the early '70s. It is still in the family. Needs some work, but still holding on after all these years. My nephew is planning on jacking up the camper and backing a new truck under it.

For one thing, most of the rot problems associated with wood framed campers can be avoided with periodic maintenance.

Anyway, he designed his camper using a combination of plans available (on the cheap) from Glen-L.

The motorhome plans build a pretty large camper. My father used the Cascade slide-in plans and converted it to chassis mount. My father also say's he used the Cascade plans because the motorhome plans weren't available back when he built his.

The plans are rather dated, but can be used as a starting point. There are pix of projects on the site that have filon fiberglas siding. That makes 'em look a lot more modern.

 

[bftank]

to answer the original question, this is possible, however there really isn't a kit for doing it.

i assume you have the twin i-beam 3/4 ton 2wd truck.

the easiest way to do this would be to get a 4wd 3/4t of the same vintage with mechanical problems, bad motor, and swap in the twin traction beam dana 50 axle from the 4wd, and the steering, and if you get one with the same transmission you can use the 4wd transmission and transfer case.

the more difficult way but much stouter, would be to get a ford dana 60 front axle and a divorced np205 transfercase and fabicate the mounts for them, using your original transmission. either way is not cheap, requires tools, time and space to work on it.

good luck, would love to see pics of the vehicle.

 

[lostfamilyof6]

Thanks for the reply's,

Thanks again Lynn for the advice, I have seen the Glen L plans and although they are rather dated have considered them, if for nothing else at least a starting point.

I should give more info on the truck, the truck is a 1992 Super duty so it is the equivalent of the modern day f450. It is a crew cab and is right now just the cab and chassis. I plan on extending the frame but I will be keeping the 1.5 ton suspension and duel wheels.
I have looked at the Dana 60 as an option but the problem is that I don't want to have to carry two spares. The lug pattern for the super duty is a 10 lug so the Dana 60 i wonder about. I love the stiffness of the current frame and because it was a cheap buy I don't mind doing the conversion I just haven't heard of one done because 1992 superduty is a pretty rare beast.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[bftank]

oh ok. well the rear axles are usually dirt cheap $200 or so. you would be looking for a ford 10.5 or 10.25. i would just replace the rear axle to.

so to be clear you have the solid axle front common on f450's and f550's? is it a dually?

i believe a dana 60 will bolt up in that case what is the spring spacing? most ford dana 60's with ball joints are 36" i believe.

 

[lostfamilyof6]

bftank,

Thanks for the reply, yes I believe it is 10.5 but I am not sure. The rear is a duel axle. the front axle is a drop beam kind of like the ones you see on UPS or Fedex trucks. it is a dropped I beam. So just so that I am understanding what you are saying, you think the best route is to change out the rear axle also? so that I can fit the Dana 60 under the front? won't that lower my max capacity on the load rating?

I am so new to the swap thing please forgive my newbie questions. I have several trucks and have owned several trucks with 4x4 but I bought them that way. I am not used to the swap thing.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[lostfamilyof6]

I have got some errands to run but I will try and get some post of the old girl up today so all of you can comprehend what I am trying to say. (I suck at descriptions, when people ask me direction I just direct them to my wife who is a better communicator)
Like I said before it is just a cab and chases and for sure right now she won't win any beauty contest but i will post pics anyway.

 

[1leg]

RV.NET has some great info about full-time RV'ing and Rasing a family RV'ing.

 

[Lynn]

RV.NET has some great info about full-time RV'ing and Rasing a family RV'ing.

So does Phred.

 

[lostfamilyof6]

OK here are some shots of the old girl. she may not look like much but with the new engine in her she is strong as an ox.
I appreciate all the post and I am looking for any and all information that may help our family on the road.
We will be keeping the house here in Utah (paid for) and will just be traveling about 3-4 months at a time then coming home for a month or so. (that is the plan as of now anyway)
Is there anyone out there who has ideas on the front drive train of this beast?

Thanks

 

[bftank]

you can usually get a matched set of one ton ford axles pretty easy.

swapping out the rear axle will give you the 8 lug pattern. easier to find tires for and cheaper.

do you want to keep it a dually?

post a pic of the pumpkin on the rear axle please, then we can id the axle. if it is a 450/550 is should be a dana 80 i believe. swapping to a 10.5 single axle will take away some capacity, but you will still have the capacity of a one ton single rear wheel.

what are you planning on doing with the truck? tow a fifthe wheel, put a slide in on it. what kinda weight are we looking at pulling here?

and get a measurement of you front leaf spring spacing from center to center. then we'll have a better idea as to what will be involved in putting in a front axle.

what part of utah are you in?

if you are going to be really heavy you might look for a super 60 out of an f450/550. these have the 10 lug wheels to match the rear, however they are more expensive. the 19.5 inch tires which it looks like you have, are more expensive limited in size, but last forever and have a much higher load capacity.

 

[Jeep]

I converted the exact same truck to 4wd, I used a Dana 60 front, it bolted in with minor work, and I used a dodge Dana 80 rear and it "almost bolted in, the dodge rear had disc brakes too. I dropped a Cummins engine with a NV4600 and 271 t-case for power and economy, you could just drop a divorced 205 in to save some cash. I built a service body from steel and threw a 9.5' Kodiak camper on it and hauled it like nobodies business. Great platform.