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Swapping in a radius armed ford D60??

muddysub

muddysub

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Anyone ever tried it? I've been finding more of them on CL than GM 60s by far. Some with the radius arms and **** still on them. Obviously I'd have to fab/find some coil buckets and shock mounts for the frame and radius arm mounts then get a different t-case and driveline and steering but I think it'd be pretty badass when done. Then again all of that might just negate the original purpose. By the time all that is done I'd could have a well built GM D60 that bolts right in. But damn it would ride smooth.
 
muddysub said:
Anyone ever tried it? I've been finding more of them on CL than GM 60s by far. Some with the radius arms and **** still on them. Obviously I'd have to fab/find some coil buckets and shock mounts for the frame and radius arm mounts then get a different t-case and driveline and steering but I think it'd be pretty badass when done. Then again all of that might just negate the original purpose. By the time all that is done I'd could have a well built GM D60 that bolts right in. But damn it would ride smooth.
Click to expand...

Should be doable. You could find most of the parts you needed off a Ford truck.

Or, you could just do what I did.......................................................................................................




Buy A FORD!:haha:
 
Fordum said:
Should be doable. You could find most of the parts you needed off a Ford truck.

Or, you could just do what I did.......................................................................................................




Buy A FORD!:haha:
Click to expand...

But then he'd be stuck with the whole damn Ford!:doah:
A friend of mine just put '79 Bronco axles, and the radius front suspension, into his Jeep YJ. It works really well, especially since he corrected Ford's limitation by doing a wristed radius arm. You can unpin the right side arm to allow articulation without trying to twist the front axle housing.
 
I'm considering doing this with Airbags on the front of my V3500 , don't forget though, the Fords have the goofy 8 on 170mm Wheel lug pattern
 
the Fords have the goofy 8 on 170mm Wheel lug pattern
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Depends on the year. I don't know when they changed, but its probably easy to find out.
My 89 has the "standard" 8 lugs. I can use a GM or Dodge on mine. The center hole size is different from GM to Ford, but the lug pattern is the same.

Why they would screw that up, I have no idea.
Just like tapered wheel lugs have been centering and holding on wheels for probably a century except for some British sports cars that used one center nut.

But, now you have flat lug nuts with wheels that center on the hub.

And, since this seems to be descending into a minirant, who the heck in Germany likes holding a heavy wheel and tire while trying to line up a bolt??
My SEC came with a knurled shaft stud that you screwed into the wheel hub to hang the wheel on while you put in the lug bolts.
Then you unscrewed that and put in the last bolt.

Guess how long that lasted until I lost it..........
 
The lug pattern didnt go metric until 99 I believe it was.

Theres no reason you can put radius up front. Thats what Im doing on my trooper with the dana 44. Personally after lots of reading I think extending the arms is a much better solution than wristing one.
 
But then he'd be stuck with the whole damn Ford!:doah:
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True, but there are worst things to be stuck with.........Tertiary syphilis comes to mind......
 
Fordum said:
Depends on the year. I don't know when they changed, but its probably easy to find out.
My 89 has the "standard" 8 lugs. I can use a GM or Dodge on mine. The center hole size is different from GM to Ford, but the lug pattern is the same.

..
Click to expand...

Stomis said:
The lug pattern didnt go metric until 99 I believe it was.
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I assume he is talking about a factory radius arm 60 from the 05 up superdutys
which would be Metric.

Superdutys are 8-170mm all Ford 3/4-1-ton previous to that use 8-6.5"
 
yellowK20 said:
I assume he is talking about a factory radius arm 60 from the 05 up superdutys
which would be Metric.

Superdutys are 8-170mm all Ford 3/4-1-ton previous to that use 8-6.5"
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True that. Now that you say that all the old dana 60s in fords were leafs, never radius arms.
 
Stomis said:
True that. Now that you say that all the old dana 60s in fords were leafs, never radius arms.
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yep all leafs, there are a few companies that offer brackets though to install Radius arms on the early 60's
 
Stomis said:
The lug pattern didnt go metric until 99 I believe it was.

Theres no reason you can put radius up front. Thats what Im doing on my trooper with the dana 44. Personally after lots of reading I think extending the arms is a much better solution than wristing one.
Click to expand...


If you stick with the radius arm design, go longer arms. I built a 75 bronco and wristed the passenger side an yes it offers crazy amount of travel I had over 18" of droop after this mod.
By doing this (wristed) you have to remember to put the pin in if you are on the street or the first time you hit the brakes you will have the worst feeling ever. It also can put a lot of stress on that side, go longer arms (nets about the same travel) or link it.
 
Dheater said:
If you stick with the radius arm design, go longer arms. I built a 75 bronco and wristed the passenger side an yes it offers crazy amount of travel I had over 18" of droop after this mod.
By doing this (wristed) you have to remember to put the pin in if you are on the street or the first time you hit the brakes you will have the worst feeling ever. It also can put a lot of stress on that side, go longer arms (nets about the same travel) or link it.
Click to expand...

Im building 40in arms out of stockers with 2in .25 wall dom.
 
Stomis said:
Im building 40in arms out of stockers with 2in .25 wall dom.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan, there are a couple of companies that had extension pcs for the stock arms. the idea is to unbind the front end, longer arms give you more leverage to do this with out the draw backs of the wristed design.
With your shocks, I mounted mine to pivot with the front end arm side. The bushings loved me for that one, so did my wallet after I ate new front shocks. You are going to a longer front shock mount, I hooped my bronco.
 
just lurking around for pics :)

but I was thinking around 96 was the cut line for 8 lug pattern
 
Dheater said:
Sounds like a plan, there are a couple of companies that had extension pcs for the stock arms. the idea is to unbind the front end, longer arms give you more leverage to do this with out the draw backs of the wristed design.
With your shocks, I mounted mine to pivot with the front end arm side. The bushings loved me for that one, so did my wallet after I ate new front shocks. You are going to a longer front shock mount, I hooped my bronco.
Click to expand...


Im doing shock mounts on the radius arm. Two on each side w/ the james duff dual shock tower.
 
Yeah it's the super duties that went metric, I forgot about that. Not such a big deal if I were to swap the rear too. I forgot they're also ball-joint, unit bearing axles, dammit. As cool as it would be, I think finding a GM60 would be way less work.
 
throttleissues said:
But then he'd be stuck with the whole damn Ford!:doah:
A friend of mine just put '79 Bronco axles, and the radius front suspension, into his Jeep YJ. It works really well, especially since he corrected Ford's limitation by doing a wristed radius arm. You can unpin the right side arm to allow articulation without trying to twist the front axle housing.
Click to expand...

I've seen this in person, and it works really well.:waytogo:

It is not out of the question to graft in the radius arm ford suspension. They are frequently in the junk yards, and if you have a welding machine, a few other tools, and some common sense, it isn't that hard to pull off.:thumb:

Also, there are a lot of options for the ford balljoint D60's these days.

http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=257

http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new/detaproduct.php?id=287
 
Yeah the balljoint axles are obviously pretty strong if there are guys out there jumping the **** out of diesel megacabs and superduties. I wouldn't have a problem swapping everything if I found a donor truck to pull everything all at once from.
 
Dheater said:
Sounds like a plan, there are a couple of companies that had extension pcs for the stock arms. the idea is to unbind the front end, longer arms give you more leverage to do this with out the draw backs of the wristed design.
With your shocks, I mounted mine to pivot with the front end arm side. The bushings loved me for that one, so did my wallet after I ate new front shocks. You are going to a longer front shock mount, I hooped my bronco.
Click to expand...
If it's built to go fast, I'd definitely recommend the longer radius arms for a better ride. If you're gonna play on the rocks, I'd stick with the wristed arm for better clearance. The longer the truck and bigger the tire, the less of an issue the arm length becomes.
 
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