I am at a crossroads. I am building my 94 F150 4x4 single cab/short bed. When I bought it last Nov it already had a 6in RC lift and 35x13.5 Toyo MT's. Axle coed 18 which is factory 3.08 open diffs (8.8 rear, D44 TTB front).
I am building the truck as a hunting/fishing rig not a daily. The plan is to do it right and make it reliable. It will see a lot of FL sugar sand, water (ditch crossings on the hunting lease) and some mud/ruts. I would say moderate offroading not hard core rock crawling (we don't have a lot of rocks in FL). I still would like it to cruise at 60-70mph on the hwy to and from the hunting lease. I'm at a point in the build that I have to address the gearing. Th original plan was the just buy 4.10 gears and be done with it but now I am thinking of a traction add (LSD, lockers...) or a SAS.
Option 1:
If I re-gear the stock axles I am thinking of 4.10 gears with Trac-lok diffs front and rear. While I'm at it I would do all the bearings, seals, ball joints... and swap the auto hubs to warn premiums. It would be roughly $1800 to get everything form bronco graveyard plus some tools I would need. I've re-geared a jeep and would be comfortable doing it myself.
Option 2:
Axle swap... I don't want to "step backwards" with old technology 78'-79' axles or left sprung front end. If I go through the expense I want a D60 front and sterling 10.5 rear. I am leaning towards the 05+ Super Duty swap that I see guys doing on the F250/F350's. You can reuse the factory SD brackets or buy a kit for about $1200-$1700. I would not reuse my lift so I would be looking at shocks/coils, 8lug wheels and tires... Best I can figure is that I am looking at spending at lest $4k-$5k to do it "right" and not attempt to fab a bunch of sketchy parts. I do own a welder but I prefer not to fab all my own stuff for the sake of time and getting the truck back on the road quick. I really don't want the thing to sit on blocks forever.
I want peoples opinion. If you were me what would you do? Build the stock axles or SAS?
I am building the truck as a hunting/fishing rig not a daily. The plan is to do it right and make it reliable. It will see a lot of FL sugar sand, water (ditch crossings on the hunting lease) and some mud/ruts. I would say moderate offroading not hard core rock crawling (we don't have a lot of rocks in FL). I still would like it to cruise at 60-70mph on the hwy to and from the hunting lease. I'm at a point in the build that I have to address the gearing. Th original plan was the just buy 4.10 gears and be done with it but now I am thinking of a traction add (LSD, lockers...) or a SAS.
Option 1:
If I re-gear the stock axles I am thinking of 4.10 gears with Trac-lok diffs front and rear. While I'm at it I would do all the bearings, seals, ball joints... and swap the auto hubs to warn premiums. It would be roughly $1800 to get everything form bronco graveyard plus some tools I would need. I've re-geared a jeep and would be comfortable doing it myself.
Option 2:
Axle swap... I don't want to "step backwards" with old technology 78'-79' axles or left sprung front end. If I go through the expense I want a D60 front and sterling 10.5 rear. I am leaning towards the 05+ Super Duty swap that I see guys doing on the F250/F350's. You can reuse the factory SD brackets or buy a kit for about $1200-$1700. I would not reuse my lift so I would be looking at shocks/coils, 8lug wheels and tires... Best I can figure is that I am looking at spending at lest $4k-$5k to do it "right" and not attempt to fab a bunch of sketchy parts. I do own a welder but I prefer not to fab all my own stuff for the sake of time and getting the truck back on the road quick. I really don't want the thing to sit on blocks forever.
I want peoples opinion. If you were me what would you do? Build the stock axles or SAS?