4x4 conversion ?s

[BlackedOut67shorty]

I've looked but I haven't seen if anyone ever kept trailing arms when they converted their 2 wheel drive to 4 wheel drive.
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[BlackedOut67shorty]

I wasn't looking into lifting it, just keeping it at stockish height but I'm not sure if it can he done since I think the crossmembers are pushed back from the transfer case?
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[RANDY COX]

I think I remember yrs ago seeing a truck fixed up like that,2wd to 4wd,with the rear trailing arms...maybe someone else will chime in...

[argonaut]

I've seen one done that way also. A 72 with a Dana 44 up front and and trailing arms in back. If I remember correctly the owner had mounted the axle beneath the arms rather than on top to gain lift without having a steep angle to the arms.
Personally I think it would be cool to mount the front on radius arms and a track bar with coil springs to match the back.
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[BlackedOut67shorty]

Thanks for the responses guys, now for the front end would I just be able to swap in a 73 and up straight axle with the leaf spring or would I have to try and find period correct parts to keep it simpler. Sorry for some dumb questions since I'm kinda new at doing a conversion like this..
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[wyomech]

I am using trailing arms on my 63 conversion, it is in the 4x4 build section,but I havent posted pics yet of the rear axle I mounted it under the arms

[obijuan]

heres a pic i saved on the fly. super easy to do.

[burton'sblazer]

I did the same conversion years ago. I found a blazer frame with all of the front spring hangers. Cut them off the 4wd frame and swapped them out onto the 2wd frame. The core support mounts will bolt straight in. The rear mounts will require some careful measuring to place inside of the frame rails. Be sure to find a 4wd engine cross member to tie your frame rails together. I thought the swap was easy, but the rear end always felt soft compared to the front. Anyway, 6 months after all my hard work, a guy pulled out in front me in Athens, GA a took the front end off of the truck. Just my luck. LOL

[monte0185]

I could be wrong but didn't some of the 4wd's come with trailing arms from the factory?? Think ive seen one or two over the years that were like that.

[BlackedOut67shorty]

Originally Posted by obijuan

heres a pic i saved on the fly. super easy to do.

Thank you guys and thanks obijuan for the pics. Now for the front I assume I would have to find a 71 to 72 front axle and get the springs and whatnot from the same said years. I want to try and get the disc brakes from the get go so its the reason I say 71 to 72. It be nice to be able to use springs and suspension parts from later years but I dont think they would work with the 67 frame. But someone please correct me if I'm wrong
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[obijuan]

If you can measure your widest point of your front frame horns I can measure the widest point of my 85 frame. I can't imagine why later brackets won't fit.
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[pinefieldfarm]

I've been thinking about converting my '61 C25 to 4x4 after seeing this nice conversion on a '65 truck. This guy didn't flip the rear axle under the trailing arms, but had a newer Dana 44 with disc brakes up front on it. It sat at a good height and looked to work fairly well. Thanks for asking the questions I've been trying to get answers to.

[pinefieldfarm]

Here's that '65 conversion. This is what it would look like without any lift.

[BlackedOut67shorty]

Originally Posted by pinefieldfarm

I've been thinking about converting my '61 C25 to 4x4 after seeing this nice conversion on a '65 truck. This guy didn't flip the rear axle under the trailing arms, but had a newer Dana 44 with disc brakes up front on it. It sat at a good height and looked to work fairly well. Thanks for asking the questions I've been trying to get answers to.

I didn't think you.could mount leafs upside down like that, I'm gonna measure my frame up to see the width
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[beardface]

I didn't think you.could mount leafs upside down like that

Hahahaha.
Those front leaves arn't upsidedown. They are just stock leaves, they have negative arch like than. Granted those look like they have sagged a bit more than usual, but thats 'normal'.

[BlackedOut67shorty]

My frame width is 28 inches and 1/8th of an inch from the edges of the framerails
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[mknittle]

There are quite a few guys that did the front axle conversion in the 4X4 section. And the idea of the rear seems like it would work well