Superduty front 60 conversion to passenger side drop

toyota231

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Kernersville NC
Just want to have a little discussion on the subject if anyone on the site has experience. With the availability of passenger side drop kingpin 60 fronts seeming to drop to almost non existent status, and having a front axle I have very little in, converting a superduty 60 to passenger side drop has been a thought in my mind. Been trying to do a little research but not finding a whole lot.

So I guess the biggest thought would be, what is easier to tackle, pressing axle tubes out to swap the tubes to opposite sides or trying to source an alignment system to cut the tubes and re weld the tubes on opposite sides? Either way it gets a truss. I'm sure the tubes are almost impossible to press out but I added that to the discussion just for discussion sake. Hoping to find someone with this type of experience to talk with, possibly even find someone in the triad area that could tackle the job.

Forgot to mention the project is an '89 4runner. Thinking about getting the old girl sitting up on tons and links so I can have a family rig. I want to continue to run Toyota engine, trans, and cases so staying passenger side drop on it.
 
Either way, you really should use an alignment bar, if you want them straight and true.

But I am with Jody ^^^.

Also know, that any factory mounts will basically be unusable after swapping. I know you likely already know this.
 
If you are going to go through the effort to press out the tubes, it might be easier to buy the DOM, and cut the old tubes up. You could then make the tubes whatever length/offset you want before pressing them back in.

just for reference: Buckin' Bronco Part II
 
Last edited:
paradisePWoffrd said:
Either way, you really should use an alignment bar, if you want them straight and true.

But I am with Jody ^^^.

Also know, that any factory mounts will basically be unusable after swapping. I know you likely already know this.
Click to expand...
The alignment system was one of the biggest questions of mine, I was sure I would need to use it either way. It was kind of a big reason for starting the thread, I was hoping there would be someone on the forum would have done this before and had a way to do the alignment of the tubes. I don't see why an alignment bar and pucks for a standard 60 couldn't be used, but I don't know. Kind of odd for me but for the first time ever I am seriously thinking about out sourcing a job because of having so much other stuff going on right now.

Once done it will be on a 4 link so ill be doing away with factory brackets, lord knows I'm not looking forward to cutting off the driver side radius arm mount (stupid me forgot to mention I have an '05 up axle).
 
Jody Treadway said:
Cut the tubes, have a couple pieces of 3/8" DOM machined as a slug, swap long to short, short to long, weld, truss, done.
Click to expand...

This

paradisePWoffrd said:
Either way, you really should use an alignment bar, if you want them straight and true.

But I am with Jody ^^^.

Also know, that any factory mounts will basically be unusable after swapping. I know you likely already know this.
Click to expand...

I've had a pass drop 05+ axle in my hands. Factory brackets were cut first, plug welds removed, tubes pressed out and back in. No alignment bar whatsoever.
We checked it out afterwards and it was dead on.

From personal experience, housings move much more during the welding of a truss than during the assembly / pressing of tubes.
 
toyota231 said:
The alignment system was one of the biggest questions of mine, I was sure I would need to use it either way. It was kind of a big reason for starting the thread, I was hoping there would be someone on the forum would have done this before and had a way to do the alignment of the tubes. I don't see why an alignment bar and pucks for a standard 60 couldn't be used, but I don't know. Kind of odd for me but for the first time ever I am seriously thinking about out sourcing a job because of having so much other stuff going on right now.

Once done it will be on a 4 link so ill be doing away with factory brackets, lord knows I'm not looking forward to cutting off the driver side radius arm mount (stupid me forgot to mention I have an '05 up axle).
Click to expand...
Personally, for a trail rig, I wouldnt spend the money on an alignment bar setup. If I was paying a shop good money to do it, I would expect them to.
Bebop said:
This



I've had a pass drop 05+ axle in my hands. Factory brackets were cut first, plug welds removed, tubes pressed out and back in. No alignment bar whatsoever.
We checked it out afterwards and it was dead on.

From personal experience, housings move much more during the welding of a truss than during the assembly / pressing of tubes.
Click to expand...
I would agree with this. Welding is the biggest risk for warping.

With either method, if there is a slight press fit, it should stay pretty true, IMO
 
Something else I forgot to mention, it will NOT be a dedicated trail rig. I want to build it for everything, including being something I could throw the kids in and run say from the triad to Carolina Beach as comfortable as possible in a linked rig on 42's.
Bebop said:
This



I've had a pass drop 05+ axle in my hands. Factory brackets were cut first, plug welds removed, tubes pressed out and back in. No alignment bar whatsoever.
We checked it out afterwards and it was dead on.

From personal experience, housings move much more during the welding of a truss than during the assembly / pressing of tubes.
Click to expand...
Now this is the discussion I was hoping for. How much of a bear was it to press the tubes out, and how did you go about that (make something to fit inside the housing against the tubes)? I was always under the impression pressing the tubes out and back in was the most accurate way of doing things so i would prefer that method for my build. I guess it would be more cost effective to have a machine shop do this as there is no way in hell I can do it in my press.
 
toyota231 said:
Something else I forgot to mention, it will NOT be a dedicated trail rig. I want to build it for everything, including being something I could throw the kids in and run say from the triad to Carolina Beach as comfortable as possible in a linked rig on 42's.

Now this is the discussion I was hoping for. How much of a bear was it to press the tubes out, and how did you go about that (make something to fit inside the housing against the tubes)? I was always under the impression pressing the tubes out and back in was the most accurate way of doing things so i would prefer that method for my build. I guess it would be more cost effective to have a machine shop do this as there is no way in hell I can do it in my press.
Click to expand...

Drill or arc out the plug welds first. Then use a bottle jack inside the diff housing to press each tube out. You'll need to make a base for the jack to sit on (near the cap journal) and a cup to place on the inside of the tube on the opposite end. Pump away.
Or place the whole thing in a press if you have a large enough one.
 
If you were so inclined to do the leg work and the math, you could compare pros and cons of doing it yourself...or having ECGS do it for you. They've been known to build an axle or two :D

This was several years ago, but I think it was 1500-ish for them to make me a 78/79 Ford 60 clone. That was a bare center section, tubes, and inner Cs...I think. It'd certainly be cheaper if I had provided any parts. That was with them furnishing everything.

I wouldn't think it'd hurt too bad if you cut/ground everything off and then took them a bare housing to swap tubes on. You could even have them narrow it a little if you needed it. They're like 71.5" wms to wms!

If nothing else, give them a holler and they'll definitely give you a quote.

I kinda hope you do. This would be a really good idea for my K30....I rather enjoy the massive unit bearings vs packing bearings AND you can get a tighter turning radius, built in lower coilover mounts, and bigger brakes!
 
toyota231 said:
Something else I forgot to mention, it will NOT be a dedicated trail rig. I want to build it for everything, including being something I could throw the kids in and run say from the triad to Carolina Beach as comfortable as possible in a linked rig on 42's.

Now this is the discussion I was hoping for. How much of a bear was it to press the tubes out, and how did you go about that (make something to fit inside the housing against the tubes)? I was always under the impression pressing the tubes out and back in was the most accurate way of doing things so i would prefer that method for my build. I guess it would be more cost effective to have a machine shop do this as there is no way in hell I can do it in my press.
Click to expand...

Had access to a professional housing tube press. Wasn't bad.
Use Jody's suggestion if you want to do it yourself.

My only recommendation would be to NOT torch out the plug welds and to use a rotabroach instead.

The more cost effective version would be to do it yourself.
If you were to pay a shop to do it, you'd end up really close to having a brand new housing built to your specs. At least that's what I would recommend you do.
 
Nate with Dirt Lifestyle on YouTube swapped a 99-04 SD axle to passenger drop and put together a pretty good video about it. Then when it didn't work in his vehicle, he bought a custom axle and compared the cost difference. I think it could be done cheaper than he lists it in his comparison video, but he doesn't count for the value of his time to do the work either.





Duane
 
Bebop said:
Had access to a professional housing tube press. Wasn't bad.
Use Jody's suggestion if you want to do it yourself.

My only recommendation would be to NOT torch out the plug welds and to use a rotabroach instead.

The more cost effective version would be to do it yourself.
If you were to pay a shop to do it, you'd end up really close to having a brand new housing built to your specs. At least that's what I would recommend you do.
Click to expand...
I don't know very much about a rotobroach but I was under the impression they were for thinner sheet metal? Would one be fine to use drilling out the plugs welds in a tube?

Cost isn't as big a factor to me as doing it the way that would be more likely to be as straight as possible. I'm not saying i would throw stupid amounts of money at or be okay with going beyond the cost of starting with an aftermarket housing. The 4runner project I have this in mind for will not be an all out big time build so going aftermarket pricey axles is probably overkill, but mostly for me doing this to an axle is pretty much one of the only tasks in the off road/ fabrication world I've never tackled in my time of being in this sport, so i would kinda like to try it.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
If you were so inclined to do the leg work and the math, you could compare pros and cons of doing it yourself...or having ECGS do it for you. They've been known to build an axle or two :D

This was several years ago, but I think it was 1500-ish for them to make me a 78/79 Ford 60 clone. That was a bare center section, tubes, and inner Cs...I think. It'd certainly be cheaper if I had provided any parts. That was with them furnishing everything.

I wouldn't think it'd hurt too bad if you cut/ground everything off and then took them a bare housing to swap tubes on. You could even have them narrow it a little if you needed it. They're like 71.5" wms to wms!

If nothing else, give them a holler and they'll definitely give you a quote.

I kinda hope you do. This would be a really good idea for my K30....I rather enjoy the massive unit bearings vs packing bearings AND you can get a tighter turning radius, built in lower coilover mounts, and bigger brakes!
Click to expand...
I'm glad you brought up ECGS because for some reason I hadn't even thought of them. I was hoping to find someone in the triad area that would consider the task but I'm not sure who would (nothing against ECGS I just absolutely hate going anywhere near Raleigh/ Durham and it's retarded drivers). But ill give them a shout just to see what kind of price they have in mind and report back.
 
Jody Treadway said:
Drill or arc out the plug welds first. Then use a bottle jack inside the diff housing to press each tube out. You'll need to make a base for the jack to sit on (near the cap journal) and a cup to place on the inside of the tube on the opposite end. Pump away.
Or place the whole thing in a press if you have a large enough one.
Click to expand...
I honestly didn't think of using a bottle jack, mainly because I've never had a low profile bottle jack and just assumed even one of those would be too large to fit into a housing. Next time I'm at Northern Tool or Tractor Supply I'll buy one just in case I take on the task.
 
In for what comes of this. I was not familiar with rota bits either but after watching their info video I want a set.
 
ghost said:
In for what comes of this. I was not familiar with rota bits either but after watching their info video I want a set.
Click to expand...
I am with you on that, I think I'm about to order a set just to have. I've been hearing about them for years but never looked into them, now I want a set.

I'll keep an update, I've got a ton of stuff going on right now with starting my business but I'll do my best to get started on the project quickly and document what it takes to do this.
 
toyota231 said:
I honestly didn't think of using a bottle jack, mainly because I've never had a low profile bottle jack and just assumed even one of those would be too large to fit into a housing. Next time I'm at Northern Tool or Tractor Supply I'll buy one just in case I take on the task.
Click to expand...
I can't remember where, but I think I've also seen a post were a person used a standard "H" frame harbor freight press for an axle tube. They just had to lay the press flat on the ground.
 
Dawnpatrol said:
I can't remember where, but I think I've also seen a post were a person used a standard "H" frame harbor freight press for an axle tube. They just had to lay the press flat on the ground.
Click to expand...

You can do it with the press standing up no problem. It's just a bear to hold the housing straight.

toyota231 said:
I don't know very much about a rotobroach but I was under the impression they were for thinner sheet metal? Would one be fine to use drilling out the plugs welds in a tube?
Click to expand...
Rotabroach is a brand name.
Look for annular cutters. Use with a mag drill and go slow with lots of lube.

I'm assuming you know about pre/post heat and welding on cast iron.
 
drkelly said:
@Chris_Keziah ?
Click to expand...
This (What Jody said) is the exact way I would it but I don't have access to the lathe I used to have access to. I'm confident I could do it but personally I would go through ECGS if it were gonna be driven on the road.
Jody Treadway said:
Cut the tubes, have a couple pieces of 3/8" DOM machined as a slug, swap long to short, short to long, weld, truss, done.
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top