Trade or Upgrade?

[meby]

Now that the farming thing is starting to take off, having a 2wd is becoming more and more of a pain. I suppose in the near future i'll need a 4x4. I know some of you on here have added the 4wd feature to your existing truck. My question is, was it worth it? Or in hind sight, would you rather have sold it and bought a 4x4 truck?

[oldestof11]

Buying a 4x4 is easier and can be cheaper.

Converting not only can be a pain in the butt, but time consuming. And time is worth something.

[redneckroot]

It also depends upon how good your current truck is. I wouldn't sell a really nice 2wd to buy a pile 4x4.

[meby]

my current one doesn't have much rust; just lots of pealing paint. One of the problems with converting it might be finding a 3:07 front axle to match the back.

[cmann250]

I've arrived at the conclusion that I'd rather get a different truck, especially because my truck is a rust bucket. You'd need a 4x4 trans tail section (at least with autos), 29 spline? transfer case (which I think is harder to find), 3.07 front axle, both drive shafts, and either modified or 4x4 engine and trans cross members. I have read guys say that a 4x4 conversion is such a PITA that they wouldn't do it if they weren't doing it on a rust free crew cab frame. Just my $.02 though

I just did a poor man's 4x4 conversion yesterday: tow hooks

[gobigorgohome]

my current one doesn't have much rust; just lots of pealing paint. One of the problems with converting it might be finding a 3:07 front axle to match the back.

that i would be able to help with lol i will be rattin my trk out soon and will be gettin rid of the front 307 axle. may need new brgs but it all roatates free and the sort PO ran it in mud and it had water in it. never got around to draining it and refilling lemme know it u want it make ya a good deal

[Mark Nixon]

...One of the problems with converting it might be finding a 3:07 front axle to match the back.

Had one from a 1991, up until 2 days ago.
Sold it for $350 and had a hell of a time selling it.
I tried for $600 for quite a while, got laughed at a lot and gave up.
There comes a time when some stuff just needs to go away.

I do still have a set of NEW Dana 3.07 gears for the front D-61, which SOME of the 3.54 geared trucks used.
Of course, that's garnered a laugh or 2, as well.

Mark.

[meby]

Suffice to say, the parts alone could run over a grand. Not to mention a lot of time to make it all work. So, the selling price of the truck + a grand or so would probably buy a tolerable 4x4.

[dazedandconfused]

Depends on what your market is around you. Heap of crap 4x4 1st gens around here are going for $7500+

[1990]

It's worth it if the current 2wd is in good shape. I bought a donor for my swap, which was the best way to do it for me. Being in the USA shipping is cheaper and parts are more common so it may be better to go another option. Next time i would go to the southwest and buy a stock 4wd though. My truck was nice for here but still not southwest nice. My swap ended up around $3500-4000 after parting out the donor (this includes purchase price of the donor).

Finding a 3.07 axle wouldn't be to bad, you could get the spring mounts from the guy on ramchargercentral.com (forgot his name) then you would just need the transmission cross-member. Unless you want to swap the engine cross-member. I didn't with mine, as crossover steering is easier with the 2wd engine cross-member.

You could to the SAS in one weekend without losing drive ability you had before. Doing the drive shafts and transmission would be the toughest part. The auto transmission uses a 23 spline NP205.

[Tacoclaw]

I'd just sell it and get a 4x4 Powerstroke.

You want a truck to work with anyways, right?

[Mark Nixon]

Depends on what your market is around you. Heap of crap 4x4 1st gens around here are going for $7500+

GREAT!
Now sell my E/C dually 4x4 5 speed for me, for my $4200 asking price (with the nicer body) and anything over that you can HAVE.

Around here they don't sell for much more than I pay for them, which is MOSTLY why I piece them out.
That and the ones I get are usually parts rigs, anyway.

Hell, I even sold Meby his truck for not very much more than I paid and I only broke even on delivery.

Mark.

[cmann250]

I'd just sell it and get a 4x4 Powerstroke.

You want a truck to work with anyways, right?

You think 1st gens have some crazy prices? Step into the OBS Power Stroke market. I saw a CCSB on a dealer lot for $12K, I didn't see the miles

[RumbleFish]

Id definitely trade. In related news, I might end up needing a 2wd donor.

[meby]

Id definitely trade. In related news, I might end up needing a 2wd donor.

Make me an offer.