Posted by Gordon (the other one) on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at 4:17AM :
In Reply to: convert a 2 wheel to a four wheel drive posted by dave hoffman on Sunday, January 11, 2004 at 2:52AM :
I'm planning on doing pretty much the same job here.
The front axle drive comes from a transfer case, not the gearbox, and the transfer case is slung from its' own crossmember and it sits roughly where the fuel tank is on a 4 x 2. The axle ratios on the 4 x 4s are usually different to your current rear, and not all the carriers will interchange. In addition the wheel arrangement, studs etc, can be different too. After that you have to think about swapping on to lever action shocks, matching propshaft lengths, that sort of thing.
So, there's the easy way and the hard way.
The easy way is to find a 4 x 4 half ton chassis with both axles, prop shafts, and transfer case alray in place and just swap your body and can onto it.
The hard way is to find a 4 x 4 chassis and remove the transfer case crossmember, graft it to your chassis, remove the fuel tank and put a half ton military tank across the back, fit lever action shocks, weld up the fuel filler hole in the cab, and just generally mess around with the rest of it.
I dont think you'd have much of a problem with the steering, you may have to use a drag link from the 4 x 4 if the axle is further away (lower) from the steering box. I'd certainly go with the 4 x 4 spring mounts if you can get those too.
The end product would be light and fast, but not particularly durable.
Gordon
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