4wd conversion

[That Mud Truck]

How would i convert my 72 2wd shortbed into a 4wd?
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[cal30_sniper]

Unless you are a very competent welder with a frame alignment shop, your only feasible option is a frame swap. It would probably be easier to just find a 4wd truck to begin with and start off with it. You'd need to find one anyways if you were going to do the swap, and it would save you a lot of work and time to just avoid the entire swapping phase and start working on a different truck.

-cal30sniper

[That Mud Truck]

Ive been looking for a 4x4 but cant find any!
I have some danas in my backyard, and my cousin could probably get me a good deal on the tcase and trans, but what else would i need?
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[cal30_sniper]

What else? To get them welded in straight. It's next to impossible. All of the steering gear and front suspension linkage is also completely different. Unless you are a very experienced fabricator and auto mechanic, with lots of specialty tools, you do not want to try and fab up your own four wheel drive.

[andrewmp6]

Do a search on here some have done a 4x4 swap before its a big job and you need a parts truck to pull it off right.

[That Mud Truck]

2 of my brotjer in laws are mechanics and im a pretty good welder.....
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[69gmcc10]

It is popular for ifs 4x4 chevys to do a SAS (solid axle swap) from older trucks all the time. i dont see why you couldnt do a conversion from 2wd to 4wd if you measure 5 times and cut or weld once. I would do a google search for "Chevy sas kits" and see how they do it or if any of there kits would possibly work for you, also look at offroad unlimited they have some good parts and brackets you might use! You might also think about finding a 73-87 chassie and make body mounts for your truck to fit on it.

[That Mud Truck]

Yea thats what i was thinking... Just put some danas and get different trans and tcase etc.... But from what others are saying its more than that.
Ive done SASs on other trucks but with rockwells but the trucks already had 4 wheel drive so i dont really know how to add it.
I found a couple of swap threads that im gonna look at thatll hopefully help me out
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[jhaymon]

you feel like making a drive to Beaumont. check southeasttexas.com

[That Mud Truck]

There were only 4 annd i wouldve only been inkterested in one but they wanted 16k... Thats way outta my price range
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[obijuan]

It ain't bad. I'm gonna do my 67 next year. Find the 4x4 motor crossmember for your year/motor. Remove all the 2wd crap and have an empty engine bay and bare frame rails. Find spring center, set your desired wheelbase and put the front leaf hangers on the frame. Change your steering box to a 4x4 box or go crossover steering.
Get a 4x4 transmission and tcase and associated parts. Put it all in.
Its basically that, however it sounds like you're a little underinformed at the moment. Read read read and look at pics, search search search.
This is completely doable in one good solid wrench day. Just need to be prepared.
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[jhaymon]

Originally Posted by That Mud Truck

There were only 4 annd i wouldve only been inkterested in one but they wanted 16k... Thats way outta my price range
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i thought they had a post 73 blazer for 500..i guess it got sold. if you can find a clip off a 73-81 you can use the clip to do the swap. texas offroad just finished one

[That Mud Truck]

Yeah ive been reading up on crash OK and genes builds and they loook nice.... It makes me wanna hurry up and start mine

Are the blazers the same (suspension/framewise) as the pickups?
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[jhaymon]

i wouldn't say the same, but they work well. a 73-81 is the the easiest solution. you need the axels, cross members, and hangers. ive seen it done without any welding. i dont know how i feel about that but it worked.
if you order a factory assembly manual, you'll see that the 2wd and 4wd frames aren't that different.

[That Mud Truck]

Alright so i think i know what im gonna do...
Im gonna get a th350 and a np205.... Dana 44s in the front, dana 60s in the rear... Leafs all the way around...
Just have a couple of questions. Is the th350 4x4 capable? From what ive read its unclear and will the np205 go on w/o any adapters. How will i engage the 4x4 since the prior truck is auto and a 2x4?
Thanks
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[That Mud Truck]

Also what steering box?
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[andrewmp6]

If you use a np205 you have a small shifter in the floor to shift it in to 4 wheel low or high.On the trans i would look more at a th400 its a stronger trans then a th350.

[That Mud Truck]

I wold just get tcase linkage and shifter?
Whats a reasonable price for a th400? I found some from 200$-500$
None came out of a 4x4 so i guess ill have to buy some sort of rebuild kit to make it a 4x4
Theirs a couple that are heavy duty? Whats the difference
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[jhaymon]

200 is about right. never pay more for used tranny than the core is worth.

[Dunenutt]

Go here for the conversion to the TH400. You need to know the spline count on the transfer case.

http://www.advanceadapters.com/categ...pter-kits/191/

Check my sig for info on the conversion. I used an 85 blazer as a doner.

[Dunenutt]

If you want to do the conversion totally aftermarket, talk to these people.

http://diy4x.com/

If you are going to beat on this truck, find a K case transmission. The bell housings are stronger. Or get an aftermarket bell housing. If it's a DD or light trail truck, a C case will be fine.

[Dunenutt]

Originally Posted by That Mud Truck

Also what steering box?
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If you do crossover steering, a 2wd box is what you want. If you are using the driver side (stock) steering, a 70's-80's 4x4 box will be needed.