2WD to 4x4 conversion

[Reno]

I searched the forum but couldn't find an answer.....

I have a 1968 C10 Suburban that I want to convert to 4x4.

My C10 currently has coil springs in the rear....

Can I swap out the coils in the rear and front for leaf springs to run 4x4?

I prefer to keep original frame

Will be swapping in a diesel also if that matters.

Aren't 2WD and 4x4 frames the same & I could swap out spring hangers etc?

Is there an upgrade to latter model 73 & up suspension?

Thanks in advance.

[Bigdav160]

Coil spring and leaf spring frames are different. Large trailing arm crossmember and an hour glass shape with the coil springs.

I have seen a couple 4WD conversions leaving the coils and trailing arms.

[Madkidd007]

Yes you can, and with less trouble than most believe, just depends on how you wanna do it and how much articuLation you want. On mine I flipped the axle under the trailing arms, that in itself gave about 6” of lift I believe. Then for the front I used diy4x B-52 kit to run 52” rears up front. The word is you get between 3-4” of lift just doing that with stock rears but I used 4” lift skyjacker springs and got around 7” with my cummins under the hood. Ironically pulled it all out today to go back 2WD. I also ran a 2” body lift and 37s, so you can reference the height in the pictures below, the last picture you can see the front hangers/core support mounts. Side note I left the 2wd crossmember and steering box, I notched the crossmember to run crossover steering, but with any less lift you would not be able to clear the front pumpkin because of how low the crossmember sits above the axle