1986 F250 4X4 help

[86F250MUDDER]

I just purchased an 1986 Ford F 250 4x4 with a 351 and a 4 speed. It gots the 8 lugs axle. How do I know what axles and gear ratio I have? I have leaf springs all the way around. Any good places to get front leaf springs for these for a good price? Im wanting to run 38's.. Dont think I will go any higher than that..

Ive heard that I could get leaf springs off other F 250's and longer u bolts and they would work?? Never heard of this before getting a ford. (always been a chevy / toyota fan)

[Gerehead8]

I just sold an 86 F250. Look on the rear axle for a tag for the gear ratio. Also look at the sticker on the door jam, it will say. The rear is a sterling 10.25 and will handle at least 40's its a tough axle. The front will either be a TTB Dana 44 or TTB Dana 50. Dana 44 will handle 35's the Dana 50 may handle 37's but im not sure.

They may be talking about using rear leaves in the front. I have no idea if it would work or not but it would more than likely ride like S***.

[86F250MUDDER]

How do I find out what axles I have in the front? All I know is that it has manual warn lockers and 8 lugs. It says heavy duty package on the truck.

Where should I look to get lift kits for these things? Like I mentioned Im wanting to run 38's.. or 325 85 r 16 military tires. Need the lift before I can put them on...

[Gerehead8]

I think just about everyone makes lift kits for the truck just look around on the internet for name brands. I personally buy a lot of part from summit racing. The Dana 50 came with the snow plow prep package I believe. Look online for pics but I still think all Dana's look alike. Either way to run 38's and actually wheel it you should get a dana 60. It should be really easy to swap in.

[86F250MUDDER]

I'm basically building this truck on a low budget plan. Its basically just gonna see some clay pits here and there. And mostly trail riding. Just moved to Alabama and don't really know the area yet. Right now I'm more concerned on getting it lifted around 8 inches.. I got a 2 inch rear spring lift and 4 inch blocks. Just trying to get 8 inches in the front. Somebody gotta know where I can get these springs for cheap?

[ZacD]

If it is a TTB front axle, which it should be (unless some previous owned swapped in a solid axle), you can't simply throw lift springs under the front and think that's going to be all you have to do. You're going to need axle pivot drop brackets or else you'll have some serious camber issues.

You're smart enough to know how to post on Al Gore's internet...I'm sure you can Google search some suspension components for your truck. Check out Jeff's Bronco Graveyard's website for some info. They have stuff for your truck.

On the cheap or not, if I were going to bother with trying to fit 38s under that truck and wheel it, I wouldn't waste my time with that p.o.s. Dana 50 front TTB and would find a solid Dana 60 out of a similar year truck to install in the front. A Dana 50 is nothing more, for all intent and purposes, than a Dana 44 ring & pinion/differential section with Dana 60 outters.

[Cody]

Didn't heavy duty mean it had the solid axle?

[Gerehead8]

(02-09-2010 11:02 AM)DeMoN360 Wrote:  Didn't heavy duty mean it had the solid axle?

Nope it ment 8600GVW rather than a glorified 1/2 ton LD at 7500gvw or so. The HD's got the sterling full float versus a semi floating rear, but even the HD's could come with a Dana 44 TTB.

Mine was an HD so I did a lot of reasearch on it. The only way to get the Dana 60 was to get a 1-ton and I have heard that even some of them got Dana 50 TTB's.

[86F250MUDDER]

Yes, it has a solid front axle.. It has leaf springs on both side and a solid front axle sitting under it. Ill take some pics when it quits raining and post it up on here. Most lift kit running for theses only go up to 4.. I'm looking for at least 6 to 8 inches to fit 38's xml military tires under.

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Ok now I'm getting confused with all these different axles. Ill just post some pictures up and yall can help me figure out what I got sittin under my truck..

[Cody]

That is a dana 60 front then.