should i go solid axel swap?

[567234ta]

ive been contemplating if i should go to a full solid axel on my truck or not.

96 ext cab z71

would it make it a rough ride on the highway?

i just cant decide, i will have a ton of power and i dont want to be snapping front half shafts, i plan on 35 to 36 inch tires. i wont be going thru extreme off road stuff, rock climbing or anything but i do want it to be a tough truck.

i would probably go with a moderate grip tire so its somewhat smooth on the road, nothing like a bogger or anything, i dont want to make it a strictly off road vehicle. whats your advice?

[1slo4.8]

if your not doin nothin extreme and only 35s i'd say not worth the time and money unless you jus wanna say you got it. as long as you keep your CV angles pretty flat youll me fine

[Beatdown Z]

How much power are you talking about? and how hard do you drive?

[567234ta]

well i plan on a 14 bolt rear with a locker if i dont do the swap. the engine will be a 408 forged with a kenne bell SC about 15 psi, heads, cam, headers,. as far as on the streets right now i drive it fairly hard i guess, i nail it from a dead stop to 100+ mph fairly often. as far as off road driving i dont plan on being hard on it. mainly just want to be able to go thru stuff without getting stuck or breaking anything.

[tanz45]

Those years IFS are a pain in a$$ to lift with a regular lift. Soo many drop brakcets for steering and everything else. The Leaf spring conversion for the SAS is not a bad price and uses the leafs off of the 75-86 k10's. Which are cheap and easy to find. Buddy put one on his 95 and said it rides smoother now than it did before. Not to mention that there was a write up somewhere on it stating the same thing. Have to google, i forget exactly what page i saw it on. ANd if you're swapn, might as well go 8 bolts off an older ford, that way you have the driver side drop and strength.

[6.0vortecchevy]

if you not going to offroad it hard then there is no use of a solid axle. some of the fastest diesels are still running the stock ifs set up with just beefy tie rods. so you running it hard on the street does not touch what ifs is capable of. now if you were going to off road it hard with some 38's then ii would say go for it. but like i said its not worth spending 4 to 5 grand to switch to a solid axle and drive it hard on the street. save the money and buy your self some nice tie rods. Because under-load they will snap like a twig.

[6.0vortecchevy]

Geta some of these and you can through all the power you want to the front end.

Cognito Motorsports

way cheaper then a solid axle.

[567234ta]

if you not going to offroad it hard then there is no use of a solid axle. some of the fastest diesels are still running the stock ifs set up with just beefy tie rods. so you running it hard on the street does not touch what ifs is capable of. now if you were going to off road it hard with some 38's then ii would say go for it. but like i said its not worth spending 4 to 5 grand to switch to a solid axle and drive it hard on the street. save the money and buy your self some nice tie rods. Because under-load they will snap like a twig.

is that a broken tie rod or is it just being bashful? LOL


thanks for all the great advice guys, i think that will be my best bet is 6" dick cepek lift with beefed up front end and a 14 bolt SF rear axel.

[jsprevat]

Dang 6.0 how did that happen? Your truck isn't dirty like you were playing in the mud or nothing.

[1slo4.8]

i would say if you truck is gunna spend 90% of it's life with it's pedal on the floor and on pavement then don't do SFA cause obviously it's gunna be in 2wd for 90% of the time so jus do a 14 bolt up grade and your fine