That was my thread. Originally I was doing a disc swap on the closed knuckle, which I did. It was short lived though. Now I am building those J20 axles to swap in. I welded spring perches on the front prematurely and decided to go spring under frame, but that has not been done yet due to sub zero temps, massive amounts of snow here, and lack of funding due to financially rebounding from christmas still. If I recall, 66stepside did a spring under frame conversion on one of his builds with good results. After much contemplation, moving the springs seems like a bit more work but a better result. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!orionstarsin wrote:You might check out this thread too this guy just dealt with all this. Hope it helps.
http://www.fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtop ... 44#p169719
How much work would the J-truck open axle save you over the Dodge? I understnd you can convert the 6-lug hubs to 5-lug using Ford hubs. That should not require any additional fab, just the right parts.Stuka wrote:It should be noted that JoshD used a dodge front axle, not an FSJ front axle. This gave him 5x5.5 lug pattern, but it required extra work related to steering, shock mounts, etc.
Meaning is that the only way to get a steering radius that works for what I need without fabricating the major load points on my J2000?SRT6 wrote:So should I just sell the 72 and get a 75 or later?
74 and 75 are both post mount rear. Box mount rear came in 76. But 74+ does have the newer front suspension.tgreese wrote: A '74 has an open knuckle front. Isn't the rear still post mount and the front the same as 1975 and later?.
Well, I think thats a bit overboard for what is needed. Especially if the truck you have is nice otherwise. If its a rust bucket, then maybe finding another one wouldn't be such a bad idea. But if its nice, and its the truck you want, you can hire out the welding to convert the front to the later spring setup. Yes you could just weld perches to the newer axle, but the post mount springs will still limit your steering radius some as the tires rub the springs easier.SRT6 wrote:Meaning is that the only way to get a steering radius that works for what I need without fabricating the major load points on my J2000?SRT6 wrote:So should I just sell the 72 and get a 75 or later?
Stuka. Thank you sir. I will take it to a couple shops and see if anyone is interested in doing the fab work required to make the later Open Knuckle a Bolt in affair.Stuka wrote:Well, I think thats a bit overboard for what is needed. Especially if the truck you have is nice otherwise. If its a rust bucket, then maybe finding another one wouldn't be such a bad idea. But if its nice, and its the truck you want, you can hire out the welding to convert the front to the later spring setup. Yes you could just weld perches to the newer axle, but the post mount springs will still limit your steering radius some as the tires rub the springs easier.SRT6 wrote:Meaning is that the only way to get a steering radius that works for what I need without fabricating the major load points on my J2000?SRT6 wrote:So should I just sell the 72 and get a 75 or later?