Jon,

Based upon the photos in your thread, the rear axles does look like a Dana product...but it's hard to confirm. Surrounding the casting for the diff plate cover, Dana axles will have a raised casting number to identify the series. The front axle should have a 60F in one quadrant. The rear may show 60 or 60HD. From the rear hubs, this is definitely sourced from a Ford, probably an E-series, rather than F-series.

Russell

The motor looks quite compact for a V8. Are those motor 60 degree V's? Could just be the angle of the picture and lack of reference though.

90* 5.3L SBC. Look at the first page. There's a full on side view.

Russell, thanks for the info. I think Jason's going to run the BOM # on the rear tomorrow. By running the BOM on the front, he did confirm it's a D60 out of an F350. The first one someone tried to sell him turned out to be a D50, and we told him to turn around and come pick that trash up. I'll post up when I find out...

More progress today. The frame modification and tank relocation is complete. I'm waiting for some pics of the new body mounts and how the tank is braced, but here are some preliminary pics of the operation. Jason's really good at what he does...

The former rear frame end



The resulting hole



View from the rear



Clearance!



Side view. Visible is the raised position of the gas tank. Also the new shackle position puts them pretty much straight up and down. Looks good to me!



Corner view of the new rear section.





Lots of room up there...





More to come...

Will your rear frame member support your trailer load and towing? Or are you making a receiver bumper?

That's been weighing a lot on my mind lately, and the honest answer is that I just don't know quite yet. I absolutely won't do anything unsafe. I just don't know how we'll tackle the issue. Thanks for the reply...

Progress...

Transmission is delivered and mounted to engine





Some loaners mounted with a 315/75/16 (~35") tire. We may need to go back to spring over with the 37s. It'll HAVE to be SOA IF (yeah, right) I ever go bigger...



View from the front. I don't know how I'll cover these things up. Trying to figure out a tube fender...



Here is the new bumper welded to the frame with the spring hangers attached. I like it better than the way it was. You can also see the clearance of the gas tank in it's new position. I want to mount the pintle hitch to the bumper. The bumper is also where the bushings for the drop down cage tire carrier will be fastened.



Another view...



Last one, from the top...



As of today, the motor mount fab is in progress. Once the shoehorn is out and the engine is in, the fab on the coilover front suspension will begin. We are shooting for the end of June to have the rig back on the road.

With Eli's calculations, I suppose that tire could be 34.15692475792917" give or take a few guestibullshiznitz so make sure you take that into account, the tire seems to be worn. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

No seriously.. good progress.. I'm looing forward to seeing this project completed...

Side note though, and looking at all the angles and the concern with departure angles, any reason why you wouldn't go with a coil rear suspension? It seems that would be the best right?

Yes, it would be best. The future holds rear coilovers for the rear, but with all the little odds and ends (custom dash, new wiring harness, exhaust, driveshafts, etc, etc...), I didn't want to spend $1700 on that. This build has far exceeded my budget and I had to draw the line. The rear on leaf springs will be quite capable until I drive it and collect the coilover parts for the rear.

Too much money and over 2 years is too much time and money...

Thanks for the input.

You need some of those super wide fender flares they use in Iceland <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Serious though, I think there are some cheaper alternative ideas on Partytruck's website <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />