so i just got in to 4x4's big change for me coming from drag car so anyways i bought a 1995 ford f-150 4x4 for 800$ i wanna put a 6'' suspenion lift 3'' body lift and 38'' super swamper boggers  the trucks for the mud so heres my question the truck has electronic push button 4x4 with manual hubs is the push button garbage and can i still use this truck for what i want thanks for any feed back it will help me alot

lee  

well i like your choice of trucks ill give you all the info i can. to start, if your gonna go with 38 inch boggers your gonna want a straight axle, preferably a dana 60 but a dana 44 will do if you arent too hard on it. secondly, the fords push button 4x4 is trash, they always stop working. but a straight axle will have manual hubs so that will not be an issue with a straight axle. third, you are gonna wanna gear down a lot, probably at least 4.56s but if its a smaller motor probably 4.88s or maybe even 5.13s if you arent gonna do a lot of highway driving. hopefully this helps you if you need anymore info just ask me im crazy about fords  

well like i said it has manual hubs straight axle is alot of work i just wanna go play around so if i go to a 35'' bogger will it work just as good the deepest i think i will ever go is like 1 to 2 feet of mud i only have a 7,000 dollor budgut so i dont realy wanna go over so please help me i just wanna toy that will work so if you guys have input let me no  

Actually you made a poor choice of trucks unless you dump front TTB axle and convert to a straight/solid axle. This swing axle design you have is a very bad platform for this. I would look for a D50 at least here used in a lot of Ford SD trucks for years for usage with 38's but you might get by okay with the Ford 8.8 in rear if you do not use a locker as the 8.8 is fairly sturdy for its size. Realistically though you should upgrade to 3/4 ton axles all around because you not only get strong axles (in axle shaft and housing strength) but also much bigger brakes with you are going to need with those big tires.  

ya snoman is right the ford twin i beam front end is basically junk for offroading,    they get kocked out of alignment very easily and you gotta fix the alignment often or your boggers would cup really bad since they are so soft. a 7000 dollar budget is plenty to straight axle, lift, and put tires and wheels on your truck. i have only put 2000 into my ford and that includes 38 inch boggers and my lift. just go to a junk yard and look for a dana 44 or 60 and the leaf springs to lift your front end are only like 400 bucks. if you get the stock rear leafs from a 90s f-350 they will clear 38s and a dana 60 rear end will be pretty cheap and easy to find also. for lift axles and tires you will spend probably around 3000 bucks if you install it all yourself.  

thanks for all the feed back so i have been talking to alot of guys that use this truck for 4x4ing and told me that if i have it set up right it will work just as good as a straight axle truck and on the trail i have alot more travel so well i'm going to sell my drag car and build two trucks one mild one wild i'm thinking about a high boy can you guys tell me if its a good truck there is alot of them on ebay right now so thank you every one most respect to all of you that live and breath this sport there more stuff to no with 4x4's compered to drag cars    

They have told you wrong! That is not a good choice to do. That swing axle has wild camber changes when it flexs and is VERY hard on tires and get sloppy/worn easy with lifts and big tires. As axle pivots/swings it also varies track width and tire contact area which wear tires funny and can lead to funny handling. (those axles can really chew up big tires) Plus, all this aside when you bottom it out the diff can get a lot closer to ground. People that tell you it is just as good as a solid have likely never owned and lifted a solid. The front end is best left stock as even then it is questionable overall.  

thanks buddy you are very wise so thinks for the inpu t  

Check out Autofab Offroad.  They can prove the ability of the twin I-beam.  Not for mud but for desert type offroading.  On pavement they will give bad tire wear.  I think what you have planned for the truck will drastically exceed the strength of the twin I-been front end, as well as the rear end.  Use a different truck for the mud, such as a high boy you mentioned.  

Also I would not put money into a Dana 50 unless it was the only choice, they have there weekness and it is about a $1200.00 fix and then it is still NOT as strong as a Dana 60.  

GM1tonOfFun:
Also I would not put money into a Dana 50 unless it was the only choice, they have there weekness and it is about a $1200.00 fix and then it is still NOT as strong as a Dana 60.

Every axle has some weakest link but a D50 is not cream puff and it is a lot stouter than a D44. It is "rated" at about 90% of the torque capacity of a D60 and has a strong housing and bigger axle shafts than a D44 too. It is not a bad axle and is often overlooked like GM's 9.5 14 bolt axle too.  

Good point and I agree, but I would always choose the strongest axle that fits the application (Mud: big tires + lots of power = big axles needed to avoid breakage).  

GM1tonOfFun:
Good point and I agree, but I would always choose the strongest axle that fits the application (Mud: big tires + lots of power = big axles needed to avoid breakage).

I have no big argument here but biggest possible axle in not always best solution because with it comes weight and clearance issues and neither of which is a asset off road. You want a axle strong enough for task but no need to go overkill just for the sake of doing it.