4x4 conversion

[Willywalderbeast]

Quigley converted several coil spring as well as leaf spring chinooks. I also have a 2002 diesel coil spring Quigley van and it drives like a Cadillac.

Awesome! What are you doing for a lift height wise?

[dougm]

Did you complete this swap Mark? Did you have to modify the exhaust Y pipe? Which transmission is in your rig, did you have to gut it to install the new output shaft? I know on the 4R100 you have to gut the tranny to install the 4x4 output shaft. The others they claim can be changed without yanking the transmission. Did you have to change out the transmission x-member? How much lift did you opt for?

[markatherton]

The Quigley lift is not really very much. It's probably only a couple of inches. It's not really being made with the idea of heavy offroading. It's more for snow country, or sand in Baja. I call it a gentleman's 4x4 chinook. Also dramatically reduces the chances of death wobble. If you stick with the standard Quigley geometry, you will have a better result. Big lifts create problems. However the front crossmember has to be trimmed significantly so when you hit a bump, the front axle doesn't crash into the crossmember. That is why the Quigley reinforcement brackets need to be welded in. (see pictures) The 4R100 transmission will be removed and a 4x4 output shaft and 4x4 tail shaft will be installed while the tranny is being rebuilt. They are sourced from a used F350 4x4 or can be purchased new. I have the Quigley transmission lowering brackets which lower the rear transmission mount to the correct level or you can buy this part from Ujoint offroad if he will sell it to you. The 4r100 will then be mated to an NV (new venture)271 transfer case. You can also use a Borg warner transfer case. I prefer the nv271. You will also need to carefully cut a hole for the 4x4 shifter. Then new driveshafts will be made up (shorter). Not sure yet if I will need to have the diesel exhaust modified but probably yes. I definitely had to modify the exhaust on the gasoline V10. The rear leaf springs are already installed. The chinook was ass high when I bought it. I think prior owner was towing something heavy. Currently the front end is completed. Need to pull the tranny next

[dougm]

Do you know what the part number is for the Quigly front 4 link kit is? I emailed them but no one has responded as of yet. I found this Y pipe for the F series truck, i was wondering if it could be used on the E series to locate the Y pipe over enough to clear the drive shaft.

[dougm]

Im not looking for huge lift. Right now i have the Weldtec 4 inch lift on the front of mine and my dogs i have to jump up in the way it is now because i took off the running boards. Oh did you use the 2005 and newer Dana 60 and did you have any ABS issues? How about track width front versus rear? I would like to use an older Dana 60 with the 8x6.5 hubs so i dont have to buy new wheels but im not sure how a guy would go about adapting the ABS onto it.

[markatherton]

I parted out a Quigley van and used their front axle. They had theirs made specifically for the Quigley vans at time of installation. Quigley will not talk to you unless you furnish them a vin number from your Quigley van. Then they will be very helpful. Converting to a dually hub is another story. I purchased Budd dually hubs and then had the hubs machined to accept the abs tone ring. Then everything else will work from the Quigley axle. You have to use 1997 f350 knuckles and spindles to maintain the 8 on 6.5 bolt pattern. Then you can use the Quigley tie rod drag link spindles, abs sensors etc. I would not attempt this unless you know all of the nuances. I spent about a year doing research before I took these projects on, reading everything I could read about it. To compound, each year Quigley is a bit different and many of the parts are obsolete. I would not attempt this unless you purchase an entire Quigley van so you have every single part. And even then you need to buy the correct year. I did install a coil spring ujoint offroad kit on an e350 van and found the kit to be quite nice. I wouldn't know how to convert the newer axles to dually and they also have the newer metric bolt pattern so it requires you to change the rear axle. With all of that said you can see why I am doing it the way I am doing it. Mark in San Diego

[markatherton]

I know Jeremy at weldtec very well. He is my "go to" guy when I get stuck on something. He will do a Chevrolet 4x4 conversion but he doesn't like to do Ford 4x4 conversion because it is too involved. He has custom made some brackets for me that I needed but it is definitely not something he likes to do. Jeremy does top notch work...

[dougm]

OK, note to self... "dont bother with Quigley". I cant justify paying 5 grand for a ujoint bracket kit so it looks like im on my own this time.