My 2002 CCSB SuperDuty 7.3, is in great condition and reliable. It is however the WORST vehicle ever for getting stuck. Wet grass, slightly soft sand and possibly even sitting still for too long in one spot render it STUCK, really stuck. I attribute this to lots of weight on the front end and none on the rear. It does have a functioning LS rear end that will pull 14K lbs out of a boat ramp with minimal drama, probably due to 1K tongue weight. I would like to carry a truck camper and do some moderate off road trips out west soon. I've kinda ruled out a 4wd conversion, but am open to ideas. Is there any way to make this thing somewhat capable on dirt roads, wet grass, etc. Maybe a PreRunner approach? Any and all ideas appreciated.
2WD SuperDuty, any hope for offroad
- Thread starter Huffy
- Start date
sdemarcus
Member
My money would be in a rear locker, removable winch, and a land anchor for good measure. Although my truck is 4wd when I travel "off road" I rarely need to engage it. IMO 2wd with the right combination of traction at the rear wheels will get most explorers to there destination without any issues, and might even make the trip more challenging as well as fun. The winch and land anchor would just be a great insurance just in case. It's always a good idea to use what you have to learn what you need before you over buy like most off us on this site like to do.
Good luck and safe travels.
Good luck and safe travels.
This. Tire selection & tire pressure are key variables. Remember, even SCORE Trophy Trucks are 2wd. Okay, sure TTs have awesome suspensions & power, but they're still 2wd.
mdmead
Adventurer
Chains! I was always amazed the places my step-dad took us in his old ex-Dept. of Ag. 2wd pickup back in the late 70s. He ran a set of aggressive mud and snow tires and when we got stuck (mud or snow), chaining up was all that was needed to move us on our way. I agree with the other comments regarding a true locker, tire pressure and a winch.
2025 deleted member
Well-known member
I would look at a rear locker, mild lift, and a winch. As others have stated above.
DividingCreek
Explorer
I have a crew long bed and with 174 inch wheelbase, its damn easy to get stuck. I have old school manual hubs and a manual shift tcase and the 4wd works well. Why have you ruled out a 4wd swap ?
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underdrive
jackwagon
^^^ IMHO this should be your first purchase. Then follow up with this:mdmead said:
sdemarcus said:
A selectable locker would be preferred, you have a choice of ARB (air-powered) or OX (initially only cable-actuated, currently with options for air or electric as well). A winch strong enough to pull your truck and camper as a dead weight, so at the very least 9k but 12k is better. Being able to move it between front and rear bumper would be a huge advantage, bonus points if you have side receivers as well. Ground anchor AND tree savers, cause there aren't always suitable trees to hook up to but when there are damaging them is not a very responsible thing to do.
And then there is a lot of truth in this statement:
155mm said:
Finally, do consider the fact that your truck can easily be converted to 4x4 with not much more than a coil-sprung front axle out of a 2005 and newer truck, a divorced-mounted NP205 transfer case out of a 70s truck, and three driveshafts.
I would be fine with a 4X4 conversion if the cost were reasonable and the results reliable. That said, I am not very experienced with 4 wheel drive and from my google level research it looks like $5K plus and a cob job. If it were $2-3K and the result reliable it would be a easy decision. Is this a realistic cost? I am comfortable doing the work and hunting parts. Thanks, Rick
Adventure IQ
Explorer
Winch and rear lockers...had an xterra that got stuck in everything....converted to a desert runner....armored bumper, warn zeon winch, modest lift and rear lockers
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TxFarmTruck
Powerstrokin'
I think you will be fine with good tires and a little weight on the tail end, maybe a winch if you are out by yourself. My 4x4 Super Duty weighs 9k+ and it sees ruts, ravines, mud, etc every day on the farm. I run 285 Cooper ATP's and only shift into 4wd once in a blue moon as a self recovery effort. A Super Duty is mainly limited by its size, add a winch some a/t's and drive it anywhere it fits.
prestonpreuss
Observer
Definitely tires, can't stress that enough. A locker is obviously useful. Try a leveling kit to get more of that weight on the rear axle. I am going through the same thing with my 1977 2wd f150. The next thing I am purchasing is a set of smittybuilt element ramps, then going to suspension tuning.
underdrive
jackwagon
Google search is really only useful to for narrowing down better sources for the information you need - in this case those would be Powerstroke Army and Powerstroke Nation. I'm not saying you can't get good advice here, but statistically you have better chances over there as all they drive is Fords, whereas here we have a huge mix and match of everything. You can also try ih8mud and of course Pirate4x4. We have seen in person an OBS ('96 IIRC) converted to 4x4 using the '05-up coil-spring axle, I can assure it was anything but a cob job - from what the person was describing it was nearly a bolt-on affair, and information on the aforementioned discussion boards seems to confirm that. IIRC the only thing he fabricated was a tracbar mount as the Superduty one wouldn't work for his frame, but you are starting off with a Superduty truck so rhis may not be an issue for you.
Where you can screw up hard is while fabricating the crossmember to support the transfer case if you go with a standalone NP205 as I had suggested earlier. However now I seem to recall seeing it mentioned somewhere that the 4R100 transmissions are able to be switched between 2wd and 4x4 by simply swapping the tail housing and output shaft while transmission is still in the truck - that would allow you to run a standard "married"-type transfer case (bolts up to the transmission directly) so no fab work then, heck if you're lucky you'll even be able to use factory driveshafts for a 4x4 truck of your model. That is if your truck is automatic, with the stick-shifts IIRC the trans has to come apart, which oddly enough is what we'll be doing soon to get the gear ratios we want in the case we need.
As far as cost goes, that really depends on where you source you parts and what condition they're in. We've bought cheap axles that needed very little amount of work to bring them back to 100%, and we've seen some listed for a grand nevermind they needed at least half that in additional parts to make them semi-reliable. Shop around, don't be in a hurry, check regularly your craigslist for someone parting a wrecked truck and the junkyards for one that was already scrapped. $3 budget should be easy to meet as long as you don't have to regear the axles, pretty much everything but a gear swap is very DYI-friendly so you'll probably only be paying for the parts.
Having said all that, I think you should first upgrade your current equipment as suggested by the other folks here. If that's not enough to get you in (and more importantly, OUT of) the places you wanna visit then start gathering parts for the 4x4 swap. Tho IMHO everyone who has the opportunity for an easy and affordable 4x4 swap should jump on it, true it may not be needed 95% of the time but the other 5% can save you big on tow-truck services and possible repair work
We do not own anything that isn't 4x4, if it was 2wd when it left the assembly line it gets switched to 4x4 first chance we get - it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it 
bftank
Explorer
2wd to 4wd conversion is pretty much a bolt in swap. all the holes are already there. you could swap in a 2005+ d60 with radius arms and coilsprings or due the 99-04 leaf sprung 60. either is extremely doable. the 05+ swap uses alot of the same holes that your 2wd coil spring and radius arm mounts use. 05+ is bigger wider, and stronger than the 99-04.
the nv271 tcase has a lot more strength than the np205 does. i would stick with the nv271 married to a 4r100 or zf6.
that being said...
lots of prerunner gofast desert trucks do just fine 2wd. most of them focus on getting more weight in the back to do so though. and they dont have a heavy diesel in the front. so to make a 2wd work you are going to need to focus on your weight distribution.
just some ideas
-lightweight front bumper with reciever for winch. winch stored inn the rear
-move batteries to the back,
-use an excursion tank behind the rear axle either in addition to stock tank or in place of.
-skidplating out of aluminum.
fullsize spare mounted behind rear axle.
-definitely a rear locker of some sort, detroit or arb
-floatation in your tire selection will be key. 37x12.5 would be awesome. (im thinking of all the sand down there)
i just finished swapping a 2006 dana 60 with radius arms into my 2000 excursion using all factory components, so its still fresh in my mind if you need a resource.
edit: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/desert-racing/651566-long-travel-super-duty-kit.html
https://myspace.com/superdutyinnovations/photos
the nv271 tcase has a lot more strength than the np205 does. i would stick with the nv271 married to a 4r100 or zf6.
that being said...
lots of prerunner gofast desert trucks do just fine 2wd. most of them focus on getting more weight in the back to do so though. and they dont have a heavy diesel in the front. so to make a 2wd work you are going to need to focus on your weight distribution.
just some ideas
-lightweight front bumper with reciever for winch. winch stored inn the rear
-move batteries to the back,
-use an excursion tank behind the rear axle either in addition to stock tank or in place of.
-skidplating out of aluminum.
fullsize spare mounted behind rear axle.
-definitely a rear locker of some sort, detroit or arb
-floatation in your tire selection will be key. 37x12.5 would be awesome. (im thinking of all the sand down there)
i just finished swapping a 2006 dana 60 with radius arms into my 2000 excursion using all factory components, so its still fresh in my mind if you need a resource.
edit: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/desert-racing/651566-long-travel-super-duty-kit.html
https://myspace.com/superdutyinnovations/photos
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