Just dropped mine off for 4x4 conversion

[cjkdigiacomo]

Manitou, That is one nice looking rig. I have a 1998 premier that I am looking to get converted to 4x4. I picked up a 2008 rv with a quigley 4x4 conversion on it. The 08 had a fire that destroyed the rig and I am hoping to use it for parts. I just dropped off the donor rv to a local mechanic to strip it down for parts. Once stripped I will drop off the 98 so the conversion can begin. I noticed you commented that you had some issues with the conversion process. If you could offer some advice I would be grateful. Thanks, Chris

[Manitou]

Yes, I'm still fighting issues months later. Who are you having do the conversion? Have they done one before? What are you doing about the rear axle bolt pattern? Leaf spring or coils up front?

[cjkdigiacomo]

Thanks for the quick response. The conversion is being done by a local guy out of his backyard. This was not my first pick but I spoke with several shops and they all seemed interested at first but then they never returned my calls.

This backyard mechanic does fabrication and mechanical work at his main job but he has never done a conversion before.

The current plan is to remove the entire rear axle from the donor and drill new holes to bolt it up to the frame of my rig. We plan to also reuse the rear leaf springs since they are newer than mine and supply a little added height. The donor rear will also include disc brakes, a nice replacement to my drums.

We are using the entire front end from the donor which has coil springs. The donor was all professionally done by quigley. Unfortunately quigley would not offer any advice regarding my plan (legal issues they said). The front axle looks to be out of an F350 or F450 and will require slight cutting of the frame to clear the differential.

One of my biggest concerns is with the tranny. The transmission on mine is different from the donor rv and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the tcase will bolt up to my tranny without any major trouble. It looks like quigley added some type of adapter to connect the tranny to the tcase. I hope this adapter will work on mine.

Thanks for your time,
Chris

[Manitou]

Well I hope you have a better experience than I. Sounds like a lot of things still to work out for you though. I was told my rig wouldn't accept a newer rear axle even from a dually donor. Also, was told they can't make correct spacer/adapters to use the same bolt pattern all around.
I also had/have terrible "death wobble". I also had abs light issues (that one is finally resolved, but I had to come up with the solution myself.
Good luck! Let me know how things go.
I've only been through this once, so not an expert by any means.