F 150 8.8 Axle Swap with disc brakes?

[Tubstinator]

I was hoping to gather some info for an idea that popped in my head. I am currently redoing my truck and am going to add a 3" body lift along with about 1.5" of suspension lift. My brother has an 95 F150 and my dad was a big Scout fan back in the day and they use the 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern. I want to be able to use all there wheels and still gain a wider wheel base. For the front I was going to buy 1.25" wheel adapters that take the 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern to a 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern. I have heard some bad things about the spacers/adapters and am willing to risk them in the front because I really don't have a choice, but for the rear I was thinking about buying an f 150 8.8 with disc brakes and buying axle shafts and rotors for the 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern. So I have a few questions.

1) What year did the f 150s switch the rear brakes to disk?

2) Are the lengths of the axle shafts the same for f 150 models that have disc brakes the same as the axle shafts for the f 150s that ran the 5 on 5.5 (like the 95s)?

3) Could I take out my 3.73 gears LS in the rear and put them in the f150 axle?

4) Should I just buy two pairs of wheel adapters for the front and the rear?

Thanks everybody!
-Tubs-

P.S. I might come up with more question the more I think on it lol

 

[Tubstinator]

Bump*

 

[RomeovilleIL]

Rims = axel swap?

You are asking about doing an axel swap soley to use a set of rims you like?

Adapters set your wheels out an inch or two putting strain on the lugs and changing the geometry of the weight distribution on the tires. Problems generally only appear when towing heavy loads, hard offroading, and extreme speeds. If you are willing to use adapters up front, why not on the rears as well? You'll have just as many, if not more, potential breakage risks up front & those are your steering tires!

But hey man, I'm all for cool conversions so if you want a do a build - have at it & please post pics!

 

[RomeovilleIL]

If you are willing to swap out the rear, you certainly do have a choice up front. Go SAS!

 

[Stic-o]

1) What year did the f 150s switch the rear brakes to disk? 1997

2) Are the lengths of the axle shafts the same for f 150 models that have disc brakes the same as the axle shafts for the f 150s that ran the 5 on 5.5 (like the 95s)? pre-96 8.8 never had disc on 150/bronco, in '97 they changed the pattern to 5x135

3) Could I take out my 3.73 gears LS in the rear and put them in the f150 axle? Yes

4) Should I just buy two pairs of wheel adapters for the front and the rear? No, search under my name for this. I'm running a '89 Bronco 8.8 that I reused the disc set up from my Ex 8.8.