How much money is involved in this conversion?

[TurboChris]

As far as chipping goes....in my opinion there is NO downside. Diesels get the most amazing gains from aftermarket software...if you decide to do it...you'll be VERY impressed. It can present a problem with warranties...although technically they "can't void your warranty on something that breaks unless they can show it was caused by the installation of the "chip". (See Magnusson-Moss warranty act) but some dealers WILL use it as an excuse to not cover something and in that case you'd have to find a dealer that is "chip friendly" (more and more every day) or take em to court. ie; If they deny you coverage on your cooling system because you have a chip...you'd win.

[Ponyracer]

2wd is possible depending where you want to go but 1 good stuck and the cost of getting un stuck.....you could put quite a dent in the cost of your 4wd conversion. Plus for me it's a piece of mind thing, yes I wheeled for alot of years in a water pumper bug on 33's so I've seen where a 2wd can go but unless your in the desert and hp and wheelspeed is king then go to the 4x4.

Winches, 1.5 times the vehicle weight, so I'd def look at a 15K. I have compaired the hydro and elect til the cows came home and they both have there benefits. I will be going to an electric for 2 reasons. 1. no leaks, 2. The newer trucks use hydroboost, so your ps pump is already controlling the steering and brakes. I don't like the idea of adding another chore unless your boosting the system or running an aux engine pump just for the winch. Yes I know, the winch won't affect normal driving but what if it did just 1 time? I like my steering and brakes thanks anyway.

If it were me, with your setup I'd put a grill gaurd on the stock bumper and have a custom reciever built in with a HD reciever mount. you can wire up quick connects front and rear easily enough. Nothing is worse than getting stuck with a forest behind you when the winch is bolted to the front. If you do go with a solid mount, look into a pull pall, could save your bacon.

By all means, rear locker and multi mount winch with some good E rated tires and see how you like it, and if you need 4x. If you do convert down the road it won't be money wasted as you need those items anyway.

[EXP-T100]

way2hip dont know if you wonted to keep the suspension independent or go sold axle but i have done a hand full of sold axle swap and its always way more than you would think, on a toyota weather your talking and 86 pickup or an 04 taco you are looking at a cool 5k to 10k if your not using any fancy axle like a dynatrac. if you wont to keep in independent find a truck thats been totaled (not in the front) and pull every thing. The easy cheap way is to get another truck thats a 4x4. But like a lot have said you will be amazed how far you can get with just a locker in a 2wd truck.

Josh

[60beforetruck]

Hey new hear but, I do do have a 04 duramax with a dana 60 under the front end. LOVE MY FRONT END! I used a Offroad Unlimited kit with Atlas springs and bilstein 7100 shocks. The truck rides great. Not cheap to do but worth it. You can always bolt in the IFS. I sold a lot of my parts to a guy with a 2wd truck.

The duramax and allison is great but no straight axel is what gets GM.

Brian