4wd swap 1984 f250 advice?

Hello all. I have a really clean 84 f250 6.9 2wd with a 4 speed I am planning on converting to solid axle 4x4. I just picked up my donor truck today, an 87 f350 6.9 4x4 with a 4 speed.
Any advice as I proceed ? Are the holes there for the spring hangers or will I need to drill on my 2wd? I’m planning on removing the cab on the donor truck to make everything easy. How are the transfer cases, are they typically reliable? I’m thinking about dropping the trans and T case off and having them gone through  The Dana 60 front end looks fairly straight forward on the f350. What are some things I will definitely need ? Trans cross members, etc.
I know I have to regear the axle. It has 4.11s I beleive and my f250 has 3.54s

If it's an '87 I think it would have a BW 1356 case. (Though it may be a 1345)
Mine has been stone reliable.
I have only had to replace the worn tailshaft bushing.

One weak point inside the 1356 is that the oil pump is kept from spinning by an arm that bears on a web inside the case.
The steel arm can wear through the diecast case and spin with the shaft, causing all sort of problems
Lack of lubrication #1.
The solution for this to weld a little cross bar to it or install an updated arm.

So you want to keep your 354's?
I'm pretty sure you'll need the carrier, as well as gears.
I think the carrier split is 4.10.

Gary has just done an SAS in his 250.
But he also installed a reverse shackle kit.
Any way, he has been all up in there in the past couple of months and it is well documented in "Big Blue's Transformation."

I'm sure he could help you understand the spring perches and such.

I 4x4 swapped what started out as an F250 4x2, and none of the holes line up at all. You'll see this when you tear the trucks apart. Also, compare the frames in front of the radiator supports, you'll see the 4x4 frame has an indention for the front shackle hanger bolt, and a cutout for the hanger to move, your 4x2 frame doesn't have any of that.

About the only thing that will bolt right up is the donor transmission, transfer case, and transmission mount....

Shaun,
Since he has a donor might it be easier to cut and weld the frame from the engine crossmember forward?

I know what you mean about the shackle pockets in the front!

Maybe a cab swap would be the easiest route?

I assume "thefineIDI" is Dan Unger that messaged me.  You are going to get a lot of good input here, but it would help the guys if you had a signature that told us about your trucks so we don't have to guess.  And, placing your name there would make it easier to say "Dan" than "thefineIDI".

You might be interested in this thread: Sky's Front Superduty RSK on a 2wd  You aren't planning on doing the Sky reverse shackle kit, but a lot of what VW ran into might apply.

And Shaun has been participating in VW's thread as well as doing something similar on his truck.

But, you might want to consider Jim's suggestion of a cab swap.

In the end, this isn't straightforward, and will be work no matter what way you go.  So I'd suggest that you do some reading and asking questions and then develop your plan from there.

As it stands, if the donor frame is good, it's going to be a lot less work to swap the cab (or cab and engine) than to try and do any of that work with both cab and engine in the way.

Support engine and chassis, pull front beams and springs, hack up frame frame horns (where you likely are supporting it) and get it all done with fenders and engine in there.

If you removed those... it's only 4 mounts to carry the cab over, so why not just start there?

The least work (but some cost) would be the reverse shackle kit that Gary linked. The one potential draw back is there is a bit of inherent lift on top of the F350’s already tall suspension and will need leveled on the back end. The RSK improves the ride and strength. If you don’t want to go that route, then swapping everything onto the donor frame is the next best option in my opinion. It is possible to modify the frame horns to accept the leaf springs and cut and graft the necessary parts onto a 2wd frame, but it is a lot more work than it appears and the general consensus is “not worth it”.

If you do the entire body swap onto the F350 donor frame, you still might want to swap the rear axle and re gear the front, especially with no overdrive. A 6.9 on 4.10’s and no OD is absolutely awful. 3.55’s ~and overdrive is better yet.

If you do the swap the way you plan don't forget the 350 4wd lift blocks and Ubolts in the rear.