I'm new here, that's no excuse for not following protocol, but have been researching and reading many interesting ideas which 'almost' fit my situation.
My situation is exactly the opposite to a thread titled 'swapping a 1987 cab onto a 1996 frame'.
Please point me in the right direction so I can set my ideas adrift on the great sea of FTE.


I have a 1996 F-350 CrewCab 4x2 Dually 460 gasser & 5-speed manual w/8' box. The cab and box are from Texas and in zero-rust condition.
I have a 1987 F-250 Ext Cab Lariat 4x4 6.9 Diesel w/4-speed manual w/8' box. (I recently scrapped the box and cab since rust destroyed the sheet metal, but I saved the complete dash/firewall assembly.)

My goal is to drive a diesel 4x4 CC dually.

Is it possible to remove the Crew Cab and front clip from the F-350 and mount it on the F-250 frame? (I realize the F-350 is 13.4" longer than the F-250 frame.)
Anybody done this before?

What's more work -
1) carrying over the 4x4 parts to the F-350 frame?
or
2) carrying the good CrewCab over to the F-250 frame?

I can live without the dually, but I hate the thought of scrapping something of value.
I would like to make the most of what I have!

Thanks for listening.
<!-- / message -->

 

so you have the entire 96, but just the frame from the 87?

swap over the 4x4 parts. you will need a new transmission/transfercase and the front driveshaft.

 

Depends on if you want an 8' bed, or a short bed.

 

Aren't the CC rear body mounts at the rear of the cab? If so, the body will not bolt up to the extended cab chassis.

Honestly, you'd probably be better off swapping the 6.9 into the F-350, or finding a second hand 7.3 PSD to swap in. You'd get better brakes and a stronger chassis with the 96 as well.

 

I've thought this thru for a while now.
I've come to the conclusion that it will become an issue of 'removing frame rivots and relocating mounts, shackles, or frame cross members'.
In either scenario, I'll need to move one or some of those.

An 8' box would be nice, but like the dually is not a priority.

I removed everything BUT the radiator bracket on the F-250.
Fenders, hood, etc. are gone. I cut the pillars at the dash and floor from door to door. I lifted off the cab and box (as they crumbled). What remains are the front cab mounts/firewall/dash - so I can start/steer/move the diesel.

I don't see why I'd need a different tranny/transfercase, since I'd be relocating the transfercase bracket if I use the F-350 frame.
If I use the F-250 frame, I'd need to relocate the rear cab mount brackets.
Seems to me the latter choice would involve less work.

I believe that the 8th & 9th generation trucks could be interchanged, but I'm not an expert.

I forgot to mention I have the F-250 HD w/D50 TTB front end...

Any thoughts?

 

I'll be doing this soon. But it's a 92 crewcab and a 95 xcab.
The radiator support and front cab mounts are the same location...
You put the crewcab onto the xcab chassis and bolt up the cab mount, then add the correct cab mount where needed for the crewcab. Cut them off the old frame and redrill and bolt where needed.

Yes it will be an odd sized shortbed, but you can make a sweet flatbed for it, or get creative and chop up an 8foot bed to make it fit.

Wiring and stuff will be majorly different, but if you saved all the dash and wiring you can swap that all in if you want the little older dash in it. I'd probably just try to wire the diesel into the gasser wiring. It only needs a few wires to make it run. Then wrap up all the gasser wires you don't need. You can live without a tach for now until an electronics guru figures it out, or you find a diesel speedo cluster to hopefully work with some luck.

All the sensors and wiring from the gasser can get retrofitted. The + coil wire can operate the fuel solenoid and the starter wire of the 460 can run the starter. Green of the coil - can possibly be hooked to the tach signal of the diesel if there isnt a module used to drive the tach. Find a wiring diagram and we can take a look.

 

Thanks for the reply UNTAMD

I am an optimist first and try to find solutions to problems.

My bro-in-law (with a first class pole-barn shop w/anything you'd ever want or need in it) says I'm insane. But I know it is a do-able project. I'm looking for the simpler solution which, I believe we both agree on, is to use the 1987 F-250 as the build frame and only move the rear cab mount brackets.

Now to convince him to let me have the shop for a few days of 24/7 intense work.

I was thinking of using the diesel dash cluster (or at least the glow plug WAIT and WATER in FUEL gaugues) but as you say, that can wait until a better mind tackles it.

Another concern is with cab height and box height.

The F-350 is a straight frame. The F-250 has a rise aft of the mid-ship fuel tank. If I mod the 8' box to fit, will I need to raise the cab an additional 2" to match the box?

I'm also going to pull the dually wheels to see if I can use them on the F-250s D60 rear hubs. Is that a straight swap?
On first glance, the Rear leafs of the F-250 have 5 and the F-350 only 3. Is the F-250 stronger?

Thanks in advance.

 

Some of the problems you are going to run into are the same if not slightly different than the people who are doing a diesel conversion in there existing truck. as far as doing the body swap that is just a matter of moving mounts around to accommodate the longer cab/shorter bed. The only real problem I foresee with this build is the instruments and controls from a gasser working with a diesel. your best bet is to find a diesel truck at the scrap yard and pull the instrument cluster out of it.

 

I have the diesel dash.

 

But will the older style dash fit in the newer style cab??

 

The 96 F-350 has an ECU (ECM).
The 87 F-250 does not.

Do I keep the wiring from the 87 F-250 (since its already there) and swap only the center cluster from the dash of the 87 INTO the dash of the 96?

 

The cab is the same. If you removed the WHOLE dash and not just the speedo, it will bolt right in at the door post (or with a few new holes drilled)

Like I said. If you have a complete under dash harness and stuff, it may be easier to yank the gasser stuff out and put the diesel dash in along with all the wiring.

 

Thanks.

Any thoughts about the rear-end?

The F-250 has a 5-leaf set-up (correction 6-leaf set-up).
The F-350 has a 3-leaf set-up.

Should I keep the F-250 rear spring set-up and try to put the duallys on them? Or is that not possible?
I assume they are the same rear end (D60) and hubs.
Obviously, I don't want to mess with changing the ratios already on the F-250s D60.

 

How do you figure? Either way it still gets the F250 suspension and drive-train.

Your 87 may have the D60, D70, or the 10.25 (short pinion), your 96 should have the 10.25 (long pinion).

Look under the 87 and see if there is an electrical plug on top of the axle, if there is then it is the 10.25.

 

Post '94 F-250/350 moved up to a 13" rotor. Earlier trucks had a 12.5" rotor. Doesn't sound like much, but that's an extra 10 square inches of braking surface per side. But since it seems he wants 4x4, it's a moot point.

To each his own I guess.