I'm thinking about putting my 57 body onto a 74 ford high boy chassis my friend just recently purchased. I haven't gotten around to measuring anything to see if it's a realistic idea or not. Has anyone done this yet? What problems do you think I'll run into? Any suggestions on how to go about this?

 

You will find the 74' too wide for the 57' ! But anyone can make anything fit if the try hard enough, not that you always should though.

Welcome to FTE!

 

why do you want the hi-boy chassis? for the four wheel drive? if thats the case it would probably be as easy to stick in a t-case and front drive axle. would probably look better to.

 

Actually the highboy frame is the same width as the 57, but the wheel base is 15" too long.

 

Add 15 inches to the cab with an extra cab and bob the bed like Thundersnow's!
OK thats just a transient thought! Carry on.

 

Is your 57 a short bed or long? Maybe the right box is all you need. I've considered frame swaps too on projects. It seems to come down to the position of the radiator in the donor cab and how it relates to the front wheel openings of the cab. If that's similar to the frame donor, there's possibilities. Like Spurredon says, be careful with the width. A friend put an old Power Wagon cab and bed on a Suburban chassis. The wheels stuck way out and it really spoiled the vintage look of the P'Wagon.

 

Highboy (F250 4WD) Regular Cab wheelbases w/8' bed.

1961/66: 120" / 1967/72: 131" / 1973/77: 133."

1973/77 F250 4WD's have the same rear frame rail width (behind the cab) as 1961/72's: 33 1/2" as do 1973/79 F350's on the 140" wheelbase.

All other 1973/79 F100/350's have 37 1/2" rear frame rails.

 

Been thinking about the width..... On mine, I used a 92 rear axle from a dually pickup. I'm only running the inside wheels, set up like my old 53 f350 pickup was from the factory. On modern dually pickups, the inner wheel is in the correct width position for a normal pickup bed, the outer is way out there with it's special fender. Mine lines up perfectly with my factory flaredide box, so based on this, both trucks are very near the same width.......

 

Funny I came across this thread. I had the same idea some 25 years ago. After deconstructing my 57 I had the whole thing mocked up, then life got in the way and I never finished it. I chopped about 2 feet off the back of the frame and used spring hangers off of an early blazer to remount the rear axle. The frame width was pretty close but thing sat really high and the axles were pretty wide. Overall I think it would have worked out pretty well, if big trucks are your thing.

After all those years I still have the truck (in parts) and have been rebuilding it over the past two years. I decided after looking at a bunch of those trucks on the web to go low this time. You guys will probably hate it but I'm using an s-10 chassis. I wanted 4 wheel drive with a low stance. (I live in snow country). I'm selling the highboy running gear now.

If I had to do it over again I would definitely keep the original frame and just hang some axles and a transfer case on it. (The way I originally had it built - with jeep wagoneer running gear!) In my case my original frame is long gone and anyway I'm building a hot rod - not a restoration. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

I actually just purchased a 57 ford f250 with what looks to be a dana 44 and 1 ton rear axle behind it. From what it looks like to me the guy used the same 57 frame ( or possibly a late 60's highboy frame) everything works good on mine besides having to put a updated mastercylinder adn brake booster in it. the old steering is in it. if you put it on the 70's frame the biggest thing i was told is tht u will have to get the mounts to line up.