Not to long ago I introduced myself and asked a few questions pertaining to swapping the chassis under my 1984 F150 2wd. Now the project is well under way, and I felt it better to split my thread and post progress, updaes and ask questions here.

This is my truck as it sits right now. 1984 F150 2wd. 300 6cyl with a C6.



At the recomendation of a few members, I considered going with a 4wd chassis....and actually ended up with an entire 3/4 ton chassis the same configuration as my own truck (regular cab long bed). My friend had picked up a 1987 F250 at his yard with an extrememly solid frame. For $400.00, I got the entire rolling chassis with the transmission axles and etc. He has a few other f-series at his yard as well, and I am welcome to whatever I need to complete my conversion/ restoration.

This was the Donor truck a week and a half ago...





Since then, I have slowly been chipping away. After I drop my son off for school, I swing by the yard and put a few hours in plucking away. As of today, the cab and bed are off, bumpers are off, motor is out, rear tank is gone and misc other garbage...








...I am slowly making progress. I am hoping to get the chassis power washed and complete stripping it tomorrow or Wednesday, so I can get it back to my house and prep it for paint and reconstruction.
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Quick question about brakes!

Before I run out and buy all new pads/rotors and possibly calipers....are there any upgrades in braking for these models. For instance, do any of the newer brake setups fit these older trucks and provide an improvement over stock (stock back then anyways lol). Thanks!

 

Looks like a great project, but i would've saved the cab off the donor truck. It looks fairly solid. I wish I had friends that owned a yard as I need many parts for the crazy plans I have. Lol looking forward to following this build.

 

I don't know about upgrades other than ceramic pads for the front. I've used Hawk pads with good luck.

 

An upgrade to the f250/350 is the hydroboost system off a f450. See if he has one in the yard. You can just put the booster and the steering pump reservoir and lines on it, but the best way is to duplicate the f450, with the different master cylinder and pedal arm that go with it. This system increases the pressure and makes braking effort much less.

You will also need to look at the brakes on your donor chassis. A lot of these later trucks had rear abs (RABS). They did away with the proportioning valve, and instead used a speed sensor in the rearend, along with a circuit board and a valve thing in the line going to the rear. Like everything else, this system worked good when new, but will tend to fail as they get older, and parts are outrageous in price.

Some people just bypass the RABS with a new line going to the master(this is what I did on my truck). It works ok for me, but it's just straight brakes, no proportioning valve or anything. Some people also try to retro fit a proportioning valve off a older truck.

 

Progress has been extremely slow moving with the holidays and the weather. Right now, the rolling chassis has been tucked away in the corner waiting for my attention....

HOWEVER....something came into the yard this week that really sparked my interest in the project again....a regular cab diesel dually bull-nose! I had never seen this body style dually before, and the biggest thing is how clean the bed is! No rot anywhere on it!

I am REALLY considering lowering the truck, and swaping the dually axle and bed onto my new frame. I mostly will use the truck just for putting around town and towing my race car...and I feel like it would be a pretty cool looking rig.

Man...this project is snowballing quite quickly lol.

I will get some photos up tomorrow to collect some input.
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Franklin....are the hydroboost setups in the GMs similar? He doesent have any f450s however, I have a few setups off newer HD gm vans and trucks.

 

Some guys have used the GM stuff, but it doesn't bolt in quite like the Ford. I believe some pushrod modifications along with mounting mods may be required. But some people have made them work.