1995 ford e350 7.3L V8 OHV 16V TURBO DIESEL

Can I drop an extended passenger body on something like this -



Is it legally and practically driveable like this or will it stand on the front bumper the first time I apply the brakes?

Do rear AC and heater lines stay with the body when lifted off the frame?

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 193K miles

 

So is this like free or something? I'm not imagining too many situations you'd want to drive it as is, although it could be legal with lights and bumper in back. Colossal project to cut a passenger van body off and splice it onto that. Outside of attaching another body meant for a cutaway van or putting a flatbed on it I can't see any easy way to make it useful. I guess if you need a project vehicle and don't plan to sell it for more than you have into it, that could be it.

 

Free?
No: obviously the answer is

HALF PRICE

LOL!!!!

(Get it? Cuz it's half a van?)

 

i think you could do lots of cool stuff with this. mini car hauler, camper, dump truck.. the list is endless

 

I "think" you could simply attach semi-permanently stop/park/turn lights to the rear and run it as is-----big trucks run in the "bob tail" configuration all the time for various reasons. What we can't see is what sort of back panel is just behind the seats----plastic wrap like brand new cut aways? Shouldn't be a thru-the-windshield experience when driven carefully---stand on the brake and don't be too surprised at what happens next---probably some rear wheel hopping.

This was most likely a chassis with a service body removed and transplanted to a newer chassis. Given that I'd wonder its condition or why it was retired.

Body swapping etc tends to be more complex and tool-intensive than most of us have at home. Member HotAirJunkie did this a while back---would make good reading for anyone thinking along those same paths: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...on-a-99-a.html

 

The key question - is it likely to be the same frame as an extended body E350 or do cutaways have different frames? At least it's not a dually but I don't see a tank filler pipe. To JWA's point, I see a lot of yard through the windows so it might be completely open aft of the seats and would have to be towed to the swap site.

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 193K miles

 

Good point about all the visble yard----second thought says it might have had a cube box with pass-thru opening.

I'm not clear on the cutaway's vs full bodied E-Series---the wheel base looks like a standard E350, typically measuring 138".

While this job isn't particularly difficult in the mental sense the physical part is the real challenge. If you've read through HotAirJunkie's thread you see some of what lies ahead.

If the price is right and you've got time, space, tools and even more time this might be doable.

 

I agree that it could be driven like this, but I wanted to point out that bobtail tractors are THE MOST DANGEROUS THINGS ON THE ROAD. Handling is beyond awful, and braking distance is almost double that of a loaded truck. Nothing handles worse than a bobtail. I wouldn't expect this to be as bad as a bobtail tractor, but you wouldn't want to drive it like that any longer than absolutely necessary.

The companies I drove for made a policy to bobtail as little as possible, and a large part of that is safety.

 

find a box from a older box truck and put it on

 

If it truly had 110K on it, dropping a van body on it wouldn't be a TOTAL waste of money...

 

That thing was born as an ambulance, so the 110k mls MIGHT be correct, BUT how many thousands of hours was the engine sitting there idling?
And don't forget, ambulances and other emergency vehicles get driven hard and without mercy running codes (15+ yrs. volunteer rescue squad truck driver talking here).

 

waste of time