Greetings from the Ford Vans forum! I have a 1986 Centurion E350 fifth-wheel hauler with a custom-made (by the company) 8ft bed. I had fiberglass work done on the bed recently, but overall it's not in very good condition, having a significantly rusted out front edge and bowed/malfunctioning tailgate.




All repairable things, but someone suggested that I could adapt a 80s F350 long bed to it and be able to use conventional truck bed accessories too. The custom one is a few inches shorter (height) than a regular bed as far as I can tell.

I'm wondering if you guys have information on the mounting features of a contemporary F350 duallie bed, such as location of the mounting brackets/types of bushings, etc. Photos of stock or custom bed mounting jobs would also help, as well as knowledge on how E350 cutaways of that era worked in terms of custom body mounting. I have not yet chased down the hardware locations on the Centurion bed - it seems to all be hiding under the fuel tanks and axle, but will have a closer look tomorrow.

 

Your setup is very uncommon, like you said it's "custom". So you will probably be on your own as far as dimensions and such. The only thing I can suggest is find a pickup bed and start measuring things up.

I can tell you that all the pickup beds I have ever messed with did not have any sort of body mounting bushing. They may have had a very thin pad to prevent squeaking, but they all must have disintegrated over time because I have never seen anything but metal to metal for bed mounting to the frame.

 

It is my understanding that van frames are a different width between the rails (looked into a van axle for disc brakes)

That might not put the mounting bolts between the ribs of a truck bed, but idk...

 

Any one know if the style side 8ft bed mounts the same way/points as the duallie?
If so I might be able to get the mounting measurements from the style side.


I have a post on the measurements from top of frame to bed floor on a style side 8 ft bed but did not get measurements of distance between bolts because I am looking to use the 8 ft bed floor to replace the wood floor of my flare side and figured I would need to change them to mount to my frame just have not gotten that far yet.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...asurement.html


Also do you have a picture of the tail gate? Also the inside of the bed?
That may help us figure what was used to make the bed.
Dave ----

 

Bill Vose (85Lebaront2) would be the one to ask.

Darth looks like he has been pieced together from a few '86 350 duallies.

 

My 1985 F350 Dually has a 12' flatbed that is set on the truck with 2'-3' lengths of hardwood between the bed and frame. It is held on by large U bolts every 3-4 feet down the length of the bed (keeps from vertical separation). Finally, at the end, the rear bumper/hitch is attached to the frame using several pieces of angle iron to keep the bed from being pulled off horizontally.


This is not my vehicle, just an example of the mounting method I found in an image search.

 

Look the numbers up on your vin. If you have a K in your 4th digit I bet you have a cab and chassis truck. That's a totally different animal from the cab rearward compared to a dually pickup.

 

^^^^^ +1; just looking at the pic, that does NOT look like a pickup frame.

 

My dually is presently 3 hours away from me and I couldn't take pictures of it so I did a quick search on the internet to find an example. Yes, I'm aware this is not a pickup frame, but the technique is the same. Please note the comment on the image that said:

PS: My F350 also doesn't fall into the "Check the VIN" category since it is a rebuilt previously salvaged vehicle with a state-assigned identification number that doesn't follow the normal VIN pattern. Pretty sure it was a cab and chassis, though, since completed pickups didn't come with that long of frame.

 

The cab and chassis trucks had a narrower frame behind the cab than a pickup. The rearend was narrow also, and the rear leaf springs are only 2.5 inches wide. They were setup for standard aftermarket bodies to fit them. I am not sure what you would have to do to retro fit a pickup bed on one, if it could even be done and look right.(assuming the wheelbase was the same).

 

4th digit of a 17 digit VIN (1981 thru today) defines the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (K = Class C - 10,001-14,000 lbs.), does not define a Cab & Chassis or a pickup.

The 5th/6th/7th digits of the VIN (series code) defines a Regular/Crew Cab or Super Cab or Cab & Chassis.

F350 examples: F37 = F350 2WD Cab & Chassis // F38 = F350 4WD Cab & Chassis.

The OP's Econoline may have been sold new as an E350 Cut-Away, but the OP needs to post the VIN to verify.

 

Pickups(trucks with beds) have 36" wide frame rails
Cab-n-chassis (trucks with no bed from factory) have 34" wide frame rails

Something else to consider
A regular cab PICKUP has a 133" wheel base
A regular cab C-N-C has a 137"/50"CA or a 161" /84"CAWheel base

So trying to put a pickup bed on a cab-n-chassi truck leave a BIG gap between the back of the cab and the front of the bed.

You need to measure your Van frame rails and also what the CA is (cab to axle measurement )

IF your wheel base lines up with a pickup, it is pretty easy to put a pickup bed on a cab-n-chasssi frame. Either drill 6 new holes in the bed inside the original holes or make angle brackets outside the frame rails that the bed can bolt to

 

Well if the van needs a longer bed than the 8' you could weld 2 together for the size needed.


The OP van skin also does not use the same skin as our trucks as it has the "dent" front to back.
Don't think he could use a dent side bed/body panels as the bottom part does not have the right lines.


I think what ever bed he finds for a close fit go for it and re-skin the sides using sheet metal for a van.
I think at this point he is looking for a bed frame, floor/front wall/side walls, to hang new skin on.
Dave ----

 

Howdy guys,

Thanks for the insight so far. I have some more observations from digging around underneath! Here is the VIN tag:



So the reason I said "bushing" is because the bed seems to be mounted to the frame through these large rubber bumpers:




Here's one from the underside.



The bushings line up with these carriage bolts in the bed. These appear to hold the bed to the cross rails underneath, the bushings are then bolted to the cross rails.



I measured the cab-to-axle length as either 55" or 56". This is from the center of the axle forward until the tape measure hits the back of the van part.

 

I got out to the garage to get some measurements from my long bed parts truck.


They are ruff measurements as I did not have a drop light and was hard to see the tape.
Back of bed to first bolt 3-1/2"
From that first bolt to the next 32"
From 2nd bolt to 3rd 22-1/4"
From 3rd bolt to 4th 39" (back of cab)


Now I also tried to do my short but it does not have a bed so I started from the back of cab working to the rear of frame.
22-5/8" between bolt holes
From 2nd bolt to 3rd 22"
From 3rd bolt to 4th 30-1/4" or 31-1/2" as there are 2 bolt holes close to the end of the frame and don't know what one is used to mount the bed.
Dave ----