Looking futher into my 86 4wd f150 king cab, I notice when they put in the carb engin they cut most all the wires going to/from the computer. How hard is it to take out a harnes from another truck and put it back in the 86? I figure now that my best bet is to use my 85 2wd king cab for parts. put that rear end into my 86 shortcab 4wd. Then, slowly start building and restoring and custumizing the 86 4wd king cab. Another question: The 86 short cab is pretty rusted. Rusted to the point the bed sides are no longer (at least on one side) all that stable. Sence this is a good runing truck, is it out of the question to start repacing panels? At this point i only have $500 into this truck. It would make a great back up truck for me. Possable even with a plow

 

Been there, done that and I know your pain. Switching a harness isn't that hard, it's just a little time consuming. I am in Virginia now but was in Arizona for the past year where I was a regular at the salvage yards. A lot of trucks in these yards have wiring harnesses that are in great shape(in Arizona that is) I haven't looked back east yet but I can tell you that even some of the worst banged up trucks in the yard have great wiring inside. Thats because it is protected from the elements, and usually dry. Make sure you take a Phillips, and Flat blade screwdriver, needle nose pliers and wire cutters. A set of Vice Grips never hurts for the surprises that always pop up. To get your interior wiring you will have to dissasemble most of the dash, not hard but it takes time, and the owners must be willing to let you as well. The main thing is to get a harness out of a truck that is as close to the same electrical gear as yours as you can. After you get it home clean it up and check for any damage, and for the cleanliness of the connections. After that pull yours out and put the new one in. Start at one side and work your way to the other that way you can be sure to cover all the connections. Also, note any differences that you find when connecting it up. Specifically wire colors and number of wires in a connector. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't that bad. I have rewired my truck completly, (the cab twice). The first harness I switched into the cab worked for 80% but I couldn't gety the last thing to work right (Fuel system) so I redid it again, this time with a wiring harness that was identical to the original. Hope this helps, remember just take your time and you'll get it the first time, if you start rushing you'll end p doing it 2 or 3 times, believe me I know.

 

Thanks....
I am pulling it out of an 85 2wd and putting it into an 86 4wd. i am asuming the only thing what will not work corectly is the 4wd light. Other then that, and the year, they are the same truck. Now all i need is good weather. First i plan to take the rear end out of the 2wd and put that in a 86 short cab 4wd. thus, i will have one working truck.
Then, slowly start to over hall the 86 4wd king cab. I am undesided if i want to rebuld the egin from the 85 as well the transmission. But in the end, I plan to have a nice 86 4wd king cab all customed out with the other 86 short as a back up or plow truck, heck, maybe after the first custom/restore, i might do the same to the other.

 

I just pulled my 84 F250 2WD Body/engine and Tranny off the frame and put it on the frame of an 83 F250 4WD. Prior to doing the swap I had cleaned and painted the 4x4 frame and I put a 3" body lift on when I put it back together. I kept my 84 rearend and springs, because with the exception of the seals on the differnential I had already replaced the entire rear end minus the gears(brakes/drums/cables). I also put on new Heavy Duty leaf springs up front to help compensate for the extra weight of the 460 ( the original engine in the 4WD was a 351W). The only issue I ran into in the conversion was my oil filter wouldn't mount up in the original position on the 4WD due to the cross amember. I had to cut a little bit, but I put a dual remote filter on and its working fine. The last issue was steering, I just rplaced my Tie-Rods, Drag Link, inner Tie rod, and adjusting sleeves and got the front end aligned. All seems to be fine right now. As far as the differences go, there is a wire that goes from the transfer case up to your fuse box, and then up to the 4wd light on the dash, as long as you get that off your doner truck you should be fine. It is literally just plug and play. Good luck.