Hi Everyone,
I recently acquired a restorable 53 F-100 short bed. I want to use it for a shop truck but I want to make it somewhat unique. I would like to set it up on a 4WD chassis with an automatic trans. and a moderately built up 302. I have a restored Miller Big 40 engine driven welding machine I want to mount in the bed. I might opt to build a special bed for it because it may not be possible to get the side doors on the welder to swing up and I will probably need space for lock boxes and oxy-acetylene tanks. As of now this is a project purely in the planing and dreaming stages. I'm not looking for this to be a show grade truck but I do want the body work and fabrication to look professional as it will be a working representation of my skills and shop capabilities. I'm posting this thread in order to get some ideas and maybe some experiences with others who have done similar projects. I am especially interested in hearing from anyone who has done the 4WD mod with one of these 53-56 trucks. Any and all ideas and sugestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Dave

 

hello and howdy !!! i dont remember the fellas name but we just had him on here and he mounted his 55 on a mid 70's full size bronco . the wheelbase was alittle off but if yer gonna make a bed { flatbed ?} no problemo . id say do a thread search on 4x4 , frame swaps or a combo of both , and you should find it . some of us have done or attempted frame swaps and really dont recommend it to you if you haven't got some chops and patience . by the way dont throw anything away as all of us here are always seemingly in parts hunt mode for ours !!!

 

If you are going to set a Miller big 40 on it, you will have to go with something heavier than a half ton suspension, that machine tips the scales around 2K lbs. I've hauled a Big 40 in the back of a beefed up F100 4X4, it ate wheel bearings regularly. I would suggest finding a later F350 4X4 that used leaf springs in the front for a donor.