I've never done one, but I have:

'84 F-250 4x4 6.9L with the T-19 manual. Body is beat up pretty bad.

I was going to replace the bed, tailgate, fender, windshield, and door, and then spraypaint the truck.

But then I found an '86 F-150 with a bad engine on craigslist that appears to have a good body on it.

I know the front clip and the bed won't take long, but how long with the cab swap?

I'm pretty certain I have all the necessary tools. I also have a cordless impact gun which should help speed things up.

I'm not worried about the VIN issue. I'll do whatever I need to do in that regard.

Thanks
-Matt

 

If you are not talking about dealing with rust, it is a pretty easily done in two weekends.
Do the bed one weekend and swap the rest in the next, you will need to keep the diesel core support and, you may want to swap the wiring harness.

 

It all depends on what you have for tools, hoisting equipment, and where you want to draw the line at 'the swap', especially on the cab.

With the front clip off, think about what connects the frame to the cab. Steering linkage, clutch, brakes, throttle, wiring, AC lines, and cab mount bolts. Also anything that may have been added after the fact, such as additional wiring, running boards etc. After that, it depends on what you want to use from the old cab in the new one.

Somewhere on here Star posted some good pics of his method of removing cabs, and IIRC he had a pretty good list of the things that he did in the process.

 

When 2 of my boys swapted the cab on the 85, they had it done in a long day. But they had tractors with loaders at their disposal to help them along. They swaped just the cab, left the front clip on the truck, and moved the wiring harnes from the 85 to the 86 150 cab we had. One thing I learned is that the fuel tank switch on the gasser cab would not switch the tanks on the diesel frame. The harnes pluged in, but it would not work. I had to swap the switch from the diesel cab to the gasser one.

 

lifting equipment?

How heavy is the bed, and the cab? Could I do it with four men?

Thanks
-Matt

 

Four guys could easily do a bed, a cab, maybe. Issue with the cabs is they are awkward to get a hold on. Maybe jack it up, and get some lumber under it, to give you some better grab handles. If you take the bed off, then the cab, you could walk it back over the rear of the frame easier than going to one side or the other too.

 

I lifted a naked cab just me and my dad, same with a long box. It's doable, but very awkward to carry.


X2 on taking the box off first, and walking the cab back! Same putting it back on, put the cab first.

 

I was assuming a fully dressed cab....hence the 'maybe'.

Depending on manpower, the doors and seat are a good chunk of weight, and not real hard to take off/out if everything is fairly rust free. That would shave likely 200 pounds or so off it.

 

That was the plan.

I might end up just replacing the necessary panels and spraypainting the truck. Seems like a lot less work. I've seen some decent spray paint jobs.

-Matt

 

Last cab swap I used a telehandler to move the cab on and off, it worked great. Straps all the way under the cab, hook on the forks above the cab, and move it all over the place.

 

I did a full body swap between two trucks and installed the engine and trans at the same time. Took a weekend to get done, and 4 guys to lift the cabs into place...

 

I swapped the whole body on my Bronco a yr ago this past october by myself in a long weekend (3 days). That also included swapping in the t18. I used a set of chain falls to lift the bodies off the frames and rolled the chassis out by hand. Was supposed to have several "buddies" for help but their plans all changed. Worst part was the hood, kinda akward by yourself lol.

 

F150 box is the same as a f250 ????? I have a 95 f250 and looking at a 89 f150 box are they the same?
If the would work for the generatio before to saw do they sill work that way for a 95?

 

Did my brothers in about 3 days, swapped everything, motor tranny, bed and cab.

 

Make sure the bed from the '89 has two fuel filler doors. Other than that, you're golden. Taillights and tailgate trim are different, but compatible, and you can back-swap them.