Im scared to attempt this I cant find a good cab swap thread I have a fully loaded single cab 93 4.9 f150. The rust free cab I have is off a 96 f150 4.9 stripped out no opitions how hard will this be? Im not a pro mechanic but I have swapped to 3.55 gears front and rear and swapped to five speed so im no idiot lol I would love some cab swap pics

 

Cab swaps are not that bad. If you're going to be swapping all the stuff from your loaded interior into the new cab, you might as well completely strip your rusty cab now - remove the seats, dash, etc..Get it as light as possible.

Start by disconnecting all electrical components, cooling system, brake lines, and than the steering shaft.

There will be 6 or 8 cab bolts that will need to be removed. After that, the whole cab should just lift right off. We needed about 3 people to easily move a ranger cab, so probably 4-5 for an F-150 cab.

 

I'm going to be doing mine as soon as I can get the time. What kind of work area do you have? Shop? Cement/asphalt floor? Chain fall? I changed a frame on an '86 4x4 model way back in '88 by myself but I had a shop with cement floor. Same as cab swapping except I couldn't damage the cab I was swapping.
1. Remove complete front end, all in one piece.(These pics are more recent and we were doing a cab clip on a roll-over. You could cut up your old cab to lighten it if you were so inclined. Seems like more work that way though)

2. As said, disconnect all of the wiring/cooling/steering/trans linkages/etc.

3. An impact, air or electric, is pretty much a necessity. I imagine the cab bolts will be pretty rusty in your OH truck.

4. If you have somewhere to hang an overhead chain fall you can run a 4x4 (board) through the cab door openings and lift it that way.

If not you'll need to lift/block/lift/block the cab until you can get two long 4x4's under it and rest the cab on them, on stands/blocks/drums, while you roll the chassis' out and in, then just let the cab back down.
This is the most difficult "do-it-by-yourself" method that I used. The more help you have the easier it will become. I'm not fond of the 5-guys lift method as it's not easy to get 5 brains synchronized to the same action, LOL !!
If you strip out your old cab you can just unbolt it and roll it off the side.

 

One thing that I might suggest is to make sure all of your paperwork is inline (Think VIN and state here).

 

For sure!
Go back and read all of that discussion HERE if you weren't reading along at the time.

If you were in NC and putting a 96 cab on a 93 chassis the DMV would assign a new VIN to it. It's not a big deal as long as you just do it right.

 

i jsut stripped a cab for removal all winter. its stripped now but i dont theink the pics i got will help. i only saw for cab moount bolts. 2 in front and 2 in back i hope there is no more. i would probly never do it because it would never figure out how to put back together or have the time to do it. it tokk all i had to figure out how to remove stuff and i barly rember any of it. take lots of pics as your going through it will help tell you where everything goes if you dont have a good memory.

 

You can do it! Just be smart about it. Allow yourself plenty of time, don't attempt to get it done over night, get a cheap digital camera and take lots of pictures, keep track of bolts with plastic bags or stick em to strips of tape, or even get a big magnet tray, what ever works for you. Seems like gutting the donor cab, then adding your interior to it would be easiest. Just remember, nothing is impossible, just time consuming.

 

Better start soaking ALL mounting bolts and nuts now and keep them wet with PB blaster or Equ. If you start early sat morn, you could be done by sunday night if everything goes good. Don't forget the parking brake lines like I did.....

I done cab swaps and with four guys its not that heavy once the cab is gutted out and took about a weekend. Wear some good gloves while moving the cabs around, sharp rusty edges are no fun.

 

There will be 4 inside the cab, then two up front near the radiator support.

 

Oh those no i seperated all that.

 

Thanks alot guys for all the help

 

I just mostly concerned with removing the dashes and wireing behind them

 

Just a puzzle. Post #7 from Cletus is the way to go.

 

If you are removing your orginal dash and wiring, and reinstalling in new cab, it is easy. Just leave the harness with the dash assy. Disconnect the firewall connector and any grounds that goto the cab it self. Check for any cables(park brake and hood release) that can hang you up.

Use two people as it is a akward thing to move around while unplugging wires and ect from the cab. There are few hidden screws in the steering colum area and probly a mount from firewall about middle of dash that can hang you up. The AC/heater box removal is easy after the right fender is removed so you can access bolts that hold in place.

This is a 87 cab without dash , 91 and up are about the same.


The wire harness will stay with dash assy, that's good thing! While you have the cab stripped down, clean if off and paint bed liner paint before reinstallation of dash. That's what I did with my 89 F250 after chasing a cowl leak down.

 

Here's some more photos of a gutted cab. Its a 87 but 91 and up should be about the same....

AC/heater box area engine side



Inside AC/heater area


Center firewall area