Ive seen some things about swapping newer dashes, steering wheel seems to be the biggest issue(mostly 08 or newer swaps it seems). I want to know if anyone has experience with this type of conversion. I figure I can get a complete nice 6.0 lariat truck since they sell cheap cause the motor is garbage for the same price as a 6.4-6.7 interior only. Custom brackets for mounting don't scare me its the electronic stuff that I'm unfamiliar with.

 

Swap an idi in the 6.0 truck.






I knew a guy that did a bunch of this stuff. Had a 72 F250 crew cab with an 04 dodge interior and commonrail. Was not a body swap. Nice truck, shame the kid he sold it to totalled it a few weeks later. Said its alot easier than it looks. I fail to see why you would do this? If anything, id love to swap an 87-97 dash into a superpoopy....

 

but I like the body style of my 1990 way better than the 05-06 trucks
I would really like to swap a '13 ram longhorn laramie interior into my `90 I loved my '13 dodge.... interior. body style this old ford is sexy as hell.

 

if youre running an IDI, just delete the electronics.
HVAC is still vacuum controlled, atleast in 02
may want to use all of the newer HVAC, which means firewall mods.
ive done a OBS dash swap in my 87,
no reason to believe this wouldn't be the same.


try looking for gasser super dutys, you can get them even cheaper than 6.0's
heres a cab for $300
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pts/5996819499.html

 

If your dash is trashed why not just repair or replace it rather than swapping to an ugly and goofy looking newer dash? Mine is cracked, eventually I'll find one to swap in.

 

Dash is actually in decent shape, but the latch for the glove box just broke off. Other than that I just wanted an updated inside(maybe something that accepts a double din touch screen radio) my current set up even if i replace the original radio with a flip out design it would block A/C controls and such.

 

Look at a dash out of a '92-97 I guess?
Not quite sure how much difference there would be in mounting, but the dash really looks a lot more 'modern', and is bound to be /really/ cheap. Plus, you should be able to find something easily workable gauge wise.

They did move the radio upwards in those trucks, so now it's right up on top of everything.


Alternately, have you just thought about deleting the ash tray, and designing a custom mount/trim piece for a double-din radio? Just expanding down vs having one that pops out?

 

I was able to barely cram a double din into mine. But it's the 80-86 interior. No way I would trade for a 6.0 dash. Things are ugly.

I like macrobbs idea about deleting the ashtray. Custom trim piece would look pretty neat too. I think I'm going to use sheet metal for mine with some switches and move a bunch of stuff to relays

 

Yeah I'd wager you could fit a double DIN in there, at least from owning several 80-86 trucks. I don't undersatnd waht you gain from a double DIN though. I recently installed an Alpine CDE-164-BT in my '86 along with an amp and a pair of SPR-60 speakers and am quite happy with it.

I would like a small subwoofer to improve bass as there's only so much you cna get from a 6.5" speaker, but that may or may not happen as space is obviously limited in a truck. I was thinking about cutting out part of the floor under the seat and rebuilding it deeper. I'd have to see how much room I have to work with underneath but I think it could work to make something decent fit. That's beyond the scope of this thread though...

 

I like double din touchscreen with navigation, I've been spoiled with owning newer vehicles. I thought about expanding down into the center console I built and molding it all together, but I hate to eliminate the ash tray..... as a smoker its one the two features I love most about switching to an older truck. The other being no payments.

 

and I don't mind the 05-06 dashes, I owned a 06 lariat my first non beater truck. and an 05 lariat. interior was nice as far as I was concerned, and the '06 was a great truck as a comuter grocery getter. The '05 I bought as a work truck and once I put that 6.0 under a daily 12k load it spent more time in the shop then it did on the road. I might just need to design a custom middle bezel for radio/climate control and what not. Probably be easier or same hassle as swapping a newer model into this truck

 

im all for putting a newer dash in with some nice king ranch seats.
I love my OBS dash swap, but my 01 SD is still my favorite on long drives.

 

see and I dont like the orangeish color of the king ranch seats. I prefer the tan interior of a lariat(matches current interior) or a dark brown leather like longhorn laramie dodge