I was surfing craigslist and found a crew cab '86 F350 with the 6.9 idi. Im interested in buying it but the only problem is that its 2wd. I currently have a 1980 F250 reg cab 4x4 and was wondering how difficult taking all the 4x4 goodies from my F250 and putting them in the F350 would be.

All replies are appreciated, thanks!

 

First of all....Welcome to the Bullnose Forum if that has not already been forwarded ! A 3/4 ton 2wd is known for pulling it's weight which makes me ask...why the 4wd conversion question ? What region do you hail from ?

 

It's not a simple bolt-on. Adding leaf springs to the 2WD frame requires some work. It can be done, but it's not just swapping parts (I'll let others who know more directly give more details).

And there are a lot of people (me being one of them) that would question the wisdom of swapping a F-250 TTB into anything. Most people want to pull them out and put in a solid axle.

And the front axle brings up another issue: wheels. I think you might be able to put dually hubs on a Dana 50 TTB, but that's just a guess since they share a few things with sold Dana 60s. But I'm sure you can't if your F-250 has a Dana 44HD. You could go with single rims on the front and the deep dish duallies on the rear, but then you can't use the same spare for both.

If that hasn't discouraged you, engine/trans/transfer case is the next question (or maybe should be the first). You can't put a transfer case on a 2WD trans, so you'd need to put the F-250 trans in the F-350, and you can only do that if they both have the diesel engine (actually as long as they are from the same family, but since you said the F-350 has a diesel...).

I'm really not trying to talk you out of it. If you choose to take it on I won't say you're doing the wrong thing. It's your life, your decision. I'm just saying it's not an obviously good idea.

 

I've been eyeing up an axle from a 2006 F250 SD. Coil sprung solid axle. Hmmm......

What I am thinking is how terrible the leaf sprung TTB on my F250 rides. I have a 2WD F250 frame and some really nice bullnose sheet metal. Could be another project in the future!

 

I dont need it for towing, it would really just be a toy hauler.
It's SRW not DRW btw. I want the 4wd for offroading
I was also thinking about dropping the crew cab on my reg cab long bed 4x4 frame. It would look kinda silly with such a bobbed bed(about 5ft?) but im in love with this crew cab body style.
I know it'd be a difficult body swap.
If I went this route, what would i need to swap the diesel into it after i put on the crew cab? I have a 400 bolted to a C6 in it now.

I appreciate the realistic response, someone needed to stop me from daydreaming my money away!

 

From what I have seen posted you can't mount a crew cab on a regular cab frame.
The frame turns up just past the rear of the cab so the crew would be on this raised part and sit right.
Dave - - - -

 

I've seen it done with a 2-3 inch body lift to even it out.
I'm not a fan of body lifts but if it would work then it would be acceptable to me.

To answer whatsachevys question, I want 4wd for off-roading and I've always wanted a crew cab diesel. I'm in the Midwest.

 

Sorry, I thought I read "dually" in your first post before.

Crewcabs, diesels and off-roaders are all cool, but they don't always go together so well. Crew cabs are big, with lots of vulnerable sheetmetal, and while diesels torque curves are great for rock crawling, the power curve isn't great for mud or hills, and anyone following you in an open vehicle is going to hate you (having to smell a diesel I was following in a CJ5 with the top off one day cured me of wanting a diesel rock crawler).

But if you're set on it...

It takes a pretty big body lift to put a crew cab on a regular frame. Not impossible, but it will give you a lot of issues to work out. Another option is to "french" the frame into the bottom of the cab. That gives issues too, with body mounts, body work, and seat mounts. Personally I think that before I'd try either of those I'd either try to start with a 4WD crew cab (ideally) or convert the 2WD frame to 4WD. As noted earlier, that has it's own issues with the front suspension, but I think those would be the easier problems to solve. It does give a long truck for off-roading, but shortening the crew cab frame behind the cab is an option as well.

Putting a diesel from a 2WD truck into a 4WD just needs a 4WD diesel trans. The bellhousing needs to match the engine and the tailshaft needs to mate to the transfer case. And yes, if you have a 4WD tailshaft abnd tailshaft housing for your 2WD trans you can do a complete rebuild and convert the 2WD trans to be a 4WD, but it's almost always cheaper to just sell the 2WD trans and buy a 4WD one.

Another option is to use the 2WD trans and a "divorced" transfer case. That requires a lot stronger transfer case mount, and it's usually easier to find the non-divorced kind, but it is an option.

 

I fixed it for you. Channeling is where you fit the frame up inside the body/floor so the body sits lower.


I did this with a 68 Cougar body on a 69 Bronco frame. I had to cut the rear foot wells and under the rear seat to get the body to sit the way I wanted it. I then boxed in the floor around the frame so it looked stock.
Other than sitting higher, a 4x4 front axle and a 2nd shift lever for 4x4 it looked stock. Wish I had pictures but this was back in the early 80's and all the fancy stuff we have not to take pictures with.
Dave ----

 

Ideally I would just get a 4x4 crew cab but there arent any near me. The 2wd was the only older ford crew cab I could find on craigslist.

I was really thinking about channeling but I was wondering how big the channel would have to be and what the heck kinda body mounts would be needed.
Would the body lift have to be 3+ inches if that route was taken?

Thanks for the detailed responses, I truly appreciate them!

 

Sorry to say it is fit it on, measure twice off and trim then back on etc.

Doing it that way you can also see if body lift is what will work or want.
You also can see how the mounts would work.
Dave - - - -

 

So I just spent considerable time reading all the 2wd to 4wd conversion threads. That was my plan, I currently have a 89 2wd F250 idi Zf5 with 51k miles on it, I just found a 90 F350 Zf5 460 gaser no title but intact running gear rebuilt tranny /transfer case, my understanding that the 89 2wd frame is not an "easy swap" using 90 F350 4wd front drive line/suspension. But the 90 zf5 tranny/transfer case (in the 460) will mate to the idi zf5 bell housing? I doubt ill pull the trigger on this but good to know anyway, unfortunately I just sold today a 79 F250 4wd with 91k miles on it to a guy who kept begging me for it and coming up with more cash every time he approached me. I'm already kicking myself in the ****, although I don't miss the 8mpg it pulled. and I made considerable money on the transaction.

 

When I bought my Bullnose about a year ago I spent months searching for a crew cab. I only ever saw 1 Bullnose crew cab located in AR. It didn't even run; plus, it was 2wd and gas. I saw two crew cab Bricknose trucks that were 4wd and diesel. One was in Corpus Christi, TX the other was all the way up in MT. I ended up with my super cab Bullnose and I love it.

If you're still searching for a project while you drive your 80 4wd Bullnose just get a list of your priorities and know that a 2wd to 4wd conversion is no small matter. Good luck.

 

The 460 tranny will not bolt to a diesel engine. But if you want to do some careful modifications and drilling, you can make it fit. I have a link somewhere that shows you how to do it. The two top bellhousing bolts are the same, but the rest are different between the diesel and the 460.

If you have the donor 4x4 frame there, you can swap in the 4x4 components, but it requires drilling and knocking out factory rivets and using bolts to bolt the riveted brackets onto the 2wd frame. Plus as someone mentioned you have to drill out the rivets and take off the coil spring 2wd stuff.

Some people do also swap in the later 4x4 stuff, maybe 2005+? I can't remember. But it's a solid front axle with coil springs. But it has a metric lug pattern, so your old wheels will not fit. And as a bonus they do use rear disc brakes as you would swap the rearend also.