I have an early 1999 F350 XL CC 2WD with a utility body. The engine needs the dipstick leak fix, has a little too much blowby, needs to be plugged in to start below 60 degrees and it fogs the neighborhood for mosquitos. Yeah, one of THOSE! It was previously owned by a gas line installation company. My history with fleet trucks of this type are that they get rode hard and put up wet.

I had a spare 7.3 that I was going to swap into it and then fix or rebuild the old engine. Unfortunately, my hotshot 7.3 cracked between cylinders 1 and 3 so there went my spare.

I found a rollover wrecked 2001 F350 at Copart and I won the bid. Got it home and it's a Lariat CC 4WD with brand new 33's and about 3.5" lift. TS 6-position switch, huge bumper (Peacemaker Outlaw Premium, already installed it on my hotshot rig). Found 40-50 empty beer cans in the bed...wonder why it rolled. Hmmmm. And it turns out I know the guy who owned it, just don't know how to get in touch with him to pick his brains.

Took a while to get it running...batteries were fried and it just wouldn't fire. Hooked up to AE and had RPM's and IPR pressure readings. Ran a buzz test and it failed...no comm's. Traced wiring and found the plug but no ICM. Had a spare, installed it and after getting rid of oil from the rollover, it runs great. Tore up my yard and rolled tons of coal in the highest position on the TS chip.

Here's where it got weird...the cab is an early 99 dually cab, axle code 61 (3.73)...everything else appears to be from the 2001, so I'm not the first one doing this swap. Whoever did the original swap seems to have done a great job. There was even a sound barrier (I guess that's what it is), silver foil over sticky black rubber covering the entire floor and rear of cab. Carefully cut around the vents, but covers the oval grommets so it was installed after the cab swap. I guess that was cheaper than installing a muffler. My neighbor said it sounded great so I'll leave it like that for now.

The engine is 4JU2U1486353* and the last digits of the 2001 VIN is on the engine so that's a match there. My research shows that this engine is a 2000.5 and it's after the trial run of powder coated rods when they used up the stock of forged rods. That doesn't really matter since I will never go for big power...I don't have big $$$ to waste.

Here's what I am working on: I'm stripping the donor Lariat cab for every nut, bolt, wire, carpet, panels, the entire dash, overhead console, grommet...the scrap man is getting just the shell. I will pull the cab, and install the shell of my XL in it's place. For now I'll keep the stock 8' bed but can always reinstall the utility body. Problem there is I don't think my lift gate will reach the ground afterwards. I'll have to test for that...sure comes in handy! I have a second 99 F350 Lariat which will donate the cloth seats over the ripped leather ones that came with the wreck.

I cut the roof off, removed the doors, sets, carpet and sliding rear glass. Interior wire harnesses are pulled back to the dash area. I will be pulling the whole dash and swapping it to the XL cab so everything that was working should continue to work. Both trucks have 3.73 axles.

Here's a few questions. Any and all advise will be greatly appreciated!

1. Should I swap the instrument cluster? I believe they must have used some or all of the 2001 dash. The 4WD switch is there, and the ash tray is deleted (Weird factory looking cover in it's place with a plastic hook type of thing). My truck has 262K on it and the wreck odometer shows 355K. The instrument cluster portion is identical to my E99. The light switch shows a darkened light symbol at the 3 O'clock position which is not on any of my 99's. The switch does NOT turn to that position.

2. When I removed the bumper, there were what appears to be a factory fog light harness wrapped around the fog light mounts that are built into the bumper. Any idea what powers them? There were no lights installed and I don't see an extra switch. I had factory fog lights on a 98 Mountaineer and there were pushbutton switches for the fog lights, rear wiper, defrost etc. No idea how it's done on the super duty's.

3. The 2001 VIN tag is riveted in place on the dash, and the doorpost VIN sticker is from their 99 donor. The wreck came with a salvage title using the 2001 VIN. Is there any problems down the road with having these "used parts" under my 99 cab which is titled, registered and insured under it's VIN? So I'm swapping my motor, frame, suspension, wheels etc., the whole working part of my truck. Is there some line you cross where it's not doable?

I'm heading out to finish pulling the cab and then the dash. Please, if there's anything I need to know before I get too far, please let me know. I bought the truck for it's engine, but with a little more work I can have a far better truck.

Thank you, and again, I will appreciate any and all advise!

 

Can't help with too much except the fog lights which I have on my 2001. On my light switch, I have a spot that indicates another set of lights. When I turn the switch to the right and pull the switch OUT, it activates the fog lights. I assume you don't have this switch set up because it would be almost impossible to miss.

When I activate the left stalk mounted high beams, the fog lights turn off. When the high beams are deactivated, the fog lights turn back on. Personally, I would have preferred a separate upfitter switch to run the fog lights. That way I could use them at any time I wanted. As it is now, I can only use my fogs with the low beams.

 

The switch won't move to the 3 O-clock position, but you can pull the switch so maybe that's it. Need an Egyptian hieroglyphics manual to decipher the pictographs! Lol!


All my other F350's w/o fog lights

2001 Lariat w/fog light wiring

 

That's it in the bottom 2001 Lariat pic. The lower "light" at 3 o'clock with the squiggly line running through the beam is backlit and it comes on when the fogs are activated.

The switch doesn't rotate all the way to it. It stops at the icon above positioned at 2 o'clock and from there, you pull it out to activate the fogs/auxiliary lights.

I just checked my truck to confirm this as I can not and should not really on my ever failing memory!.

 

Memory? I forgot what that was,,,

I've been taking care of my 85 year old Mom for the past 4 years who has dementia. I see my future every day.

I just rolled the truck out from under the cab. Will have to order bellowed up pipes. In the mean time I will remove the dash and wiring harnesses. Then make man sized pieces out of the cab. No sense in hauling it out whole.

 

It was great meeting you at the picnic, just saw your updated signature and subscribed to your YouTube channel.

 

It was great meeting everyone there! Love your truck...I had a new 95, and afterwards another 95, 96 and 3 99's. Never had an OBS 4WD...LOVE the long lean look!

I need to get my videos caught up...my project truck is doing great so I guess I need to edit and post the footage of finishing that up.