definitely would go for the diesel. i have a 5.8 in a regular cab 250, and it has plenty of pulling power with 4.10 gears, but i wouldnt reccomend the same combination in a crew cab. i would ask the guys in the pre-powerstroke forum about the 7.3 IDIs, the general consensus is that they are good motors if properly maintained with additives and stuff. if not, your main worry will be cavitation. i would go over there for your questions on that.

 

Don't forget to keep in mind that the non-Powerstroke diesels will have a lower resale value. But that's also a good point because you may be able to purchase it very cheap, run it for a long time, and then not care how much you get for it in the end because it will have worked it's tail off for you.

If it's a Powerstroke, expect to pay more.

I'd be leery of a 9-year old work truck with 55K on it, be it kilometers or miles. Probably means a lot of idle and low-speed operation. If it's really clean go for it, but if it looks like it ought to have 155K or 255K on it, figure it's had that much use, just wasn't rolling fast enough to turn the odometer that much.

 

I find nothing wrond with a pre powerstroke, the companiy i work for has an 89 f-350 7.3l international, with a banks turbo kit and exhaust and it is almost just as good as the powerstrokes we have, the only diffrence is the international, starts a little harder, and dosent seem to have as much power, even being turboed.

 

You may be able to cover the cost of the parts by selling off the ones you have... but, "time is money". Guess it boils down to how much your time is worth and how much you're willing to invest in "building" the truck you want.

The work you are talking about doing is likely not just a direct swap. I'm sure there a lot more, but here's a few things that I can think of to consider when doing the conversion:
Fuel system (tanks, filler neck, vents)
Driveshaft length/mounting (flanges vs yokes)
Spring/shackle/shock mount points
Wheels, tires, spare mounting kit
Frame width/crossmember locations (mounting a box bed)

 

I agree with everyone else. It would be a toss up if it was just a reg pickup. You're looking at choo-choo trains. Trains have diesels,or steam.

 

i would take the Diesel, the dually setup is easy to change, im not 100% shure on this, but i am almost posative that ford uses the same width axle with the dually alxe as compared to the standard. the for the front, your in luck, this is one of those years that fordused a different type of dually adaptor that is not part of the hub, so you can just unbolt the setup and stick normal rims on it. have fun with the bed though!

 

Diesel.. wish I had one. Next one I buy will be a diesel thats for sure....

 

So it sounds like I'll be ok to swap axles on this diesel truck and just take out the adapters on the front! That's good!

Now I see everyone's concern with the bed/fuel tanks/spare tire mount. I have good connections for picking up wrecks/write-offs so maybe I can find a donor truck like a 1/2ton and use all those parts to swap? Would the tank(s) be the same on a 1/2 ton and a 1 ton? I've heard that the beds will swap.

I'm not concerned with my time doing the swap and I really enjoy this type of work so that's not much of an issue.

The truck itself is a gov't truck and is absolutely perfect shape proving that it truly has 55,000kms. I missed out last December on a 93 F350 Crew 351ci w/ 98,000kms which was also a gov't truck and was nearly perfect! It went for dirt cheap and now I see that the guy who bought it at acution is trying to sell it for 3 times what he paid for it (it's truely worth what he's asking too!)

If anyone can confirm(assuming this truck is NOT a cab/chassis) that I can swap tanks/bed etc from any F-series I'm going to go for it!

Thanks everyone for the great replies!

 

Beds would be OK. I wouldn't use just any old fuel tank... get one from another diesel truck.

 

I *own* a 93 F350, crewcab, single rear wheel, with a 5.8L. Its a good truck, I'm very happy with it.... unloaded.

Once I (cough) overloaded the bed with patio bricks (two pallets, worth, about 480 16"x8" concrete bricks) I have to say the truck was noticably sluggish. Not unbearably so, but it was very noticable.

If I had a powerstroke diesel, I'd probably not have noticed it. I know guys with the turbodiesel's and on a long stretch of highway towing 8-10Klbs hitting inclines on the highway and keep pulling at the same speed, no problem.

Swapping beds from one truck to another from what, 86 to 95 is not a problem at all. Same for the doors, a good chunk of the interior, and of course the tailgate and rear bumpers. There are some minor moulding/trim differences, but the major parts of the assemblies swap right over.

If you want to replace the fuel tanks, you've been given sound advice as to use a diesel tank to replace a diesel tank, and a gas tank to replace a gas tank. There are many differences between the tanks, mostly in how the pump/float assemblies go in, even though the shell of the tank looks almost the same.

Good luck!