i'm going to give yall the revised version. how hard is it to take the front clip, cab, front 4x4 stuff (dana 44) and rear end stuff (dana 60) from a 78 f-250 and retro fit it onto the frame of a 68 f-350 flat bed 2x4.

long version i have a 78 f-250 that my bro gave me, engine is completly shot and already taken out along with c-6 and np-203. i took the who truck apart literally, what i found was somebody took a 78 f-250 lwb truck frame and cut it and rewelded it to accept the body off a a 74 swb I DO NOT WANT TO USE THIS FRAME and reallly didnt want swb anyway. my boss has a 68 flatbed with a dump bed, the body condition is a 4 on a scale of 1-10 the eingine is a rebuilt 390 i think. the trans is shot. and i dont know what the rear end is. could it be a dana 70? so basically i want to take the current dump bed off, take the cab and front clip off strip the frame, but my dana 44 in the front and put the bigger of the 2 rear ends in the back put in a fresh 390 with an already bought nv4500 5 speed, and find an np 205 then redo the cab and front clip off the (74 body) other truck then put the dump system back on the truck with a new steel flat bed ( that accomodates gooseneck and bumper hitch hookups
but back to the original question can will the 68 frame accept the newer 4x4 running gear? and are the mounts for the body from a 68 and a 74 the same.

 

The front bumper to the rear cab mounts is the same from 65-79 on 2wd trucks, 67 to 79 on 4x4. In 73 Ford added 4" to the back of the cab and beyond the cab mounts, widened the chassis rails under the bed. The big issues can be wheel base and bed bolt hole aleignment.

You should be able to pull it off without a lot of trouble.

John

 

It'd be easier to strip the entire 78 body off the frame, and convert it to accept your 68 body. 4x4's have different cross members, and frame bracing to allow for the extra stress of having a front differential, as well as the more adverse conditions such trucks tend to meet. You'll likely have to get an oil pan for a 4x4 for your engine as well, to clear the front cross-member. Things like the power steering box, and so on will be in a different location with a different bolt pattern, than on your 68 as well. The swap shouldn't be to hard, but don't waste time trying to convert a 4x2 frame to 4x4, it's much easier the other way around.

 

i appreciate the 2nd response but the whole reason for doing this is because i DO NOT WANT TO USE the 78 frame it was cut and shortened and welded back together ( very crapily at that) this is why i was inquiring about putting the running gear on the 68 frame, and alos the 78 body is in much better condition than the 68 so it makes more since to "try" to use the 78 if posible.