I love my truck to death, but the rocker panels are rusting from the inside out and the body shop told me it's beyond permanant repair. they told me they could sand blast it, but it would come back...eventually.

i've never done a cab swap. don't have any idea what is involved either, but from what i've read it sounds like a pretty big job. am i wrong?

 

Tell you what.......it's not fun.
I swapped the frame out on my old 86 F-150 4x4 and I'd rather swap the 4x4 running gear under a great body 4x2 than swap a great shaped cab onto a 4x4.

 

i did one in late summer on my truck for the same reason . my truck is a 92 4x4 5speed it wasnt to hard but the cab is vary heavy you iwill need a way to lift it i used a backhoe form work .try to get the same year of cab for ur truck becous you may have to change the wiring harness from the firewall in and across the dash i had to the cab i got was from a 94 if u got any ? pm me of post here ill be watching this thread

 

I agree that cabs a freaking heavy.
I have found a 83 f150 4x4 for 200 bucks. its cab is rusted and motor wont start. but other than that an exelent buy.probably pick it up tomorrow
i am looking at swaping a 92-96 cab onto it because i hate the old dashes. I will keep the front clip and put on a rust free box from a 87.
im just wondering if the bodylines are the same from 80 to 96.
Im not worried about wiring as i will redo it all.

 

fossenracing the answer to your question is... yes the body is interchangable from 80-96. totally the same from 80-86 body wise. 87-96 share the same box. 87-91 same front clip,92-96 are the same front clip.but the body lines are all the same from 80-96. you can use the same cab from 80-96 and put any year front clip on the cab. also any 80-96 box will fit,but the shape of the well well openings are different from80-86 and 87-96.

 

thanks. i did some research last night after i posted and came to same conclusion. I plan on using the box from the 87, also hacking up the 87 front fenders and using the wheel wells.
So i will have a 83 with a 80-86.5 grille, cornerlights and bumper, 86.5-91 body lines and wheel wells, and a 92-96 cab and interior.
I bet there is only a handfull of this combo in the world.
But i would say swapping cabs is the easiest way. sure there heavy but you dont have to yank your motor to change oilpan and find or change your trans, and then you wont have to change all your front end and change countless parts. If you get the same year of cab its plug and play after you bolt on. with converting a 2wd to 4x4 theres lots to do.
Both paths have ups and downs but theres my say

 

hey im in the middle of doing the same thing. Ive got a 91 f250 2 wheel drive and im putting that body on a 94 f350 4x4 frame. I looked at the wire harness on the 91 to the 94 and they are diffent. Do they make a painless or a adapter to change the harness or would i be better off re wiring the cab? o btw the 94 frame has a floor shifter for the 4x4 and im keeping the same cpu out of it.

 

u will need the complet harness from the 94 to do this swap or all the little thing like not haveing wipers and a radio will drive u nuts it too lots of time to figer out why my wipers wouldnt work and it was becous the harnees was diffrent