Hey guys I'm from Lithia Springs area I just when to put the thread up saying hello and introduced Big Red the project I'm working on

Like I said she's up 73 F250 Ranger XLT camper special she has a 360 or 390 hasn't hasn't been determined by the machine shop yet what motor is in it
C6 transmission which I just had a heavy duty rebuild. On it
also has a Dana 60 rear end full floaters
as for the suspension I have stock coil springs stock leaf springs and helpers as of now my rear end is 2,000 pounds capacity each side
my tow range is between 2000 lbs very easy and up to 5000 pounds of a very Max

So far these projects going through very dramatic changes now
I don't really seem like the kind of guy that cares about safety stuff and gross vehicle weight laws all that other stuff but I actually do and I do keep that stuff in mind while I'm doing my project it's just not a deciding factor on things so a lot of stuff you here will be way outside the box a logic or whatnot but again this wayin the ideastage right now the only parts that have been removed or modified is the engine in the transmission so they can be restored and rebuilt
As I said before this project going through a lot of changes it originally started being a slide in camper project but then I realized that I would not be able to fit all 4 of my family members me my wife and my two kids in the cab comfortably so I went through a few stages of ideas to try to alleviate the seating issue
The first idea was changed the cab over to a super cat while doable to Logistics in the modifications required to make that happen would require a large large amounts of money making the project basically a waste of time
The next idea was to change around the interior take the mega bench seat standard in those cabs put a tiny bench seat from a 90 Ford Ranger and then put the jump seat in the back after measuring some Rangers and Interiors this idea will work though and actually be a comfactuall room for someone to sit back there the problem with this idea is I will have to modify a lot of the bench railings and stuff like that and it will only be a feasible idea for until they turn into teenagers
Now the last idea I came up with has been the best idea and is what I'm going to go with going to install a camper topper on the back of the truck and put a bench seat back there with seat belts and I'm going to make little tray tables for each side that have cup holders and places for them to put stuff and then I'm going to remove the Windows from the camper topper and the cab of the truck and I'm going to boot the camper topper and the cab of the truck together I will then seal the truck bed with a camper topper and divide the bed and half for 5 feet will be where the kids are sitting and I'll make a doorway inside the camper topper and there will be three feet for the rest of the bed for storage that way instead of trying to heat or cool down an 8-foot bed I'm only trying to cool or heat up 5 feet of bed space and the cab I'm also going to install a exhaust fan in the top of the camper topper to help pull heat and AC to the back of the truck bed
As for the rest of the exterior and interior standard upgrades upgraded radio paint job bunch of little do dads on the inside of the cab I want to put one of those shelf it systems that go above the sun visors some way to put speakers up there too
the exterior has every piece of aluminum on it so before I get painted when I take all those off I'm going to clean them all up so they're shiny again
The Motor is going to be getting a Aluminum Intake Manifold and then I've got every new heavy duty upgrade you could buy for 360 390 motor I might list all the stuff but not today
as I've already said about the transmission already had a heavy duty upgrade for my transmission dude if there was a heavy-duty part that he could swap out or something that was Stronger more resilient or better-quality he made sure it happened
machine shop that's going to be inspecting the motor will be doing the same thing to it
the most modification I'll be doing to the suspension is adding another Leaf to the helpers and pull over shocks I'll probably have to add a spacer kit into it to get some height because I will be putting a bigger gas tank into it so I'll need 8 more inches off the rear to compensate for the spare tire that hangs underneath because I don't want to move it and I don't want it dragging on the ground for
the front suspension I'm probably going to install 350 Coil Springs and take out my stock ones I'm also installing a sway bar on the front end and upgrading the shocks in the front too

that's about all I can think of right now I'll probably keep posting more things as I get stuff ideas and stuff actually had some questions for some of you guys

I'm going to post some pictures of these rims the slot mag 8 lug rims I need to know like a guesstimate of what the weight rating you would think all are on them

Also does anybody know a good place to find vintage camper topper I want to find one that's around the same here is my truck I'm going this weekend to go look at some this but I want to know if you guys know of any places

I'll be posting on my pics here shortly thanks guys take it easy any ideas are welcome

 

 

 

I forgot to mention that the original idea was a slide in camper we have scrapped that idea and I'm going with the towing camper that is 13 foot and anywhere between two to three thousand pounds

 

Welcome to the forum. Good project. I think you may be a little light on your town capacity for a 250. Yesterday I had close to 10k with trailer and mini excavator

 

Yeah I've only found a couple of things for the tow capacity for the truck so I made a conservative estimate based off of that paperwork last thing I need to be doing is rip in the whole *** of my truck off




Mine is 7500 gvwr with a 3.73 rear so looking at this im on the heavy end of type 3 or light start of type 4



I have some more information but right these are the best ones I have

 

Nice Project and welcome!!!
You have done your research.

 

Thanks I try to think about all my ideas as best as possible sometimes they start out just insane and I slowly refine them down to actually making sense or actually workable for that situation

 

Hey guys i just got my topper its great!
Hey if you are ever looking for one to match your old truck hit up custom campers on Jonesboro Road in Lake City he's about the only guy in the state that has some

 

Gvwr is the weight of the truck,, people, fuel and cargo. Trailer tongue weight is considered cargo. My helper springs don't engage till some where around 1000#.
The Dana 50 is an ok rear end the 60 and sterling's are a little stronger. Don't try to pull heavy from the bumper get a receiver hitch. Have you been to the forum for your year. We can only give you limited information as there are not that many of us.

 

Not a topper kinda guy but that's nice.

 

Mine is sitting in the the backyard since the truck has become a work/farm/service truck

 

Ya the truck is 7500 gvwr. Factory specs say my truck has a payload of 3440 lbs from the factory.

Now i know some people get pissy an say it is not possible ir safe. But again i go for practical aplication and realy word testing i dont live specnition and stafy steve world.

So ill be increasing the payload capacity by adding one more leaf to my helpers and some coilovers
As of now i have 2000 lbs on each side of the rear
So 4000 lbs altogether. I want to get it to 5-6000
Coilovers do 500 each so thats 1000
And i just need to get over to my junkyard and find some leaves that look beefy and measure there ratings
So far the weak point in my suspension is my rims
Axle. -- dana 60 -- gawr -6500 lbs
Suspention. -- 4000 lbs both before upgrades.
Tires. -- 5200 lbs both rating
Rims. -- 2000 lbs both rating need better.
rims
And I have a post on the forum for my year truck model and on the towing form I just wanted to put one on the local chapter also and see if you guys know anybody local on things like that just giving myself some more options and help from different areas and I like to put some information out there on the good stuff I find at the places I go to

 

I misread you post i thought you had a 50 not 60. Appreciated the post her several new guys have post asking for tech help. Just there is not many of us active here. Do you still have the 16.5 wheels. Changing to 16 opens up a lot of new possibilities. My are stock steel with load range d tires. How would have made you a good deal on my camper shell. It almost identical to the one you got with out the round Windows and it is black and silver. I added led clearance lights

 

Ya the rims are as follows
8 lung 6.5 pattern
Front - 16.5 x 8.25
Rear - 16.5 x 9.75
Dunno the load rating so im lowballing at 1000-2000lbs each

Tires are -31x10.50r16.5 lt
Load range - D
Load rate - 2755 lbs

And if anyone needs any factory info i found a bunch for the dents

I appreciate the thought ran across this for a steal and its in great shape for rebuilding it the way i need