complete body swap 71 on highboy chassis
 

Hey guys. I am new to this site usually on the 73-79. Anyway I have a 76 highboy with a completely junk body. It is straight but rusted out bad. I also have a 71 f100 ranger 2wd body that is pretty straight and very solid. Hardly any rust anywhere. I would like to put it on the highboy chassis and was wondering if anyone knows if my body mounts will line up or if there are any other challenges I will run into. Both have gas tanks behind the seat. I know the frame is narrower in the back of the highboy than the 71 and will have to deal with that for my box. Any help or just friendly info would be great. Thanks

Darin this topic comes up about every other month. :) The cab and front clip are a bolt on. The mounts are in the same places and the bolts drop in. The only thing you may run into is a minor one with the rear cab mounts. Some highboys I've seen had the rear cab mounts on the outside of the frame rails like F350's used. Your 71 rear mounts are inside the frame rails on the rear cab crossmember. It's no big deal since all of the cab floors were stamped for both types of mounts. All you have to do is drill 2 new holes. The bed takes a bit of juggling since the wheelbase on the highboy is 2" longer than the 71. If you set the bed back a little farther than normal the wheelwells will align with the rear tires.:)

That is going to be soooo cool. :)

Alvin in AZ

doing the same thing
 

I have a 69 2wd F250 I am swapping on a 76 hiboy chassis as well. As far as I have been able to research, the hiboys until 77.5 have a 34 inch wide frame all the way down, no widening out on the 4wd frames. 2wd do widen out in 73 I believe. The springs mount on hangars outside the frame. The rear cab mounts are outside on the 76 frame. I am hoping my 69 power steering box will work as well, replacing the assist on the 76. The wheelbase diff of 131 vs 133 is a concern. I have seen one local here with the bed just put on up to the cab so the rear axle is offset 2 inch back in the wheel well. Noticeable to the Ford guys for sure. If you move the spring mounts, you also have to move the overload mounts and the shock mounts on the frame all forward too. I might just section the frame instead. Should be great fun! Best of luck on your project.

ya itll work

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...1/IMGP0282.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...1/IMGP0285.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...1/IMGP0288.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...1/IMGP0291.jpg

one day job!!

Thanks for the pics wizzard. Looks excellent!!!

I did it to my 69 years ago. 69 F250 body on a 77 frame. I fudged the bed forward 1 inch so the gap wasn't as bad between the cab and bed. The rear axle was off in he wheel wells also. It drove me nuts for 13 years. Last year I blew it all back apart and put it on a 70 F250 frame.

ya on the last pic the bed wasnt all the way up after i took the pic and noticed it and slid it forward,i was tryin to get all the pics before it got dark

69 f1oo ranger to newer chassis?
 

Thanks for the info. I've been searching all day for frame specs. Up to what year are the frames relatively interchaneable? I was wondering about a 1990 chassis under a 69 body? I can't find any sites with measurements or specs for this type of project. Any help is greatly appreciated.

tbadd, It wont be bolt up but I bet it can be adapted without too much fussing. I suspect you may have to cut and move some mount points, and the chassis will be longer. I looked under one sometime in the 90s and was amazed that the similarities in the mounting system.

Bet you can pull it off.


John :-X06

Ive done many of these swaps over the years as well.. as far as re drilling the rear cab mounts .. i went ahead and purchased some rubber plugs to cover the stock holes that i no longer needed and 2 more to make the new drilled holes look more stock.. that was it.. im building a another one as wee speak 1971 2wd body on a 1972 4x4 frame.. no problems mounting the body.. all bolt up except the bed :(. buddy of mine has went through (2) 2wd 1977 bodies on his 1976 4x4 frame. allways turns out good :).. wish you luck with the build

How did you all make the bed mounting work? What are my options I guess is what I'm asking.

Welcome to FTE

33 1/2" between the rear frame rails: 1961/72 F100/350 / 1973/77 F250 4WD (High Boys) / 1973/79 F350 Regular Cab's on the 140" wheelbase.

From the rear cab mounts forward, all 1973/79 F100/350's frames are wider.

1969 F100/250 2WD's before serial number D96,001 use Bendix P/S.

1969 F100/250 2WD's and F350's from serial number D96,001 use Ford P/S, as do 1970 and later 2WD's, 1978 and later 4WD's.

The steering columns are not the same between Bendix & Ford P/S, as the shafts are different lengths.

:-X25

I've also swapped quite a few 2wd bodies onto 4x4 frames, never ran into the wheelbase issue, it will definitely be good info to have next time I look at doing one. It seems like you can make anything fit with a little effort! Regarding using the steering box from a 2wd on a 4by, the 2wd mounts behind the front end and is crossover steering while the 4by uses a drag link and mounts in front of the axle. I may be wrong, but I believe the only way to upgrade to true power steering on a hiboy is with the parts from a 771/2-79 f250 4by. I have also seen guys use a gm 4x4 steering box to add power steering. I used to have a hiboy with armstrong steering and a junk dealer shipped me the p/s setup off a 1/2 ton 4x4 saying it would work. I never did find a way to make it fit. Couldn't get my money back and still had manual steering!

NDFordman, a 2wd p/s box can be used on a highboy. A friend of mine did the swap back in the late 80's. He made an adapter plate that mounts the box inside the frame rail and had to turn the pitman arm 90 degrees on the shaft. I think the drag link came from a GM truck. A year or so after he did the swap I saw an adapter kit advertised to do the swap but can't remember who made it. My buddy still has the truck and I'll try to get some pics to post.