Any body do this swap? an F250-350 pickup bed on a 450-550. I hear the frame width is different.
My first question would have to be WHY?,but i'll measure a 450 for ya tomorrow anyways.
Maybe in a few years when the 99 450/550 4x4 get a little older and cheaper I'll kook into buying one. Would make an awesome 4x4 truck: bulletproof front 60 and an 80 or 135 rear. This is the only way around Massachusetts lift laws. Over 10kGVW no suspension height restrictions, just bumper height
the cab and chassis rails on a 3-550 are different from a pickup 2-350.
people have tried it, but it costs at least 6,000 to do. why not put a flatbed on it?
I love the idea of a super-duty stealth pickup, just a thought I been throwing around. A flatbed is totally useless to me, I'd much rather have a bed or dump body.
The cab & chassis in both the F-350 and F-550 of the same wheelbase are set up for a 9' body while the pickups are 8'. I don't know if you could shorten the frame or not, it might be easier to lengthen the body.
pyro74,
Here you go;)
Check it out HERE
Also, Manning Body Company in Louisville , KY (down the street from Ford) builds
a factory approved bed for the F450/F550 trucks.
Greg
That looks pretty cool Dockboy! I think its cool cause its something you cant buy from the factory, so therefor no one has one, makes yours much rarer if you decide to do it. Mike :)
pyro74,
This LINK has many links to just about any kind of bed you could add to a 450/500.
:D
Greg
I see Smokey got a new truck.

I have a 1989 f150,gas, with a leaking fuel tank. I want to sell it so I don't want to put any money into it. Is there any way to patch the leak with caulking or some other type of sealer?? Not sure exactly where it is coming from other than it is dripping near the front of the tank.
Anyone want to buy it?? HA HA
Thanks
You will have to find where the leak is first,if you can find it,then you can patch it.
There are lots of quick fix type kits.Go to Canadian tire,and buy a Loctite gas tank reapir kit.Follow the instructions,and it should fix your leak.
BTW,I noticed your local.Were having a get together soon,if your interested,follow the link below.

If its all full of rust,id replace it. You'll waste more time trying to fix it,when you clean off the area to patch it you go thru another rust hole,been there done that.Our local salvage yard carries a full line of replacement tanks in both steel,and even some in plastic.Most are around a hundred bucks,the truck will sell better with a new tank., fuel leaks are dangerous,and lately MTBE contamination is getting real bad,park that truck anywhere near a well,and 1 gallon cof gas can contaminate that well forever,the water will taste so bad in in a yrs time you will not be able to drink it,in addition to the health risks. We recently found out we have a contaminated well at work,I think its from a guy who parked here last yr with a leaky fuel tank on an old F150. he leaked quite bit if fuel no one wrote his plate down, no one thought about it at the time,to late now.

I looked on the Ford.com website and need confirmation. Does Ford make a F250 or F350 Reg Cab, in a 6 Foot bed with the diesal engine. I need a short wheel base truck for my residential driveway. I did see it on their web site, but still looking for confirmation.:waving:
You can get a regular cab 250 or 350 with the diesel but NOT with the 6 foot bed, only with the long bed. If you want the 6 foot bed, you have to get the extended cab, which is basically or exactly the same length truck all over again. If you want a short truck, meaning regular cab with a short bed, you have to get a 1/2 ton truck. Mike
FYI, I believe the bed is actually 6 3/4'
Rick
But is a diesal engine available for a reg cab/ 6 3/4 bed?
Toyota power,none of the big 3 truck makers build anything larger than 1/2 ton with a reg cab and a short box. So no you cannot get the diesel with a 6 3/4 ft bed unless you get the super or crew cab. They do this for safety reasons.Those trucks are under 120" WB(reg cab short box).Anything under 125" is very unstable towing moderate to heavy loads,or live loads(cows,horses).It goes without saying that a 3/4 ton PSD should be able to tow fairly heavy loads with stablity. A 1/2 ton wasnt built to tow primarily,and it isnt rated for heavy trailers ,so they can be built shorter and get a way with it.Most supercab short boxes are around 138-143" WB,so they are plenty long enough to pull livestock,and heavy trailers safely.
John, Thanks for clearing that up for me I still want a Ford Diesel engine, should I look into buying a F250 or F350? I only will be using truck for snow plowing.:waving:
Toyota power, If thats whay you want buy it,id get a reg cab F350 SRW with a PSD/Auto .You wont need any options of your not using it all year.In all honesty your wasting that engine,if you only plow with it,how many miles/hrs will it get on it all season,4-5000 miles,and a few hundred hours probably,not enough to offset the cost of the diesel option.Once you get it,you'll love it and drive it al the time:drinkup:
John, should I look into buying a used one? Maybe a few year old because I don't put many miles on my trucks. Many ford dealership are running specials on the 7.3liter diesel truck and the used one would save me only about $5000.00 and they have 50,000 miles on them. I already have 3 plow truck and only put 2k-3k miles on them each year. I try to drive them each week to put some miles on each vehicle but it hard. I work close to home about 15 miles each way and enjoy using my Serbian as my daily drive.:waving:
I don't think you can justify buying a diesel just for plowing. 3k a year is not even beginning to exploit the capabilities of a diesel. I think the auto mfrs. should offer a diesel in the 1/2 ton. Especially for people that drive their trucks on the highway a lot. Take the Grand Cherokee for example (sold in Germany) With a 2.5 liter diesel it drops two seconds off the 0-60 time which is still reasonably fast. On the highway it is getting close to 30 mpg. You can't come even close with a gasser that size in that big of a vehicle. On the superduty the reg cab long box has a 139" WB and ex cab short box is 141". Whatever you do don't buy a 7.3 w/IDI. They are SLOW.
BTW Why can't you hear the turbo whistle on the 7.3 IDI.
I was talking to a Ford sale man today and he said that the break even for a diesel engine vs gas engine 5 years a ago was at 60,000 mile at the diesel price of around 1.30 gallon.
But today with diesel price at around 1.80/gal in my area the break out even mileage is now 100,000 miles vs gas engine.
Doesn't't make economical sense to me? :waving:

Pulling the bed off my truck tommorrow to replace it with one in much better shape and want to fix the gas gauges while I have them exposed.
I have an 88 F-250 with dual gas tanks, both work, neither leak. The one gas tank gauge worked until a couple months ago, now it reads full until the tank is just about empty so not exactly helpful. The other gauge says dead empty all the time and doesnt move at all when I flip over the switch.
I understand there to be electrical connections and a float in the tank that may need replacing, just hoping someone can give me some ideas on which wires I need to be looking at, or any other experience someones might have had. Appreciate the help guys.
CMerrick
I don't think the sending units are serviceable, I don't believe you will find parts available.
The one that reads full, then empty, you may find that the float rod is hanging up in the linkage somewhere, other than that it will need to be replaced.
The one that doesn't work at all may just be a bad connection or broken wire. There is only one wire that goes to the sensor, they corrode right at the connection, sometimes to where they break off. If not, again replacement is in order.
If I remember correctly, they cost less than $50.
Most of the parts for the fuel gauge sender are non-servicable.Ford sells them as complete units (at least here in Canada anyways) ,which include the fuel pump and mounting assy.They can be pricey.
The units should have 4 wires,two larger ones for the electric fuel pump.and two smaller ones for the gas gauge.Turn the key on,and connect a test light to the two smaller wires,one at a time.One should just barely light the test light.That is the one going to the gauge.You can then ground it to see if the gauge goes all the way up.If it does,the gauge and wiring is good.Make sure you have the switch in the right position for the tank you are testing.Be very carefull when removing the connectors at the tank units as they are very brittle.If you break the tabs off,they don't like to stay in place afterwards.
You can retrofit a generic sender onto the Ford assy with some minor work.Most parts houses will sell them,as well as generic fuel gauges.You may have to modify it to bolt or rivet on,and bend the float arm some to calibrate it,but they will work.They are usually very cheap too,like $10-15.00
Get two new locking rings and gaskets for the tank units.When you remove the old ring,it will most likely be siezed.You can gently bend it inward,and collapse it,to help get it free,then turn it or pry it out.You will probably also need 4 of the plastic clips which secure the fuel lines.You'll need 2 black and two white ones.
If you have any problems,just drop me a line.
I yield to wyldman, I'm stuck thinking in the dark ages of carburated trucks!:o