4wd DRW '86 CCLB flatbed

I've got a lot of work ahead of me, the plan is to have two diesel trucks when done.

Current truck: '86 F350 CCLB 2wd SRW

Other Truck : '89 F350 Reg cab, 4wd, DRW conversion with nice steel diamond plate flatbed, 5.8L gasser

The plan, cut the front frames on both trucks and switch them making the '86 a 4wd and the '89 a 2wd. Swap rear ends, swap beds, remove 5.8L and install original 6.9 from the '86 which now has a Banks Turboed 7.3 IDI. When done I will have a reg cab 2wd SRW diesel with a 4spd that my neighbor has already made a deposit on to run WMO for another work truck and I will have a 4wd DRW CC with the flat bed, hidden gooseneck hitch, pintle hitch, under bed tool boxes. I'll have the work truck I always wanted and he'll have a second vehicle for his telecom repair business that will save him on fuel costs.

I started tonight by grinding off the welds that held the flat bed on the '89, hereafter refered to as the red truck and mine is the black truck. I now have the flad bed sitting on the floor of my shop. I intend to repaint it then roll on bedliner on the deck.

The two tricky parts of the conversions will be the front frame swap and the gas to diesel swap on the red truck. I think I've got all the conversion parts. I've already got a second T-19 with a transfer case.

Well after a few hours of measuring and re-measuring and looking and looking again I just can't decide if I want to do a front frame swap or just swap the front axles between the two trucks. Looks like about the same amount of work either way. I mean by the time I fab up some locating plates to bolt on before cutting then get both frames cut just right it might be easier to just drill out all those friggin rivets! If I drill the rivets I'll likely replace them all with fine thread grade 8 and maybe burn everything in once I'm done. I did get the trans and TC off the gas engine tonight though and I'm pulling the motor tomorrow so maybe with the engine out of the way I can get a better look at things.

I dont know why you would want to cut the frame thay should be the same. A good grinder and an air chisel will make short work of the factory rivets.

Yah... I wouldn't waste time drilling, cut an X in the rivet heads and then chisel. Or use a good blade in a reciprocating saw. I've cut both frames and axles, axles are easier. You lose sight of how much has to be cut and fixed with a frame chop.

Well if I did the frame chop I was going to machine up identical bolt on plates for each frame so I could jig them up for welding. I'm just trying to figure out which way is easier, there are some differences in the front parts of the frame, like a dimple for the front spring mount that is not on the 2wd frame etc.

Put an RSK on the 2wd frame, problem solved.

I just don't like cutting frames if you don't have too.

I hear ya on the frame welding but I've been welding up frames, roll cages, structural stuff for years so I have pretty good faith I'd get it right. I do want an RSK kit but it's not in the cards right now, I'm a little over budget for both trucks as it is and behind schedule.

Looking things over again tonight I'm just gonna swap suspensions. I added up estimated time for both and came out ahead swapping suspensions.

I need to get both front and rear under my truck and the trans and TC in place this week so I can measure for driveshafts, then I can tear into the other truck. I've got some frame motor mounts to fab while I'm at it on that truck and I think a custom trans cross member for mine since I can't find a donor diesel in a boneyard anywhere around here. I've also got a lot of prep work to do on the flatbed so it's ready for paint. Gotta install a pintle mount, fix one of the under bed boxes, fix a bent section, and weld up the silly on deck fuel doors and make new fuel fill necks under the bed. Plus I'm adding a bunch of LED rear lighting as well as aux reverse lights, side lights, and cargo lights. The plan is to have my truck ready and waiting for driveshafts in a week and be part way through the conversion on the other truck.

Well on the donor truck the transfercase and trans are out. All fluids drained including both gas tanks, radiator is out, engine unhooked. Tomorrow my buddy and I are removing the engine and both axles. I'm gonna set that stuff aside while I fab up some frame mounts for the 6.9 that is going into the donor truck. I've also got some minor work to do on the flatbed as well as repaint it. Long day today.

Engine and both axles are removed! Working on taking off the 4wd brackets and sway bar brackets which my truck does not have. I'll upload so pics in a day or two.

Making progress. I've got the reg cab frame fully stripped. Here's some pictures:

BTW I know it's up on blocks and I know that supposedly you shouldn't do that. I also know that the building the truck is in has a beam that weighs about twice what the truck weighs and it's supported by a column of blocks. If you stack blocks correctly there should be no issue and I sure like them more than most jack stands I've found so please don't turn this into an argument about how I shouldn't use blocks like I've seen in other forums.


Back to the issue at hand I had one heck of a time getting the rivets out. I finally blew holes in them with a small tip on my torch and they popped right out. I don't have my air lines in that part of the shop yet so using my air chisel was not an option and a small sledge hammer and drift was not working.

Got the 6.9 torn down tonight. Just one cylinder had any real carbon buildup, not surprisingly it was the driver's side rear, likely from a bad CDR valve. I can easily read the stamping in the tops of the pistons. I did find a glow plug tip lodged in one of the pre-cups but no damage to the cylinder or head fortunately.

Tomorrow is tear down the crew cab day. I hope to have both 4wd axles under it by the end of the weekend so I can order drive shafts on Monday. Then I'll start installing the 2wd stuff on the reg cab truck.

Front suspension is off the CCLB truck. Working on swapping rearends tomorrow then trans swap. Hope to put the D60 up front on Sunday.

Rear ends are swapped. Almost all the brackets are off both frames, I missed the bump stops on the 4wd frame so I gotta do those today. I figured out that if I grind the rivets flat then dipple with a 3/8" bit I can use my air hammer and some heat to pop the rivets out.

Well I got all the brackets on the 2wd truck on and half the brackets on the 4wd. Hardly any holes line up so it's lots of careful measuring from reference points. If I had to do this over I would definitely have cut and swapped front frames. With all the hours spent grinding and drilling rivets then drilling new holes I could have been done by now.

All the 4wd brackets are now on my truck and I've got my tranny out. Tomorrow I get to put the D60 under the front of my truck and install the other T-19 with transfer case so I can measure to have my rear drive shaft shortened. So realistically I'm about a week from having my truck back on the road and a few weeks from having the other truck driveable. I need to make frame mounts to put the 6.9 in the other truck so I'm leaving the suspension out of my way for now. I've got all the measurements I think so I'll start making those on Tuesday probably. I wish I could find a wrecked IDI in a junkyard around here and pull the frame mounts, wiring harness from the engine to the cab, etc. but no luck so far. My retired father's coming down this week to clean and paint the flatbed for me.

I've noticed that the factory rivets were really tight on both frames. I'm thinking about putting some good sized welds on all the brackets once I make sure everything is lined up and drives properly. I used fine thread grade 8 all around but still some welds won't hurt on a truck I plan to work hard all the time. I also can't wait to see if the welded on flatbed stiffens up my frame much. Before I got a lot of twist between the cab and bed mainly due to it being a crew cab. I'm toying with stiffening the front part of the frame from the bed forward. Future plans are heavier springs in the rear anyway or airbags.

D60 is in and looks great! Pix tomorrow.

Here's a pic. Crappy iPod pic but still a pic. Outside duals are off so it fit's through my shop door.:gun:

looks awesome man doin great work :thumbsup:

Thanks man, it's been more work than I thought. It would have been far easier to cut and swap the front frames but what the heck the axle is in there now.

Tonight I swapped the T-19 2wd trans for the T-19 4wd trans and TC, put the rear drive shaft in, measured for the front drive shaft and finished bolting up the front and rear axles so everything is attached and torqued. I only have the brake lines left to do on that part of the swap.

One nice benefit will be sway bars, my truck did not have them but the donor truck did. I'm hoping to have it completely driveable by Saturday night. Then I can pull it into the other building and mount and weld the bed on.

Since my front bumper was toast anyway I'm doing a custom bumper with 10" C-channel as a starting point. Kind of like a tow truck bumper without the grille guard or padding.