how about using that 79 I bought the body on it is shot and the truck at the scrap has a good body I figure I can take the good parts off of it and put them on the 2wd while switching the drivetrain and changing it to a 4wd also.
The two years are compatible.
Huge job if you really want to do it.
Sounds like a good plan to keep you busy and out of trouble. Just do it, man!
Does anybody know where I might find a set of 34x15 inch mud tires cheap?
I believe that the trucks from 76 to 79 are compatible also. I could be wrong but I don’t think I am.
1973-1979 Ford F-series trucks are largely compatible with one another. Regarding the tires, I don’t believe anyone makes 34 inch tires. I have seen 31s, 33s, 35s, and 37s, but none of them come cheap. Sometimes you can find a set used on Craigslist with practically no tread left on them for a couple hundred bucks or so. New 33s or 35s (you would probably need a lift kit to fit 35s without them rubbing) usually run $150-200 each.
You can do it if you use the 4x4 frame. The 2 wheel frame can be converted but it not a bolt on swap. Lots of metal and a good welder. Just put all the good body parts on the 4X4 frame. Oh and good luck. I sill don’t think you have the skills to do it. Oh and you will need a 3 inch lift and a 1 inch body lift to put 35’s on it 3 inch lift if going with 33’s. The lift kit for this all said and done is over $1000.00
the 4x4 already has a lift and 31s or 33s not for sure. the bad part is the 4x4 with no title has the best body parts on it. I figured that the most I would have to do to the 2wd frame was make a few more holes and maybe cut off some of the suspension brackets but I will look the 4x4 over good before I try to mess with the swap. oh and trust me I have the skills I have been working in trucks like this since I was 3 years old.
I think the rear springs will bolt right on the 2wd frame from the 4x4.
Keep in mind you will also need to install the front axle and transfer case. There will definitely be a fair amount of cutting and welding going on. I know a father and son who built a one of none truck that included performing a swap like this for the son’s first truck. He ended up with what is, according to the title, a 1976 Chevrolet half ton, but it’s a 4X4 shortbed stepside. They converted the 2WD chassis to 4WD, and both say it’s a unique truck, but neither one of them want to do it again. It took months to get the chassis ready and working properly before they installed the bed, cab, and doghouse. Lotta, lotta work.
Oh, and my three year old son also loves to help me work on cars, tractors, and what not, but he does not have a tremendous skill set nor the patience or strength to be a big help, outside of fetching tools and, sometimes, parts. I may have been that way with my father as well, but the farthest I can remember back working on cars with my dad was probably my adolescent years, 12 or 13 years old. That’s when I started getting serious about it, and ended up buying a Z28 Camaro when I was 15. That was a huge learning experience.
I think I will look the truck over and see about just switching the cab. because by the time I get done with switching all of the parts over the only thing that I wouldn’t have changed.
I call BS on your skills. If you had the skills and have been working on them for any amount of time you would not be asking the questions you have been asking here. I do have the skills do the cutting and welding and would not change a 2 wheel DR frame to a 4 wheel frame, if I had a good 4x4 frame. If I did not I would find one. One bad weld, miss alined bracket and you have truck that can kill you or someone else.
The best thing for you do is put the cab with the title on the 4X4 frame. Then take the title and all the recites/ bill of sale you have for the two trucks to your DMV and have it titled.
@eric16
you need to google Oak island and Money pit, because that is what you are digging yourself into.
well you know what I will put pics of the 2 trucks on here before and after when I get started and wether u say I have the skills or not it don’t matter it WILL get done.
I have been tearing cars and tractors down when I was five. I was gonna do the project any way I was just on here for a second opinion you guys don’t have to be wise guys or pricks or whatever you want to call it.
First it 3 now its 5 and you wonder way we say you should walk a way? We are not being wise guys or pricks. You came here posting questions,If you have been working on cars,trucks and tractors all this time you would know it is a waste of time. Any of us that have worked on cars/trucks know this and would not need a second opinion. I have build cars and trucks, even a monster truck so I know what I am talking about. I once changed a 1970 C10 truck with trailing arms with coils springs to one with leaf springs. Did it in less than a day and it was done right. No worry’s about safety. I have seen people hurt thinking they can do this kind of work because they seen it on tv show. So good luck with it and hope scrap prices go up so you can get most of the money you will spend back.
see I have been working on them since I was 3 and actually tearing them down and rebuilding them since I was 5. I don’t think you would have to do much to switch a truck from coil springs to leaf springs. and this 4x4 project I am going to do Will be successful and it will be running through the mud bog at the edwards county fair when I get it done. hopefully I can get it done it a week or 2.
With so little time to get this project done, the only viable way will be to swap the cab from the 2WD onto the 4WD frame so you can at least title it, assuming you intend to drive it on the street. If it’s strictly an off-road vehicle you will be trailering to mud bogs, the title is a moot point and you may as well just drag the 4X4 home kicking and screaming and get it running as is, screw the title and VIN. Fabricating a frame takes months for a skilled amateur (defined as someone with knowledge, but doesn’t do this every day). The Chevy guy I mentioned who make the 4X4 stepside has been building Chevy trucks for over 40 years and has flip-flopped dozens of bodies and frames in the years I’ve known him. He is also a heck of a welder. He also said after doing that frame build, he would rather not do another one. Building this frame will likely be opening a serious can of worms for you, especially since there is a glaringly obvious way around it.
ok thanks
I kept thinking about the whole “working on trucks and tractors since I was three” thing and wanted to share what this would look like. This is my three year old son trying to imitate me after I replaced the drive belts on this old riding mower. I don’t think he could tear it down and rebuild it, nor do I think he will be at that point in two years, but he does try to do what he sees me do. I suspect this is what you were referring to, eric16? There is a difference between imitating an adult (as a child) and having mechanical aptitude necessary to tear down and rebuild a machine. A five year old can’t tear down and rebuild anything, except maybe a Lego structure, but he still wouldn’t have the exact same thing he started with.