Which would be easier...body swap or drivetrain swap?

Cummins Conversion & Builds

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Which would be easier...body swap or drivetrain swap?

Postby Subliminal » Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:35 am

Hey folks,

So, eventually I'd like to be driving a Cummins powered 70s F250.

I figure I'd like the old style body, but with my current running gear and drivetrain. Axles, airbags, tranny, engine, etc...

I know usually people take out the drivetrain and swap it into the other truck...but has anyone swapped the bodies and kept the Dodge frame/goodies?

Thanks!

damon
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Re: Which would be easier...body swap or drivetrain swap?

Postby cmann250 » Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:07 am

I had a '78 F-150 that parted out and it was fairly easy to get the body off. But then you have to make brackets to make the body fits on the frame. I'm sure Ford and Dodge wouldn't be nice enough to make the frames the same length. If you put the drive train in the Ford you'd have to make engine and trans mounts, but that's been done plenty of times before.

So, it depends on what kind of work you want to do... :grin:
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Re: Which would be easier...body swap or drivetrain swap?

Postby simplysmn » Wed May 23, 2012 8:28 pm

I think you would have to measure the frame width on both truck's I know the Ford 4x4's had a wider frame
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Re: Which would be easier...body swap or drivetrain swap?

Postby terryblue2002 » Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:48 pm

I actually built one of those for a friend about 18 years ago. It is by far easier to swap the Ford body onto the Dodge chassis !


Subliminal wrote:Hey folks,

So, eventually I'd like to be driving a Cummins powered 70s F250.

I figure I'd like the old style body, but with my current running gear and drivetrain. Axles, airbags, tranny, engine, etc...

I know usually people take out the drivetrain and swap it into the other truck...but has anyone swapped the bodies and kept the Dodge frame/goodies?

Thanks!

damon
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Re: Which would be easier...body swap or drivetrain swap?

Postby 67 powerwagon » Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:24 am

hey subliminal, i was faced with the same dilema recently and i decided that it'd be cheaper for me to get an entire running old 4x4 dodge truck with the 5 speed trans and cummins ic 12 valve and then slide my 67 dodge powerwagon cab and bed on to that newer chassis. i have the 67 powerwagon chassis complete with axles, tc, etc, but it's going to be much easier for me to lift the body off the 67 chassis and install it on the 91 truck chassis. it just seems like a lot less headache than trying to reinforce areas on the 1 ton 67 chassis to accomodate the weight and torque of the cummins.
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