F150 swap question, not sure if this is the right spot

[bio 'Stroke]

I am considering a '00 7.3l swap in a '93-96 F150 as I have a complete '00 donor truck. I am looking for more of a hot rod project than a tow rig or something like that. To my knowledge all the F series trucks of this era are very similar underneath, that's why I posted this in the '94-97 section as the bodies are the same and the frames are close I am hoping. Has anyone done this swap or know someone who has. Is it more trouble than it's worth, I can't see it being super involved? Comments?

[kylev90]

theres is a guy on here that has done a few swaps similar to this. Somebody will know who for sure. I believe he had a site something along the lines of "half ton strokes" ??? Pretty sure he did a few broncos too. Anyway heres a bump. Sounds like a sweet project

[bio 'Stroke]

Yea, I am pretty excited about planning it. I am thinking a short bed standard cab 2 wheel drive. Mild mods and I am hoping for a pretty good performer and some decent fuel mileage. Am I wrong to be thinking if I am getting around 18 with a 7500lb truck and go to a 4000lb truck I will see some improvement. One of my bigger concerns as I am fairly sure most of it will bolt in is the front suspension. I do not want to be replacing ball joints and such every 10k miles but I think that the twin I beams are pretty stout anyway.

[elibenson]

Twin I-beams suck, but they will work withe the weight of a diesel. I have a dozen twin I-beam trucks, and they work well enough, provided you keep after them. I would suspect that you will have to rebuild the front end very shortly after you put the extra weight on there. Once you do that, you should be good for another 80K miles without major difficulty.

The ball joints are exactly the same ball joints that go in a 1 ton truck, so they won't be your major problem. You will probably need replace the springs with 1-ton truck springs. All the other front end parts are the same, so with just changing the springs, you should be good to go.

[bio 'Stroke]

My plans are to rebuild the front end while it's down. In what way do I beams "suck"?

[kversch]

man this is exactly the thing I wana do with my 95 F150. once I am done playing with my f250 and getting it up to where I want it. for now the 150 will have to wait.

[RadarRider]

Don't do it! Make a PSD powered 4x4 go-cart! If you don't do it, I will!!!

[bio 'Stroke]

Can anybody vouch for the 7.3l bolting up to the crossmember in the 1/2 tons, are they the same as the 3/4 and 1 tons of these years?

[baddkarmaracing]

there is a guy on here his screenname is smokinhalfton i think that has a 7.3 in a 150

[elibenson]

Originally Posted by bio 'Stroke

My plans are to rebuild the front end while it's down. In what way do I beams "suck"?

The geometry is really bad. If you depress the front suspension, it tends to wear the inside of the front tires. I have continual problems with cambre angle. The trucks that I work with all the time are E-series vans, but the design is exactly the same. Trucks get a bit of a break because the weight of the engine and passengers are moved back a little as compared to a van. The same problems still apply though.

If you align it to the vehicle's static weight, just putting a driver and passenger in the truck screws with the cambre enough to mess your tires up prematurely. not to mention that the lower ball joints are not meant to work at that angle, and then take wear because of it. Then the problem with the ball joints, passenger weight and bad cambre angle compound each other, and your tires and the rest of the front end components take a beating because of it.

What I have found to work best is to pre-load the trucks with the weight of two heavy medics, and then have the truck aligned. This will set a bit of a positive cambre angle (under no load), but that is not such a bad thing. One thing that you can count on with a ford twin I-beam is that you will eventually have negative cambre. This pre-loading procedure simply prolongs the life of your tires.