Explorer body on F-350 frame = Legal?

I would evantually like to put my 92' explorers' body onto a something like a 85' F-350 frame, shorten the frame length, box it, and stregnthen it so it doesnt flex as much (Too protect the explorer body from body flex). This as so that I could use a ford diesel or mabye the cummins 3.9 liter or 5.9 liter turbo diesel. as a later swap in, mabye eventually mated to a NV4500 with Atlas II case, so on and so dreaming. But at any rate, I like diesels, I think that they have many advanges over a gas in a truck application. I live in Oregon, but may someday move somewhere else, anyone ever heard of the legality of this swap (other than cali, never get away with that swap there!) I would like to use the truck frame for added beef, wider stance and build to take the weight of a diesel engine. Any suggestions, or any advice on these kind of swaps would be much appreciated. -sam

 

[jimbo74]

if you used a f350 diesel and put an explorer body on it it would still be legal in ca.....changing the body has nothing to do with it. it is still an f350......also this kind of swap is a major PITA unless you have a bottomless bank account/wallet.

 

[samtheham]

I hear that Major Pain In The [Butt]! This is pretty much a long term plan, mabye a few years down the road at best. But on the net we can all dream right? Just something that I'm looking in to.

 

[jimbo74]

tossing an explorer body onto a f350 shouldnt be too hard just have to get everything to fit like frame under body and custom body mounts....that actually sounds pretty cool!

 

[RFR2212]

Call me crazy....But wouldnt the F-350's chassis be a lil too wide for the explorer body.... If the swap was done and that was the case, I think it would probly look a lil funny.....not to mention, the frame would have to be shortened most likely....and the shortening may be alot and then it could affect the frame.....such as mounts etc...
just my thought
Pete

 

[ATC Enterprises]

I don't think it would be particularly hard, especially if you and/or a buddy have good welding skills. It will be expensive and time consuming though. The first thing you will want to do is get the frame to the proper wheelbase, then getting the body mount positions right. I don't think you'll have to do any special strengthening to the frame to avoid flex- the reason a truck flexes is because there are two seperate and independent body units- the bed and the cab/front end. If you park an S-10 and an S-10 Blazer side by side you will notice from underneath that the frames aren't to awful different in respect to metal thickness, bracing, etc. The S-10 truck will flex more simply because it can, and the Blazer won't because the body prevents it. I think you'll have the same result with your project.

If you decide to do this (of course we'll want to see pics in progress), you might "engineer" a body lift into the body mounts. Remember too that the taller F-350 frame will give you some lift also.

Oh, and definately do the diesel!

 

[justgetinstarte]

sorry to burst your bubble but the diesel i dont think will fit that is if you keep all the OEM ford parts to it i would take some fabing, but mabe. Fir your going to do the f350 swap just get all the running gear and bracets and such and just fab the front and the back should just fall in to place. the frame is the same size on the rear but not on the front. the front is like 2 inches off of what the f 350 is so all you need is some spacers
and your all done. im thinking on doing this myself i dont expect it to talk longer than 3 weeks or so but i guess will will c. starting mine this summer 06 o ya!!!

 

[splodo49]

What about ex-250s rig arent the 250 and 350 frame rails the same width apart.. And his is one of the baddest on the site.

 

[jimbo74]

someone named ryan used to have or still does have a f250 frame with an exlplorer body.....

he either used to be a moderator or still is i think... maybe arsoul is the name?

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Arsoul is he name. He used a 79 F250 frame and cut I think about 21 inches out of the frame. He used the F250's motot which was a 300 strait 6. Extensive firewall modifications were neededto fit it under the hood. Here's the link to the project page.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41314&highlight=ex-250

 

[vervepipes]

anything is possible, lets see if I can find my friend's 454 powered s-10 on K5 chassis...

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

anything is possible, lets see if I can find my friend's 454 powered s-10 on K5 chassis...

Even though it's a Chevy, that sounds nice.

 

[arsoul]

just caught this post.....back to the first question...legalities....in Washington state the law states the vehicle is to be licensed according to the body....so in my case, my rig (a 94' body on a 79'frame/running gear) has to be licensed as a 94 explorer...which means my 79 f-250 300 motor needs to pass the emmissions for a 94....hard to do, so hard that i havent even bothered to try.
in my opinion, its harder than actually making the swap.

 

[holshotracer]

up at silver lake there is a taurus body sitting on a chevy truck frame. the problem is that you can see the motor becauese the body sits so high on the frame.