86 6.9 cab swap

[QJM15c]

Hey guy I'm new to the site. I have a 1986 F-250 super cab with the 6.9 and the 4 speed. I have a flat bed on it as the pickup box was rusted out bad when i got it.

I want to put a single cab on it and find a longer flat bed as well. My ? is, I found a 1989 F-250 single cab truck that had a 460 and a 5 speed in it. how hard would it be to swap cab or will the newer cab even fit. I guess im asking what alls diffrent and what all will work? any info will help I don't wanna buy this cab and it not fit.

thanks
Quinton

[Joe Mc]

How long of a flatbed do you want?
Did your truck come with a long bed or a short bed?

Several places make an 11 foot flatbed that bolts right in on a long bed.
I would stretch the frame before I gave up that extra 1.5 foot in the cab, I really like having an extended cab even though it is just me and the wife in the truck. I never use the seats in the back I just keep it as deck space.

[QJM15c]

the truck was a long bed to start with. I have a old winch bed That Im going to fix up I belive its around 10 ft long. it has a 20,000 pound Pto drivin winch along with tail roll and gen poles. I'm always needing to move smaller skid mounted equipment around, and its kinda a waste some times to call the semi truck away from what there doing for 5min of work that i could do with a pickup. as for the cab a single cab truck is easer to see out of the back to see what your winch is doing. for the room I will lose in the cab i can aways mount some nice tool boxes under the bed to make up for it. thats my idea i'm not sure its worth much or not

thanks
Quinton

[bigblackstroker]

The cab should fit. I have done quite a bit of body work on trucks of style and the cab should match up correctly. However, you may have to do some custom fabrication to get the bed mounted the way you'd like it.

[QJM15c]

Thanks for the info, I had another ? how diffrent are the insides if i gut the newer cab can i take the dash, steering shaft, seat, ect out of the old cab and bolt it in to the new one, will it fit?

thanks Quinton

[Joe Mc]

The floorpan is different between the extended cab and the other 2 cabs so the seats don't swap.

With the longbed and tailgate being over 9 foot you can mount the 10 footer without swapping cabs unless you really need to get more of the load weight toward the front axle. Mounting a mirror over the back window looking down at the wench would be easier than changing cabs. You are going to have to move some of the cab mounts and I don't know if it will make a difference but Ford changed the frame in 87, the older ones are a little wider.

There are a couple of cab swaps posted on this site with comments of what they encountered. It has been done before. Good luck if you do this change and let us know how it goes.