how is it to remove the cab?

[siduramaxde]

I just got a F450 chassis cab (dump truck) and I was wondering if anyone knew how hard it is to take the cab off these trucks? Upon opening the hood of my new truck I realized that if any major (maybe even minor) engine work needs to be done the cab will have to come off. I plan to keep this truck for awhile and that usually means turning my own wrenches. Do you need a vehicle lift to get the cab off and how long does it take to get the cab off?

[Gerry40]

I was at my local dealer (Allan Vigil) back in Nov. and the head diesel tech walked me back to a F450 King Ranch that had the body off. He said it was a Ford buy back truck because it developed a major oil leak at only 320 miles (something to do with a seal on the turbo and they owner wasn't taking a 55k+ truck with an oil leak). The guy was really cool explained anything I asked about and if I had to guess I'd say he spent 30-40 minutes just BS'ing me and he knew what he was talking about. I must say it was pretty cool to seeing that huge motor just sitting on the frame.

Anyway, he said they've done a few cab removals already and in the beginning it was taking them 3+ hours to get the cab off but now they can have one off in 2 1/2 hours and they used a vehicle lift to do it. All the coolers on the front end are drained and lifted with the cab, they unplug a bunch of connectors, remove a few other parts and then remove 6 or 8 cab bolts and she'll lift right off. Once you have the cab off you get full access to all sides of the engine so working on them is easy.

The one thing he did say where he thinks Ford screwed up on is the cab bolts or should I say nuts. Ford installed the nuts inside the cab so you can get everything done from outside the cab. They put the nuts in a stamped steal housing that pinches the nut in place but he said the problem comes when you put them back in. If you're not careful you can spin the nut in the housing and you can get them tightened. You also can't get them out unless you go into the cab and that adds a lot more time and it's a big PITA. His comment was they should welded the nuts in place so they can't spin at all.

I hope this helps!

Gerry