Frame swap - 93 under a 62

Post by **Greg D** » February 25, 2008, 4:56 pm

I'll save you the trouble of typing the obvious. Wheelbase is longer, frame is wider, track is wider, body mounts won't even be close.
At work we just got a 93 lwb with a 4.9 & E4OD 113 K with a fresh tranny from one of our other locations, they asked me what it was worth cause they just want it gone, I may be able to own this real right. Body is decent so I will be able to sell it all off. I am thinking this might cool to stuff up under the Uni's body!
I'll have to fab all new front body mounts (mine are fabricated anyway) but should just be able to redrill the bed section mounts and the new frame and bolt it down. Moving the rear axle forward shouldn't be too bad. Driveshaft is a measure it and drop it off to be shortened, guy I use charges me $75 shortened & trued.
Thoughts?

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » February 25, 2008, 5:52 pm

Greg that's a substantial wheelbase difference from 120" to 133".
also IIRC the steering box is out past the rad support on the later Fords.. sometihng else to deal with. The wider frame will require something be done with your steps.
All in all.. I say go for it if you have the skill. bud. I know I sure don't

Fanatic · Post by **Fanatic** » February 25, 2008, 6:38 pm

I would think it would be much easier to adapt the suspension and drivetrain to the Uni frame. But what do I know.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » February 25, 2008, 6:44 pm

Greg, i put an 82 f150 on a 67 highboy which is backwards but did work out.
if i were to put my uni on a highboy 4x4 frame it would be the same wb difference 120" to 131 or 133 and shortening the frame would be necessary.
on the 82 on 67 frame the rear cab mounts lined up , and i went from that point.
depends what you are willing to do and the time you want to spend on it.

Gritsngumbo · Post by **Gritsngumbo** » February 25, 2008, 6:56 pm

Greg: I saw a post the other day (believe it was on here but could have been 'nother site) where a new member told about putting a 93 crossmember under a Slick (if I remember correctly). Seems he was a professional frame/suspension specialist. Said it drove and handled great. With my limited knowledge I didn't really understand exactly what he did, but maybe that would help you. I'll keep looking for the post.

Edit: Here's a link: http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4988
check about 1/2 way down the topic. after I asked him about lowering details. Again I don't know if this relates to your question or not.

Update: Went back and looked at the entire post and he's posted some pics.
Looks somewhat similar to a CV crossmember swap.

Post by **Greg D** » February 25, 2008, 10:40 pm

I read that thread too, that's what told me I liked the track width in a slick.
13 inches to move the axle isn't horrible, more work to make a short wheel base frame from a long one and it gets done. I might move the wheelbase that way too though.
I'll take some measurements on the frame width at the step, I don't like the step being cut into like on a full crn vic swap I saw done. I would just remove the step completely first.
I see the wiring as the biggest hassle, I considered this same swap with my 66 short but the donor didn't pan out. With that one I actually considered moving the whole harness over with the frame and adapting either the light sockets or swapping the sockets to work on the new harness. One issue this would have for sure the donor has dual tanks.

Slick Fan · Post by **Slick Fan** » February 25, 2008, 10:54 pm

Is the '93 a 4x4 or 2x4? At least that body style dates clear back to 1980, so it may not be too terribly hard to make work on a Uni.
Maybe go to a boneyard & see if you can find one that's got most of the body already gone from the frame...leaving the frame exposed. Then take a bunch of measurements & see how it looks from there.

jwh f-100 · Post by **jwh f-100** » February 26, 2008, 9:46 am

Greg,
My first thought was this link JC posted a while back.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_li ... bases.html

Check out the '97 F-150 short bed regular cab. From what I learned from cutting down my box and the woories I had with the body lines looking correct I would think a uni would be the best for this type of project. I may be wrong but maybe a person could just set the uni down on the '97 chassis and have "first hand" look/references on exactly what would need to be done.

Other than that I say go for it and I would not have a problem with you just sending me your complete "disk brake upgraded" front axle.

Post by **Greg D** » February 26, 2008, 6:01 pm

It's a 2x4 truck.
My straight axle disc brake setup would be for sale if I do this basically the whole brake system I rebuilt the rears too. I don't have 500 miles on the stuff so it's basically still new, plus the new drag link.

flareside64 · Post by **flareside64** » February 26, 2008, 6:39 pm

Hey Greg, if you do the frame swap, I'd be interested in that disc brake setup. PM me if you are serious.

Post by **Greg D** » February 26, 2008, 10:11 pm

Jason, I wish I were looking a this deal on a 97 chassis, lol. Even better suspension and the 2wd trucks set pretty low with the right tires. One thing that I am concerned about is the height I will end up at. Although the stock 2x4 93 does sit lower in the front than my Uni did before I lowered it.
I was told today that I could likely about steal this truck, they just want it off the books. Funny thing is the 93 isn't a bad truck all by itself, really too nice to cut up.
I realize this wouldn't be a Saturday afternoon project but it's very tempting. I would definitely have a real nice driving Slick when it was done. I also considered just swapping the suspension and running gear over to the Uni frame like Tim said. I think it would be about an equal amount of work either way, but quicker to swap the whole frame. I guess I will just have to talk to Dan next time I get a chance and see what happens. It also depends on what I can get the 93 for.
I do see a potential problem with the steering box if it sticks out too far in front of the core support, if I move my front bumper at all I would pull it in about an inch not move it out.

insane1 · Post by **insane1** » February 26, 2008, 11:44 pm

Hey, this is the guy that did the 92 crossmember swap on a 62. Heres what I think (if anyone cares).

Trackwidth is perfect for these trucks as far as I'm conserned, so that will be fine.

Shortning the frame is easy to do, that should not be a problem as long as you have the fab skills. Just take your time, and do not just make 2 straight cuts, take a chuck out and weld it all back to gether. You will want to make almost puzzle piece, if you will, so that you get lots of area to weld, plus add a good reineforcment plate on the inside of the frame where you made the splice.

As for the gas tank, either keep the stock in you truck, or just run the rear 93 tank, ditch the tank under the cab. Or you could run both tanks, the unibody, and the rear, and have two tanks! Just an idea.

Somebody said something about wireing?!? There is no issue there as you will keep the unibody wireing, so there are no changes to that.

As for gearbox that is not an issue as there is room before the rad support as evidencs in the pics of the swap on my truck.

Someone said something about the new frame being wider? It may not be exact same width as the unibody but pretty damn close. All ford trucks have very narrow frames, except for those junky ass 98 F-150's ( I hate those trucks).

As for the driveshaft that is easy to do as well. I have shortened several in my shop. You do have to take your time, but very simple. I can tell you how if you want.

Sounds like you feel confident in you abilaty, so I say go for it. This is just my two cents.

I have a lot of experience w/ the 92-96 f-150's, so I just wanted to give my advise in order to hopefully give you a few answers.

Here's a pic of my personal driver 96 crewcab F-150 that I built about 3 years ago.

Post by **Greg D** » February 27, 2008, 8:14 pm

Insane1, thanks for chiming in on this. I have been studying your pictures while I considered it. I was thinking of sending you a PM about it, lol. Next time I get in early enough to talk to the boss I guess we'll see what happens.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » February 27, 2008, 9:38 pm

Man Greg, you finally found a mod I'm pretty sure I won't try

insane1 · Post by **insane1** » February 27, 2008, 11:22 pm

Hey Greg D, I'm interested in seeing the swap done. I really dont think that it is that big of a deal, I think that once you got into it it, you might realize how easy it might be. Keep us updated on it, and if I can be of any assistence in the way of advise please let me know.

Post by **Greg D** » February 28, 2008, 2:55 pm

I do this and I will fully photo document the whole thing plus keep notes on measurements etc. Might be a bit big for a "How To" but who knows. Thanks for the offer, if I run into any issues I'll post em.
Couldn't get anywhere with the donor today, Dan was out when I got back in.

Post by **Greg D** » February 29, 2008, 7:06 pm

I looked it over today and drove it, runs out pretty good and the tranny shifts fine 4.9 & E4OD. Pretty much the whole body is rusted so I won't recoup anything to speak of selling parts. I can probably cut the bed floor out and weld it into the Uni though.
They were saying stuff like 8-900 bucks, Think I will see if I can get it for $500, engine & tranny should be worth that. The rises & falls in the frame are much more drastic than the straight axle frame. There is a straight 24 inch or so section in front of the rear axle rise I can probably use for the sectioning.
The seat is in real nice shape and I may be able to adapt the dash insert into a slick dash insert, same basic shape. I may also be able to use the headliner. Maybe use the hood hinges too? There are probably alot more odds & ends I can adapt also. The 93 has A/C so I may be able to move it over to the Uni even if I have to get a Fox body heater core unit. Being the age it is if I want to add any other accessories (PW, PL, Tach) the wiring harness will already be ready so it should just about be a plug & play.
Tires on it are good so I could reuse them maybe, it does have my favorite Ford styled steel wheels on it that I could run until I feel like springing for something better.
One of the supervisors said I could probably have them just take payments out of my check for it too. I'll find out Monday I guess.

Post by **Greg D** » March 6, 2008, 8:45 pm

Well, I can own it pretty decent. They aren't going to do anything with it right away anyway. I am going to leave it sit while I spend some more time sorting this out.
Things I have to think about;
+ I like the track width of this setup under a Slick.
+ Basically most of the upgrades I want in my truck all in one package.
+ Price is ALOT less than I would pay separately for all this stuff.
- A twin I is not my first choice for a front end upgrade, it would darn near require I run the same size tires on all 4 corners so they can be rotated regularly.
- I really wanted a V-8 although mostly for the sound.

If you have any thoughts please chime in. You might think of something I missed.

insane1 · Post by **insane1** » March 10, 2008, 7:49 pm

Greg D; Just going to comment about the 2 negatives on the above post.

As for the twin I beam, and rotaing tires, as long as the alignment is good, and no worn out parts tires will last a long time. My 96 has been lowered for 3(?)yrs now and no accesive wear on the same tires.

As for a v8, if you can replace the frame on a truck I think you can easaily put in a v8. But with gas prices??

Post by **Greg D** » March 10, 2008, 9:40 pm

insane1 wrote:
As for a v8, if you can replace the frame on a truck I think you can easaily put in a v8. But with gas prices??

Lol, I have lost count of all the engine swaps I have done. I guess I didn't clarify that one. I go ahead and do this especially with all the EEC wiring, I'll leave it. The more I think about it this is the way to go for me whether I swap the whole frame or the suspension & driveline. Kinda tough to argue with everything in one package & cheap. Guess I could put one of the 302s & the AOD in my 85 Mustang vert.