I think it’s about time I post a build thread for my early ‘99 PSD Super Duty. I’ve been a long time lurker here and would like to document my upcoming build and get input from the community, while giving some knowledge back as well. I’ve been in the off-road scene since college about 12 years ago. I have a ‘97 Jeep Wrangler TJ that has seen more than its fair share of use and abuse. The Jeep is due for a rebuild but since I’ve moved away from off-roading for the sake of off-roading, and more into overlanding, the truck is going to be built first.
I bought the truck about eight years ago. It’s a regular cab, long bed with the 4r100 automatic, the 7.3 PSD, lariat trim, and had 73,000 original miles. Unfortunately, I found out after I bought it that is was a bit more crusty than I thought. New England trucks usually are as many of you know. The bed was shot which I knew, but it turned out that the rear frame was really bad as well. I knew it needed the spare tire crossmember replaced, but when I got in there, I ended up replacing about 2 ft of each frame rail too. I did that work right after I got it and the truck has been a workhorse ever since. About 4 years ago the 4r100 took a dump at about 100,000 miles. Since I was never a fan of it anyways, I took the opportunity to manual swap the truck. Most people with 7.3 superduty’s would swap in a ZF-6 since that’s what would have come with the truck. However, at least in my area, ZF-5’s are way easier to obtain, and about $2,000 less expensive. I got a used ZF-5 for $700 with similar mileage to the truck, and proceeded to swap it in. The ZF-5 actually swaps into superduty’s quite easily and I’d do it again. The 6 speed would be nice but it’s not worth the money to me. If anyone is interested in the swap details, let me know and I’m happy to post more information! Not too long after the manual swap, the truck pulled our 32’ tri axle tiny house across town about 7 miles. At the time (mid completion) I would estimate it weighed around 15,000 lbs. I wouldn’t have wanted to pull it much farther, but the old girl did it without complaint.
This spring when it came time for it to get its yearly Maine inspection sticker, it became clear it needed more rust work. Since I needed the truck, I did more patch work. At the same time I built a quick wooden flatbed for it so I could finally get rid of the rusted out original bed. I made some metal skirts for the bed so it didn’t look quite as bad as many wood beds, and I think it came out pretty well. The truck has been in use since then and is working as well as ever.
However, over the past year, I decided I wanted to build the truck and do it right. Ultimately it’s a low mileage, 7.3 and is a desirable truck. I love the truck, but I hate how crusty it is and want to have a good start to build an expo rig on. To that end, I picked up a really clean frame from Truck Country in Willimantic CT, as well as a clean sterling 10.5 for the back, and a clean Dana 60 for the front. My axles are good mechanically, but are so rusty it’s hard to work on them. I got the frame sandblasted and I’m super stoked with how it came out. It’s all painted and ready to go. Next up is painting the axles and building a rolling chassis. Then I’ll start swapping my motor, trans, transfer case, and cab onto it. Somehow my cab is still really solid so I’m going to put rockers and cab corners on it and run it. Then I’m going to build a 3 or 4 point mounted flatbed similar to Idasho’s. Lastly, I plan on building a hard sided camper for it. The goal is something that could be quite comfortable for full time use so it will have a shower, kitchen, toilet, etc. to start with though, the truck needs to be built. I’ve put some photos below of the truck. Most of them are from the frame repair and bed build this spring. There are also a few of the new frame after sandblasting, after paint, and also of how I got it home. Have to be creative when you don’t have a car trailer. The guys where I bought the frame thought it was quite funny that I showed up with a boat trailer. More to come once I get some time to work on it!
I bought the truck about eight years ago. It’s a regular cab, long bed with the 4r100 automatic, the 7.3 PSD, lariat trim, and had 73,000 original miles. Unfortunately, I found out after I bought it that is was a bit more crusty than I thought. New England trucks usually are as many of you know. The bed was shot which I knew, but it turned out that the rear frame was really bad as well. I knew it needed the spare tire crossmember replaced, but when I got in there, I ended up replacing about 2 ft of each frame rail too. I did that work right after I got it and the truck has been a workhorse ever since. About 4 years ago the 4r100 took a dump at about 100,000 miles. Since I was never a fan of it anyways, I took the opportunity to manual swap the truck. Most people with 7.3 superduty’s would swap in a ZF-6 since that’s what would have come with the truck. However, at least in my area, ZF-5’s are way easier to obtain, and about $2,000 less expensive. I got a used ZF-5 for $700 with similar mileage to the truck, and proceeded to swap it in. The ZF-5 actually swaps into superduty’s quite easily and I’d do it again. The 6 speed would be nice but it’s not worth the money to me. If anyone is interested in the swap details, let me know and I’m happy to post more information! Not too long after the manual swap, the truck pulled our 32’ tri axle tiny house across town about 7 miles. At the time (mid completion) I would estimate it weighed around 15,000 lbs. I wouldn’t have wanted to pull it much farther, but the old girl did it without complaint.
This spring when it came time for it to get its yearly Maine inspection sticker, it became clear it needed more rust work. Since I needed the truck, I did more patch work. At the same time I built a quick wooden flatbed for it so I could finally get rid of the rusted out original bed. I made some metal skirts for the bed so it didn’t look quite as bad as many wood beds, and I think it came out pretty well. The truck has been in use since then and is working as well as ever.
However, over the past year, I decided I wanted to build the truck and do it right. Ultimately it’s a low mileage, 7.3 and is a desirable truck. I love the truck, but I hate how crusty it is and want to have a good start to build an expo rig on. To that end, I picked up a really clean frame from Truck Country in Willimantic CT, as well as a clean sterling 10.5 for the back, and a clean Dana 60 for the front. My axles are good mechanically, but are so rusty it’s hard to work on them. I got the frame sandblasted and I’m super stoked with how it came out. It’s all painted and ready to go. Next up is painting the axles and building a rolling chassis. Then I’ll start swapping my motor, trans, transfer case, and cab onto it. Somehow my cab is still really solid so I’m going to put rockers and cab corners on it and run it. Then I’m going to build a 3 or 4 point mounted flatbed similar to Idasho’s. Lastly, I plan on building a hard sided camper for it. The goal is something that could be quite comfortable for full time use so it will have a shower, kitchen, toilet, etc. to start with though, the truck needs to be built. I’ve put some photos below of the truck. Most of them are from the frame repair and bed build this spring. There are also a few of the new frame after sandblasting, after paint, and also of how I got it home. Have to be creative when you don’t have a car trailer. The guys where I bought the frame thought it was quite funny that I showed up with a boat trailer. More to come once I get some time to work on it!
