7.3 F-350 expedition build

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pappaskrat

New member
Starting a build on a 97 F-350. My plan is to chop and create a budget expedition truck (under $5,500 total) for ski and surf adventures. It all started with a 97 F350 4x4 7.3 turbo diesel I picked up for 4,000. The truck has 250,000 miles on her and a new used 5 speed. After some minor engine, suspension, brake mods shes running great.
I plan to chop the crew cab in half and weld up a 14' x 7' camper box on the back. Im on a pretty tight time line so this build should go pretty quick.
 
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underdrive

jackwagon
If that thing had power widows and locks, put your rear doors on Craigslist - someone with an earlier crew-cab truck will scoop them up in short order. They tend to be very desirable as they're only a few years worth of production run, yet they will fit all the cabs all the way back to 1980.

And I will second Pappa's question/concern, do make sure to take frame twist into account when designing your box and its mounting system.
 
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pappaskrat

New member
pappawheely I'm looking at mounting the box in a similar fashion to this flatbed with c channel and angle iron. This is a budget build as of now and wont see much extreme flex off-road for a few seasons. I plan to leave options for simple redesign in the summers to come when there is more money available to make her into the true off-road vehicle she is meant to be. Still deciding how i want to go about attaching the cab to the box or not attaching at all and leaving a gap to allow for more flex. thinking of possibly choping the very back of the crew cab and welding it to the rear of the new cab size as the angles and dimensions are roughly the same with a little grinding. if you have any ideas let me know. flat bed 2.jpg flat bed.jpg
 
thethePete

thethePete

Explorer
Curious why you used a CC and chopped the back half off, instead of using a much more common standard cab and just removing the back wall? Just using what you have? It will be interesting to see how things hold up with it tied into the cab, as others have mentioned, these things flex like crazy...like, noticable on uneven pavement... I would be concerned about torsional stress through the structure.

Keep up the good work! Is it an IDI turbo, or a PSD?
 
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pappaskrat

New member
Pete, went with the crew cab for the longer wheel base and mostly just finding the right deal. Its a PSD. Since others have mentioned the flex. I will most likely spend the evening tomorrow driving over some different terrain and standing around with my arms crossed looking at how different obstacles flex the frame and where the stress points are before i start any welding.
 
evilfij

evilfij

Explorer
I don't think you can weld anything to the cab without it tearing apart.

How about fitting a regular cab and then a box on the back.
 
U

underdrive

jackwagon
evilfij said:
How about fitting a regular cab and then a box on the back.
Click to expand...
That would have been the way I would go about it - pull the 4-door cab and replace it with a regular 2-door cab, cut a section of the new cab's rear wall out for a pass-thru, then drop the box behind it and cut a section out of that front wall to match the opening in the cab. Then connect the two with accordion boot like the one some road tractors use between the cab and the sleeper. This would retain structural integrity of both cab and box during frame twist, and still allow passing from one into the other easy enough.

This would obviously require sourcing another cab tho, which also means a trip to the DMV for VIN reassignment and such. On the other hand hacking the 4-door cab in half allows him to work with what he's already got and avoid messing with the title.
 
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