'93 F-350 4x4, 4 door, West Los Angeles

[Paul B.]

Hello all, I'm new here. Here's what I want to do. The rig's as stated above, with gas motor, standard stick shift 5 speed, steel 7' x 8' flat bed with lift gate. Single rear wheels. Totally stock. Super low miles. Got it at a fair price.

I'm looking for a mechanic with extensive off road building experience. I want go through the thing mechanically to make sure it's expedition worthy. Make appropriate upgrades to suspension and such as we see fit.

I have a decent mechanic who takes care of my fleet vehicles. I believe he's a good guy, but the off road experience and attitude just isn't there. He's super busy and unable to work on a project such as this.

Want to pull off the bed and lift gate and install a permanent camper. (I'm a contractor, I have other flat beds trucks if I need a utility truck for other uses. This is to be a permanent camping rig.). Likely to be a flat bed or chassis mount pop-up style camper with fully contained set-up. Maybe this is a thread for the camper section?

Hoping to do all this somewhere not too far from West LA, which not exactly a Mecca for off road shops from what little I know, but maybe, hopefully, I'm uninformed.

 

[pappawheely]

A great place to start is right here. Tons of information is at your fingertips. I know of a couple boutique builders but not in your area. Shop time is quite expensive, I would do the research to find out what you want and then find someone to do the work or find a full time mechanic/fabricator to do an in house build. Anyone who has all the experience and skills necessary to do a custom build will not come cheap. Post some pics of the truck!

 

[amgvr4]

Welcome to the forum. Good news, there is nothing that you need to do to you f350 to make it a capable adventure truck. There is a ton that can be done to make it more comfortable and off-road capable. I was able to go places with my f250 bone stock that really surprised me, but now it is just amazing. The most important thing your normal mechanic can take care of for you. You need to go over every hose, fitting, and replaceable mechanical part to make sure everything is up to par. All of the radiator and coolant hoses on my truck had wear from rubbing on other components. I had to make wear protectors for all of them to keep it from reoccurring. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Shocker]

Let's see some pics!

Also, I would take a gander at the Unimog and Mitsubishi/Isuzu forums here as well. Lot's of those guys have engineered and built campers on frame like you want to do and their threads are amazing.

Is it a 460 powered rig? The manual transmission should be a ZF6. It is a tough transmission.

Again...PICS!

 

[chadlanc]

T&J in orange are good guys

 

[cummins powered]

unrelated

how in the world do i post a new question. i've been looking for hours and can't figure it out.

 

[Paul B.]

Thanks to all. I didn't think to post the pics as it's bone stock with a steel flat bed and lift gate. No much to see. YET. It is a 460. My regular mechanic is who sold it to me. He had maintained it for the original institutional owner for over ten years. He said he'd been through everything, as he intended to take it to Costa Rica himself. I visually checked all the hoses and other rubber items. It's definitely a beautiful base upon which to build. I will let you know how it goes. And will check the Unimog/Isuzu/Mitsubishi threads.

Thanks again!

 

[Uncle_jesse]

Great platform for your build .. They don't get much more simple then that there's so many opinions out there in the after market world for suspension and for drivetrain .. If your looking to perhaps lift it a few inches i would highly recomend going with a front shackle reversal and going with the X or Z code super duty springs great way to go for a good functional and comfortable ride and height ...the old 460 will serve you well and as well as find you every fuel stop around 😜 not sure how far you want to go with your build but if your thinking about a new power plant definatly have alook at a 5.9 cummins conversion I did one in my 93 and it was by far the best choice .. There's not much on these trucks that a basic set of tools and a bit of elbow grease can't fix so don't be afraid to dig into it 😉

 

[redthies]

Uncle Jesse is bang on. "amgvr" did an awesome coil-over swap in his F2/350, but for what you describe (reliable moderate off-roader/camper) a good 3" shackle reversal will let you run 35" tires with lots of room to spare.

My 97 (black) with 3" and 35s (currently in Colombia after driving for 18 months from Alaska) and my friends 97 on 5" and 37s.

Another shot of the 97. It is a 7.3 auto, but I've done the same kit/tire in a 92 with 460 and driven it to southern Mex and back with lots of off pavement miles.

The manual transmission should be a ZF6. It is a tough transmission.

ZF5 in those trucks. Still a super tough trans, just short one gear from the ZF6.

 

[pappawheely]

Uncle Jesse is bang on. "amgvr" did an awesome coil-over swap in his F2/350, but for what you describe (reliable moderate off-roader/camper) a good 3" shackle reversal will let you run 35" tires with lots of room to spare.

I second the shackle reversal. That and progressive springs and your truck will ride plush!

 

[amgvr4]

uncle jessy, rethies, and pappawheely are dead on. A good quality shackle reversal and some good springs are perfect for what you are looking to do. Even if you dont want to lift the truck the increase in ride quality are well worth it. Just a little fun fact, you can fit up to 37" military tires on our trucks without any lift. I was super surprised to find that out when I put them on my truck. It is so awesome to see all the OBS fords that are on this forums these days.

 

[Seabass]

I can't attest to the plush ride and awesomeness of a shackle reversal- but I can tell you that I lifted my F-350 a good three inches using a set of super lift springs. I'm regretting the decision because I spent a fair bit of money on my springs. For a little more I could have done the reversal. My truck doesn't ride awful- the big ole 7.3 is heavy and the winch and winch bumper combined with it take the jar out of the ride. But I'm sure the reversal is the way to go. I'm probably going to do it sooner or later.

 

[Paul B.]

Beautiful feedback. I guess I'm not too much of a neophyte, as my first impression after looking at the undercarriage was that the front springs are way undersized. The tranny has 5 forward speeds, makes it a ZF-5, I assume. Not thinking about a power plant change anytime soon, want to get some suspension under her and the camper box on, in the future, who knows. Thanks, gentlemen.

 

[Sooper Camper]

One thing to watch out for on those trucks is the transfer case. The BW 1356 units have issues with the oil pump, it rides concentric to the main shaft on the case with a steel arm that is held in place by a groove in the magnesium case. over time, the groove will be worn away and the pump arm can spin around taking out shift forks, gears etc. Its a pretty simple, good PM type fix... pull case, clean and disassemble, then weld a small piece of plate to spread the load over a larger part of the groove in the case. Happened on my 1 ton Bronco, and on several other people I know with the same drivetrain. I'd also toss a spare slave cylinder for the clutch under the back seat with the tools to change it, they can fail at in-opportune times. Otherwise, you have a super stout drivetrain and chassis to build on!

 

[Sooper Camper]

also, if you are handy with a welder and grinder, you can make your own shackle reversal kit in a couple hours from 2x4 and 4x4 box tube:

I swapped a solid axle into the front of my Bronco, and basically made it an F350. I used the factory spring hangers near the cab mount, F350 springs and steering, and shackles from rear Bronco springs. I swapped around a few springs in there over the years, but finally ended up on some lift springs from the back of a K5 Blazer (they share the same overall length and eye to eye dimensions). The 2 leaf front setup is dumb, you want a nice progressive 5+ leaf pack like pappawheely suggested. And I can't stress the importance of just having a GOOD shock on there!