F250 short bed with a service body

[nbjeeptj]

I own part of electrical contracting company that for many years I was only doing project manager type work when the bad economy forced my business partner and me to start doing some of the wrenching ourselves. Problem was have a 2010 crew cab F250 XLT lariat 4wd truck. This truck was more of a ride around in and maybe deliver a little material not pile a bunch of tools and material in and got to work, so I got a good deal on a used plain jane extended cab 2wd chevy 2500 with a service body. Having never worked out of a service body I fell in love with that part of the truck but I was used to a decked out truck. So of course I decided I needed a service body F250 XLT lariat 4wd service truck. I looked for a long bed truck to trade mine on but any deal i could find was going to cost a lot of cash. I looked at service bodies that were short bed but did not like the limited space. So in true PBB sprit my business partner just mentioned during lunch why not turn your truck into a long bed and put a service body on it. That had to sink in for a few days due to the fact that we are now talking about cutting a fairly high dollar truck in half, but due to some jeep or wheeling truck projects in the past I ordered the long service bed and went to work on the truck.

so I started with this truck


I sold the bed



then pulled the truck in the shop and removed the drive shaft, fuel tank, rear end, and cut the wiring harness



then cut the frame in half



I had a frame extension bent by one of our customers on there press brake cut to fit and installed.



then plated across the welded plate



then I went to the computer and drew some parts to make the new spring hangers from, cut the parts on our CNC plasma cutter and a little welding together I have some new spring hangers.



reinstalled the rear end and soldered in some wiring extensions and I now have a long bed truck this is where I left it today, Hopefully tomorrow I will get the service box on it and be able to drive it around.

[Phat95YJ]

Nice work man!

[orange crusher]

Love it so far! Nice work

[snookfabrication]

I'm sure you need a longer drive line though right?

[nbjeeptj]

Originally Posted by snookfabrication

I'm sure you need a longer drive line though right?

yea a local drive line guy remade my shaft longer. I got the fuel tank back in, drive line in, brake line extended, new exhaust hanger installed, and set the box on it every thing has worked out so far. so now a little more wiring, install the bumper, paint (the truck is tri coat metalic) and bed lined. Total time will work out to about 25hr to make the modification and a little less than $500.00 in material. So all in all this was way less than the pounding I would have taken trading my truck for a longbed.



after confirming that the new spring hangers would work and did not need any new measurements I removed the original mounts.



new exhaust hanger and dirve line installed

[wahlstrom1]

Nice project, just keep an eye out for a wrecked longbed to grab the fuel tank from.... you have the room now, might as well use it.

[broncdawg]

Too cool seeing this as I'm getting ready to drop a Stahl utility bed on my 99 CC Superduty. Are you going to do a gooseneck hitch? Wondering how many people tow GNs with these taller utility beds?
Nice build.

[nbjeeptj]

I Don't plan to pull a gn trailer but also it may have to tall of bed sides for that. I only know of one person that has pulled a gn with a service body and he had the low profile bed.

[ftoy507]

You have lost your mind. De-facing and de-valuing such a beautiful truck.

With that said. It looks great and you have a lot of balls chopping up a$50-60K truck. Where was that monster sack of balls when you had a wheeling truck.

Cant wait to see it complete.

Nightkrawler will need to step up his game.

[RamSport59]

When can I drop of my truck for the same swap?!?!? Great build!

Rick

[nbjeeptj]

I'll make room it's more fun than electrical work!

[NiteKrawler]

Originally Posted by nbjeeptj

I Don't plan to pull a gn trailer but also it may have to tall of bed sides for that. I only know of one person that has pulled a gn with a service body and he had the low profile bed.

I think you would be fine with a goose neck and the taller body. I had a low profile box, BUT I also had top boxes. It was REAL close when turning and going up or down an incline.

Originally Posted by ftoy507

You have lost your mind. De-facing and de-valuing such a beautiful truck.

With that said. It looks great and you have a lot of balls chopping up a$50-60K truck. Where was that monster sack of balls when you had a wheeling truck.

Cant wait to see it complete.

Nightkrawler will need to step up his game.

The game has just been stepped up, moved into my new dually service box today.

[RamSport59]

Hows everything holding up? I'm on that fence of chopping my frame. And my truck is 11yrs old!


Rick

[nbjeeptj]

Get off the fence and start cutting. I have not had any problems. I have put about 4000 miles since the chop job and all is good. Mine needs an added leaf spring due to the added weight back there but I thought that would be a problem from the begining.

[nbjeeptj]

Up date pics

Just before window tint and linex in the bed



and what I am working with as of now

[Mark13]

Originally Posted by broncdawg

Too cool seeing this as I'm getting ready to drop a Stahl utility bed on my 99 CC Superduty. Are you going to do a gooseneck hitch? Wondering how many people tow GNs with these taller utility beds?
Nice build.

My old job had service beds on all 3 of the farm trucks. All 4 gooseneck trailers had extended height necks on them. Never had a clearance problem pulling in and out of fields or on rough ground. With a normal height neck there probably would have been clearance problems at times but for those who stay on relatively flat ground it should work. I think each of the trailer necks were built to be 5-6" taller then normal, they sure looked goofy hooked to a pickup with a normal bed on it.

[drunk on diesel]

good lookin' rig! did you make it 60" CA or 56"?

I thought about cutting mine to fit a 60", but it would be a lot of work for my already 56" truck

may I say you have superb taste! here's my '08 Lariat service truck. Your bed is a lot nicer, but I stole this baby last October for $21.5k with 108k miles on it

40k trouble-free miles later and I'm looking to add another to the fleet! Would like to have a DRW extended to 84" CA

[me2]

Anyone interested in doing frame stretches on Ford Superduty trucks might want to consult this.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/Q18.pdf

[me2]

Originally Posted by drunk on diesel

may I say you have superb taste! here's my '08 Lariat service truck. Your bed is a lot nicer, but I stole this baby last October for $21.5k with 108k miles on it

I love the 08+ SRW F350s. 11,500 lb GVWR, Factory 20s, tough as nails (except the engines) and very comfortable. Very hard to beat.