J20 on a 7.3 idi...

[nc wagoneer]

Well, a great friend of mine who is into not-so-big jeeps (yj owner) finally steered me in the right direction. We help each other out with our jeeps and provide a lot of influence on each others rigs and he pointed out why not put my truck ON a diesel instead of a diesel IN my truck. So now I am picking up this at some point this week (gonna try and talk him down a little more)
http://greenville.craigslist.org/pts/4566017857.html
The 88 was a type so it is actually an 89. I talked everything over with the guy and it appears it does not have a blown head gasket (he was told this by the original owner) because although he hasn't cranked the motor there was no signs of anything in the coolant and everything looks clean and no noticeable leaks are present so I believe it is either the water separator or the o rings on the oil cooler lines (both of which the same thing happened with my dads 6.9 idi) the engine has either 57,742 or 157,742 the odo is a 5 digit but the cab that was on it that they bought the truck for was in IMMACULATE condition so either way it's low mileage for a diesel. The zf5 needs a clutch. All of the wiring is intact as it was taken out carefully from the cab. The truck has a d50 ttb (may swap for an f-350 d60 if I can find one and a 10.25 sterling in the rear with 4.10's. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it and the 155 inch wheelbase (extended cab long bed) will give my flatbed less than 1ft of overhang. I'm hoping the cab mounting won't be too hard since there is less than an inch difference in the width of a j20 frame and the f250 frame. Just letting everybody know what I'm up to and now I really got a motivation boost for my project.
-nc wag

[Stuka]

The Ford frame is certainly wider up front. It's the reason swapping a D60 from that era ford into an FSJ requires out boarding the springs.

It's certainly doable, just be a bit of work. Although I am sure you were expecting that. The bed may be the harder thing to mount depending on how it was built. The J20 frame will be much wider in back.

Should be a good project though!


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[Gumby]

Not sure which way would be easier but that combination would be great. Now go get to bargaining and fill the rest of your summer with some grazed knuckles.

[nc wagoneer]

I measured my dads srw f350 out back and where the cab mounts to the frame is within an inch. To get around the size of the motor I'm going to most likely mod my inner fenders since the ttb isn't too great on travel and definitely won't be stuffing the j20's fenders too soon. Luckily, the bed was made to where it can be mounted on just about anything with long and flat rails from either side. The flatbed will also hang over only a foot at most due tot the longer wheelbase which will let me cut the back "bumper" off of the flatbed and use the nice 10,000+ lb hitch on the back of the ford. The j20 frame and drive train will be sold to my friend who is going to be getting a junk yj or wrangler/cj style jeep which we will be making into a custom 4 door sat on the j20 frame with a small bed in back. Think of a brute double cab just with a yj and on a budget.