Major frame work on my 250

[KYJ10]

I picked up a 95 f250 over the summer. FI460 with a fried e40d tranny. Great looking crew cab, a/c interior and body great. Bed is gone. but thats what I was looking for, so it worked out great. I am looking into making up just a long flatbed on it, like those jan-dar tow trucks that pull the cars onto them.

First I have to extend the frame about 6'. Figure i'll buy some 1x6, 3/16 tubing, weld and bolt it, then put a plate across the top and bottom. Rest would involve relocating the rear axle about 3' back. So I would end up with a wheel base of about 196'. Brake lines, fuel lines, drive shaft I know. And I live in KY, so the legality of it isn't even a concern. But does anyone see a problemn with this?

Looks pretty straight forward when I look at it, and since there is no bed, it's almost ready to start cutting and welding. BTW, I plan to put diamond plate directly to the frame, with some elevated wheel wells around the tires. Should be real low and make it nice pulling my rig. Anyway, any thoughts, tips, suggestions would be great. Thanks, Dennis

[KYJ10]

I measured just extending the frame, and making the flatbed, but I would end up with only about 1/3 of my rig in front of the axle. And most the weight being directly over the axle. Kinda scares me having that much hanging past the axle. Ive had some scarry times pulling a trailer with too much weight past the axles. Moving my axle would make it about 2/3 of the way forward of the axle, and at least 75% of the weight forward the axle. Figure that would be much more stable. But if anyone thinks just slapping 6 more feet of frame, and going with it, would work, tell me! Dennis

[JeepsAndGuns]

So what are you doing? A little confused, are you wanting to haul the Jeep ON the truck or are you trying to make it where a 5th wheen traler sits farther forward on the truck?

[Stuka]

Hes going to haul the jeep on the truck, so the bed has to be way longer. Much like the tow truck flatbeds that you see.

[KYJ10]

Im gonna have it where I just drive my rig on the flatbed. Ive just had a couple of scarry moments pulling stuff when theres too much weight past the rear axle. Whether it be on a truck or trailor. Now I know a 250 has alot more stability, but still think that I need to get more weight before the rear axle, to safley haul my rig the way im thinking. I see the new tow trucks haul them on back, so I should be able to stretch it out and make it work. Plus I could pull my boat or camper. Dennis

[CowKiller]

extend it beneath the cab before the rise in the frame, thats where they extend it for work trucks and the older superdutys.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Originally posted by CowKiller:
extend it beneath the cab before the rise in the frame, thats where they extend it for work trucks and the older superdutys.I agree with him. I think I would extend it to where the front of your rig is at the back of the cab, and the rear axle of your rig is just behind the rear axle of your truck. putting most of the weight twards the center of the truck. but thats just me, I know nothing about extending frames or building trucks to haul loads. Are you gonna put some heavyer springs on the 250?

[KYJ10]

Ya know, I should have thought of that. Would make thing so much easier, cause I wouldn't have to move any of the spring/swaybar, shock or exhaust stuff. Just add the metal, lengthen drive shaft, and modify the brake, fuel lines accordingly. I knew you guys were smart. I have the stock springs out, and have an extra full leaf from my old 250 to add. If I need more, I may tell Louisville auto spring what im doing, and get them to add or make a better stack. Thanks, Dennis

[goldhammer]

You might think about changing over to a dually set up in the future. Will give you a little more stability when you load up the toy on top of it. I agree that the cut shuld be just behind thecab. Check to see if some super duty 1 ton springs would fit.

[Dmntxn77]

I don’t think that the weight and balance will be a real issue, as long as most of the weight is in front of or on the axle. I would not even be worried if as much as 30 to 40% of the weight was behind the axle.

I too have had some hair raising moments with to much tongue weight, but remember a trailer is several feet behind the axle. That creates a heavier torque load.

If you take the trailer completely out of the equation you simplify things greatly. I would only extend the frame as long as necessary to fit the FSJ.

As far as springs go, I would buy some air springs so you can adjust them according to what you are hauling, with or without a trailer, and how heavy of a trailer if you have one on.

Also... I agree with goldhammer. You will defiantly need to convert to a dually.

Good Luck and keep us posted...

[CowKiller]

since he has no bed, converting to dual is peice of cake. then build the bed around it. how long is your jeep thing? it is funny, if my flatbed on my ford was 3 inches longer, i could park a samuri on it. i measured it. lol

[KYJ10]

My wheel base will be about 108", add a couple extra feet past the center of each axle. I think it's prolly in the 13' range. Can I convert the sterling 10.25 into a dually? Could it be as simple as switching hubs like on a 14ff? Dennis

[scotty]

depends on if you want a "cab and chassis" type skinny dually,or a wide pickup width dually.

if the former(which is prolly what id do if making a car hauler) youll prolly have to track down a C&C sterling or d70 to swap in. if youd be happy with a wide dually,it would be easy to simply buy a "dually wheel adapter" and bolt the duals on. i think that you could prolly use the adapters on the front as well so you could have 6 matching wheels and not hafta carry 2 different spares.

something else to think about,if youre gonna go thru the work,id consider making it large enuff to haul home the biggest parts rig you can think of(maybe a suburban,or a full size ext cab pickup ;) ) cause once you have the ability to haul home non running parts rigs and junk youll find yourself draggin home just about anything you can take a part off of or make a few bucks at the local metal recycler. ive had everything from caviliers to full size chevy pickups to a full size ford van on my trailer smile.gif id try and make the bed a full 16 feet long,and maybe a 2 foot dovetail,and at least 90 inches wide.now all you need is some ramps and a $300 harbor freight winch and you can drag any non running junk you want up there :D

also dont forget some storage boxes somewhere so you dont have to haul grungy spare parts like axleshafts or driveshafts inside the cab with you.

last and not least,i agree extend it on the flat spot of the frame. move the whole enchilada back,lengthen driveshaft and brake lines and youre good to go smile.gif

[Bob Barry]

For some reason, I was under the impression that the dually Fords used a Dana axle, and that all Sterlings were SRW applications?

If you didn't need the crew-cab, you could just swap on a regular-cab and gain that extra few feet that way. Even swapping on a Supercab would gain you just about enough to center your truggy over the rear axle, and there's a surprising amount of space in the rear of one of those Supercabs (I've fit three grownups in the back of mine).

[KYJ10]

I gotta have the crew cab. Jusr reading on pirate that the adaptors are like $450. Too much. There are several dana 70 rear ends here in the paper. One dually for $150. But my sterling has the antilock brake sensor built in to the diff. I know Im already doing mods, but would like to keep it to a minimum. I think there are dually sterlings that I could swap right in? My sterling has 4.10 gears and limited slip. Maybe I can sell it or swap with some one for about even. Dennis

[JeepsAndGuns]

My dad has a 79 F350 drw. Its a dana 70. If your interested, just the axle or the whole truck.(its 2wd) It is in southwest VA.

[KYJ10]

Im thinking that the speed sensor in the diff runs the anti lock and the speedo. This truck is really in great shape, so I would like to keep all the electrical stuff working. Kinda gonna be the family hauler when we travel with the jeep. Ive always wanted to do it in style, so this is a pretty good start. But thanks for the offer! I tracked down a few dual rear sterlings. I may just extend the frame, add the bed, and see how it handles my rig. Then swap axles if need be. Dennis

[JeepsAndGuns]

Keep us posted on the progress. I would like to see how it turns out.

[Stuka]

Even if the tires are load range D, you will be really pushing it. Your J-Buggy probably weighs around 4000 pounds or so all stripped down like it is? Plus the weight of the bed and such, I dont think running SRW would be addequate.

[CowKiller]

i had range E on my truck.

[TNScrambler]

As stated above dually is the way to go for your application, even if it wasn't a matter of stability, you'd probably have to convert to some 19.5s to get the load capacity you'd need for single wheel.

Good luck with it, sounds like a cool project. Personally I love having my trailer, so handy and 18 feet long for loading various vehicles and my single wheel powerstroke DD hauls the trailer like nothin.

Justin

[KYJ10]

Yea, I have a trailor, but would have to modify it also. With this way, I would be able to pull a boat or camper also. Or we could just set up the tent and air mattress on the back! OK, so i have a 95 sterling with 4.10's and LSD for trade or sale for a dually sterling of any type or gears.