MoPowa

Am not sure if this is the place for this, but what the heck am sure you all will appreciate a freak with a cummins.

After the trade deal for the W350 cab and chassis fell through have decided to go a completely different route and build the ideal work truck. Needed a work truck right away previously, but have now started building a dumping trailer for a neighbouring winery that I will have full access to once complete, so the rush for a work truck is no more. Which means I can take my time and build what I want. And what I want is quite unique



This is going to be a slow project, since I wont have a lot of money all at once to throw at it, but the goal is to be complete by this time next year.



Found a 2008 f550 4wd rolling chassis with no engine/transmission/transfer case with 200,000km's for a really good deal. The guy's 6.0 crapped out and it was too expensive to replace, so he decided to part everything out. Will be picking it up 14 hours from me in a couple months, put a deposit down on it for him to hold it for me till than.

There are not a lot of differences between the f550 and 5500 as far as everything past the transfer case, but the reason for looking at the ford and not the dodge (aside from availability) is the front axle. The f550 uses a super 60 compared to the 5500 which uses a magna steyr. While the magna steyr is a bigger ring gear 10.8" to the super 60's 10", would much prefer a common axle over an exotic one as far as future maintenance goes, not to mention Dana has a proven track record. And a big plus is the manual locking hubs of the super60. As far as the rear, they both use the same beefy Dana s130. Also got lucky with a 4.30 gear ratio which will make highway driving a little more bearable compared to the 4.88 which is more common in these trucks.

And like the title mentions, will be transplanting a 1st gen body onto the f550 frame, along with the 1st gen cummins, transmission and transfer case. Though, will probably do an nv4500 rather than the getrag. In my research the nv4500, after dealing with common issues, is the stronger transmission. And as to why the 1st gen body swap....love the look of the 1st gens so the decision to swap this body over anything else was easy.

Anyways, just wanted to get the ball rolling and start a project thread now, as well as rattle a few cages


*EDIT* If the mods want, maybe move this thread to the Cummins conversions section. Since it is not technically a 1st gen.

Angry Johnny

Sounds like it will be more of 1st Gen than a ferd. Interesting concept and I look forward to seeing it through to the end. Good luck.

NJTman

Sounds cool to me

oliver foster

Sounds like a fun build. I will be watching this.
What sort of tire size are you shooting for with those 4.30 gears?

MoPowa

Not entirely sure yet. Will likely run the stock tire size for a while. Would like to run a 35-37 to assist the highway speeds , but this tire size does not exist in a 19.5 wheel. Have considered having rickson build some 20” dually wheels so I could run regular light duty tires. It would lower my payload capability some, but would give me more options in tires, and more affordable. Though would be stuck with wider 12.50 tires, which am not to keen on.
Any recommendations would be welcomed.

maybe368

Don't have a cage to rattle. You are using 1st gen parts, so it will be a first gen hybrid and we don't have a forum for that , so we have to eliminate the thread all together. Just kidding T ...Mark

MoPowa

Haha!

Thanks Mark.

oliver foster

I love the 37 inch tire combo with the 4.10 gears on my crew cab. It will truck down the highway with low RPMs, yet still has that 4.10 gearing power around town in the lower gears.
The 37 Dick Cepek, Fun Country tires due have a lower weight rating but I don't haul with that truck so it is not an issue for me.

I have no experience with 19.5 or 20 inch tires though.

MoPowa

Another option is to go with 22.5 wheels, which opens up a lot more tire options. Like a 11r22.5 which is a 41x11. That would give me 1700rpm at 60mph. Pretty much where am at right now with 31’s and 3.54 gears.

MoPowa

Turns out nitto makes a 37x11.50r20 mud terrain. Might just be the perfect size.

patdaly

Man, I hate to be the outlier here, but if I had the choice between first gen body or a 08 F series.......... Way more room and way more comfortable.

Drop the good stuff in and rock on.

jimbo486

Are you sure about using the transfer case from the 1st gen? That would be a passenger-side drop while that Super 60 in the Ford drivetrain has the differential on the driver side.

MoPowa

MoPowa

Have been searching for a good wheel/tire combo to match the 4.30 gears and think I found the setup.

The only thing I dont like about 22.5 wheels is that they are way too noticeable, it just looks like too much on a small truck...especially if they are chrome and shiny

You can get a machined 22.5 to fit a 22 tire, but then am stuck with a noticeable aluminum wheel and expensive tires that will wear fast under the weight, that will not have nearly the load capacity.

And the tallest tire I can get on the stock wheels is 34”. Which honestly may still be an option, just trying to get the cruising rpms down as much as possible.

For now have decided to go with a plain 22.5x7.5 steel wheel mounted on double coin 255x70’s which are 37x10 inches. Will paint the wheels black to keep them as unnoticeable as possible as well. This should give me close to the same cruising speeds I have now, and keep my load capacity intact.

Will get ahold of rickson wheel to see about making the wheels for me, though from reading around, they are very pricey. Just dont want to use an adapter, and the wheel offsets for most 22.5 wheels would leave me nearly 6” between the wheels.

The ride with these wheels is going to be pretty bad, being 16 ply tires, especially with f550 suspension, so will likely take some leaves out of the back and put air bags, not sure about the front yet. The plus is they will likely last a lot longer than regular tires, and because of the lack of weight these tires are designed for, can run a lot lower air pressures to regain some ride comfort.

It seems also that because of the extra weight of the tires and wheels, stopping will be slightly effected, but with the planned exhaust brake, this shouldnt be a problem.

MoPowa

Another option

This is a 10r22.5 which is 40x10



There is also a 9r22.5 which is 38x9