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My F550 Build

71K views 294 replies 73 participants last post by  dieselboy01 
#1 ·
I bought a 99 F550 from a friend of mine last year. The plans were to fix it up into a NICE capable work truck. Then in the spring my buddy decided he wanted to buy it from me, but it is still at my house and he gave me no money. Since I am laid off and have nothing but time on my hands, I decide to get to work on it and do as originally planned.

I bought the truck not running for 4 years. It is a280k, 141" wheel base, 7.3, 6 speed,4x4, 4:88 gears and the CHEEPO XL trim. I put some new batteries, CPS and topped of the HPOP and she came to life last fall. It still needs GP work cuz it will NOT start with out ether. It also sounds like the up-pipes are leaking. There is a decent oil leak and it appears to be the pan. The electric hoist does not currently operate. The rotors are rusty as FUK. The interior smelled like mouse piss something fierce! Overall the whole truck needs work, but for what I payed for it and for what it will cost me to fix it up with my free time, I figured what the hell.

Today I gutted the interior. Got 3 trash bags worth of crap out of it. Also got about 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket of dirt out of the cab. Headliner covered in cigar smoke and fly #### went in the trash. The seat went right in the trash. The rubber floor mat got power washed and scrubbed with Purple Power. It turned out really good. Cab floor got power washed and completely wire wheeled. It then got spray galvanized. I have a 1"x 3" hole i need to fix from the rear window leaking. I have a nice tweed XL bench to put back in, just need to shampoo it 1st. I will put some pics of the interior tomorrow.

I want to dress up the front of the truck a bit and loose the CHEEP utilitarian look it currently has. I am thinking keep it silver for simplicity. But either a monochromatic look or chrome, but not sure how chrome will look on the silver. Or silver and charcoal. I have to replace the doors and drivers fender(I have the doors). So what do you guys think to spruce up the looks of the truck.

O and a pic of it the day I got it
 
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#2 ·
An 05 front end would look nice. Also since you haven't put the doors and fenders on yet it would be a good time to paint them. After that all you really have left is the hood and the roof so you might as well. There's just not much you can work off of with silver IMO.
 
#3 ·
:popcorn:
 
#6 ·
Looks like a fun project. I think anthracite grey would look nice with the silver and it would get away from the blacked out trend. What are your plans for the rest of it, flatbed, wheels and what not? A cut 05 grill and 01-04 headlights would be pretty sharp and budget friendly too.
 
#7 ·
I am going to fix up the flat bed(needs some straightening and welding) Probably gonna cut off the steel floor and expose the wooden floor.
The headache rack is just too big and doofy looking. i am going to shorten it at least 2 and cut the corners on 45*

The tires are iffy too. Any suggestions on decent ones that will not cost me an arm and a leg? I was looking at some TRIANGLE 689A and some Goodride 986
 
#10 ·
If it were me, I'd do the following:

Blast the wheels and paint either Black or Charcoal grey
New/used tires all around
'03-'04 clear headlights
PTM grille and PTM front bumper (give it the sport edition look)
20% Tint all around (DIY for cheap)

And call it good! That would really spruce up the look of the truck and probably catch some more attention than it does now. Oh, I also agree with what you said about the rack. I think it will look great once done!
 
#13 ·
Vader, I was thing of making something VERY similar to your truck but with just a 8' dually pick-up bed. But this thing rides like ASS now. I couldn't imagine with a sheet metal bed. And Then it would REALLY limit the market as to who would buy it

It is gray interior. This is the ####TY old headliner that went in the trash

And I got the dump body working too

Floor mat temporarily back in

New used tweed seat tore apart, covers thru the washing machine and reassembled.

 
#15 ·
If I was to keep it and make it a 5th wheel hauler I would have to take some springs out and add air bags.

Vader. Do you have any pics of how the rear springs sit in relation to the rear axle. Mine dont look right but there are not to many F550s to compare to
 
#17 ·
repaint the bed I would go to a truck shop or tsc pick up some tool boxes and metal weld them up under the bed more of a western hauler look. Just for the dash I would get a 02-04 dash or what ever the gauges are called just cause I like them better.
post up more pics of the rear springs
 
#19 ·
I am trying to keep this LOW budget. No tool boxes or swapping out a perfectly good dash
I'll get some spring pics tomorrow

mine has a round tube dana 80 in it. I have a 550 at work though that I can try to look at tomorrow and see if it is like yours. Does the pinion line up with the driveshaft nice and straight?
yeah, pinion looks inline and all. Even though I think my pinion bearings are shot. the shaft moves all over the place:doh: I hope I can get away with new bearings
 
#20 ·
You gonna paint the frame?? I haven't read through the whole thing. I tell ya what, finish doing what you're doing, slap a dually bed on there, and I'll come pick it up.
 
#21 ·
Yup cab and nose are coming off, motor getting pulled, frame sandblasted and the whole thing will be done in POR15.

As for the dually bed thing, there would be a 4" gap between the front of the bed and the back of the cab
 
#22 ·
You might wnat to rethink the por 15. I used it on frames a couple times and I'll never use it again. It's expensive, hard to use, high in voc's which smells rather bad and didn't hold up verry well. Look into Hammerite Rust Cap, this stuff is the best! The paint cost a bit more than other paints but cheaper than POR15, espically after having to buy POR15 sepecial prep products. The frames I used the POR15 on I re-sandblasted them and used hammerite. Over 10 years later they still look great. Infact I also sprayed the tubs of the same early bronco and jeep with it, I used a nonslip media like a DIY bed liner. Still in great shape even after exposed the harsh AZ weather.

Just a thought..
 
#24 ·
You might wnat to rethink the por 15. I used it on frames a couple times and I'll never use it again. It's expensive, hard to use, high in voc's which smells rather bad and didn't hold up verry well. Look into Hammerite Rust Cap, this stuff is the best! The paint cost a bit more than other paints but cheaper than POR15, espically after having to buy POR15 sepecial prep products. The frames I used the POR15 on I re-sandblasted them and used hammerite. Over 10 years later they still look great. Infact I also sprayed the tubs of the same early bronco and jeep with it, I used a nonslip media like a DIY bed liner. Still in great shape even after exposed the harsh AZ weather.


Just a thought..
AZ weather? I guess you have never been in the rust belt of the NE but thanks for the idea.


Ahhh yeah I forgot about that. Not to mention they always seem to sit awkward on factory c&c trucks. I just need a truck to do all of my gooseneck pulling with, doesn't really even need a bed technically, some half fenders and mudflap hangers would work.

I saw where a guy had a 450, and had pulled a couple of leafs out of the packs, to smooth the ride out, said he could still hold more weight than a 350 before the truck started to squat bad. So that might help with your ride quality issue. No idea which ones you'd want to pull out. A buddy of mine had a crewcab flatbed 450 4x4, and he would carry sod or whatever on the back (landscape company), and he had a yard or a yard and a half of top soil on the bed of the truck, and his dump trailer loaded with topsoil, he delivered it to my house, and to my surprise the damn thing still sat completely level! Said it rode a "little" softer though lol.
I am going to leave the dumping flat bed on. I am sure a contractor will buy this truck right up. You dont see to many 4wd F550 7.3 stick trucks. Actually I have yet to find another
 
#23 ·
Ahhh yeah I forgot about that. Not to mention they always seem to sit awkward on factory c&c trucks. I just need a truck to do all of my gooseneck pulling with, doesn't really even need a bed technically, some half fenders and mudflap hangers would work.

I saw where a guy had a 450, and had pulled a couple of leafs out of the packs, to smooth the ride out, said he could still hold more weight than a 350 before the truck started to squat bad. So that might help with your ride quality issue. No idea which ones you'd want to pull out. A buddy of mine had a crewcab flatbed 450 4x4, and he would carry sod or whatever on the back (landscape company), and he had a yard or a yard and a half of top soil on the bed of the truck, and his dump trailer loaded with topsoil, he delivered it to my house, and to my surprise the damn thing still sat completely level! Said it rode a "little" softer though lol.
 
#25 ·
actually someone who hauls junk for a living would be all over that thing.

my brother has a 97 f350 and a 2000 f450 neather of them have dump beds.
 
#29 ·
I have a cousin in KS with a Duramax who was wanting to make some "side money" plowing and spreading salt/sand/cacium chloride. It didn't take long to convince him it was a bad Idea.
 
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