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swap underway

3K views 23 replies 7 participants last post by  Short Bus 
#1 ·
Well i am finally getting ready to take off the full air ride setup on my obs and go back to springs. Ive got a full donor truck thats a 2003 f250 so i should have almost everything i need and for all the odd ball conversion parts (shocks, brake lines, rev shackle brackets, etc) i will be getting from OBSWIZ. The only reason i didnt go to an 05+ swap is because all we have is 7.3's so i figured i could have more spare parts if i kept it to a 7.3 truck. So far ive got only 2 spring brackets left to cut off the donor truck but i ran out of acetylene and could not finish tonight. The airbag truck should be on the lift first of next week i hope!
 
#2 ·
OK i FINALLY started this tuesday night, only a few months late! Rear axle is pretty well done. Just need to swap the superduty 4 bolt flange onto the end of the drive shaft, bleed the brakes and address a shock fitment issue. The shocks i ordered are way too long, i think i can make it work if i have shocks that are 6-8" shorter at ride height. After i bleed the brakes and install the drive shaft i will be driving the truck out, turning it around and starting on the front. Hope to have it pretty well done by tomorrow, but who knows. The air ride stuff is a HUGE pita to deal with, i feel sorry for the poor bastard that had to install it. Will post some pics maybe tonight if i have time.
 
#6 ·
Axles are under the truck, should have the front end finished up today then just need to see how the rear drive shaft is going to work. Man this air bag sh!t was a PITA, i had to find all of the factory shock and spring mounts except the rear top shock mounts. If i were doing this on a factory suspension truck, a couple days tops and it would be done. After taking a week and a half off work (on call), i finally had to go back to "work". Now im just surfing "diesel porn" as the co workers call it lol. Im hoping after lunch i can get back to hte house and knock this project pretty well out. Oh i did get it set on the ground last night, looks like its ~4" over stock ride height and probably 4" lower in the front and 5-6" lower in the rear compared to the bagged setup.
 
#9 ·
Well ive ran into alot of snags converting from the air ride, but im getting close. The biggest hurdle now is to get the track bar set, with the stock obs pitman there's contact between the 2. So, I need to figure out a way to make the superduty pitman work on an obs truck. It is longer with less down offset, how much i didnt measure i just held it up and it will work if i could get it clocked right on teh steering box gear. The damn pitman has 4 heavy grooves in it at 90* angles to each other. the obs arm will sit directly forward but the superduty is either 45* to the left or 45* to the right. I am thinking about having the 4 big grooves milled or ground out of the superduty pitman so i can clock it forward like the obs pitman. after that its smooth sailing, gotta go torch some front shock mounts off a stock obs bolt'em on and the truck will be ready to roll. SHAT i need to get this thing off my damn lift, have 2 other trucks that need worked on!
 
#13 ·
yep i do, but its too short and drops too much to use. I dont know how the 05 and up axles are but the 03 axles the track bar is in the front and with the obs pitman they cannot work. The superduty is about 2-3" longer (still havent measured) and drops very little. If i can get it to work, the track bar will fall right into where it needs to be. If i didnt run into this snag the truck would have hit the road last night!
 
#14 ·
so what was the reason for ditching the air bags? height or ride issues?
 
#16 ·
sounds good, how did it ride with the air bags?
 
#19 ·
Luke, you sure its a stock Pitman? I use them...send me a side view picture of the Track bar bracket- pitman from the drivers side wheel well..
 
#20 ·
well, i think so but i have not checked another obs truck to compare. However i do have the superduty pitman machined so it will now work. Should be on the road first of the week after a trip to the alignment shop.
 
#21 ·
Superduty pitman did not work. While turning the front wheels in the shop it stripped the pitman out. Does anyone know where to get an aftermarket longer pitman for the obs so that i can get the full SD turning radius? I've got teh stock obs pitman on there now but the turning radius seems to be less than it should.

BTW truck is on the road, i drove it 3 miles to the fab shop so that they could weld on all the spring brackets that are bolted on. My little welder just does not get enough penetration to do the job. Also they are going to make the trac bar work with the stock obs pitman so that i can at least drive the truck. Getting down to crunch time on this thing. Wheat harvest is a week or less away and i need to get this thing done so i have something to beat around in on back roads, the TT truck is not an option! lol
 
#22 ·
its done, needs aligned but i think thats pretty well the end of the project as of now. however i think at the end of harvest i think i'll swap it over to superduty hydraboost since i have all the parts to do it. Hopefully that'll be a little more of a brake booster for the rig.
 
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