70' Crewcab body/frame swap

[Petroguyak]

Like most swepty 4x4 owners I would like to set my truck up for power steering and have been looking for a safe economical way to do this. In the mean time my decrepit 318 finally chewed up the cam and I lost the front 2 cylinders on the motor. In my search for a replacement motor I found a 78' club cab long bed 3/4 ton with a freaking sweet sounding 440 in it for only $950. So here is my thought after getting what appears(from a short test drive) to be a mechanically pristine 78', is just strip the body off the 78 and replace it with my much cooler looking Crew cab body and uteline bed. Then I don't have to worry about building a power steering set up and I get better brakes and a snorting 440. I have not measured the trucks wheel bases yet but based on online info the club cab measures in at 149" and the crew cab measures 146" so moving the rear axle, modifying the drive shaft and brake lines and possibly cutting a few inches off the end of the frame will be in order. Body mounts should be pretty simplistic to build and if I have to maybe move the entire 78 clutch and brake pedal assembly to the crew cab and or a hodge podge of the 2 I'm not sure what will be easier yet. The next thing is electrical and I figured I would buy a Haywire wiring harness for a 78' dodge and mount it in the crew cab so the wiring will be easy to wire back up, gonna use the 78 steering column and aftermarket gauges in the dash so everything is compatible. Lastly I think the shifter holes will line up but it should be pretty easy to modify if they don't. I think thats everything, it will be a lot of work but it will address every issue I currently have with the truck i.e. no power steering, bad electrical, an anemic/dead motor and marginal brakes. I am pretty sure this will work but I welcome input to help avoid any obstacles that may not be readily apparent to me.

[soopernaut]

Sounds like a good plan. I don't really have anything to add at this point but I did a frame splice on my D100 using a 77 D150 front clip. I was going to use the whole frame but ran into a few obstacles and knew a guy who was willing to do the splice for next to nothing.

[mopardwh]

Sounds like you have everything covered. You may even play with shifting the bed and or cab to adjust for the 3" before you go moving the leaf springs or axle. Good luck and post pics!

[crusty]

Neither way is easy, but my vote would also be a body swap if the chassis/drivetrain really is good. Fabbing some body mounts seems easier to me. Good luck, and post up pics.

[digdoug]

I think you can shorten the WB of the 78 by 2" useing your swepty rear springs.

[Petroguyak]

I think you can shorten the WB of the 78 by 2" useing your swepty rear springs.

2" would get me close enough

[soopernaut]

I think you can shorten the WB of the 78 by 2" useing your swepty rear springs.

The rear leafs specifically are 52" eye to eye. The Swepts measure 26" and 26", eye to pin to eye.
The 72-93's are still 52" eye to eye, but are 28" from the rear eye to pin and 24" from pin to front eye.

Nope, it will add 2 inches to the wheelbase.

[digdoug]

Thanks,I knew there was an offset but couldn't remember which way.

[712edf]

In my opinion the clutch linkage will be the hardest part, followed by cab mounts & just aligning everything up. I own a 78 W200 club cab myself.

Your project is very do-able. I'd keep the crew cab wiring, as to the chassis & in-cab.... but use alot of the underhood wiring from the 78 because of it having electronic ignition. Either way will have some splicing & dicing.

I wouldnt bother altering the 149" WB unless you encounter tire rubbing issues with the crew body. Nothing a body lift can't fix. you can accomplish that with mount placement.

Bucky

[JPAdventurer]

I think you won't have too much trouble there is a few sweptys on them 72-93 chassis. I got a project that goes into uncharted territory ( least as far as I. Know). Two months ago I bought a 2004 dodge 2500 4x4 cummins rolling chassis plan to put a swepty crew long bed body on it. The 04 is a reg. Cab which is 140 1/2 in wb and the swepty long is 160. So I got to get the 3rd gen crew frame extension piece and weld it in. I'm also running a 12 v cummins and will mate it to a 48 re.... a lot of work but should be awesome

[OregonDodgeboy]

It's not tough to do and will make for a much nicer driving truck with power steering, etc. Do some searching here. This topic has lots of coverage. If you have specific questions, PM me and I'll do what I can to help.