Thinking of picking up my friend's dad's F-350 dually. Its got the 2 valve V10 and a 5-speed manual. He's already taken care of the spark plug issue and the motor and trans only have 150k. I'll be using it to tow the DSM and as a basic family truck.

My question to you all is, can that rear bed be removed and swapped for a standard pickup truck bed fairly easily?

Edit: Also, is it possible to do away with the dually setup and go to single tires in the rear? What's involved in that process?

This seems way to complicated for just a family and tow truck. Just save the time and headache and buy a f150 or f250.

Swapping the bed won't be too difficult (about half a dozen bolts, unless it got hydraulic lift). Swapping the axle is a bit more difficult, but not impossible as long as you have something to do the heavy lifting for you.
If this is a 6.8 Gas, and is around 98 model year then chances are you'd have to change out all ignition coils since they go out pretty often. About $40-$60 per coil.

It does seem like a lot of work for just a family truck, but I enjoy projects. If I didn't have car and bike projects, I don't know what else my life would consist of. I had a F-350 diesel years ago, but once I changed jobs, it was too much truck. So I don't have a lot of experience with trucks.

I like this truck because it's a manual. I've been looking at 1998-05 Dodge 1500 trucks also, but a manual trans is difficult to find. I got my friend's dad down to $3500 from $5800.

I'd probably keep the dually setup, I was more just curious about that. The flatbed is less useful to me though. I'll have to swing by and look it over again to see if its just a few bolts or if this things going to require some serious cutting and grinding (which would be too big a project).

It's definitely the 6.8L V10. I'm not sure if the coils were done when they did the plugs. Good info though!

Buy the dually, sell it for profit. An buy a nicer truck.

2g spyder eclipse said:

Buy the dually, sell it for profit. An buy a nicer truck.

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That thought has crossed my mind more than once.

Kreez said:

That thought has crossed my mind more than once.

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It'd be a good investment. Could easily get $5,000 for it.

Construction companies would jump on a dually 350 flatbed .. shoot the vehicle on Craigslist.

The only thing that would make it hard to resell is the manual trans. People don't seem to like stick shifts.

Kreez said:

The only thing that would make it hard to resell is the manual trans. People don't seem to like stick shifts.

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I've owned 2 manual trucks.. I agree.. Stick f***ing sucks when you're hauling in rush hour.

The v10s are not good motors I wouldn't reccomend it for a family truck changing the bed out is kinda simple 6 main bolts a couple grounds fuel filler neck and there's a quick disconnect for the harness to the bed as far as the rear end you have to find one with the same gear ratio (if 4x4 ) other than that it's pretty simple

In my opinion what your are thinking to do with the rear of the car seat seems to be a bit complicated. But you can give it a try once and read more to get some details on this.

I would pass. Have you driven one of these for a while? The gas mileage alone is horrible. Ive got a 93 f250 w 460 v8. Getting about 12 a gallon. And only has 81k original miles. These trucks are for hauling stuff or hunting. Thats all I use mine for.

Gas mileage is a good point. My box truck gets about 10MPG. On the bright side it's still 10MPG even if fully loaded. A two speed rear end will help, if there is one that small.

Ive seen countless excursions on CL with over 250k and still running strong. The COPs are a bi*** to change as well as the plugs but aside from that im betting its a good engine.
I have a 99 expy with the 5.4 and if the v10 is built anything like that then it'll easily go 250 to 300k w only minor problems. Super reliable. The rear end is gonna be a bit of a hassle to find and install is a bear of a job. Might want to drop it off with a tranny shop and have them swap it in.
The bed everyoone else covered. i think thats a pretty simple and straightforward job.

I'd buy it if the price was right and you wanted a truck that big. Go for it

Why not just get a dually bed instead of going through all the trouble of swapping the rear axle? After a paint job it'd look nice and be plenty functional

boost97gst said:

Ive seen countless excursions on CL with over 250k and still running strong.

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Yeah but excursions are diesel. In my opinion stay away from the v10... Simply because I have a 95 f350 7.3 diesel 4door long bed, and get 20mpg with it. You will be lucky to get to 10 with that v10 and wait until you put a load behind it Plus I had a 7.3 powerstroke that had 342,000 miles on it, just minor repairs here or there, nothing major. I only sold it because the body was rusty.

Figured I'd update this and thank everyone for their input. Ended up with an '01 Dodge 1500 that has 137k on it.

Decided the Ford was indeed too much truck for just towing the DSM to races and family duties. Not to mention the ear full I got for considering putting a child seat in the front seat of the Ford (Dodge has anchors in the back seats).

Got it for $2k. Didn't pass emissions, makes a mechanical rubbing sound when the gas pedal is depressed, drips a little oil, and the interior smells like fuel and livestock. Already got it to pass emissions, so not sure what the PO was talking about.

I think the rubbing is the u-joints. One is leaking grease, so I figure I'll start there.....