The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1/2 ton panel/pickup frame swap...

I'm about to acquire a '53 1/2 ton panel truck with a lousy frame. The only reason I'm considering it is that I have a '53 1/2 ton frame from a pickup that is in real good shape. I think they are basically the same (?), but I'm wondering about body mounts for the panel truck...

Has anyone done this and what type of issues can I expect to run into? Thanks for any help...

rockettruck51 if i recall correctly the mount positions are different but the frame is the same.at the top near the topic button hit "search"then try panel/pickup frame. there was a post topic on that a while back same question a lot of correct answers. welcome to the bolt. all the info you will ever need can come out of here .

like typle sez - just different body mounts, but you should be able to take the riveted mounts off the rotten panel frame and bolt [grade 8 bolts] or weld them to the pu frame, which I'm pretty sure will have the holes already - the other thing that may be different is right at the tail there may be an extension piece to allow mounting the rear bumper properly - the TF years have about an extra 6-10" on the back for that, and it can be switched over too

Bill

Hi Rockettruck,
do you have a welder? Space to work?
Do some homework and get down to it. The
best stuff wll come to you as you stare at the parts sitting next to each other. Measure a lot and be prepared to take the body on & off a few times when fitting things up. It's not bad if you have a comfortable palce to work. TooMany2Count has some great pics that got me motivated a few months back. My biggest problem right now, is that my garage lacks heat, and I'm waiting for at least 50 degree temps to resume working. I did an S10 frame under a 46 1 ton long wheelbase panel, but I can't help wondering if a slightly larger frame, like maybe a Dakota would work. The S10 frwm is VERY easy to lengthen. Try to reproduce as many of the factory mounting points as possible, then add a few of your own where you can! Yep , it's that easy! I'll try an get some pics of frame mounting points in a few months when thing thaw here in Cleveland. Cheers!

Sorry, I missed part of your post saying you have a 53 frame. That should be pretty straight forward. The Bodied are pretty much the same to the rear of the drivers seat. After that there should be minimal fabricating. If it is a rusty as you say, you'll prbably make good use of a hand grinder or torch to cut the bolts. MV

Not that this is going to help you but I am doing the same thing with a 55 pickup and a 58 panel. The frames are the same except for the cab mount and the rear extenstions. I am guessing that the frames would be the same for a 53 too. Good luck!

The frames are the same but aft of the doors the body mounts are different. It should be as easy as removing the mounts from the panel frame and transplanting them to the pickup frame as red58 says.

An AD truck does not have any extentions for the rear bumper, but the valance and bumper are panel specific, so make sure you get them and all the mounts.

I have not done this, but I have studied both frames a bit. If you have an assembly manual you'll see both the similarities and the differences very clearly.

Thanks guys for all the replies. I figured I could probably attach the panel body to the front mounts on the truck frame and then fab the back ones up to where the body holes fall. From there it sounds like it's simply a matter of work--but that's what fun about this whole "sport"