Cab swap?

[The Baron]

So I haven't driven my '98 in a week. Been driving dad's '01, and I'm having withdrawals. Sunday I'm buying a parts truck for its transmission and exhaust. And that got me thinking. The truck has power windows, locks, and buckets, and I'd like to swap those in. That got me thinking worse. What would it take to swap cabs? I'm thinking that would make swapping the transmissions easier. The parts cab has a little rust on the rockers and cab corners, but Rust is easier to repair than the ripped steel/dent in the cab. I have about a month to do it, and have access to tons of tools, and if i swap the tires from the parts truck I could probably roll it into the garage. Does anyone know what it would take to swap them? The truck I'm repairing has a 3 inch body lift, and I'd probably buy new blocks when I did it. I would swap odometers because mine has LED's, radios, little things like that.

 

[polar]

It's pretty simple actually. If it's a regular cab it's 4 body bolts I'm pretty sure, all you have to do is disconnect the harness and swap the cabs. Obviously you will run into gremlins


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[The Baron]

It's pretty simple actually. If it's a regular cab it's 4 body bolts I'm pretty sure, all you have to do is disconnect the harness and swap the cabs. Obviously you will run into gremlins


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Forget to say that. The fixer truck is a 98 ext cab. The parts truck is a 97, obviously a ext cab also.

 

[someotherguy]

Only real gotcha is the cab is very heavy with the full interior in it, doors attached, etc. So you better come up with a very good plan for lifting it. A 2-post hoist would be ideal; lift the cab up and roll the chassis out from under it.

I did a regular cab that was totally stripped other than front and rear glass. I mean TOTALLY. Down to nothing inside, and doors removed. I was able to do it with a good engine hoist that had extendable legs to keep it from tipping.

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Do you have a clean title for the parts truck? If not, bail, without question. Second related issue: what does it cost to transfer/register in your state? Because now you'll need to do that with the new title. Don't try to cheap out, and end up getting caught with plates that don't match your VIN. Results will suck.

If your current cab doesn't have rust I think it would be better to farm out the body repair if you can't do it yourself. Rust would have me avoiding the other cab. Just transfer all the goodies over to your rust-free cab.

Richard

 

[The Baron]

Only real gotcha is the cab is very heavy with the full interior in it, doors attached, etc. So you better come up with a very good plan for lifting it. A 2-post hoist would be ideal; lift the cab up and roll the chassis out from under it.

I did a regular cab that was totally stripped other than front and rear glass. I mean TOTALLY. Down to nothing inside, and doors removed. I was able to do it with a good engine hoist that had extendable legs to keep it from tipping.

Do you have a clean title for the parts truck? If not, bail, without question. Second related issue: what does it cost to transfer/register in your state? Because now you'll need to do that with the new title. Don't try to cheap out, and end up getting caught with plates that don't match your VIN. Results will suck.

If your current cab doesn't have rust I think it would be better to farm out the body repair if you can't do it yourself. Rust would have me avoiding the other cab. Just transfer all the goodies over to your rust-free cab.

Richard

Truck does have a title, and I was going to see about swapping the vin plates so it matches. Otherwise it shouldn't cost too much. And the other option is swapping the seats/window motors/locks/ wiring harness, and maybe cutting the panel I need to fix the cab out of the parts truck. just a small maybe 1" hole in the corner. I do have access to my bosses lift we use to put sanders in plow trucks. Problem with cutting the panel is i'd need to find somebody with a MIG or TIG welder, because I only have stick and was advised not to use that with sheet metal.

 

[polar]

Stick welding sheet metal is not going to happen. Any experienced welder can weld a patch in. Shouldn't cost too much. I would take the time and swap everything over to your current cab


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[454cid]

Truck does have a title, and I was going to see about swapping the vin plates.

That's illegal.

 

[The Baron]

That's illegal.

Oh thats good to know. Why is all the fun easy stuff illegal?

Stick welding sheet metal is not going to happen. Any experienced welder can weld a patch in. Shouldn't cost too much. I would take the time and swap everything over to your current cab


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Yeah i'll see about getting it welded, by cutting the panel out of my parts truck. And I guess you're right on the swapping things. Plus my dad would have a cow if I had two trucks in parts on the front yard!

 

[polar]

It's illegal because your are basically changing the serial number that was assigned to the truck by chevy and registered with chevy.


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[someotherguy]

It's illegal because that's how a car thief could attempt to "wash" a stolen vehicle.

Richard