Body Swap- What would you do?

[mikewhite85]

I just bought this sweet F550 with a utility box. I plan on swapping out the box for the chip bed that is on my older ford superduty.
View attachment 270559View attachment 270560View attachment 270561

more pics here- 1999 Ford 99' Ford F-550 Walk In Utility Truck

If I were a plumber or electrician I would be totally stoked about this box- comes with a capstan winch and 6,000 watt generator and more than enough storage space. But I am a tree guy! Don't really need it or have the space to keep it on my property... though it would be cool to have and keep my saws and toys in (I actually have a 96 f350 that it would fit on nicely but I would rather keep the pickup bed on it for stump grinding)

The dealer will do the swap for free- but they will keep the box with the generator and winch.

OR I could hire someone else to do the swap and try to sell this thing. I was thinking around 4 g's ( I bet it was around 8-10 new). It would be difficult to find a buyer though. I also don't have the equipment to lift it up on the buyers truck...

What do you guys think?

 

[jefflovstrom]

I just bought this sweet F550 with a utility box. I plan on swapping out the box for the chip bed that is on my older ford superduty.
View attachment 270559View attachment 270560View attachment 270561

more pics here- 1999 Ford 99' Ford F-550 Walk In Utility Truck

If I were a plumber or electrician I would be totally stoked about this box- comes with a capstan winch and 6,000 watt generator and more than enough storage space. But I am a tree guy! Don't really need it or have the space to keep it on my property... though it would be cool to have and keep my saws and toys in (I actually have a 96 f350 that it would fit on nicely but I would rather keep the pickup bed on it for stump grinding)

The dealer will do the swap for free- but they will keep the box with the generator and winch.

OR I could hire someone else to do the swap and try to sell this thing. I was thinking around 4 g's ( I bet it was around 8-10 new). It would be difficult to find a buyer though. I also don't have the equipment to lift it up on the buyers truck...

What do you guys think?

I guess if I were a plumber or electrician I would like for you not to take the box off and just sell as is.
Jeff :msp_smile:

 

[mikewhite85]

No way I love the truck! Only 71k on it. First truck I ever owned with less than 100k! Can't wait to get my chip box on it.

My old superduty will soon eat the dust. It still seems to run pretty well but there is a thick oily sludge in the radiator as well as some other problems View attachment 270574View attachment 270575 Unfortunately, I just put in a new clutch and tires a few months ago. I might part it out.

 

[imagineero]

I've always bought trucks that were used, and were not chip trucks before I owned them. I build my own chip bins. I've ended up with some very pricey custom made toolboxes that I couldn't sell for jack. Anybody who would buy custom made wants it made for them. Anybody who would buy used wants to pay a few hundred. Generally it won't fit their truck anyhow. The flipside of this is that I've bought a few toolboxes worth $$$$ for only a couple hundred. Had to wait a year or so to find one that would fit my truck though.

My advice would be see if the genny and capstan winch are worth more than $1000 used. If they are, sell them and scrap the remainder of the bin or sell it for a couple hundred. If the genny and capstan winch will only get $500 or so, then just get the dealer to do the swap for free and keep everything. Swapovers are full of nasty surprises and suck up a bunch of time. I woudn't bank on getting it done in a weekend, and I can make $4k in a weekend, so no surprises which way I'd go.

Used bins really are worth nothing, even if they cost $20k+ to build.

Shaun

 

[Toddppm]

I bet the dealer would love that deal! That generator is pretty damn valuable! I'd take that and the winch out and sell everything separately. Craigslist or ebay will get them sold.

 

[Blakesmaster]

You would probably make out better money wise doing the swap yourself but I would just let the dealer do it to avoid the headaches. If you have a good shop you can trust to do the swap for you get a quote from them first, then decide.

 

[mikewhite85]

Thanks fellas. I put it up on craigs last night and I've got someone interested at 4 g's. We'll see if it works out.

 

[Kottonwood]

Damn that is a nice utility body, I could live in that thing. Someone will want it, trouble is you have to find someone that not only has a truck it will fit on but the capability to install it. You got any friends with a crane? You should price the body swap out at another shop and see what you need to make on it to justify the hassle of selling it yourself, I think you can come out ahead doing it that way though.

So what engine is in that bad boy? I hope you didn't end up with a 6.0.

 

[Kottonwood]

nevermind, just saw the year. 1999, that is a great year. Got the 7.3? I had three (just sold one) 99 f450s with the 7.3. I love those trucks. Powerful, reliable, and sturdy. You will have a nice chip truck that is gonna last a long time once you build that up.

 

[mikewhite85]

I have been warned numerous times to stay away from the 6.0. I have been tempted though because they are going cheap!

This truck is actually a gas v10. I have owned two 7.3 (1 powerstroke the other prepowerstroke) diesels but I have decided to go gas at this point since the California Air and Resource Board has a vendetta against diesels. Had I not bought gas I would need to retrofit it with a $15,000 filter in a few years. California's budget for CARB is about 800 Mill a year and who knows how many billion that state is in debt... Doesn't make sense to me.