Can I turn an M35 into a family hauling, 5th wheel camper towing rig for under $12K?

[silverstate55]

If the F-350 has the 6.4 powerstroke in it, get rid of it asap. My 2008 6.4 started making trouble at 100K miles. 5 "truck is dead again" towings to Ford, 8 failures of various kinds on the engine, 8 months, and $11,000 later.. I got rid of it.

Most of the problems with the 6.0 & the 6.4 can be traced back to the internal oil cooler & EGR cooler. Bullet Proof Diesel in Arizona (www.bulletproofdiesel.com) has developed solutions for these issues and you can either fix them yourself with their parts or drop your truck off at their shop for the work to be done. I remember an article in a magazine about their services & facilities in Mesa about 2 years ago, several coworkers owned F350s with the 6.0 and were having issues with them; the complete "fix" is around $8K, and BPD removes the truck cab to fully access the engine. But IIRC, they warranty it for several hundred thousand miles, it's like new again.

When it came time to upgrade my 95 F350 PowerStroke, I switched to Dodge with Cummins power....I had only owned Ford trucks before that, but I wanted no part of the 6.0/6.4 mess.

 

[Kohburn]

I've been wanting to do something along these lines for a while and have been gathering data and making plans. my plan is essentially to either use a isuzu/gmc/fuso/mitsubishi cab over cab and extend it into a crew cab. or duplicate a Scania type cabover semi cab.

http://www.trucksplanet.com/photo/scania/r730_military/r730_military_16734.jpg

http://www.scania.com/_system/img/highres/312540_highres_img-HiRes-09491-062-.jpg

a member on here has a deuce frame that a Hino turbo cab/engine/mechanicals on it -

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce-modification-hot-rodding/72515-front-4-link-coil-suspension-anyone-done.html

The Something Awful Forums

 

[jrobinson5093]

The 6.4 is a awesome engine. Im a ford diesel tech and the only problem I have ever seen ae from water in the fuel. and a few busted egr coolers.

 

[Csm Davis]

I don't care what some say can't be done I would double or triple the cab to hold all the teenagers, because they will be that old before all the naysayers finish this thread, and put some bigger tires on bump the motor up a little and rock and roll.
Or take the 12,000.00 and but a nice 820a2 or 939 equivalent