2008 F450, motor swap, multi purpose truck.

[coastal616]

Here we go,

Well the 6.4 slowly started dying a year or so back. It's still driveable, but I can't tow with it. Head gasket has a leak, it over heats under any load and pukes coolant...the usual.

I really like the motor, but the complicated electronics, and ram jammed engine bay aren't appealing to me. I had quotes to fix the head gasket, along with studs and whatever else they recommended and the quotes were from $6500-$10000. And it still has the original bottom end, HPOP, and whatever else might want to fail next.

I picked up a 1993 International 5 ton with a DTA360 for $1500, pulled the motor and have tentatively sold the truck for around $1000.

I didn't want to use an auto that might fail next, or spend $5-7000 building a tranny, so I've decided to stay medium duty. I picked up an International reNEWed Spicer ESO66-7b 7 speed tranny for $1500.

Next step is to divorce the factory T-case, and make this big blue beast fit.

Taking this:

wanted to see how hard it would be to make this motor run out of the truck so I know what I am up against...

Apparently a battery, a Jerry can of diesel, a jump start and one wire.


Dt360 startup on a stand - YouTube

First project hiccup...the input shaft on the new transmission is quite a bit bigger than the original one. I thought I could put a DT466 flywheel on, but it has a different bolt pattern. Sooooo either find a 52mmx30mm bearing, or get the flywheel machined to fit a bearing that works. Not a big deal...

Pic shows a dt466 bearing above and the dt360 bearing below.

Flywheel machined, $100, new bearing $13, flywheel resurfaced $60:

 

[coastal616]

Good lord...what have I gotten myself into....

Had to lift the cab to get the down pipe out, sold my h&s tuner, exhaust, and intake for $1700.... so far I am profiting on the swap $$ wise...not including time.

I think I'm gonna need bigger tires once the flat deck goes on. They look small now.

Sionara!

[/QUOTE]

engine and transmission fit.. Just need to make mounts now, I would never attempt this without a hoist...the amount of times the cab has gone up and down...probably 20-30 so far. The medium duty tranny makes things a bit more difficult because of the width and size of the bellhousing, I might just run a 1 or 2" body lift to make things fit...other wise some cutting of the floor around the gas pedal will be necessary.

The OEM radiator for the DTA360 had 372 square inches of surface area, the F450 radiator has 999 Square inches, hopefully with 2 electric fans, and a custom sealed shroud cooling should be a non issue.


Slave cylinder arrived too. Volvo Air/hydraulic, hydraulics from the clutch pedal open the air valve, and air does all the work. I've read you can depress the clutch with a finger.

That's where I'm at as of today!

 

[coastal616]

Motor mounted.....yay.

Hanging on its own, just need to pull it back out and final weld:

This one was a bit tricky because the cab comes so tight to where the mount is supposed to bolt on, had to do an offset lowered mount

And....shifting gears:

ulled the motor back out to finish welding and make a few adjustments. I had to make a fuel filter cut out in the old ford crossmember and wanted to beef that back up since I cut out so much of it. I want to show how I did it since pictures seem to be so top secret with these DT swaps.

Motor mounts:

Good day today...finally found all the metric adapters to make the air/hydraulic slave cylinder work.

Then I went to Pats Driveline to grab the yoke I ordered in to take my giant tranny yoke down to 1480 yokes, next question was how much to make a small shaft for the divorced transfer case. He asked what tcase....I said for the nv273...he goes oh ya like the kodiak version, I have those in stock.

I says pardon? In stock?

1/4 the price I thought I was going to have to pay and picked it up same day. #winning

Got a driveshaft in, clutch is working, adapted a wilwood master to the stock pedal assembly for reliability and ease of normal non proprietary fittings. Initial testing with the air slave tells me it reduces clutch effort by around 50%. It's super easy to disengage it with my arm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSKz1VegiYo&list=UUDdwoXo_-Ytq_IgHO8WgRVQ

This clutch setup is awesome... Feels like a Honda civic clutch!


A couple pics of the engine bay, nothing fancy or pretty...just in get it done and working mode.

Got a dumping flat deck today too, needs shortening and a cleanup...but it was almost free.

*****VIDEO of FIRST DRIVE*****

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g1FVxI4Pz4

 

[coastal616]

Flatbed installed, I think I might do a new headache rack, something a little sleeker and less work truck. The factory hitch needs to go to clean up the rear. Also need to paint the whole truck soon too.

Well small update, got tired of driving it around with so little power and I ordered a set of OEM injectors for a 240hp DTA466. Installed them this morning and holy crap what a difference! It's no where near chipped 6.4l power, but it makes driving it a bit fun at least.

Also got the factory intercooler installed.

And had some wicked tacos from a taco truck.

Oh...and got a Carli 4.5" lift from BCC too:

Took the truck to BCC yesterday to get the Carli kit installed, along with some procomp lift springs on top of a Deaver mini pack.

The truck rides amazing on the street now...and its incredibly smooth on dirt. I just went for a quick trip around my back yard trails and it's really fun. Yay!

Not bad for a 1 ton!

And divorced np273:

New input on the left:

 

[coastal616]

And that brings it up to speed...lol Oh the flatbed is now painted, and I'm hoping to get the T-case back installed in the next couple weeks.

 

[chaos616]

Thats fantastic, keep it coming! I like your tire set up too! So i assume there is less zip with the new engine, but does it pull pretty hard?

Cheers,

 

[coastal616]

Thats fantastic, keep it coming! I like your tire set up too! So i assume there is less zip with the new engine, but does it pull pretty hard?

Cheers,

Currently I would say there is NO zip. lol compared to a chipped 6.4 this is like driving a suzuki sprint with gobs of torque. Diesel power mods coming soon, I'm shooting for 4-500hp...currently it's around 180.

 

[spencyg]

Amazing build. Great Fab work to boot, and an excellent choice of power plant.

SG

 

[java]

Very Cool, sub'ed.

 

[tip]

awesome

 

[pickuptrucker]

Dude that is so sick! I just joined the forum to tell you that lol

 

[coastal616]

Dude that is so sick! I just joined the forum to tell you that lol

Hahahah thanks!

 

[plumber mike]

Inspirational build for sure. I wish there were more hours in the day

A few questions for you. For now:coffeedrink:

Was this truck originally an auto?

....and the wheels. Stazworks?

 

[coastal616]

Truck was an auto yes, wheels are 1st Attack.

 

[plumber mike]

Thanks for the fast response. I start thinking getting an extra pedal to hang in the cab would be the biggest chore of the project....but I've been wrong before.