Question for Crew Cab owners...

[Calfdemon]

Can any CC owners help me out with this? What is the wheel base size from your door tag and what size bed is on your truck. I have seen a lot of crew cabs with shortbeds on them and am wondering what wheelbase size that is. I am contemplating buying a 69 F350 Crew and according to the doortag, it has a wheelbase of 165. I am told that it has a 8 foot service bed on it right now.

I am trying to see if there were different size wheelbases on the crew cabs. And if so, what size works for the shortbeds as opposed to the longbeds. One of the things holding me up from buying this truck is I want to know if the longbed from my 72 will fit on the 69 Crew. If so, I am probably going to pull the trigger, but I dont have access to the 69 to make sure myself, so figure the wheelbase measurments of some of your trucks might help me figure this out.

Thanks in advance!!

[fordman]

if both trucks are long beds then they will fit. your previous question about this didnt say they were both long bed trucks.

[Calfdemon]

I am not 100% sure that the 69 is a long bed. The guy selling it is TELLING me that it has an 8 foot bed on it, but when I looked at it, I didnt think the bed looked that long. He will tell me anything to get me to buy it (my paranoia side tells me that ).

I know for a fact that the wheelbase of the 69 is 165 because I photo'd the door tag. That is why I want a Crew Cab owner to chime in with what their wheelbase is on their tag, and what size bed they have on their truck. This way I can know for sure if the 69 is a long or short bed. Its not that I dont trust the current owner of the truck, but I dont know him and well, I dont trust him.. . I think he is just telling me what I want to hear.

I am looking for confirmation by tomorrow so I know whether to pull the trigger on this deal or not. If there is a shortbed crew cab owner on here with a shorter wheelbase, then I feel confident that the longbed will fit. But if there is a shortbed crew cab owner on here with a 165 wheelbase, then I know the deal is no good for me.


EDIT: While trying to research Crew Cabs, it appears that a crew cab adds approximately 34 inches to the length of the truck. The standard cabs come in a 115 (shortbed) and 131 (longbed) wheelbase. If this is true, then I would assume that the 165 wheelbase of the crew I am looking at is for a longbed. Can any other crew cab owners confirm that this is true and that a shortbed crew cab would have the wheelbase of 149??

[fordman]

long and shortbeds differ more thna 2-3 inches. it is a larger difference. 115 vs 131 . so when cutting down a frame to make a long bed into a short bed about 16 inches of frame is removed to make a short bed fit.

[Calfdemon]

long and shortbeds differ more thna 2-3 inches. it is a larger difference. 115 vs 131 . so when cutting down a frame to make a long bed into a short bed about 16 inches of frame is removed to make a short bed fit.

Not exactly sure where you got the 2-3 inches difference you are referring to. I must have a typo up there somewhere...

16 inches is exactly the difference I am looking for, but I need to know which direction the 16 inches goes from the 165 wheelbase on this 69. We know for a fact there is a 115 and a 131 for standard cabs. This 69 is 165, so I am looking for confirmation that there is a 149 crew cab (which would be 16 inches shorter for a shortbed) and not a 181 (which would be 16 inches longer making the 165 a shortbed).

Come on... All I need is ONE person with a crew cab to look at thier door tag and tell me their wheelbase coupled with the size of the bed they have on their truck. If one person (either shortbed or longbed) can give me this info, then I know for sure!!

I am pretty sure that the 165 wheelbase is the longbed version, but I want to know 100% before I shell out the cash. If I had access to the 69, I could figure it out by comparing it to my truck, but I just dont have access to check at this point and have to rely on numbers.

[Calfdemon]

Ok, I read on another site that there is a 149 inch wheelbase Crew Cab, so that means that the 165 is the long bed version.

Now, I just need to make sure that my life isnt going to be complete hell if I pull the trigger as the old lady is already giving me major resistance to my plan... . But if I can talk the guy down a little in price, and a test drive doesnt reveal any unseen problems (the engine sounds great and it looks good, but has been non-op for 13 years), then I might risk the headache at home to score this crew. We shall see over the next few weeks!

[smokey3215]

my door tag said 165 the long beds only came in 2wd

[Calfdemon]

my door tag said 165 the long beds only came in 2wd

And yours was/is a longbed, right?

[smokey3215]

yes

[Calfdemon]

Thank you, that was the first hand confirmation that i was looking for.

I am going to go down hopefully tomorrow afternoon and check out this crew cab again and test drive it. If nothing goes too wrong in the test drive and it drives okay, then I will own it if we can agree on a price. I will get it home at a later date and go through it all in depth to get rid of the 13 years of cobwebs it has acquired by sitting in this yard. At least he started it from time to time and moved it occasionally...

[ok68crewcab]

With Crewcabs F250=short bed and F350=long bed. No factory F350 (longbed) 4x4 crewcabs only F250 during the bump years. Beds are the same as the regular cabs, I had to put a bed on mine after removing a chassis mounted camper.

[Calfdemon]

Ah cool, thanks! I didnt know that that the 250 was short and the 350 was long. Learn something new every day!

Anyway, went and looked at the truck again today and took it for a test drive. Fixed a broken spring in the rear brakes and then took it out on the road. It drove VERY well for being stationary for 13 years. The engine sounds amazing and runs very strong. We sprung a leak in the tranny line and as the fluid drained out, the tranny started getting very hot, but the C6 ran great and shifted very well. We only did a short 10 minute drive around the neighborhood, but everything went well for a 13 year statue. The brakes work great too. Ill have a full safety check, tune up, fluid change, and put some new non-rotted lines on the tranny and put new fluid in there and should be as good as new.

I did find some rust on the roof right above the passenger side drip rail, from the front corner to about 4 feet back. It is cancer and poked through some nice holes as I pressed on it. But I took some photos and sent them to CNM67 who lives near me, and with his metalworking skills, he said it is no problem for him to cut and replace those parts. So that sets my mind at ease quite a bit since I have no metalworking skills. Its good to have Fordification members that live close. Everyone helps each other here...

Other than that rust in that one area, the rest of the truck is solid from top to bottom. The only dents are on the front driver and passenger doors. But the cost of getting this truck is that my 72 will need to be sold. Prior to selling it though, it will be a swap truck for this 69. All the work I put into the 72 in the cab will be put into the 69. The doors will be swapped, and the bed will be put on the 69 as well as I am going to leave the service bed with the guy when I buy the truck (he already said he will forklift it off for me and keep it). While I am at it, I am going to swap the hood, fenders, and front bumper as well just to keep as much of the green on the truck as I can (more matching colors, means less headache from the old lady). I will spray the white cab green also with a temp paint job just so I can shut her up. If I have a white truck with green doors, i will never hear the end of it..

Anyway, the owner was at $3000 and I offered $2000. He came down to $2500 and we are going to talk again tomorrow. I am about 99% sure I am going to pull the trigger on this deal so after spending a year and a half building up my 72, I will be tearing it down and building up the 69 Crew instead. Maybe I will even make a project thread this time... ...

Thanks for the bed size info guys! I appreciate it. It put one more concern I had to rest regarding this purchase.

[dieselbronco]

Buy it I love crew cabs

[CNM67]

Yeah buy it I need something to do on Saturdays

[Calfdemon]

Yeah buy it I need something to do on Saturdays

You have your own truck that we need to work on on Saturdays! But that being said, now we will have 2 trucks to work on because I just verbally agreed to buy it for $2400. So once I can get down there next week and get it paid for, paperwork done, and get the truck home, I will post the starting pictures in a new thread.

I gotta do a REALLY fast startup on this truck though to keep the old lady happy. I need to get the crew close to as good of shape as the 72 in the shortest amount of time, so that sheetmetal replacement is going to be a top priority.