rAvery

I have been looking to replace the cab in my 85 pickup for few months. When i was changing out the clutch master a few months ago I discovered the foot well on my drivers side was rusted out to the point of having a 8 inch long, by 3 inch wide hole behind my clutch. The passenger side foot well will fall out completely if I put too much weight on it. This was caused by bad windshield seals that the previous owner never addressed.

I looked on Craiglist and found a 87 regular cab pickup being parted out. The price was excellent. 145.00 for a cab with a nice complete dash, a sliding back window that my pickup did not have, and a perfect headliner and set of visors. The headliner and visors on mine are some kind of stupid blue velvet looking crap. Sometimes I want to strangle the PO.

I was very happy to find out the seller was a member of our forum who goes by, 85Xtra-Cab.

I drove up this weekend with a 5x9 U-haul trailer, hand tools, and my new high lift, took us 4 hours to remove the cab and load it onto the trailer.

I will go over the process for anyone who is interested. This seems like an intimidating job. I was really worried about the prospect of doing this with just 2 people and no hoist, but it worked out pretty well.

Hopefully 85Xtra-Cab will post some of the pictures he took. By the time I got up there the navigation feature had killed the battery on my phone, so I only got a few pics with my Ipod touch camera, which is not that great.

The donor truck was pretty much completely parted out by the time I got there. The engine was gone, so was the bed. Sadly the wheels and rear axle were gone too, that would have made it a bit easier to deal with. All that was really still there was the IFS system, that kept it off the ground, which was a big help.

There are only 4 bolts holding the cab down on an 87. I am pretty sure this is the same on all of the 80's pickups. Members with later models could help confirm this. Once those were out of the way, there were 2 bolts up front near the radiator area.

All of the engine components on the firewall were disconnected. There was 2 brake lines coming off the booster that had to be removed. And the wires that run from the cab under the passenger seat that run to the rear lights had to be disconnected. That was pretty much it.

Our plan was to get the cab up off the frame and have move it off to the right (passenger side), then drag it to the trailer. We could not go straight back because the bed supports were in the way, it would have caught the front clip and required us to keep lifting it every time something needed to clear those supports.

We used the high lift to start jacking up under the drivers side to get it to clear the frame, we slid it towards the passenger side a little bit at a time then used 2x8 planks as levers when the high lift was being used in another area. We were able to slowly get it slid off the frame, lifting it in a new area each time it would get hung up, the front clip area had the most hang ups with the IFS being in the way. We were able to used Xtra-cab's come along to to help pull the cab off the frame as well, that was a very important piece of equipment. We used a strap running from the come along on one end, through the shifter holes in the floor of the cab and attached to the come along on the other end to give it a good solid area that would not get damaged by the stress of being pulled, A nice strong tree was on the other end of the come-along.

Eventually the cab was free of the frame. We then had to move it about 10-15 feet to the trailer. We ran the straps through the cab, coming out where the passenger and drivers side doors would be. That seemed to be the most solid area to place the straps. I was worried it would flex and harm the slider, but the cab is very sturdy. We had the come along running from the far rail on the trailer, to the strap around the cab and we then started slowly moving it backwards.

Eventually we got to the ramp of the trailer. Then we met our next hurdle. The only trailer Uhaul would rent to me was a 5x9. The cab measures about 6x7. So the cab had to be lifted on one side to fit into the trailer and sit sideways.

We got the cab as close to the trailer rails as we could, then turned it so the passenger corner was a few more inches into the trailer bed than the drivers side, that allowed us to high lift the drivers side without the cab sliding off the right side of the trailer ramp (the passenger side pillar was resting against the trailer rail to keep it from sliding). We were going for having the cab tilted with passenger side on the bed of the trailer and the drivers side on the rail of the trailer, this was the only way it was going to go in. We wrapped the passenger side pillars with carpet we ripped up from the floor of the cab to keep if from being damaged by the trailer rail.

We used the high lift to jack up the drivers side enough to clear the trailer rail, then used the come along to pull the entire cab onto the trailer. Eventually we got the cab to be fully supported by the trailer rail,and used the come-along to pull it the rest of the way in.

From there it was just a matter of tying it down, and making the 2 hour drive home.

That was pretty much it. I looked for a thread describing the process of removal before I went up there, but could not find much. So this was a learning process. I am sure other members will read this with ideas on how this could have done better, and I would really appreciate it.

The most vital tools for this job were the high lift, come-along, and straps. Using planks as levers will also help at times when you get caught up on something.

Most people doing this will be working on a truck that is still on wheels, so this may not apply in all situations. From what I have read on this and other forums, people use a high lift to jack up each side and use planks to support the cab, repeating the process until you can roll the vehicle out from under the cab.

A fork lift or bobcat would be really nice, but not everyone can afford that.

I will post the few pics I have, and ask that Shad post the pictures he took. He might also be able to help with anything I forgot to mention.

I would also like to publicly thank Shad for all of his help, I could not have got this done without his him. He is a great member of our community.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, please let me know. Even if this thread is old, I would still be happy to help out. I just ask that you do the same for another member in the future.

Avery.

85Xtra-Cab

Glad you like your purchase, and I'm also glad we got the cab into that little trailer without too much trouble... or damaging it. I'll see what I can do about those pictures, the phone I used takes low quality pictures, but they may work. Good luck with the swap! Happy that I could help!

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

The best place to disconnect the brake and clutch lines is by the drivers front tire. I leave the harness with the truck. The 85/86 uses a few more round connectors and the 87 and up uses some flat connectors. Mostly the lights, washer bottle and wiper motor is a different plug.

Actually 6 bolts hold the cab on. 2 under the radiator, 2 by the A pillar and 2 behind the seats. He may have had two removed before you got there.

I have done a few cab swaps and it is quite rewarding. Not much more you can do to tear a truck down then that. Any questions you may have let me know. It isnt as bad as you may think. If you can pull a motor or tranny, you can swap cabs.

85Xtra-Cab

Sliding the cab off the frame with a come along.. and some help from the hi-lift and some old boards I had.




Got it off without too much trouble, Now we just needed it in the trailer. The best way to fit it in that little trailer was to tilt the cab and slide it in at an angle. We cut out some carpet from inside the cab and taped it around the passenger's side to prevent any major scratches or dents from getting it into the trailer. So we decided to tilt the passenger side down, just in case something happened, such as dents or whatever from hitting the trailer, the drivers side would stay safe and the only passenger would have to deal with a stubborn door to open and the ugly half of the cab .





With the Hi-Lift, we lifted the driver's side to tilt the cab so it could hopefully slide into the trailer without any issues, luckily we had none. The carpet sat between the cab and the trailer rail and the driver's side of the cab sat on the other rail. After sliding the cab about halfway into the trailer like this, we lightly oiled the trailer rails to provide a slick path for the cab. Oiling the rails helped a ton and the remainder of sliding the cab into place was a breeze.




And the job finished, somewhat safely and successfully. And by the sounds of it, I guess he got home ok and it remained inside the trailer on the drive home.

rAvery

Thanks for posting the pics!

I did not think that bit of oil on the rails would help that much, but it made a huge difference. I was able to push the cab out of the trailer when I got home by hand.

I made it back with no issue at all. Just a ton of weird looks from people driving down 101 and 19th ave in SF. Now that they have gone from taking the tolls on the Golden Gate bridge to sending you a bill for the toll, I am wondering if they send the picture they take of the vehicle. I would make that pic my new avatar.

You are absolutely right Terry, there were 2 bolts at the radiator. Shad was taking those two out as I was working on the 4 bolts in the interior.

I wish putting this cab on my truck could be as easy as removing it from the donor. Looking at renting a forklift, or paying for a one month membership at the SF tech shop and using their lifts.

rAvery

Update:

I ended up hiring 3 guys off Craigslist to help me put the cab on. The forklift was going to cost much more than I hoped after delivery. The ad may say 160 a day, but ends up being $400-$500 when you call for a quote, just kind of ridiculous with the bait and switch tactics.

So with 5 people total it took about 15 minutes to put the cab on.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on getting the cab swapped. It goes quicker putting it back on as you know now the steps to do.

85Xtra-Cab

Dang. That's pretty quick. If only we had more people when removing the cab. But, either way, the cab was successfully taken off.

Any pics?