All right, so I'm finally getting around to building my hunting/camping rig. It is an 84 4x4 single cab long box f150 with a 351W and a C6. it has rust in the normal places on the fenders and minor on the corners of the cab, but not bad for a MN/ND truck, at least most of it would be gone with the addition of cut out fender flares. Soooo . . . my initial plans for it are to throw a solid axle in the front with a mild lift of 4-6" and 35s which seems do able from the info I've found on fullsize bronco. I'm a hobby mechanic and novice welder, but I see this more as a project to work on with my son while both of us learn through experience.

However when out driving in the country I found a F350 single cab long box that is a 89/90 ish model (ugly square front between my 84 and the style of the 95s). It doesn't have an engine and from the quick driveby i did in the dark I would say the tranny is gone too since driveshaft is on ground. This truck would have pretty much all the parts I need or I could just swap the cab for mine since it looks better rust wise. My gut tells me this is the cheaper and stronger option. What do you think?

 

This is not a DD so there is no concern on the timeframe. Some pros and cons for just swapping the body and putting in engine and tranny

Pro
Probably easier though if 90 is diesel will be a mess of parts swapping since I'd like to stick with 351w I have
Likely stronger suspension being all stock than I could make with my beginner welding skills
F350 frame vs F150 frame

Con
won't get to build up a truck I've had for over half of my life but would spend more time driving in the woods with my kid
Not sure what to do with the 84, guess I could put the cab back on and try to sell it
Do 35s fit on stock F350 suspension or would I have to do body or suspension lift anyway, completely eating any savings from swap.

 

The 84 body will fit right on to the 89 350 frame. A little messing around with motor / tranny mounts and driveshafts to get you driveline to work on the bigger frame but all that will be much simpler with the body out of the way. I've seen 35's on a stock 350 4x4.
It's all doable - and if you can get a decent price for any of your leftovers, you can get a little back.

 

That's what I'm thinking too, I'm going to look at it on Tuesday to get all the info on the F350. Really hoping it was a gasser with 4.10s. I've got the space to swap the cabs indoors (since we've been swapping between sunny and 60 and snow and 25 this spring in WI). I was essentially going to end up putting 1 ton axles on a 1/2 ton truck, but I think the bronco guys do this becuase there is no 1 ton frame swap for them. I'm looking forward to seeing if this works out. If it does since I won't have the SAS to challenge my skills I may try building up and AOD with the 4r70w internals just cuz I always like to have a project that stretches my skills. And before anyone says it yes I know the c6 is stronger, but I'm looking for that extra gear since our hunting land is a ways away. The truck will probably be 60/40 highway/offroad.