Frame Stiffing to reduce Porpoising?

deserteagle56 wrote:

adamis wrote:

5. Getting back to the expense of strengthening the frame. Even if I spend $3000 to $5000 to have it done, I'm still way ahead of buying a new truck. The other thing is, my truck is only two wheel drive. Fine for California but my plan will be to start going to areas where there may be snow and ice and I don't want to be doing that in a 2 wheel drive truck. So the longterm plan is to take the truck to a 4x4 shop and have them do a 4x4 conversion on it and while they do that, they can add rigidity to the frame. Yeah, I know, it's extreme measures but even if I put $10k to $20k into this route, I'm still WAY ahead of a $70k to $90k new truck (and used trucks aren't all that much cheaper these days).

Methinks you would be money ahead to take your time and find a newer used 4x4 truck that's in great shape instead of converting the one you have to 4wd. I've been following conversion projects like this for some time and most end up spending a MINIMUM of $15,000, and that's doing the work themselves. Can't even imagine what a shop would charge to do the conversion. There's a lot more involved than just adding a front axle and a transfer case...little things like speedometer and odometer that will no longer work properly because a transfer case has been added.

For most trucks, that might be the case, but this truck has a few advantages that makes me think this route is worthwhile. To start with, the reason I picked a 7.3 is the smog equipment is non existent. I don't even have a catalytic converter on my truck and I'm still legal in California. I also have close to $10k in "goodies" in this engine, it pulls like a freight train and gets pretty decent mileage for what I need it to do. It is also very low mileage at 156k and by 7.3 standards, it's barely broken in. Just a list of the upgrades... Banks Exhaust Brake, Banks 3" exhaust, Larger KC Turbo, Larger Injectors, Upgraded High Pressure Fuel Pump, High Bypass Oil Filtration, Inline Fuel Line Filters (instead of in tank), Chipped, Air Bags, Onboard Air with 3 gallon tank and probably a half dozen other things I can't remember. All of this was done over time, not at once so the cost was spread out.

The second thing is that the 4x4 version of the 7.3 has leaf springs up front. Poor turning radius and harsh ride. So even selling it and getting a 4x4 version of the 7.3 means I'm dealing with those issues. True I could step up in truck generations but someone else pointed out that boxed frames didn't come along in Fords until 2017 so I'm now looking at a $30k+ truck that probably has quite a bit of mileage on it which also means the smog equipment is a ticking time bomb for an expensive repair that does nothing but allow me to pass smog. I'd rather spend $10k on my motor for upgrades versus $10k for the privilege of California letting me register the thing.

Assuming the right shop can be found (I have a lead on one I will be looking into) along with a donor truck, I can do the 4x4 conversion and have coil over suspension with a 7.3 motor with all the current upgrades and minimal smog requirements. The question is, can I find such a shop that can do it and do it right.

One factor that doesn't seem obvious in this is, why would I put $20k to $30k over time into a 24 year old truck? Because I'm doing it a little here and a little there as I have the money. It's easier to find $5k sitting around and coming up with an upgrade project for the truck. It is harder to find $1500 a month in the budget for 5 years to pay for a truck. The first option I can do as I have the funds to do it, the second I'm stuck on a treadmill.