Switched Pickups Swapped Cab, Engines and Transmissions

Switched Pickups Swapped Cab, Engines and Transmissions ENGINES Engines 15-4-7 Curt Thureen owned two pickups - a service truck and a pickup sprayer - but neither was perfectly equipped for its job. So Thureen, of East Grand Forks, Minn., switched engines, transmissions and cabs to improve each pickup. "It was amazingly simple to do," says Thureen, who grows wheat, barley and dry beans on land scattered across 30 miles of the northern Red River Valley. His pickup sprayer was a 1976 Ford 3/ 4-ton equipped with a 390 cu. in. engine and 4-speed manual transmission. His service truck was a 1974 Ford 1-ton equipped with a 390 cu. in. engine, an automatic transmission, and a fifth-wheel hitch. He uses it to pull a fifth wheel trailer with water and chemical tanks. "The service truck should have had a manual transmission," says Thureen. "When I got in a soft field loaded with 1,500 gal. of chemical, the automatic transmission would really scream." Besides having a manual transmission, the pickup sprayer also had a better cab and a newer engine than the service truck, even though it was used less often than the service truck. "I'm in the service truck every day. The pickup sprayer gets used for about a month," says Thureen. Since both pickups were too old to be worth much as trades, Thureen tore them down to their frames and switched engines, transmissions and cabs. He found the job wasn't as big as he thought it would be. He removed the bolts holding the cab to the frame, unplugged wiring and strung rope through the windows. He used a tractor loader to lift the cabs off the frames. "It took 3/4 of a day to figure out how to do the first one and 21/2 hours to do the second one," he says. He then removed and reinstalled the transmissions and engines Now Thureen has a pickup sprayer equipped with an older 390 cu. in. engine and automatic transmission. The 1974 Custom Cab sits on the 1976 3/4-ton frame. "It works great," he says. The service truck has the 1976 XLT cab, the newer 390 cu. in. engine, and the 4-speed manual transmission on a 1-ton long-wheel-base frame. Thureen outfitted the truck with 100-gal. gas tanks and 240-gal. diesel fuel tanks. He used a 265gal. heating oil tank that leaked to build the truck's tool chest. He squared off the tank and made doors and shelves from scrap metal. Locks and extra steel totalled less than $30. He also equipped the truck with a generator-welder, a vice, and an air compressor. "I can do just about any repair in the field," he says. Though the 15-year-old pickups may not look as sharp as new vehicles, they cost far less than new ones and Thureen can repair them himself. "They'll serve me well for matey years," he says. Reprinted with permission from The Farmer Magazine.

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