3500 to SUV Conversion
04-03-2007, 03:11 PM
#18
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04-03-2007, 03:32 PM
#19
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04-03-2007, 04:39 PM
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I would have owned a Cummins years ago if this had been an option. I ended up with gas Suburbans and an Excursion till the Mega. I think it would just be easier to do a Cummins swap into a newer Excursion IMHO.
04-03-2007, 04:56 PM
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i think it could be done...i myself hav been contemplating this for a while...any experienced body and sheet metal expert should be able to do this...its basically attaching the bed to the cab and putting on a reinforced bed cap (made out of sheet metal)..cut out the back wall of the cab and put in some interior and a second auxillary A/c unit like the lincoln navigator and ford expedition have.......i would take this project on myself except for one lil problem, i'm not an experienced body and sheet metal expert and dont wanna risk chopping up my truck into garbage if i mess up...lol
04-03-2007, 05:25 PM
#22
I have a 'hillbilly SUV', which is a couple of seats in the bed under a canopy. I initially wanted a bench seat in the back but the kids liked the bucket seats better. It pays to dig up the federal guidelines online on installing seats, bascially you don't want the mounting hardware to act like a can opener on the body sheet metal, and you'll find that rear facing seats are only required to have lap belts. You need the ability to talk to the passengers in the rear, either via an open window and a boot between the cab and canopy, or Motorola radios like we use.
It's not required but my experience is that you have to have a CO detector, and you need to use it all the time. I needed to seal openings into the bed/canopy area, especially around the tailgate and canopy rear latch. You need to run with airflow in the area, with the window open a bit in the front of the canopy and a rear window opposite the exhaust open. I put on a downpipe as the regular exhaust pipe soots up the rear bumper, meaning that it directs CO to the bumper and up into the bed area. Based on my experience any vehicle with rear opening gates or windows is at risk of CO and really needs a CO detector, as even 1 inch of missing weatherstripping lets CO into the cabin that the detector can pick up.
The setup works well, we've had seven on long trips, with car camping gear for seven. I can still haul wood, rock, etc., and the dog too.
It's not required but my experience is that you have to have a CO detector, and you need to use it all the time. I needed to seal openings into the bed/canopy area, especially around the tailgate and canopy rear latch. You need to run with airflow in the area, with the window open a bit in the front of the canopy and a rear window opposite the exhaust open. I put on a downpipe as the regular exhaust pipe soots up the rear bumper, meaning that it directs CO to the bumper and up into the bed area. Based on my experience any vehicle with rear opening gates or windows is at risk of CO and really needs a CO detector, as even 1 inch of missing weatherstripping lets CO into the cabin that the detector can pick up.
The setup works well, we've had seven on long trips, with car camping gear for seven. I can still haul wood, rock, etc., and the dog too.
04-03-2007, 10:24 PM
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Yup.. here are a couple pics from thier site, www.bayerauto.com
I personally want to do this to my truck:
Scott
I personally want to do this to my truck:
Scott
04-04-2007, 11:44 AM
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04-04-2007, 11:59 AM
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FWIW fellas, I had a 95 f350 gas centurion conversion (bronco rear)- it was cool beyond belief, but it did have issues- the rear a/c was troublesome, and always weak, the roof line was funky, and since the bed was solid with the cab, and didnt flex like a pickup, the bondo in the roof joint cracked out. I also spent the better part of 20 hours to find a short in the wiring harness where they joined the cab and "back"- also, the aftermarket seats were just not up to oem quality, and wore out quickly..also, when i went to sell it. the vin came back as an f-350 quad '"stripper", so the banks didn't want to give anybody anywhere near what it was worth. that also meant I had to have a "customization rider " on my insurance policy to cover the conversion.. also, the "back half" was repainted with imron at centurion, so it "faded out" less over timethan the oem paint on the cab half. having said all that, it was by far the "coolest" vehicle I've ever owned, and people used to stop me in the street to talk about it....