Afternoon all...my grandson had an accident by hitting a drain pipes cement culvert. Hence a flare-side lariat truck that has a NEW engine 1500 miles and a new transmission 2500 miles with a cracked frame. I am looking to find a truck with a good cab, frame and bed. But I do not know what other model years would have a matched frame. Are they only 1997 and 1998 or what? Any advice is appreciated

Thanks

 

Frame is the same for '97-'03. If you get a '99-'03 frame, the front bumper brackets are a little different on those so you may have to work with it

 

thanks so much for this information. It will help us in our search

 

Yea you see the bumper bracket differences over at LMC, -

http://www.lmctruck.com/

I believe you can order them there as well.

 

According to the Ford parts catalog, the 97-98 frames are different for all 2wds from 9904H. Long bed RC had 2 separate frames avail;able in 97-8 also. That doesn't mean you can't use a newer frame, it just means you have to look hard to make sure everything is going to fit in the right spots for a 99 up frame. 2wd and 4wd frames are not interchangeable

 

I dont believe their that different. I do agree you cant interchange 2wd and 4wd frames but the the frames never did change much if any at all

 

I'm a bit confused by your question. If you are going to replace the frame, cab and bed what is your concern about the frame? If your totaled truck has a 4.6 or 5.4 engine and the donor truck had one of these engines it should fit right in. If you have a 4.2 engine you may have some slight engine mounting problems but nothing major compared to the job you're looking at taking on. Sorry to say I can only guess, and probably true for others, about potential PCM issues with different donor trucks. For example, some trucks had an air suspension and some didn't. You may have to deal with some PCM and\or GEM reprogramming.

 

x2 on what river said

 

I bet that difference is between 7700 and the non-HD trucks.

 

Im betting the concern, as you noted, was with mishmashing certain parts together and being stuck SOL. As long as 97-98 electronics aren’t being mated to 99-later electronics, this shouldn’t be a huge deal.