Rebuilding a F250 title to a F150

Hi guy's , I'm keen on bringing back an F250 idi to New Zealand and ideally will wind up with a super cab 4x4 '87 - '94 ZF5. My problem is that as we are RHD over here once you bring something in that is over 7700lb in glw , you have to convert it to RHD ..... my f150 is ok but the 250 will pose a problem.
One possible solution would be (maybe) to buy a running complete 250 and then buy a 150 cab of the same year from the wreckers (salvage yard?) , swap cabs over and use this form https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/c...91a-8daf-db19a06ca226/reg5036.pdf?MOD=AJPERES to line everything up vin number wise and then use this form to have the title reissued as a f150 https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/c...44f6-853b-eabd471afdaa/reg343.pdf?MOD=AJPERES . I've been over twice before to buy cars and parts for shipping home and reselling , luckily for me i made a very good friend who lives in Yuba City CA , he has a small acreage so i'd have somewhere to do the swap. Does this sound like a viable thing or would i be better forgetting the versatility of the supercab and just converting the truck i have ?

Cheers Mark

@towcat


Best of luck cb

easy.
no real work necessary. have your mate find a F250 with a 7200lb rating.
in kali, the only way to change a registered weight legally is to have the vehicle run through a licensed builder and certify for the new weight rating.

If they don't care about the suspension/frame thickness/etc, just get a title with whatever RHD cab you get. Sell or scrap the LHD cab and title it with the cab's title. Here in Ohio and many other states, that's all they're concerned about, but we don't have inspections either.

here's an example of a recertified builder. orig gvw 35k/lbs bed mounted and recertified to 26k/lbs. why the de-rate? it's simple. 26k/lb is the cut-off for non-commercial class "C". anything over that will require a class "B" or better. now here's the sticky part.....this truck's tare was 22.5k/lbs. basically, you put a honda on it's maxed out on it's weight. note the hi-speed sweeper on the back. it weighs more than 4k. and the suspension isn't squatting :O



here's another example. the E450 ambulance, it tips the scales at 15k/lbs.
see any squat on my suspension?

The county garage near where I used to work did the same thing, had a single axle dump truck rated for 26k on the tag. They thought they were being smart, no cdl required. Little do they realize you could not haul more than a teaspoon of gravel in it before you were over weight. They didn't care, they used it anyway. But one day it might catch up to them.

If your priority it s extended cab pickup, it will be difficult to get it light enough to be under the weight limit. A extended cab pickup is a heavier truck, even a f150 will be up there close in GVWR.

Thanks for the replies guy's , the entry cert team here use the gvwr data from the vin and door tag to put the vehicle in the system so rerating (used to be common here too until the govt bureaucrats got greedy) may not "get me over the line" .... bit of a grey area that could come back and bite me on the ****. Towcat how would you identify those light duty F250 that you mention and do they come in diesel? .... that sounds like a great option. Another option that might work would be getting myself an obs ext cab , finding a good idi/zf combo and converting it after i have entry certified the f150. I would still have to recertify it for the diesel but that is just an exercise in "chequebook diplomacy" here . CB when you got pulled over was that for weight or diesel conversion? Franklin2 i don't mind the sc f150 i have at the moment it's just that the 5.0 Aod combo doesn't like towing and with gas being $7.50/gal (diesel is about $3.70/gal) the old wallet certainly feels it from time to time.... if i'm going to upgrade to a idi i'd like to have a bit of room behind the seats for storage/kids etc plus 4wd would be a help when hauling firewood or launching boats , retrieving customers cars etc. If i have to RHD convert something i'd probably look at buying non turbo so that the brake booster , aircon box and steering gear would switch over easily.

crash-harris said:

If they don't care about the suspension/frame thickness/etc, just get a title with whatever RHD cab you get. Sell or scrap the LHD cab and title it with the cab's title. Here in Ohio and many other states, that's all they're concerned about, but we don't have inspections either.

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We never really had very many of these trucks out here ....Australia built them up until about '93 in the bricknose style .... they used bullnose interiors all the way through from about 83 until then though. These earlier cabs tended to rot out badly so it is a little hard to get your hands on a good rhd cab - there are patterns out there though and there is a company up in the north island that will sell a rhd fibreglass dash for about 2k. You hardly ever see idi's out here althought there are quite a few powerstrokes but the price hurts a little - here's an example for you http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/ford/auction-1301615172.htm

your biggest clue on the light f250 is the semi float rear end. the 8600lb f250 would be a full float rear.

https://reno.craigslist.org/cto/6029122026.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/6052625831.html
possibly light 3/4t >>>>> https://redding.craigslist.org/cto/6084438770.html

towcat said:

your biggest clue on the light f250 is the semi float rear end. the 8600lb f250 would be a full float rear.

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Would that mean it was 7 stud as opposed to 8? , Do you know if they were diesel?

towcat said:

https://reno.craigslist.org/cto/6029122026.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/6052625831.html
possibly light 3/4t >>>>> https://redding.craigslist.org/cto/6084438770.html

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That 2nd one would be handy as we use west coast shipping in San Pablo for shipping ..... it's going to be either sept oct this year or april /may next year before the next trip over though. What we normally do is try and buy something that we use to run around in collecting parts etc and ship that back as well ..... it really is amazing what Alex and his team can pack into a 40 foot container.

Kiwif150 said:

Would that mean it was 7 stud as opposed to 8? , Do you know if they were diesel?

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the 7 stud option/abortion is a post 1997 deal where they came out with the new body style.

Kiwif150 said:

That 2nd one would be handy as we use west coast shipping in San Pablo for shipping ..... it's going to be either sept oct this year or april /may next year before the next trip over though. What we normally do is try and buy something that we use to run around in collecting parts etc and ship that back as well ..... it really is amazing what Alex and his team can pack into a 40 foot container.

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i'm very familiar with export deals. I've worked with the polish and Russian exporters for years. do bear in mind, anything for sale under $1000 is going to need a towtruck to pick it up. it is guaranteed there are some serious mechanical issues not being disclosed.

towcat said:

i'm very familiar with export deals. I've worked with the polish and Russian exporters for years. do bear in mind, anything for sale under $1000 is going to need a towtruck to pick it up. it is guaranteed there are some serious mechanical issues not being disclosed.

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Yes the last trip a friend came with me and we wound up bringing 2 c3 corvettes and a 79 K10 swb back ...... the truck was cheap and we spent more on paint and panel plus interior and some mechanical work than we actually made on it. First trip over i brought a nice 93 bronco for 5k and it flew through certification so i know exactly what you mean..... if i could work the 250 issue out this is the kind of thing i'd like to wind up with https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/6086093699.html