2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Replacing a Cab?

[CCiatteo]

The rocker panels on both the passenger and driver side of my truck are rusting out. I imagine the surgery to replace them could get quite involved and could lead to some floor pan surgery as well. So I am thinking it might be easier to just swap out the entire cab, assuming I could find a good clean rust free unit.



He are my reasons for thinking this:



Truck needs full repaint anyway.

Headliner/rug/seat needs some attention.

Dash needs to come out to fix A/C.



So I am thinking all of this could be addressed at the same time without really creating all that much more work. The truck runs like a champ and still knocks down very good mileage, no electrical or suspension gremlins, doesn't use/leak excessive oil (1 quart every 5,000) and I love the truck. But if I don't do something about the rust, the situation will reach critical mass and I'll be forced to part it out or scrap it eventually.



Any thoughts or insight? New trucks are just too damn expensive, so replacement isn't really an option I want to explore.

 

[RDHamill]

You might try Used Auto Parts | Used Car Parts | Auto Salvage to search for body parts and a cab.
good luck with the project

 

[AMatsonIII]

Definitely check out the used auto parts car-part.com

Keep an eye in the Non salt areas. Stay away from anything in New England. While you have the cab off pull the bed and just replace fuel and brake lines while you are at it. Will be much easier. POR-15 the frame and that thing will last you forever.

 

[HBarlow]

I think that is an excellent idea if you can find a good cab at a reasonable price. Cabs don't rust in Texas and the southwestern states.

 

[Gordon Maney]

I think it is a great idea. The worst part would be transferring the wiring harness, since it is likely the new cab's harness would be different in some way. Maybe others will disagree and say the differences are unimportant.

 

[TPringle]

I have a similar problem with my 95 Dodge 3500 cab/chassis with dump bed. Rusty rocker panels and paint flying off (white). I have a 96 gasser with bad trans, but very nice body - no rust, black paint still hanging on, shiny, you get the idea. Seems like a lot of work, but so is grinding off paint and primer, and repairing rust.



Couple of thoughts - what about the VIN on the cab? Would probably have to rip out the dash to change over wiring and gauges, the a/c lines, and finally the gasser is auto and the 3500 (cummins) is manual. Any thoughts?

 

[HBarlow]

I have a similar problem with my 95 Dodge 3500 cab/chassis with dump bed. Rusty rocker panels and paint flying off (white). I have a 96 gasser with bad trans, but very nice body - no rust, black paint still hanging on, shiny, you get the idea. Seems like a lot of work, but so is grinding off paint and primer, and repairing rust.

Couple of thoughts - what about the VIN on the cab? Would probably have to rip out the dash to change over wiring and gauges, the a/c lines, and finally the gasser is auto and the 3500 (cummins) is manual. Any thoughts?

I don't know whether wiring harnesses would need to be changed or not but with the cab stripped off the frame it should be fairly easy to access everything on firewall and under dash to exhange wiring harnesses, instrument panel, etc.

The VIN tags could be a challenge. You could discuss it with your state Department of Motor Vehicles or whatever it is called in your state and see if it can be done legally with documentation. It might be best done by written correspondence with state capitol offices. You could retain proof of ownership on the cab donor truck and a series of date stamped photographs proving the cab swap then reregister the old truck with the new cab if they'll allow it.

If the bureaucracy is not cooperative and doesn't allow the change how much do you really care? Does your VIN get checked periodically for annual state inspections? If not you may be able to simply keep proof of what you did and continue driving it with a non-matching VIN.

 

[budnate]

FYI- Vin swapping or ignoring it will land you in jail real fast, if the rig is sold and is inspected down the road, paper trail will come back to you, the fed's and the state are not amused... been watching this for years in the muscle car world



... you can do it by going through your local state patrol and they install a new vin tag on the body... only downside is the tag is the same as when a car is totaled and put back on the road... it can raise red flags to buyers... if your driving it till it drops who cares. .



peace, B.

 

[HBarlow]

It wouldn't become a criminal matter unless sold without disclosure. It appears his goal is simply to continue using the same old truck until it is fully depleted.

 

[mwilson]

I would remove the windshields and properly change the vin tag as long as you have title to both vehicles and are going to scrap the off cab yourself.



In my opinion the cab in this instance is a replacement part, the chassis retains it's identity. The cab is simply a shell.



A replacement Class 8 truck cab retains the identity of the chassis, we send a form to Freightliner to request the vin tag be reprinted for the replacement cab.



I would not send the off cab or the spare chassis out to a recycler whole.



What would get you in trouble would be sending the whole donor truck to a recycler at one time and they then need a vin to deal with it.



Then you would have a vin showing at the DMV plus that same VIN showing up at a salvage yard.



Bad Ju Ju.



Johnny Cash had it right, one piece at a time... ... ... .



I would chop it up into a pile of sheet metal and send it that way.



You will have done nothing wrong and doing the above will insure that it does not bite you in the arse in the future.



That would be my method and there would be nary a hiccup if you do it the way I have outlined above.



My opinion only... ...



Mike.

 

[DWeaver]

The only thing that I see with the VIN is that if you are pulled over and the VIN does not match registration. Make sure those 2 items match and your ins. has the correct one also.



I know state troopers will make your life "interesting" if they do not match.



The '98 I used to own had the cab swapped. Whoever did it, did not match wiring harness's. The dash and marker lights were on all the time.



My limited experience here says that a cab swap would be time consuming, VIN swap, wiring harness, a/c fixes, ect. .



Not very hard, with the right tools-> lift, hoist, back-hoe, so you could lift the cab off while leaving power-train and radiator support in place.



Just my 2 cents.

 

[budnate]

Not to be argumentative but that is not true, fact is once you tamper with a vin on your own it’s a federal offense, or swap body’s or frames……. it has to be done with your local state patrol in the loop the whole way through… pre inspection and a inspection when done, Google it .



There are hidden vins all over a body ,that’s why you need a new tag riveted on the replacement body.



it’s easy to do, done it, all you need a is a appt with the police and have paperwork from both rigs and “receipts”!! for parts, cab/frame etc…no receipts or what looks like not enough money spent on parts sends a red flag up on their end meaning stolen car used to make repairs or rebuild.



I worked for a dealer as a kid and ran many cars though the inspections process and have done some on my own over the years.



rigs are inspected when they go state to state... sometimes they catch them their... think of all the newspaper stories of guys getting cars back years later from inspections or lose them during a inspection.

 

[mwilson]

Maybe Washington State is that paranoid but Maine is not. It's a '97 truck and I don't see where he will have a problem if he only changes the cab.



I have two wrecked Class 8 Trucks in the yard right now awaiting new skeleton cabs.



There will be no State Police here when we install the new cabs and return the trucks to the customer nor is there any need for them to be here.



If you swap identities on complete vehicles, that is a whole other can of worms.



JMHO.



Mike.

 

[HBarlow]

Mike,

Now you've been warned. The Maine State Police and the FBI are on their way to Freightliner of Maine as we write this. You'll be arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and imprisoned in a federal prison now.

 

[mwilson]

Mike,



Now you've been warned. The Maine State Police and the FBI are on their way to Freightliner of Maine as we write this. You'll be arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and imprisoned in a federal prison now.

Oh man, I'm Busted... ... ... :-laf



EDIT----Probably they'll bring a plumbing inspector along just to get me good... ... ... ... ...



I'll be on the reality show "COPS" with the bad boys music playing in the background... ... . getting cuffed and stuffed...



Seriously though, the DOT Commercial Enforcement Troopers are in here quite a bit for info, follow ups on trucks that have been written up, etc. ,

I will ask them for their point of view if I get a chance. One of the regulars worked here in the trailer shop way back and I know he will give the straight answer.



Mike.

 

[budnate]

LOL, not clear on big rigs but do know they don’t mess around with passenger vehicles..... I am into muscle cars and for fact have watched many guys lose cars all over the lower 48 over the years, when hidden vins dont match up. .



not trying to sound like some know it all just would hate to see a guy get tangled up after all that work.



B.

 

[Bill Stockard]

In Texas there is a form available from the Dept of Motor Vehicles called "Rebuilt Vehicle Statement" that is filled out and signed by who does the work. IIRC, the old VIN and the replacement VIN must be visually inspected, verified, and singed off by a Texas certified peace officer and the vehicle has to be inspected and passed at the local TX Vehicle Inspection Station. These forms along with the old title is submitted to the local license office for application for a new title. Falsifying any of the information is a felony.



Bill

 

[mwilson]

LOL, not clear on big rigs but do know they don't mess around with passenger vehicles..... I am into muscle cars and for fact have watched many guys lose cars all over the lower 48 over the years, when hidden vins dont match up. .



not trying to sound like some know it all just would hate to see a guy get tangled up after all that work.



B.

No, I don't think you are acting like a know-it-all.



Your opinion is valued, if we all had the same opinion about everything this would be a very boring forum.



The distinction for me is that he is using the existing titled registered insured powertrain, chassis, etc. over again.

It makes the cab a replacement part.

You could weld a new roof, floor pan, rocker panels, cowl, etc. onto his existing cab and that would be fine.

He could change the doors out. No VIN issues there

So to me this is the same thing if he has title to and outright owns both parts.



If he has to buy the cab from the salvage yard and it is sold with a VIN then he needs to be careful.



Again, given the circumstances I would plunge forward and say nothing.



Outlaw Mike.

 

[mwilson]

In Texas there is a form available from the Dept of Motor Vehicles called "Rebuilt Vehicle Statement" that is filled out and signed by who does the work. IIRC, the old VIN and the replacement VIN must be visually inspected, verified, and singed off by a Texas certified peace officer and the vehicle has to be inspected and passed at the local TX Vehicle Inspection Station. These forms along with the old title is submitted to the local license office for application for a new title. Falsifying any of the information is a felony.



Bill

In Maine that would be called a "Salvage Title".



The intent of it here is to keep people from selling salvage and /or totaled out vehicles as unmolested vehicles.



It is not really directed at a cab swap on a '97 truck.



However, titles are a relatively new thing here to deal with on older vehicles. We used to only have to deal with titles until the vehicle was 15 years old, after that a bill of sales on notebook paper was sufficient and legal.

Now anything from 1995 and up will have to be titled no matter what. Until they change their mind which they have done twice already here.

 

[budnate]

Most hidden vins are up on top of the cowl, one under the edge of the fan motor housing or evaporator box and on the trim tag, which is a hokey sticker anymore…and in this day and age probably a few more places they can get at for a quick look with a mirror or lifting something and we don't know about ….



, I have not looked hard at a stripped out dodge cab, a guy could take a quick look they will be physically stamped with the trucks Vin, when a vehicle is really under a thorough inspection they take it in the garage and you are not allowed in there so you don't see all the places they look for Vins on the body and frames,



Bills description is pretty much nuts on for what we have to do also in Wa.



Now cutting behind the firewall all the way across and clipping in a new cab is sometimes called a body restoration and typically does not need a inspection, unless your building a salvage car that has been totaled by a insurance Co. and it was bought at auction and viewed as such with the state…. we could go on for hours debating what a legal re-body is, it has been done so on the muscle car forums…what it really boils down to if you replace a Entire Cab or car Shell and transfer vins that is called a re-body and is flat out a federal offense without a local law agency involved.



B.