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Thread: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

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    slax-a-lot's Avatar

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    My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    I am going to use this thread to document the history of my 2009 Ford F550 that I use to pull my 40-foot fifth wheel camper. The story starts with a Ford powerplant but will end with a Cummins so please stick with me, I know that this is a Cummins site. This will be a work in progress but I want to capture any info that someone else trying this swap, will have enough info to know if they want to try it or not.

    In the beginning:
    1. Purchased 2009 Ford F550 gas V10 6.8L with no bed.
    2. Built (mostly) bed to mount fifth wheel hitch and hang some toolboxes from. Plan on doing a diamond plate skirt and rack, just not there yet.
    3. Found a fuel injector stuck open and dumping fuel. Replaced all injectors but MPG only changed a bit. Still about 4.5 MPG while pulling my 16k pound camper.
    4. XL stripped truck but I wanted PW, PL, and power mirrors. Stripped the truck down and replaced the dash and floor harnesses with new Ford parts found online. Door harnesses were used.
    5. Ordered new SRW conversion wheels from ****. After 11 months, never got them. Ended up ordering from another company, had them in 5 weeks!
    5. Still has the DRWs but that will change.
    6. Several thousand miles with the V10, a full West coast trip over 6 months and a Texas trip over 6 months. The only major issue was a blown transmission in Seattle on the first trip. Minor issue, 4.5 MPG.





    (Don't you love those eBay red power fold/telescopic heated mirrors!)

    To be continued...


  2. Top Of Page | #2
    slax-a-lot's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    After almost 10K miles of pulling 16K pounds around the country, I found the gold nugget. A 2018 Cummins 6.7L out of a wrecked 2500 with only 1000 miles. Now it is time to start gathering the rest of the parts.

    1. Found (used) adapter plate, flex plate, and motor mount adapters (Destroked) from a guy off of Craigslist.
    2. Engine came from a wrecking yard that shipped it in. It had the ECM and harness but was missing the turbo and a few small parts.
    3. SwapHelper was needed to get the 40 minus 2 tone count that the factory ECM and tach needed.
    4. Power steering pump mount for a F550 (DCS).
    5. All of the parts in the front to convert it to a diesel truck (radiator, condenser, inter-cooler,...).
    6. Shortened/lengthened driveshafts.
    7. Dodge Ram accelerator pedal. Not sure if I need this yet, will discuss this issue later.
    8. Lots of electronic tools and software.
    9. Ram flex downpipe. Little close to the transmission lines but will check the temp after a good long run.
    10. Possibly a PCS Transmission Controller. Trying to keep the Ford ECM for now if I can but that is still i the works.
    11. ECMs and engine harnesses for several versions of truck.
    12. I am sure there is more that I am not thinking of.


    Some of the general lessons learned:
    1. Trust but verify. During this project I have heard a lot of "that will work" or "that should work". All I can say is verify!! So far almost everything that I have asked about, turns out, won't work. The more you dig in and the more knowledgeable people you find the more you figure out the impossibility of what ever you are looking to do.
    2. When it comes to ECM configuration/updating/tuning, there is a lot to know. I am not looking to make a complete monster out of this (yet), just a stock tune with deletes that support the truck. You might as well be asking for the keys to the Taj Mahal. I have armed myself with a pretty good arsenal of tools (Cummins Calterm, Insite, EFI Live, Kess) and it looks like it will still be a while to figure it all out and getting help is either very expensive or non-existent. Turns out a lot of the information that I am looking for is the livelihood of these engineers, so I completely understand.
    3. Give yourself plenty of time, don't schedule camping trips that end up causing stress.
    4. If I were to do it again, I would start with an older CR or even a manual pump motor. The later CRs and their ECMs cause some issues/complexity with the swap.
    5. Keep every single wire, bracket, nut and bolt, you will probably need it or some part of it.

    Right side 2.jpg

    More to come...

    2009 Ford F550 Flatbed Hauler w/ Cummins 6.7L
    2017 Keystone Avalanche 395BH
    'A fool and his money are soon parted'

  3. Top Of Page | #3
    4kids2dogs&RV's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    Good luck, sounds like a lot of fun if you've got the time, money, energy and patience for that sort of thing.

    Not sure I could do it, but I'll be following along.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


    2011 2500 Laramie CCSB 4x4, 6.7L Cummins, 68RFE

  4. Thanks IGOTACUMMINS, watersupply189 thanked for this post
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    MOD watersupply189's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    Wow! What a build!


    2016 Ram Laramie 3500, G56, 6.7, MM3 by Double R Diesel, Rough Country Leveling, 35x12.50 Nitto G2, HID headlights, Morimoto LED fogs plus a whole lot more!

    2016 RAM 3500 4x4 Laramie Crew Cab
    Cummins,G56, Rough Country level, Morimoto LED fog lights, LED headlights, Lund Attitude Steps sprayed with Line-X, DRL's Activated, 35x12.50R18 Falken Wildpeak ATW3, Fuel Vapor Wheels Matte Black w/Dark Tint, A.R.E. Truck cap and swing boxes

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  7. Top Of Page | #5
    No Vacancy Power247's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    This will be one to watch, thanks for sharing the journey

    Greg
    2012 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | MM3 tuned by Double R Diesel
    2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

    Greg
    2019 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | 6.4 HEMI

  8. Top Of Page | #6
    david3gen's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    Will follow this build. Cummins powered ford’s are badass


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    2006 dodge ram 2500 laramie crew cab 5.9 cummins. 10x20 et-24 fuel offroad with 275.60r20 tires. bully dog gt tuner. 48re ATS built tranny triple disc converter ATS oilpan and transgo quick shifter. 4" turbo back exhaust. brembo discs and pads

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  10. Top Of Page | #7
    david3gen's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    Quote Originally Posted by 4kids2dogs&RV View Post
    Good luck, sounds like a lot of fun of you've got the time, money, energy and patience for that sort of thing.

    Not sure I could do it, but I'll be following along.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
    X2 on this


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    2006 dodge ram 2500 laramie crew cab 5.9 cummins. 10x20 et-24 fuel offroad with 275.60r20 tires. bully dog gt tuner. 48re ATS built tranny triple disc converter ATS oilpan and transgo quick shifter. 4" turbo back exhaust. brembo discs and pads

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  12. Top Of Page | #8
    JOKER! F350Cummins's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    Awesome Project !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss my fummins

    2014 Ram 2500 CCSB Ram Box Larime
    2011 Ram 5500
    2006 Diesel Jeep Liberty
    RIP. 2016 Tradesman 2500 picked up 9/28/16 MM3 DRD Tuning 107K miles wrecked by jeep wrangler.....


    Other Toys: 1973 Charger Bougham edition 400 big block 42K original miles
    Unicycles (about 3 dozen)


    6 in a row makes her go

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  14. Top Of Page | #9
    slax-a-lot's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    After ordering my SRW conversion wheels from "unmentioned" company, I waited for 11 months, and still no wheels. I called up Wheels Now Inc. They didn't have the specs for the needed wheels so I provided the info that I knew. The were out of the 19.5" blanks at first but got them back in stock pretty quick.

    After a few back and forth email, we got them through engineering and in line to be built. About 7 weeks later, my new wheels showed up. Went looking for some H rated tires with some tread and ended up with the Toyo M-608Z.

    To get the full carrying capacity of the truck, the H rated 285/70R19.5 (6400LBS) tires is what I needed. Took the wheels down to the truck tire shop in Denver to have them mounted up and balanced. He gave me the good news that he was going to discount the install (by a bunch) which I was happy about.

    Turns out that there was a reason. After paying, I went out to take a look. Seems that the guys working on my wheels thought that they were working a farm tractor and didn't really take in to consideration that I had just spent $2K on these wheels with the nice new shiny black powder coating. Now they looked like they belonged on a farm tractor.

    Knowing that I could act stupid if I went back in, I chose to suck it up, take the lump, and drive off with my new tires and wheels. Now to get them on the truck.

    Turns out the blanks that were used to build the wheels had a bulge to the inside of the wheel that just so happened to line up perfectly with my front brake calipers. Didn't seem to be enough of a problem that a flap-wheel disk couldn't resolve.

    After a little polishing of the caliper, the wheels are on. There may be a 1/32" clearance, but it works. These massive wheels don't seem to flex at all.

    Got on the highway for a test drive, and the truck now drove like a tractor, it was shaking all over the place. Next day drove it back to the tire shop for a check.

    Things didn't go so well with that starting with lug-nuts that wouldn't come off of any wheel. Seems that my Craftsman impact gun was able to do an almost permanent job of putting them on and the tire shop couldn't get them off.

    After a couple broke sockets and a bent up tire iron, we got them off of the truck.

    Now off to the lounge to wait for the work to be done. Got work that it was ready to go, no money exchanged, and off to the house.

    Not perfect but a lot better then before. I don't expect this to ride like a pickup so I am good to go. And for a side note, the wheels clock in at about 80lbs. and the tires are almost 100lbs, that puts each tire/wheel combo at almost 200lbs.

    I bought a spare tire and wheel but if I ever have to change it there will be a call to AAA since I wouldn't be able to get the flat tire back on the bed of my truck.





    Little close the bed but this is an F550. I drop the hitch of my camper, 2800lbs tongue weight, and the bed drops by an inch.

    By the end of this, I will be installing a Kelderman Quad-bag four-link air-ride suspension that I picked up off of an ambulance.

    I hope to lift it a couple of inches with that.

    s-l1600_sml.jpg

    Next....

    2009 Ford F550 Flatbed Hauler w/ Cummins 6.7L
    2017 Keystone Avalanche 395BH
    'A fool and his money are soon parted'

  15. Top Of Page | #10
    Old... But Still Here! AnOldBiker's Avatar

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    Re: My 2009 Ford F550 Cummins 6.7l Transplant story #1

    Subscribed.



    Jim


    2006 ~ 2500HD, Big Horn Edition, 5.9, 4x4, Q/Cab, 48RE, L/B, 3.73, S&B CAI & Snout, ProFlo 5" S/S exhaust, Smarty Touch, Oil ByPass Kit, 60 gal main tank, 110 gallon in-bed tank, XX-Fuel Filter System, Coolant Bypass Kit, Mag-Hytec front & rear end covers and trans pan, 285 x 70 x 17

    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States, where men 'were' free." ~ Ronald Regan

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