Uhaul donor rearend, hood and A/C

[kamoo]

Im looking into buying an ex 1995 F700 uhaul so I can use the box and the front hood to update my tailgating bus. It has a rockwell 4.33 rear that I thought would also come in handy.
My current bus goes 60 tops, 11r22.5 tires and Cummins 5.9, AT545. I dont have a tach but can say it is pretty much wound out at that speed. This rear is behind a 429 gasser which I guess doesnt really matter. What do you think my top speed would be? My bus has air brakes and this truck has hydro. Would it be easier to just swap the center or to swap the axle and brakes, hub etc?
I would also like to take the A/C system and install it on the bus. I dont know what will be salvageable. Will have to get a top mount bracket for the compressor and possibly a new compressor or make an adapter if it is not the same. WIth some rigging I think I can make it work.
Last piece is the hood, I have the boxy 1992 hood and would like to update it to the more modern hood from the 1995. It apprears to alsmost be a bolt on swap, am I wrong?

 

[jaredg]

I can comment on the hood. It would be a direct fit except the return fenders (the stationary portion that is) would not line up with the curves of the '95 fender lines. People do this often with the 1980s International S-Series hood, but have to also upgrade the "cowl" portion that is attached to the bus because of the curve of the fender being different.

 

[NewSkewlHauler]

I think this would be an awesome idea. It's why I was looking at b700s initially. There were a lot of parts that I thought would be a good swap from an f700 or similar. Good luck!

Ben.

 

[Jarlaxle]

IF the F700 has the same spring setup (I recall U-Hauls have airbags) and IF it's the same width...you still probably can't use it. You have 22.5" wheels, the U-Haul trucks are lo-pros with 19.5" wheels. If you can swap the centersection, it might work...but might not be worth it if you already have a ratio close to that. Your best bet is a big-truck junkyard...look for anything with a diesel and a non-OD transmission; many will have 4.10's. Some (Freightliners, offhand) even have the axle ratio on the sunvisor tag.

You want a 4.10 or taller ratio...that's about 1900RPM at 60 with 11R22.5 tires. A 4.33 is OK...it will give you about 2100RPM, buit yopu'll probably see 2500+ on the tach with the non-lockup AT545.