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83 F100 Upgrade

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ArdWrknTrk

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

Outstanding!
Your wheels came out beautiful. 😍

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Still need to polish the rears, but got them all on. Next is to get rid of that horrible farm bumper!

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

I'm not sure it is "horrible" in my book, but I think you can do better. What do you have in mind?

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Its incredibly horrible in my book. The etched in Arkansas dealer name makes it even worse. Utility or diamond tread bumpers just don't do it for me.

I am gonna get the optional chrome contour bumper. The bumper is available but the brackets are not easy to find. Will most likely have to fab them up.

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

Those are nice looking bumpers. I have one for Dad's truck. But, I don't have brackets - yet.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Also noticed how small the 215's look on those wider aluminum wheels. I put 30k miles a year on a truck, so I will probably stick with the small tires for another year or so. Thinking 235's next time.

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

235's will fill them up much better w/o doing too much to your overall gearing or speedometer readout.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

ArdWrknTrk

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

You can always change profile to keep the gearing close, though I don't know what's available in 15's.

I don't like the feeling of too wide (or narrow) a tire for the rim.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

I agree - the wrong width tire on a rim is bad news. My approach is to find the rim's width and go to Tire Rack. Pull up a few tires I'm considering and look at the details to find the recommended rim width.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

My GPS shows the speedo to be about 2mph slow between 75 and 80 which is where I normally cruise on the freeway. The 235 is only an inch taller and according to the speedo calculator I used, that would put the speedo closer to matching the GPS.

These look a little small, but also looked small on the steelies. It won't take long with my daily driving to wear them out and then upgrade. I can't afford to just toss these tires with 10k miles on them for appearance alone.

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

Sounds like those tires would work out well.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Finally got around to replacing the door seals. Much quieter ride now. Hopefully this weekend I can find time to get the window felts replaced too.

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

I think you'll find the window felts make as much difference, and maybe more, than the door seals.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

All done... not as quiet as a newer vehicle but much better. Hmmmm can't be the truck is the shape of a brick causing some of the wind noise?!

Now to get the front windows tinted this week. Summer is coming quick and window tint is a must out in the desert.

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

I'll bet that made a difference!

I was wishing for a rear window tint the other morning. We took Big Blue some place and Janey went in while I sat in the truck - pointed west. Man, that sun came in STRONG, even though it was cold outside.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

I drive to work in the dark and then the summer heat later in the day. The rear window was one of the first things I tinted because of the lights and heat. I was going to do the sides but only had limo tint. I will have a guy come out this week and put a light coat on the sides. So installers even put a clear on the windshield that cuts the heat and UV rays.

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

Bisquik1959

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

After looking thru a few articles, I saw one on here about a small front air dam. I ended up checking the measurements and made one of my own out of aluminum angle iron. I don't know if it will help any, but driving 120 miles a day, it couldn't hurt to try.

"Dumpy" 1983 F100
1986 Bronco II crawler

"Oh Blessed Lady of Acceleration... dont fail me now!" - Elwood Blues

grumpin

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Cool! Let us know if it helps MPG. I assume you’re looking to help that.

Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona

Gary Lewis

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

In reply to this post by Bisquik1959

That's about as big as they were. As for whether or not they work, the factory put them on specific trucks for a reason, but I suspect it was a whole bunch of little things that made the difference.

Anyway, like Dane said, let us know how it goes.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

1986F150Six

Re: 83 F100 Upgrade

Administrator

Gary Lewis wrote

That's about as big as they were. As for whether or not they work, the factory put them on specific trucks for a reason, but I suspect it was a whole bunch of little things that made the difference.

Anyway, like Dane said, let us know how it goes.

I tested with and without the factory "air dam" on my daily urban loop with maximum speeds of 45 mph. This data spanned about 12 years. There was ~1/2 MPG difference [+~3%].

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