BigBrother-84

Bill, you are right. I played around with the plastic cone, and installed it pointing down. • Big Brother's wheels face is "recessed", so always far from the support blade, even if I flip the tire upside down. • If installed pointing up, the bolt is too short. I tried with a longer bolt, but was finally not satisfied how the cone was maintaining the steel wheel. • Cone pointing down with the shorter bolt does the job for Big bro's setup.

I too. This guy was a real genius! But he didn't figured there's not always enough room for such a lever. Especially when we have installed a hitch... I'm analyzing the situation. I see two solutions: 1- Cut the Archimede tube. 2- Flip the support blade end to end, installing the "drop end" pointing to the front of the truck. Solution 2 isn't really sexy, since the access to the spare will be more painful. So I'll go to the tube cutting and will use the jack to drop or install the spare (sorry Archimede). EDIT : Well, Archimede tube is also conflicting in solution 2. So let's go cut it!

• Bolts thread: The clips I bought at LMC are M14x2.0 threaded, but a 1/2-13 threaded bolt fits in (although not as "tight" as the metric one). Reverse is probably not possible... • Installation: I gathered all the parts, will install this morning. So I'm preparing myself, reading all infos I have. And guys, it's in the 1984 User Manual that I found the answer of a stupid question I had: «What's the goal of that tube at the end of the blade support? To support the blade when dropped to the ground? Or a kind of handle?». For the dummies like me, well, this tube is a gift of our old friend Archimede: It enables a lever action when a longer stick is inserted (user manual indicates to use the wrench). So the tire feels "lighter" to drop down (or to replace up in its storage). Ok, for the majority of this forum members, this is probably so evident that they won't imagine this could be detailed here. But for the 2-3 guys like me who were completely ignorant, I hope it will be useful!

Right. I bought the clips from LMC. They are M14x2.0, but I confirm that regular 1/2x13 bolt fits correctly too.

When I think I was considering that I'm living in a cold country...

Gary, I went digging in John's posts (searched "decals" and "sticker") and found no mention about a provider.

Obviously, it was priced correctly.

Scott, my wife is not a tall person. She is still "climbing" and "gracefully" falling from Big Bro's bench seat each time... and hates it.

Gary, I sent an email to Ford Media. We never know... I'll copy you.

Gary, since I'll be on the road the two weeks preceding the dinner, will be difficult for me to participate to the "tech" side of the preparation. But I am willing to help John taking pictures during the event. And videos if needed. I'll have my "stock shot kit" (Nikon, drone, GoPro). Although I'm not well equipped for the sound capture side. And I am volunteering for any other kind of help during the event (installation, cleaning, etc).

I saw these too, but at this price I will buy two bolts at hardware store and weld the myself.

I went to my salvage yard and found on two trucks the "J-Eye" bolt (no straight ones on any trucks). These are 1996 F-150, one with the rear tank and the other without. And probably found a straight one, waiting for seller's confirmation. If it doesn't go on, I will fit a regular straight bolt.

Thanks! Don't know if it matters, but Big Bro is not equipped with the rear tank. More place for the spare wheel, but maybe bolts threaded section is longer? The wheel is stored higher?

Hi Gentlemen! I am planning to put the spare wheel under the bed (need all square inches for this summer road trip). I gathered: • The 49" steel channel • Two «J-nuts» for the frame fixation • The center wheel retainer and its bolt What's missing: • The two channel retaining bolts (the straight one and the "loop" shaped one). I'll probably have to custom-make these (they are 1/2" standard threaded). But I am wondering about the length of each one. Does someone know their dimensions? Total length and threaded section length. Or maybe suggestion where to buy some? Thanks!

Shaun, I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough to be your Grand Pa, but I still have one at home. Just for fun, I admit, but still full working! It's always funny to see younger asking to try a call with it and, after rotating 2-3 numbers, abandoning while saying "wow, it takes too much time". LOL!

John, yes, the rumors are true. For me and Big Bro. And my wife too. Will soon start a thread about «Big Brother's Big Trip».

I like the "Zoom" idea for dinner. I am not familiar with FB meeting feature, but Zoom is easy to install on various platform. Requires an account if you plan more then 45 minutes. Similar with MS Teams. Just send an invite with the link, and the guests will connect when clicking on this link. Easy. Any member who has such commercial account can host the event for you, even remotely. Good to hear that you do not plan to play the IT Guy role yourself. If so, you're going to be out of the party, that's a huge job... Edit: Your whole program makes sens for me. Am I ok understanding that Saturday will be open to any perso interested (not only members)? If so, I think this is a good idea.

Which one of your fleet is it? Still talking about Espy?

Welcome! If on a phone, you have to manually develop the "Bullnose Forum" Menu to see it:

https://classicfordtrucktrader.com/ad/1986-ford-f150-4x4/

I agree on that one. Give us time... we never know.

Big Brother's original dash was broken by the first owner: Before selling the truck to my wife's father, they took off the CB, and found was faster to brutally tear off the mike holder instead of unscrewing it (resulting in a big nice hole over the gloves compartment door). While restoring the truck, I decided to replace the dash. But no saddle or tan at my local salvage yard. The cleanest was red. And there was an acceptable passenger's door panel too, which was grey. I painted them, and finally had to paint all the plastic interior trims, since the Saddle paint I bought was slightly more pale than the original color. Here are some picts, showing the red dash in the donor truck, the two disassembled dashes (red on right, original on left), and the final result. I don't know about fixing plastic dash, but replacing and painting did the job for me, happy about the result.

Not sure the recesses have a noticeable impact on the general drag of our Barn Design Bullnoses. But it didn't cost a lot for Ford to make this statement: Two nice colored lines above the truck gave the proof of its aerodynamical performances. Isn't this an indisputable scientific evidence?

Curiously, couple of days ago, I too spotted it on eBay, but it was saying "no international shipping, Continental US only". I'm surprised that the seller says he shipped it to Canada.

Don't know if Wiki is right, they say that the "Camper Special" was dropped in 1982: «For the 1982 model year, [...] the free-standing Camper Special option package was discontinued, functionally combined with the Trailer Towing package.».