Gary Lewis

Jim - That stinks! Ray - I don't know about brands of electric brakes. I just bought mine from the local trailer supply store. But I see on Amazon that there are lots of kits that come with the bearings, so that would kill both birds with one stone. As for wiring the auxiliary battery, the 1985 EVTM's Charge & Power Distribution - Gasoline Engines section shows the auxiliary battery relay on Page 15 and the battery itself on Page 20. But, I like the Cole Hersee Smart Battery Isolator better than just a dumb relay. The difference is that the Ford wiring will parallel the batteries when you turn the key to On. But that can be problematic if you frequently drain one battery. Let's say you pull the battery on the trailer way down and then start the truck. Now the main battery is both trying to charge the trailer battery as well as start the truck at the same time. But the Cole Hersee isolator doesn't parallel the batteries until one or the other of them has been charged to something like 13.2 volts, and will disconnect the batteries if they get below something like 12.7 volts so you don't drain the main battery.

The 5.0's can really sound good. As for the shifting, you may be right about more usage. Good luck!

Jim - That stinks! Ray - It is fairly easy to put electric brakes on a trailer. They make kits for it and it is just bolt-on and wire. Our boat trailer came with hydraulic brakes that were nothing but rust, and I converted it to electric. Branden's trailer that I used to go get Big Blue in Florida had brake problems and I put new electric brakes on it. And if the load is big I REALLY like having brakes on both axles. On the winch wiring, I think you'll be better off installing a battery on the trailer and running wiring capable of keeping it charged rather than running wiring capable of powering the winch all the way from the vehicle's battery. A winch can pull a lot of power and having a battery close to the winch will work better.

I don't have any experience, but I've often thought of installing an exhaust system like that. Eastwood used to have a system called Exhaustaway, but I can't find it now. However Amazon has this port that goes in the door, and this hose.

Frank - Good job! A warm heater is going to be very much appreciated soon. Jim - Ok, the driver's side upper. But outside. I'll look today. As for the gutted cat and cherry bomb sound, I'm guessing that was tinny. So, what system did you put on? How does it sound? Cory - Maybe you can get your wife to go with you if have a light for her door? Anyway, another onion ring, and even if it is small it is good.

Wow! No pressure, right? Good luck to you, Ray.

No, I've not seen one of those. But the options from the factory are shown below, and I'm guessing you have #768. Or, maybe it isn't a factory bumper? The dealers had all sorts of options. COST MSRP 762 BUMPER, ARGENT REAR STEP $101.40 $120.00 768 BUMPER, CHROME REAR STEP $159.73 $189.00 764 BUMPER, CHROME REAR (F-150 series only) $87.08 $103.00

Good work! Now you know the problem, and have a temporary solution. Well done!

Yes, but two steps forward and one backward is still PROGRESS! And, as Jim says, progress is good. Seriously, it is really looking good. And complete. You are making great progress.

Not much more than Little Blue - 3400 lbs. Ford didn't rate the manual transmissions very high.

I think the trailer would be a very good start. And the Silverado would probably tow it just fine. Does your new trailer have brakes?

I do like that/those! Mine are way too blue, but the Ice Blue appears to be just right.

Yeah, I didn't think it was on the Marti report. None of the others I looked at showed what grille it had. Bummer. So, I guess you can decide what grille you want.

I think we need more info. When you go to get a log do you have to load it yourself? How many do you get at one time? How long are the logs? My first thought was a ramp truck would be good, but if you have to load them yourself you are going to need a winch. And then, once that log is loaded you'll need a way to lash it down while you load the next one. And then lash it down. But a trailer might be better as it would be longer - if you had a way to get the front end of the log up to start onto the trailer.

The only ways I think it might be determined what the truck had would be either a Marti report, and I'm not sure that will do it, or the build sheet. But, two of the build sheets I've decoded don't tell what grille was on the truck even though there's a spot for it on the sheet. Having said that, an XL would normally have had the argent grille. However, in '85 the chrome grille was a $56.80 MSRP option, so it is possible that an XL could have had the chrome grille.

Jim - Now that I'm home, which piece of windshield trim do you need?

If they got it aligned properly with a 4" lift they did a good job.

There could be several reasons for not getting hot air, and a biggee is if there's no cable of if it isn't connected. Others would include a plugged heater core, a valve in the heater hose, or if you don't have a thermostat. On the questions about wiring, if the heater seems to function properly the way it is then I wouldn't think those connections go to the heater or blower. Perhaps to the A/C system? Can you tell where the wires from the 5-terminal connector go? On the red, orange, and black wires, did you disconnect them from the blower switch? I'm not sure how the switch could work if it is supposed to have those wires. As for the blue wire that is cut, w/o knowing what that fuse goes to it is really hard to tell. Can you trace the wire back to something? And the two-wire connectors appear to be made for each other, but I wouldn't go plugging things together just because it looks like they should be connected. Perhaps they were disconnected for a reason? What doesn't work?

That sound's like a good plan.

Not sure I understand how the push bumper would help with those low walls you keep hitting.

Looks great! How much lift is that?

That's a good spot for the controller. Have you seen my gauge pocket project? It has the dimensions for that pocket.

No blast cabinet here so cant reply on that. The controller looks small does it have a knob to apply the trailer only brakes and how do you adjust the level for the trailer loaded or un-loaded? I need to pick one up for my truck at some point and some wire to run from the engine bay to the trailer plug out back. I had to look at a picture of my 81 for that plug and it did not have it. Then again no engine computer either. Dave ---- I'm guessing that plug appeared in '83. The '82 trucks had the computer under the seat and there was a plug in the floor there. But apparently in '83 the computer moved under the dash, and that plug appeared.

Ouch! Maybe instead of lights you need a camera?

Maybe you can keep track of what these things sell for by posting the price in the thread?