Gary Lewis

Jim - It would be a 12v compressor. I looked at some today in 4wd Parts that would work. But we are up around $400+ and that doesn't include the air tank. Bob - I'll look forward to your report! You know what I'm looking for, so you can tell me what you think I can do in/with Big Blue. As for the ball valve, you are probably right that I won't even have air in them when on the trail. If so, there's no need to interconnect as it won't matter. Concerning the size of the line, my nephew said that some run "accumulators" on the air bags. My understanding is that's a piston in a cylinder with a spring or air pressure on one side and the pressure from the bag on the other. In other words, you have an air chamber that changes size depending on the load. And it has built-in adjustability. I doubt that I'll need that, but it is good to know that such systems are available. Anyway, I did get to talk to Robert at 4wd Parts today about the Daystar cradle and the Firestone bags. He said they use that combo all the time on Raptors. They aren't rated to tow much due to the really soft suspension for handling off road, so they add the air bags and cradles to keep the rear end up. And they don't have any problems with them. So he thought that combo would work very well for Big Blue. And he knows quite a bit about Big Blue.

That doesn't look like a "poop" emoji. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/ezgif-com-resize-1_orig.gif (See, already a good use for the Laughing emoji. Now, if I could just get it to insert in-line......)

Jim - When I see those I think "swimming pool". http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/ezgif-com-resize-1_orig.gif A couple of years ago when we were visiting our daughter and family in Nicaragua she wanted one of those totes as a swimming pool in which to cool off. Her husband and I drove over an hour and bought one, but on the way back stopped in the local Ace to get something and discovered a true swimming pool for half the price. A quick phone call and we bought it as well. As for the entrenching tool, we'll carry one of those as well. Dane - Good point. It has worked for him quite well. But, I'm not sure what kind of a spot there will be on top of the axle for the bag to hit. And, I like the idea of having something besides metal-to-metal contact. Perhaps a rubber covered pad?

Jim - I'm not picturing "foof". Can you find an example and give me a link to it? As for other emoticons, I did some searching and found this statement in The Atlantic: Now, that's speaking of our phones, etc. But that doesn't mean there aren't ones elsewhere for pickups. Perhaps someone out there has made one we want? Can someone find one? And, in my searching I've found some that might be useful:

Yes, I could, but then we could not converse and catch up with what's happening. You can drive and try to exceed the former test results while carrying extra weight [my friend and me]. Sounds like a plan, Stan. Now here's where a "rimshot" emoticon would come in handy. Something like

LOL! Yes, I have a problem. But I don't want to "fix" it.

Well, I don't think Dad's truck is approaching six figures, but I'm not about to tally it to find out.

No, I didn't spend six figures. But I spent a boat load. And I'm not sorry that I did. I doubt I'll ever buy another new truck, and I loaded this one up with essentially everything available. And, I use many of the options on it.

The 2019 Raptor can exceed $75K.

For grins here are some comparisons of the default emoticons and Laughing:http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/ezgif-com-resize_orig.gif:nabble_anim_confused:Those should all have been in one line, like this: :nabble_anim_confused:And now I've downsized Laughing from 42 x 42 pixels to 20 x 20 and lets see how he plays:http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/ezgif-com-resize-1_orig.gif:nabble_anim_confused:Nope, that's not the only issue.

Ok guys, if you use something then I'm not pushing to take it out.HOWEVER, I temporarily replaced Drunk with Laughing: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/ezgif-com-resize_orig.gif. Mainly just to see how to do it. And, for my own edification here's how I did it: Found a gif I wanted to try and discovered I needed to have it on some easily-linked to site, so put it on my Test Page on this website Went to the Test Page and copied the URL Went to the bottom of the page of the main forum and clicked on "Edit this page" Searched for smilie_macro and then edited it to change Drunk to Laughing and inserted the URL between the quotes. Looked at the emoticon table and discovered that Laughing was about 10 times too big Went to EZGIF and resized the file down by a factor of 10 and saved it on my One Drive Put that file on the Test Page and got the URL Edited the macro again and inserted the new URLThat worked, but it is going to take some fine tuning. It looks like the emoticon is still too big and there may be too much whitespace around it. But, at least I know how to get a new emoticon on. Now we just have to find ones that we want. Hint, hint, hint....

Those squeaks and rattles are annoying! I inherited the hatred for them from my father, who was known to ride in the trunk of the car while Mom drove to find out where the noise was coming from. So I can sympathize with you on not liking them. Glad you found them and got them stopped.

Yes, a unicorn would be good. But it has to be a gif. And, as I said in the new thread, there are way too many emoticons in the stock list that are essentially the same. Or, the name that you see when you hover over it doesn't match the emotion I get when I see it. However, I can rename them if that would help, but you only see it when you hover, so.... Yes, ROTFL. And a bull. And a Ford oval? Anyway, let's see what we can find.

Folks, Jim has asked if we can have more emoticons. And frequently I've had the same question as I look through the ones we have and can't find what I'm looking for or get confused by many that are essentially the same. But after a bit of research I find that we can add them. In fact, it appears that we can even eliminate some if we want to do so. Given that, I need to know which ones to add and which ones to delete. But, the ones to add appear to need to be in .gif format. (And so far I haven't gotten the additions I've tried to work, but I think they will.) And, here are the one's I'd take out: Drunk: Don't want to suggest we are drunks Hurt: Never seen it used Pirate: Never seen it used Mustache: Never seen it used Ninja: Never seen it used Music: Never seen it used Teeth: Never seen it used Sleep: Never seen it used Oh No: There are too many others like this one, including and Happy: There's one almost identical called Grin So I'd take out one or the other. So, can we find some Ford gifs? Some truck gifs? What can you come up with?

Jim - That's an interesting question/request. And, after some research it appears that we can have more emoticons. So, why don't I create a thread asking the folks what emoticons we want to add and what ones we might want to ditch.

Unicorns? My granddaughter loves them!

Jim - Yes, I like the bling. Just enough. And I do like the calipers. Thanks for the suggestion. I had no idea how easy they are to rebuild. I think the front brakes are going to be very good. New calipers, pads, and rotors. And, they are the bolt-on calipers that will slide to center themselves. Plus the rotors are a bit bigger. So with the hydroboost addition Big Blue should BRAKES! Also, yesterday we had a family reunion and I spent quite some time talking to my nephew. He's really into trucks and offroading, and they just got back from Moab with their RZR's. So I asked if he thought Big Blue could do Moab, and he was sure it could. No, not some of the optional and difficult stuff, but the main trails. And, there are thousands of places to camp, so it would be a wonderful overlanding destination. However, one issue is water, so we'll have to figure out how to carry water and how much to carry. Another is a toilet, but I have the Thetford toilet that was in the boat so we can use it. Then we got into the bits and pieces for Big Blue. I asked how he'd do on-board air, telling him that I have a York long-stroke A/C compressor that I was thinking about using. He said he would have agreed with that plan years ago when air tools were the thing to carry, but since battery-powered tools are so capable now he'd recommend just going with an electric compressor. That way there's no problem of oil in the air, which is a significant problem with the York. And, it is just all around easier. That brought us to the subject of charging the batteries for the tools, and he didn't think that would be necessary given how long they last. However, it would be easy to include a small inverter just in case and he'd recommend a pure sine wave one just to make sure it would work with everything. I just checked and the smaller Ridgid battery charger I have is rated at 110W, so a 400W inverter would be plenty. And, we talked about air bags. He runs them on his dually Chevy diesel and likes the bigger 2600# ones over the smaller 2400#-capable ones as they have more volume and, therefore, more air to compress. He says they give a better ride. But, he never attaches the bottom of the bags to the truck. Just lets the steel bottom of the Firestones ride on the axle. Has done that for years with nary a problem. But, he does see the benefit of the Daystar cradles. And while he has his bags plumbed separately, he thinks for what I'm doing I should tee them. That way when one wheel goes up on a rock the other will go down. But, as I think about it, it would be easy to put a ball valve between the two and have a way to separate them if needed. That led to a discussion of sway bars, and he suggested I not connect them. Since I won't have anything tall that will cause sway there isn't a need. And, it'll ride better and have better articulation w/o them.

Thanks! I'm really pleased with how everything turned out. Although, is it possible I forgot to post the final, as-installed photo? Huh. I got excited and took the photo before I installed the seat belts, but they're all in there now. And as a reminder of the hovel I was riding around in previously: All in all, a very satisfying effort. Wow! Just WOW! That is a HUGE difference. Yes, it must be very satisfying.

LOL. I put it right back in the glovebox; it survived in there for ~10 years, it can stay a little longer. If I were smart I'd put it in the dedicated box of truck parts I have in the basement, but I'm not smart. I mean, surely I'll remember that I left it in the glovebox, right? Yes, this time will be different. You will remember - that you have one. As for where it is.......

So while I was glovebox spelunking today, guess what I found? Yes, my very own D1DZ-6261883-A. I actually vaguely remember tossing it in there when I got the truck, having no idea what it went to or even whether it was part of the truck or not. I'm not going to pull my seat out to put it on, either...I think my repair will hold. But if it doesn't, it's nice to know I've got a fallback. Lol! I knew immediately what it was. And, by the way, that seat is beautiful.

Jim - Thanks. I found the stator pigtail link, so will go look for the others in the other thread.

Welcome! So glad you found us! We have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and I'd be happy to add you if you want. That's a neat truck! And, I love its story, especially the part of working with your son on it. Welcome!!!!

I'd bet your steering damper is aftermarket. As for the quad shocks, if done correctly they can ride and handle well, and they should give better jounce control than single shocks. But not everyone realizes that there's supposed to be a different shock ahead of the axle vs behind the axle. The catalog shows that, and Monroe knows that as they explained to me when I bought the Sensa-tracs for Dad's truck. They really improved the ride and handling on the truck. But many people just double up on the shocks, which stiffens the ride. If you have all the hardware you can bolt it on, although you do have to take a lot off to get down to it. Compare the illustrations on the Single Shock vs Dual Shock tabs on the 4wd tab here: Suspension & Steering/Front Suspension.

Our son really likes Beemers, and had a 3 Series for a while. And even though it was stock I was impressed with what that I6 could do, and do it so quietly and smoothly. I can imagine what the tuned ones, or even the M3, would be like.

Yep, and that head is one of a kind. Just think of what the 300 could have been.