Gary Lewis

Hmmm, I'll have to check to see what I have for Dad's truck.

Nice price for an early Bronco. Don't think I've ever actually seen a PTO winch, although I've read about them.

Not even sure what parts would be good. But, the interior should be fine - like the tach. Kinda 'spensive for a tach.

Yipes!!!! That's a lot of money, but why??? Maybe it just isn't my cup of tea?

I hope the salvage finds they have the brackets for you.

Nice truck. Probably worth the $5500.

I did. He had issues with water leakage, and he just epoxied the thing together. It have a set of LS heads. I might do some measuring just for fun. Actually, that was a comment for the others as I assumed you'd read it. But I expect there are some that can't stand Chevy heads on a Ford - the why of which is explained therein.

Sorry folks, been decorating graves today - as well as driving a couple hundred miles. Then I hooked up the trailer, checked and adjusted tire pressures, loaded up the chain, boomers, and ratchet straps, and added a few tools, jack, and 4-way. Ready to head out in the morn. David - The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; That would be me. As for the bolts, hole sizes, etc, we have a slightly different form of the TSB here: TSB's/Brakes, Steering, Suspension, Wheels/96-15-11 FRAME - RIVET REPLACEMENT WITH BOLTS. And, why not just include it here as well? It does say to ream the holes, which I'll do. And, I'll find flanged headed bolts and nuts in those sizes and grades. But, this TSB is addressing replacing individual rivets, one at a time while the others hold the cross member in place. However, I won't have that as I have to take the whole cross member out. So, I'm thinking that some form of clamps should be used to ensure the frame doesn't move. Thoughts? This is an embedded Microsoft Office PDF, powered by Office Online.

That's cool! But you have to read the writeup.

Just talked to him. He's planning on cutting the frame behind the engine cross member and giving me the whole thing - as well as SD springs. Plus the rear blocks and u-bolts if they've not been cut. It'll be ready tomorrow afternoon. And he's going to look for the front yoke for a double-cardan on a 1345.

David - Why take it as it is going to be flatter than a flitter, whatever that is. Jim - It was Brad that said the u-bolts are TTY. But I disagree. Here's what the factory shop manual says on the D44 R&R. Note that it says nothing about replacing the u-bolts:

I would agree that if you've found an obvious problem then it is time to fix that. Then, if that doesn't fix the overall issue, it is probably time to look further via voltage-drop testing.

I agree the major difference is in the frame horns, but have no way to determine if that is the right cross member since I got the wrong master parts catalog when I bought. But, I will ask him about it. However, my guess is that this truck still has the engine in it since it has just come in, and he may not have the time to get the cross member out by tomorrow. Anyway, here's my list, and I'm working off Brad's: The axle itself Front driveshaft: I don't need this as I have the double-cardan one I got when I bought the ZF5. F350 yoke from the front of the t-case: I have a 1345 and don't know if the yoke from a 1356 will fit, but I'll ask him. Track bar mount (mounts on engine crossmember using existing holes) Track bar (goes between axle and mount to keep axle centered) Leaf springs: As said, I'm going for SD springs, not F350. Drivers side U-bolt plate and u-bolts: I'm getting the u-bolt plates for both sides as well as the u-bolts. But, Brad says they are torque-to-yield. Is that right? F350 pitman arm: Will get it Steering linkage: It is on the axle Brake calipers: I'd forgotten about them, but will get them The F350 (4") blocks and new U-bolts: As said, I'd forgotten about this as well. Brake line clip: What did I miss?

Bullnose Buster?

Yes, soooooooo many questions.... I don't know why my brother didn't tell me he knows the guy. Nor why my nephews didn't. But, it is possible that they didn't because they called him and he didn't have an axle. I know he said "I just got this in", so maybe? As for the cross member, the point IS to install a good one while the engine is out. But I don't know that a '95 cross member is the right one. However I've found one for $50 close to me and my plan is to get it. As for the RSK and SD question, I think I was having second/third/tenth thoughts. "Perhaps just going with F350 springs would give a good enough ride and save almost $600 in the kit from Sky." But, if I'm into it this far, I'd better do it "right". But, you have a great idea - the rear spacers! I'll ask for those as well. Last, finding a wrecked 4wd F350 in this area is hard to do. And then there's the time to go get it, take it apart, find places to stash whatever comes off, and take the carcass to the crusher. If I have Big Blue apart and taking up the space in the shop there's no good place to work on an F350. Besides, it wouldn't have the SD springs. So this solution, this one stop shop, is actually the best of both worlds - I get everything in one go and at what I've learned is a reasonable price.

Thanks. I sent him this:

From which truck are you sourcing the pitman arm from? You are reading my mind, Shaun. Just sitting here thinking "I need to do a package deal and inc the pitman arm awa the brake line brackets." The beauty of this is it is a salvage in the next town away from my home town in Kansas. In talking to the guy he asked for my phone number and, thinking he'd balk at an out of state # I said "Well, I have to tell you right up front I'm a Bulldog." Their mascot is a Viking and ours, obviously, is the Bulldog, and we are bitter rivals. He laughed and knew from whence I come. I told him I'd be up on Saturday to decorate graves and he said if we strike a deal he can open the gates. Later I talked to my brother and he said "Oh, I know Brent. And so do both of my boys." So, I'll call back tomorrow, introduce myself, and set up the deal. Inc pitman arm, et al. Anything else y'all can think of? I think this may happen!

EFI is a deep subject. An EEC-IV system is Speed Density and bases everything it does on what it thinks it knows about the engine. And if you stay within it's "kin" then it works really well. But get outside of that an it runs poorly. I don't know how much you can push the limits before getting outside the box. Perhaps calling Edelbrock would help? Maybe they can tell you if those cams will work with SD? Then there's the leap to MAF, SEFI, and EEC-V. That's a big step, and the wiring is even more complex. So if you don't like the wiring now, .... Perhaps you want to go with a throttle body system. Edelbrock, and many others, sell systems that learn quite well and accommodate whatever mods you throw at them. Most aren't port injection, but they are simple and work nicely. Maybe they are the middle-of-the-road that you are looking for? Simple wiring but adaptable?

You might want to try the voltage drop test instead of just replacing things.

So, you'd go with the SD springs and, therefore, the Sky kit rather than either the existing F350 springs and bolt them whole thing on. Or, with 350 springs and an RSK? (In for a penny in for a pound?)

I spoke with Rick, from Carolina Classics, today about their spam posts. He was apologetic and said that they've hired someone to boost their web presence and that's who is doing this. They've found them doing the same on other sites, and he promised to tell them to stop. But, in the interim I moved their latest post to the Quarantined folder. Having said that, I suggest we all contact Rick to suggest he expand his business to include Bullnose trucks. Take a look at their website and you'll see lots of things that it would be nice to have for ours. Their stuff ends in '79, but wouldn't it be nice to have a few of those things being produced? For your ease in doing this: Phone: 919-682-4211 Email: rallen@carolina-classics.com

The plot thickens. I found another D60 from a '95 SRW F350, but it has 4.10 gears. And, it costs $1000, but it is still in the truck and he will throw in all of the brackets & panhard rod for that price. And, he will sell me the springs for $150 - either off that truck or off a SuperDuty. So the overall pricing comes out fairly close - if I understood what Billy Young told me, that he will swap the R&P for $50. However, I wonder now if instead of having R&P's sitting around that he'd trade for, did he mean he would install a new R&P that I buy - for maybe $275. Here are the two options as I see them: 1997 SRW D60 in 3.54: Have to go to OKC to get it, a 250 mile round trip. And, I'd have either buy the brackets that David found for $300, or find them somewhere. And, I'd have to buy springs. Then I'd have to keep my fingers crossed that the R&P are good. 1995 SRW D60 in 4.10: Would pick it up when we go on Saturday up to Kansas to decorate graves. Would be the whole 9 yards, but I'd have to change out the R&P, either with known good ones from Billy or new ones, which would raise the price. So, what are your thoughts?

I've never searched for several parts in one go. But the link above seems to give the same results: hits for 17787-B and 17796-B, but not 88 or 95.

So you contacted the dealerships and they all said they didn't have it, even though they show in Rear Counter? That's strange. Anyway, good luck. That's all I know to suggest.