Gary Lewis

Thanks, John. Both for the update as well as the support for the direction.

I meant to say you should go with Dexron III. That's because everything I've read says III replaced II.

I would drain and refill the transmission and the torque converter, for two reasons. First, you obviously have an incompatibility in the fluids and need to start completely over. Second, I think that your transmission fluid is "worn out". ATF has several additives in it that do important things, and they wear out over time. One of those important things is to cause the rubber in seals to swell, and when it wears out the seals leak and the shifting isn't right. Another thing is the friction modifier that causes the clutches to lock up quickly. I've seen this many, many times where a change of transmission fluid makes a slipping transmission work much better. But at least half of the fluid is in the converter so you have to change all of it. And you want a good quality Dexron-II fluid.

I also have the clamps shown below, which are Oetiker-style clamps and were the only ones that would hold the air hoses on the on-board air system on Big Blue given that the pressure goes to 200 psi. I tried those EFI style clamps shown above, but they just wouldn't hold at that pressure. But there's no way to get that tool down in there to pinch them. So I think I'll use the EFI clamps.

Interesting, Dane. I don't think the first ones would get down in that space, although the cable one would. But looking at the clamps I have I'm wondering about going a different direction. I have the clamps shown below, although they are still not constant tension. So is it the constant tension that is needed? http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/thinking-26_orig.jpg

Ok, Dane. I'll check that. Thanks.

They were new when I installed the D60, about 2 years ago. And it pulled a bit then as well. Was driving it today and thought I'd ask others as my attempts to correct it haven't really worked.

Bill, I ordered clamps from the company that you listed. Thank you for posting it! To all......I'll leave a response here as to what I ordered and how all this worked out. FYI, the upper radiator hose has two different measurements. Don't assume they are the same!!! Ok, I need to revive this thread 'cause someone posted "I'll leave a response here as to what I ordered and how all this worked out." And I need to know. That's 'cause it looks like my power steering system leak is at the tee where the return from the frame-mounted cooler joins with the "used" return from the hydroboost and goes into the Saginaw pump. As you can see below, I used the screw type clamps and it appears that one or more is leaking. Following up on Bill's recommendation of Belmetric.com I see that their 16mm has a Mfrs Published Crimping Range of 15.7mm - 17.5mm. My hose measures 16.7mm when it is on the barb, so it seems like that 16mm clamp is the right one. Yes? But are there better tools with which to install them than slip-joint pliers?

As said in the title, Big Blue pulls a little bit left when you first hit the brakes, which takes a bit of steering to the right to counter. But if you hit the brakes harder it straightens up. I've thought that this is probably caused by the rear brakes being adjusted slightly differently and assumed that the left rear brake is coming in a bit sooner because it is closer to the drum. But my playing with rear brake adjustments hasn't really proven that theory. So what thoughts do y'all have? And for background info, I'm running a later D60 solid axle up front with slightly larger brake rotors, hydroboost, and an F450 master cylinder, but stock rear brakes.

I'll do my best to document it. Will probably just post pics in this thread and then maybe consolidate later if needed. And UPS shows to have picked up the box, even with a blizzard going on, and it is due here Tuesday.

Excellent!

I purchased a similar billet bearing for mine. I had to drill out the screw holes on the column and stretch the plastic shaft bushing because the aftermarket bearing is wider. I don't know if that bushing is super necessary but I felt compelled to save it. This is the bearing from DRB MACHINE AND FAB. Their site says: And it is supposed to look like this when installed:

Yes, Blue Top is absolutely on top of the list of vendors that communicate well. As for the chance of my box getting out of there today, here's the latest on the storm: And here's the area with Stanton, the home of Blue Top, circled:

Nice find, David.

Just an update on the progress. I sent the box to Blue Top on Monday afternoon with a Wednesday expected delivery. In the interim I emailed with Blue Top asking how to get the lower steering column bearing as part of the order and they said that I should call when my box was delivered. It was delivered to them yesterday, Wednesday. But before I could call I got an email saying "I got the bearing in the shipping box for when we do get it done and packaged tomorrow morning." And today I got the invoice by email, which I paid. Then I got an email from Ryan at BT that said "It should ship out today but we got a blizzard last night and supposed to go all day here so not sure if we will get our UPS truck in." Told him I understand and it won't be a problem. So far the interactions with BT have been stellar! Cannot wait to get the box installed as if it is half as good as everyone says, or half as good as their customer service, the steering will be awesome!

Sounds like it should work well.

Hope it goes well.

Hope it goes well.

A dashpot is a device that slows the movement of something. On a lot of the Bullnose trucks Ford installed a dashpot on the throttle linkage to slow the movement back to idle when you take your foot off the gas. In EEC-V they did that in software. And when I started driving Big Blue with V it actually caused the RPM to go up when I pushed in the clutch to coast to a stop. Then, just before stopping, the idle would go down. I found the dashpot function and cut the amount of it down quite a bit as well as raised the MPH at which it quits, so all is well now.

Good point, Bill. And the dashpot will be needed on an auto. (Sure is a pain on a manual though.)

Obviously the serpentine system looks better, but can you do it with the brackets you have? Or brackets that are reasonably available?

Yes, an AOD will work with EEC-V, but you'll need to get an ECU for a manual transmission as one for an auto will get its knickers in a twist when the RPM doesn't change when it tells the transmission to shift. I'd think a 4R70 would be easier to find than an AOD, but I don't really know. And if you find one you might not have to have it rebuilt as it might be fine with your engine. On the other hand, I doubt a stock AOD would. But maybe you should get others opinions as I don't really know. As for programming the ECU, you don't have to write any code. Binary Editor does everything for you and you just select options, put in parameters, etc. So if you know your way around a computer enough to code in Basic or C++ then you should be fine. But I'd still suggest that Bill set the ECU up initially as he knows how to do that quite well. Then if you have Binary Editor and the Mongoose cable you can look at the setup, ask questions about what to change and what the changes will do, and then make the proper changes to get the effect you are looking for, like changing the shift points or lock/unlock points on the transmission. That would include changing the target AFR at various points in the engine load table, changing idle RPM, dashpot values, and many, many more.

Thanks Jonathan for the precision!So, if I go with the Factory Installed Speed Control, a Rosewood horn pad will respect the "As Close To Stock" line I'm trying to keep with Big Brother! There's a rumor that a mobile mechanic is planning to visit TJ and family around Christmas. So this post is to document what projects we might do as well as the tools & parts needed. I've sent TJ a link to the document so he can update it with projects, and I'll update it with tools that we might need. And I've tagged him to this post as well. But if any of y'all have suggestions as well please chime in.

You have it figured out correctly. And the 30A fuse is correct as you fuse for the ampacity of the wire and #10 can carry 30 amps for 10' with only about a 2% drop in voltage. EDIT: Bill beat me, but just barely.

I agree! Well done, Dave! Both for the work as well as the writeup.