Gary Lewis

We did much the same trip 4 years ago. After spending 3 weeks in Italy we drove across Austria and then into Germany. Picked up the so-called Romantic Road in Füssen and headed north. Rothenburg and the town watchman was a favorite and we stayed right in the town two nights. And we stayed in Bacharach several nights as well. And, we flew out of Frankfurt. Small world. Then, 2 years ago we went down the Danube on a Viking tour, leaving out of Nuremberg - which is a great place to visit. Had another couple with us on their first European trip, and apparently we were considered "seasoned travelers" as they asked us to also take them to Salzburg, Neuschwanstein, Füssen, and Munich - for Oktoberfest.

I'd stay away from metallics, if anything for ease of touchup. how about one (or both!) Of the Ford engine blues? You'd certainly never be far away from the right color for repair. How about French Blue? ;) Oddly enough, the guy showed me a picture of a trailer they painted in what he called Ford Blue. He initially said it was Ford's engine blue, but when I asked which one he said it is really "Miller Blue" from Sherwin Williams. I assumed he meant Miller welders, but the blue appeared closer to New Ford Blue to me. But, what I don't want to do is to pick a color that will clash with either of my tow trucks. Here's Big Blue: And, here's one of Blue: And, Dad's engine is painted Ford Dark Blue, which is the color on the left:

Jonathan - I got the 1989 manual in the mail today. Hope to get the lubrication tables from it and the 1976 manual scanned tomorrow.

Added the official Borg-Warner service manual for the BW1345 transfer case to the Driveline/Transfer Case page. However, when I first pull up the page the "window" in which the manual is supposed to be is blank. But, when I click on it the manual appears. Is that the case for you? And, I also changed the manuals on the transmission pages to be embedded PDF's so you can see them before downloading. But, you can still download them.

Which blue? Big Blue has two shades, and Blue has another one. Here is a pic of one of the D-rings: And here's a shot of the tongue of a car hauler somewhat like mine. On the left is the TrailerJailer tongue lock. Then just to the right is the 5-position hitch height adjustment. And to the right of that you can see the rings to hold the safety chains - I'm having them move the rings back so the chains don't just hang down. Next to the right is the jack - welded to both the hitch and the tongue so it isn't going to move. And, that jack has an interesting spring arrangement that pops the drop-leg up/down when you turn the handle, thereby limiting the amount of jacking required. But, from there this trailer is much different than mine as I don't have either the tool box or the gravel shield. Instead, I'll have a treadplate on the bottom of the tongue on which to mount the battery box, and a winch stand 12" up from the deck. And, speaking of the winch stand, my trailer will have a header bar like this trailer, the top of which is 12" off the deck. The winch stand will attach to that so the winch will sit just above it. Last, here's my lame attempt to show what the deck will look like on my trailer. The fenders will actually be set into the deck, so the deck fore and aft of the fenders will be the full legal 102" wide. In other words, if you drive a big-tired vehicle onto the trailer and over the fenders there'll be somewhere for the tires to sit.

I don’t have an E4OD of any kind, so if you can find one there that would be ideal. That would save shipping it in. But I can look as well if you tell me where best to look. As for parts, we don’t have to go with serious parts, but I would like it to be stout.

I missed the joke. I can check the EVTM for the resistor values, but doubt they'll work as they get quite hot even when they are in the moving airstream caused by the blower. And when winching the trailer will be stationary. Maybe a current-limiting diode across the relay? Anyway, on to the more immediate problem - picking a color for the trailer. Basically the guy said it should be bright so it can be spotted if stolen - which happens all too often. 😡 I don't know what I want to do re color, but picked up a color chart at a Home Depot and will look it over. And, as you have surely guessed, the trailer is on order, with about 4 weeks the guesstimated time before deliver. But, there is still one aspect I'm not thrilled about - the electrical connections. The butt connectors they use do have a shrink aspect to them, but from what I saw aren't water tight by any means. So I've asked if I can come over and make the connections myself when the time comes. On the other hand, there are many things I'm happy about. One is the fact that my deck will extend around the fenders and be 102" wide. All of the other decks I looked at were 82" wide. But, if your vehicle is wider than 82 and you need to drive over the fenders, where do the tires sit? On mine they sit on the deck. 😉 Another is the D-rings he uses. They are 15K # units as opposed to 6K on a leading brand. And they are not only recessed and welded to the deck, they are welded to the crossmember. I'll post some pics when I get home.

Wow! What wonderful news!!! 🎉 I'm thinking you are right, that the gas softened the gunk that otherwise was stuck. (Like Lipitor does to blood globules?) And that gunk plugged the artery to the eye ...... Wait! I think I'm getting my stories mixed up. 😎 Which explains why the oil pressure went down with increasing RPM - there wasn't enough area through which to pull the amount of oil the pump wanted to move at the higher RPM. So a vacuum formed on the inlet to the pump and little oil was getting pumped. And since the lifters are usually the last to get oil, they were the first to complain. Once a lifter can't pump up it doesn't open when it is supposed to open nor lift as much as it should. So the power is down and the noise is up. Yippeee!

The windshield butyl seals dry up and leak. And the cowl/firewall can leak. Also, around the HVAC duct where it goes through the firewall. And the drip rails can leak if rusted.

Jim - If the ballast resistor is 1 ohm and there’s a 4-volt difference (14-10=4) then I=E/R and the current flow will be 4 amps. But wattage is I*I*R = 16 watts. Is that ballast resistor good for that?

David - What did you do? How did it run? How did it sound? Bill - Jim is right, it is 4wd and it is a 1356 and it has a speedo hole. I have an electronic adapter that came with the 1356, but I don’t remember anything about it. Will look when I get home - am out buying a trailer. But, I do need a tranny and don’t have a core. Email me about the cost, issues, etc. You know what the engine is, a lot about the truck, etc. And I plan to put a Baumann controller on it, but don’t have that either. Thanks!

I've heard some videos of SMF swapped diesel ZF's that got REALLY loud after getting rid of the dual mass. Yes, they were probably worn, but not done by any means... yet the noise was ridiculous, about like a rock crusher under the truck. I get it, it's a truck, and a rattly diesel one at that, but I would never put up with that. Is it really advisable to over fill a ZF? Seems like if the input shaft seal got tired you would have oil gushing all over your clutch in an instant. Jim - I worked for Conoco, but in Information Technology. So, please take a shot at it. Jonathan - RP Synchromax worked well in mine. As for overfilling, I think the main seal is already getting lubed such that a failure will cause oil to go everywhere, and more oil is just a bit bigger mess. But it appears that lots of people have done it with no ill effects.

Pretty sure the blue one is from an Explorer as that is the Medium Blue cloth material used in them: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/1981-explorer-brochure.html.

Glad you like it. And, if you see other things that could be improved PLEASE let me know.

Perhaps the thing to do is to try it, probably starting with a 20 amp auto reset breaker. Maybe the length of small wire on the tow vehicle and the trailer’s pigtail will provide enough resistance that a reasonably-charged battery won’t pull enough current to trip the breaker. But, I doubt it’ll ever be able to charge a “dead” battery. Hmmm, a large light, like a headlight, wired across the breaker would charge a dead battery, albeit slowly, while the breaker is tripped. And each time the breaker was tripped the battery would come up a bit more, allowing the breaker to stay in longer. So, eventually even a dead battery might come up enough that the breaker would stay in. 😎

I was thinking that a roll of fusible link, being two sizes smaller, might give enough resistance to reduce the current while winching so the breaker or fuse in the truck doesn’t trip. And, its heat-resistant insulation shouldn’t melt. The problem I see with a fuse or breaker is that it will just trip and won’t charge the battery. So, once the voltage differential between the trailer’s battery and the vehicle’s battery reaches a certain point you will never be able to charge the trailer battery. What is really needed, in addition to circuit protection, is a current limiter. Something that will limit the current to maybe 20A max, but allow unhindered charging up to that value. And that’s a tall order since both batteries would eventually be at the same voltage, meaning no voltage drop is desireable. 😩

Interesting! I’ve seen the carpeted map pockets, and have or have had a set. And the catalog shows the Lariat emblem as E0TZ, so it must have started in 1980. But I’ve never seen the padded door panel.

Bill - Would you build me one? I’m interested, and shipping costs are not a problem. I’m serious.

Sounds like just-in-time delivery. And lots of work. I’ll be curious to know your thoughts of the Holley/Eddy comparison. The Foredom is a remote motor with a flexible shaft and foot control? A 1/3 HP unit should work well. But are you going to run the die grinder with the speed controller? I’m confused - but what’s new?

I haven’t tried to buy 219A38, but it is something I would expect to be available in the Help section. But NPD has them for $.83: https://www.npdlink.com/store/products/mustang_bushing_door_latch_rod_11_64_inch-166188-6298.html. But, I haven’t found it at O’Reilly’s online nor on Dorman’s site, at least not individually, so I think it would be safer to ship the whole set. But that raises the question of cost of shipping, so ask Taden.

Jim - Are you up for writing the technical part, meaning the discussion of viscosity and whatever else? Jonathan - Experiences like yours is one of the reasons I want to create this resource. Fortunately Jim put me onto Royal Purple for the ZF or I would have probably had a similar experience.

I’m thinking of putting the documentation onto the pages, at least for those documents that Weebly will actually put on the page. So a user could actually see the document before downloading it, and may not actually need to download it. Or could at least confirm that’s what he’s looking for.

Upgraded the Driveline/Transmissions/Manual Transmissions/ZF5 page to include 6 ZF documents that can be downloaded. Jonathan - This includes power flow illustrations that show which gears are used when, and it is complex. Added this page: Driveline/Transmissions/Manual Transmissions/NP435, and it includes a 13-page copy from a Ford's factory shop manual. And added this page: Driveline/Transmissions/Manual Transmissions/T-19, and it also includes a 13-page copy from a Ford's factory shop manual. In addition there were several changes on Specifications/Lubricant Specifications page, although that one is far, far from being done.

I agree it will try to draw from the truck battery/batteries, but with the resistance of what may be a 12 ga wire the current may be mainly drawn from the trailer battery instead of the truck. I think I'll have to find out. Maybe I should wire it in temporarily and see what happens. I wonder if going with a fusible link instead of a fuse would reduce the current flow given its smaller size.

Good point, Bill. I'd wondered about leaving the truck's engine off, which would probably keep the voltage differential low enough that the current transfer wouldn't be a problem. But, then when you start the truck there'll be an even greater voltage differential and, therefore, a larger potential current draw. So, what's the solution?