Gary Lewis

Beautiful morning here in Okiehoma - it is raining! As for the fender, they were the same for 80 through 86. The trim changed and where the two tone paint line was changed, but the fender itself is the same.

Sorry about the COVID bug biting you again. That's a bummer and I hope you get over it quickly and completely. Jim answered the question about the part, but on the steering box the only thing you might want to do is to pull the three bolts that hold it on and move it out enough that you can look behind it. That's where frame cracks lurk, and usually at the edge of the imprint of the rear of the box on the frame. The frame on Dad's truck was cracked there, even though the truck had never been abused nor had larger tires on it. And the only reason I found the crack was because I took a pic of the frame in that area and the flash created a shadow that showed up in the pic. It would be peace of mind to know there is no crack, especially if you go with larger tires later. And I think you can do it w/o pulling anything off, just removing the three bolts.

I suspect you have a bad fuel line. There are several pieces of rubber line in the fuel system and that rubber wasn't designed for ethanol. I've seen the hoses leak fuel when the truck was sitting still and leak air when the truck is running. So I'd get a roll of fuel line from the parts store, making sure it says on it that it is good for ethanol, and replace all of the hoses. There should be one from the tank to the hard line, hard line to switching valve if you have dual tanks, switching valve to the hard line, hard line to pump.

You will be amazed how much you've done when you look back on the thread. And it is excellent reference when you want to know what part you used.

Curious, and wanting to know if I wasn't loosing it or not, crawled under the truck today to look at that rear end and then pulled the code off the cert label. I knew I had a 9" but could have sworn it was 3:55. Anyway, code is H6 which I guess designates it as a 9" with 3:50 gearing. I guess I'm only half loon instead of full loon.

Just in case Garmin fixes their page on Turn by Turn Direction Features on my Garmin Outdoor Handheld, here's a screenshot where I've highlighted the erroneous statement that "GPSMAP 276Cx, Monterra, and Montana series devices can provide spoken turn-by-turn directions when connected to a speaker mount, or when plugged into the standard 3.5mm headphone jack." And yes, I see that later it says "The Montana 700 series can give spoken directions through Bluetooth headsets", which I took to mean in addition to the 3.5mm jack. It sure doesn't say "only".

I think Heim joints would be a good solution for the mechanical linkage.

And here's Big Blue's certification label. It says the GVWR is 8600 lbs, but the truck actually weighs 6560 lbs. So it can carry 2040 lbs, which needs to include the driver, passenger's etc.

Thanks! That is really good to know. Glad you got the problem solved and no one was hurt.

John - The 9" was used all the way through the Bullnose years, but in '83 the 8.8" was introduced and it was used on many of the light-duty trucks in place of the 9". It is easiest to see this in the chart for the Broncos (U150) as they didn't get the heavier axles so the chart is simple. But I can't tell you why one vehicle got the 9" while others got the 8.8". The easiest way to find out what you have is to look at the code on the certification label and then go to the page at Documentation/Specifications/Axle Ratios and look up the code. A 3.50 ratio is a 9" and a 3.55 is an 8.8". (Apparently the slightly smaller size of the ring gear changed the # of teeth they could have, changing the ratio.)

The certification label tells you what the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is, meaning the maximum weight the vehicle was designed to carry. Not what the vehicle weighs.

I need to update this thread as I can no longer recommend the Garmin Montana 750i. The situation is that I've been trying to work with their tech support personnel to troubleshoot the noise I had on the audio out via the cradle. They had bizarre suggestions, like that I power the device from "the wall" when navigating to see if the noise came from the truck's power. The wall? In the house? As I'm driving? But with a whole lot of trial and error I got the problem fixed, although since I don't really know what I did to fix it I don't know what to do when it comes back. But along the way I've learned a whole lot about the device and I don't think it is a well-designed system. And the documentation stinks. So I tried to explain that as best I could in the email I just sent them, below. And now that I've warned y'all off of that device I need to go update the Youtube channel...

You are now on the map.

There is only one hotel in Skiatook, and that is the Osage Casino & Hotel. I've asked for a block of rooms there but have only gotten three so far as they are really busy that weekend. And the rate is quite high, but I'm to get a discount and a code you can use to get the discount. I'll update this post when I get that.

The show will include a swap meet, and this thread is to outline what you are bringing and/or looking for. Not that you can't bring things you haven't listed, but the fact that you say you are bringing something might compel someone to come in order to get it.

There will be a dinner for all forum members and guests the night before the show, meaning Friday night Sept 2nd. Please let me know how many can make it. The dinner will be at the Skiatook Church Of Christ, which is where the show itself will be, and that is at 1900 W. Rogers Blvd, Skiatook. We will start eating at 6:00, but will be setting up at least by 5:00, so feel free to come on by and talk, help, or whatever.

Nice looking truck, and not a bad price.

Exactly. Big Blue weighs a lot more and still turns in almost 13 MPG - albeit with EFI. But it got 11 MPG with a carb. Dad's 1/2 ton with a worn-out 351M and a C6 got 10. When I put Rusty's built 351M and a ZF5 in it we got almost 14 IIRC on a 3,000 mile trip to DE and back from OK and we had a load of furniture on the way east. So a stock 351W in a 1/2 ton should get something like 10 - 12 MPG depending on the transmission and driving style. But not 8.

Welcome! Glad you joined. Would you like to be on our map? You can see it at Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu, and we can add you with a city/state or zip. As for asking questions, it is best to do that in the main section as it'll get more attention. You can start a thread about your truck and keep and the questions in one place so you can go back to find the answers awa what you've done, or spread them out over several threads. Your choice.

Big Blue weighed 6560 a couple of weeks ago, inc 30 gallons of fuel, dual batteries, winch, air compressor, inverter, etc, etc, etc.

Yep! It's gonna RUN!

The 9" came in 3.50 gearing and the 8.8" in 3.55.