Gary Lewis

Dane - Yes, it is! Jim - Yes, the F350 that the D60 came from may have had bigger rear brakes than those on Big Blue, but I'm just thinking of the front GAWR. I've been poking around and I've found a bunch of certification labels for '95 F350's with various front GAWR's. And those which are 4wd appear to have either 4400 or 4600 # ratings. But those with 4400 have load range D tires, and those with 4600 have load range E tires. The one below is from the truck on the right, and it has E tires. So I think it is safe to say that my front GAWR is probably 4600. Given that it looks like I have about 880 lbs left, and to do that means I need about 50 psi in the tires - minimum. I think today I'll see if I can figure out how much of the tire is touching at 60 psi.

Yippee!

Duratracs are by far the worst tire I have owned. I ran them in 33x12.50, but they were only Load Range C and both sets I bought wore out within 25k. Blew my mind because I had them on my Ranger which isn't a heavy truck at all. I have Centennial Dirt Commanders on the truck now and they've outlasted my previous two sets of Duratracs and they aren't nearly as noisy as the Duratracs were, even though the Dirt Commander is an MT. I thought I was getting a quality tire when I bought the Duratracs, but man was I wrong. The only good I can say, is that they were great in sugar sand and I never got stuck with them. It is interesting that there can be such different experiences with what would seem to be the same tire. I believe it, but am blown away with all of the different experiences people have had. Which is why I'm really thrilled with what I've seen so far with the Falkens on Big Blue. Tests I've read say that it is a good tire for the type of off-roading I'll do, and the on-road experience I had today was excellent. So if they hold up as they are supposed to do I think I'm going to be really happy.

Do you have a manual or an automatic? There is a clutch switch on a manual to ensure the engine can't be started in gear and it is possible that the e-brake mechanism is moving things just enough to keep that switch from closing.

Well done! I wasn't aware of that product, but it looks like it worked out nicely.

Don't they check such things at the Red River? Can you smuggle it into Tejas? Don't mess with Texas.

Well done! But instead of entropy you may be dealing with the chaos theory.

Jim - The front brakes are from the '95 F350 that the D60 came from. So I'd bet that the front axle's GAWR is close to 4800. Would be nice to find someone that has a 95 F350 4x4 and get the GAWR off that. Toward that end I found an interesting conversation on another forum. Guy started a thread called '92 - '97 F-350: What GVWR(s) did they have? And a couple of guys we know batted it back and forth. I don't think they ever stated what the GAWR's are, although I might have missed it. But Diesel Brad said: Boy, was he right! Big Blue is every bit of an F350 w/o the name plate. And the other guy, who shall remain nameless, said something that sounds familiar: Bob - Yes, you are right - both times. I'll have to be incredibly careful about weight distribution or I'll be over the front GAWR shown on the certification label. But with the 95 front axle and SD springs I'm sure my actual front GAWR is about 1000 lbs higher than shown. Dane - Yes, things add up, and in a hurry. Which is why I'm really very pleasantly surprised that the weight isn't higher. But my Hilift is strapped to the top of the spare tire and takes up a lot of room. Just saw this and now I'm wondering if I could do something like that.

A compass is an excellent idea, Bob. I hadn't thought of that. I wonder if my son still has my Silva from my time as a Boy Scout? If not, I need to get one and put it in Big Blue. As for playing with the Garmin, you are spot on. I've been doing that some, including at the tire shop today, but since it couldn't lock onto the satellites it didn't work very well. However we have a trip planned for Thursday to go to a restaurant we've heard about that's ~100 miles away and I'm going to program it for that trip and hope to get turn-by-turn through the Sony. But I hadn't thought about saving tracks, so I'll do that. I was impressed with it today as I had it in the cradle and when I'd turn the key on it would acquire satellites and then tell me exactly what road I was driving on. Turn the key off and if I didn't tell it to stay powered on it would power off after a few seconds. Turn the key on and it followed me. So I think it is going to be very helpful, not just on the trail but also getting to the trail. Apparently Garmin is an acquired taste/language. Kinda like HP's RPN, which I never learned. But I need to learn Garmin, so I'd better play with it.

Yes, Dane, I was pleasantly surprised. But it was at certified scales, so I'm sure it is accurate. The vehicle adders are, starting at the front, the winch, dual batteries, & bigger tires & wheels. (I doubt the D60 is any heavier than the TTB's, nor the ZF5 any heavier than the T-19.) Then there's the tool box and what is in it, as well as the Hi-Lift jack. Plus the inverter, the behind-the-seat storage unit with all its contents, including hand-held radios, first-aid kit, fire extinguisher, etc. And the Highliner and the GMRS radio. Then there's the extensive insulation and sound-deadening. Oh yes, I shouldn't forget the security system and the backup camera. So I am very pleasantly surprised.

In Octoberish my son and I are going on the first true overlanding trip with Big Blue and I want to use this thread to plan for that. But I do need to explain the plan a bit first. Janey and I will drive out to Santa Fe and I'll check her into a hotel where she can walk or use public transportation to explore Santa Fe. Then I'll run to the airport, either ABQ or SAF, to pick up our son and come back to the hotel for the night. The next morning he and I'll head to the trail, which is currently expected to be the Carson-Santa Fe Backcountry Discovery Trail. That's a 227 mile trail on mostly forest service roads through, oddly enough, the Santa Fe and Carson national forests. And while that site says "3-5 days" we aren't sure how long we'll take as it also says it has an average trail rating of 2 and a peak of 4. So I contacted the gentleman that created Overland Trail Guides and told him I'd taken Big Blue on all of the passes around Ouray and he said "If you did trails like Poughkeepsie Gulch in the Ouray area, this route will be a cakewalk for you." (We did, but we took the bypass around The Wall.) So it will be easy, but it will give my son time to get used to driving Big Blue in less than scary conditions. And the length of time will be dependent on my son's time off, so we shall see how long and how far we go. With the background done let's switch to preparation mode. I'm thinking that I need to create a list of tools, spares, and camping equipment to take. I'll do that, probably in separate Word doc's that I embed here so I can keep track of them.. But I also need to keep track of my methods for navigating. Heretofore I've used Gaia, but it froze on my phone at the worst possible times and was almost always lagging behind when we got to a turn so we had to stop in order to let it catch up. Given that I've purchased a Garmin Montana 750i and added a bracket for it on Big Blue's transmission hump. Hopefully it will both keep up as well as not freeze. And I've downloaded the trail file to Garmin Bootcamp to do the planning. But I've also ordered the USGS paper maps for both forests, and will probably print paper backups of the route. So, what am I missing?

Yes, I'm betting that it was the original design for the 460 in an F-Series truck. But it was apparently replaced in '87 with the E7TZ 6675-A, which was then replaced on 3/28/89 with the E9TZ 6675-B.

Be nice! Of course, I don’t have my Holley’s anymore. I was nice. I could have shown the picture of the toilet in my shop that has a Holley sticker on it, but I won't even mention it.

Excellent! The body work looks really good. My only thought on the bed is to use pop rivets instead of screws as it might look better. Or maybe less bad? But if you are going to redo it some time anyway maybe it doesn't matter. As for the choke cable, what do you expect - it says Holley.

Wonderful! So now you are looking for Maryland, Rhode Island, & South Carolina. I'm still working on the latter.

As reported in New Tires For Big Blue, the new Falken A/T3W's were mounted today. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!! I can't say enough about how quiet and smooth they are. I weighed the truck, and with me out of the truck and the front tank at 1/2 and the rear full plus all the recovery gear these were the readings: Front: 3720 lbs 57% Rear: 2840 lbs 43% ------------------------ Total: 6560 lbs Now, if I was still running the TTB's I think I might be worried as the certification label says the front axle's GAWR is only 3850 lbs, and by the time you add a driver, passenger, and gear I'm sure we'll be way over 4000 lbs on the front axle. But we have a D60 with SuperDuty U-code springs, and this post in PowerStroke nation says the springs are good for 4800 lbs. So I'm going to assume that they are the weak link and the front axle's GAWR is actually 4800 lbs. If that is the case we have ~1000 lbs of headroom on the front axle and 3000 lbs (5922 - 2840) in the rear. And while I don't know how to combine the front and rear GAWR's to get the GVWR, I think it is safe to say that we aren't going to overload it since we are right now at least 2000 lbs shy of the limit 8600 GVWR on the certification label.

Yippee!!!!!!!!!! The new tires are wonderful!!! Compared to the old tires these Falken A/T3W's are dead silent. So far I've not heard them at all. In fact, I can now hear the exhaust slightly where before I couldn't. And they are so smooth. No balance issues and no flat spots like the ones which caused the old ones to jiggle the truck. Speaking of balance, I watched the guy do that and the most weight it took was 2 oz on the outside and 2 oz on the inside - and he told the other guy to put that one on the RR. And the tire that took the least took .75 oz on the inside and none on the outside, so he put that tire on the LF. When I asked why he said they put the best balanced tire closest to the driver and the least farthest away. As for the alignment, it was dead on. No adjustment needed whatsoever as the needles where right smack in the center of the recommended range. But the guy did say the steering box is a bit worn, so some day I'll put a Blue Top on. They asked me what pressures I wanted to run and suggested 65 psi, but I said 60 front and rear. And on the drive down to the scales and back, probably 25 miles round trip, I could feel the bumps a little bit more, but nothing to worry about. In fact, the only downside is that there's a little less "feel" in the steering. But the truck rolls much easier, like when coming up to a stop, so I think I can trade feel for MPG. As for the weight, with me out of the truck and the front tank at 1/2 and the rear full plus all the recovery gear: Front: 3720 lbs 57% Rear: 2840 lbs 43% ------------------------ Total: 6560 lbs Going back to the lb/psi equation that says each psi can carry 47 lbs. So that says that the minimum inflation pressure for the front tires would be 40 psi, although when you add a driver and a passenger you could easily add 400 lbs to the truck. And then there's the extra equipment we'll be carrying, which weighs who knows how much. So we could easily add another 1000 lbs with passengers and equipment, for a total GVW of 7560. And with the 57/43 split that puts 4309 lbs on the front axle and requires at least 46 psi in the tires. But I don't know that the 57/43 ratio will hold so I think 50 psi is a better minimum - and 60 may actually be about right. Anyway, I am really, REALLY thrilled with the new tires.

No. Not a safe assumption at all.

I think the locator code is for Ford parts managers. And the -S code is the coating. So I’d look for the number w/o the -S. I use Clips & Fasteners as a supplier, and frequently they show it by the Ford part number. Other times I have to use the description in the utility catalog to find it.

Cool!

Did it cost that much new???

Strange. I got their last 4-row, and it didn't even show in inventory. And now they don't have plans for the 3-row?

Me thinks you didn't wait long enough. It took quite a while for me, but here's what I found:

That's a bummer! Were you looking for a 3 or 4-row?