Gary Lewis

Cool! But that's a lot of money for that truck. I had the same truck, although mine was Grabber Blue. 1972 F250 w/a 390. Can't tell if that is a 360 or 390, but otherwise it was the same truck. Strong!

To answer the question about what people are using for hoses on the later tanks, I'm using new hoses I got off Amazon designed for the later tanks.

I would change that to "This is DEFINITELY exceeded in the front of Big Blue UNLESS he is bouncing over some potholed trail." Keep in mind all of the inflation specs are for all-around driving, which includes 80 mph on the freeway. A tire can deflect and hold a lot more than 38.57 lbs/psi, it's just that the flex to do that creates heat. But if you can get rid of the heat so the tire doesn't get hot it's not going to cause problems. Keep in mind that the door tag also says what size and weight rating of tire you are supposed to use. I don't think it's a safe assumption that the pressure needed wouldn't change if you put a significantly different tire on it. As Jim points out, a load range E tire will likely support less weight at the same (low) pressure as a load range C. So if the door sticker recommends a load range C and 35 psi that wouldn't apply with a load range E. Or in a more extreme difference, going from a load range C to a small trailer tire. Trailer tires can carry a lot of weight, but being smaller they need a lot more pressure to do it. Now I'm not saying it's a good idea to run trailer tires on a truck. Just pointing out that the tire spec can't be ignored when you're looking at the inflation spec. Bob - Thanks. You said basically what I was going to say based on Rusty's comment. And I think my response to Jim addresses some of that as well. And I wanted to address the comments separately. I do wish there was a better range of tires available for 16" wheels. But I don't want to spend $750 buying new wheels just to get that better range of tires. So for now I'm stuck running Load Range E tires on Big Blue. This discussion has helped me understand tire pressures better, and I can easily see I've been running too little pressure. But I am still confused as to why BB's door tag says to run 44 psi in the front since that appears to mean the tires aren't up to supporting the 3850 lb GAWR. It seems to me like that linear lb/psi equation is suspect.

Jim - That link gives me a 404, but I think I understand anyway. However, I'm surprised that the load capacity of a tire vs air pressure is linear. I woke up thinking about this just now, and wondered if the ratio might go down exponentially as the pressure decreases given the heat generated at lower pressures. Anyway, the tires I'm looking at are rated at 3750 lbs @ 80 psi so the magic number is 46.875 lbs/psi. And at 35 psi the capacity would be 1641/tire or 6563 for four of them. That's probably about what Big Blue weighs by himself, but it'll be more with passengers and cargo. And we both know that it isn't evenly balanced. I should probably weigh the truck, front and rear, to figure out what the actual load is per axle. But if it really is 6500 lbs for the truck by itself, and if the weight is distributed 60/40 then the front axle will be at 3900 lbs and the back at 2600. That says that the front tires would need to at least be @ 42 lbs - assuming even distribution side to side. So by the time the truck is loaded 50 psi might be a better minimum pressure. In other words, you are right that 35 psi is too low. As for the 35 psi recommended on the door tag, I confused you as I was talking about Blue, the 2015 F150, not Big Blue. Sorry. Big Blue's door tag says 44 psi for the front and 80 psi for the rear at max load. Or, at least that's how I interpret it. So, using the #'s on that let me check things out. Tire Rack says a Falken Wildpeak W/T3W in 238/85R16 has a capacity of 3042 lbs @ 80 psi. That's 38 lbs/psi, and at the recommended 44 psi each tire could support 1673 lbs, or 3346 for the two front tires. But that's ~500 lbs less than the GAWR. What did I miss?

Well done! The pic of the tower up through the floor when it was below the floor tells the tale. You really brought it up. And the crossmember looks great as well. Can't wait to see the skid plate.

I agree with both of you. And disagree as well. First, I don't think it is fair to say that the tire manufacturer is recommending 80 psi for all loads. I read the 80 psi to be at 3750 pounds. In fact, Blue's tires say "Max load 2535 pounds at 51 psi". So the manufacturer isn't saying to always run them at 51 psi, but that when you load them up to 2535 pounds you need to put 51 psi in them. And the sticker on the door says to run them at 35 psi, so apparently Ford has factored in the weight of the truck and determined that 35 psi is what is needed. (By the way, I disagree with that as that doesn't account for heavy loads or trailers, so I put 50 psi in them when we pulled the 25' Sea Ray to Lake Powell and back.) On the other hand, I've probably been underinflating the tires at 35 psi on Big Blue for highway use, so do plan to increase that. But I do expect to air down quite a bit for rough going. How much remains to be seen as 15 psi seemed a bit low to me when we were in CO last fall. So that's going to take some experimentation. That 460/D60/dual batteries/winch combo seems to be a bit heavy up front. But when we load up for overlanding we'll also have some weight in the rear. We shall see.

LOL! No, I'm not missing the point. But I'm not going to run the tires on Big Blue at 80 psi. And maybe not as high as you are at 60. However, I will try different pressures. But I do thank you for pointing the issues out. And no, I don't wear ice skates in the house.

Actually, some place I'd suggested I might get the skinny spare on top of the other and still get the cover closed. So I thought I'd answer that implied question - it won't work. But you are right, it would free up a LOT of space in the bed if I had the bumper.

I hope to do so, but won't have it done for the trip in October. I've checked and there's no way to get even a skinny spare on top of the current one and still close the cover. So w/o the fancy bumper the only way to have two spares would be to put the spare tire carrier back on and put it under the rear end. I'm thinking we'll go with one spare for this trip, but will discuss that with my son.

You are now on the map. That sounds like a strong engine, but I don't have a cam recommendation. I've not dealt with spec'ing cams much, and relied on the engine builders to do that.

I do understand what you are saying. Running a tire rated for a max of 80 psi at 35 psi daily is hard on it, and then airing it down to 15 psi is REALLY bad. But since I want a 33" tire on a 16" rim and the only ones appear to be E rated, I'm kinda stuck. So perhaps I need to increase the pressure I'm running on the highway a bit, although I still want the tire to be running flat on the pavement. And maybe not go down to 15 on the trails. The takethetruck site said: General off-road driving on rough dirt roads, two-track, and mild trails - a 25% reduction or 10 PSI is a good place to start Traversing slickrock or more challenging trails with loose terrain, a 30-35% pressure reduction may be in order Very soft terrain conditions such as sand or mud may benefit from up to a 50% pressure reduction So for the trails Bret and I are going on in New Mexico, which are typically forest service roads, maybe drop to 30 psi if we are running 40 on the highway. And then on the really loose or rocky stuff down to 20. And finally, if we get the truck into really soft stuff like sand or mud we could go down to 15. But we wouldn't plan on going over maybe 20 MPH at anything south of 30 psi. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

Ok, I'm home now and have skimmed the material you linked to. And what you are saying makes sense, although I'm not quite sure yet what to do about or with it. Basically my understanding is that running a tire at "reduced" inflation causes heat, and the farther you are under the target inflation # the more heat. And the faster you drive the more heat. Of course, the heat comes from energy created by burning gasoline, so having the right inflation pressure also helps MPG. But is the "right" inflation pressure the max # on the sidewall? None of the vehicles we have recommend anywhere near the max inflation pressures for even fully loaded conditions. So when someone says "Traversing slickrock or more challenging trails with loose terrain, a 30-35% pressure reduction may be in order", are they talking about a 25% reduction from the max #? Also, I want a 33" tall tire, and yet when I drop down to anything less than a E-rated tire they don't go that tall. Is that where the flotation tire comes in? According to the link you sent their sizes would look something like 40x13.50R17LT. But below is the table of available 16" tire sizes from Tire Rack and none of them look like that. What am I missing?

I think you'll be happy with that combination,

Jim - I'll read up on that. We are out and about, running errands again, so I can't at the moment, but will.

Welcome! Glad you joined. Nice pair of Fords. The Bronco should be a fun drive with the 351W and ZF5. Just be aware that the ZF is a truck transmission and doesn't lend itself to speed shifting. The synchros don't seem to like that. Would you like to be on our map? You can see it at Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu.

Chad - Thanks. I wasn't aware of the N-spec. But it makes sense that high-volume OEM's can get things custom made to better fit their vehicles. Lucas - I found that Tire Rack did a test of the Toyo Open Country AT3s vs three other tires, and I added those results to the s/s. I wondered why I hadn't found that test before. But I finally figured it out when I looked up the spec's for an LT285/75R16 - none of those four tires come in my size. So at this point I think the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W is the leading candidate, with the K02 coming in a very close second. And the wet stopping distance of 135' vs 149', respectively, is a big deciding factor. (And it'll make my son happy that I listened to him.) I looked on Discount Tire's website and they want $324/tire, which is $32/tire more than Tate Boys and Tire Rack show on their websites. I think I'm just about ready to pull the trigger. Last call!

Thanks, Chad. And I really do appreciate you giving us that link. However, that's interesting but ... (what was it that Arte Johnsen said?) They said these two things, with the emphasis added by me: We've consulted with our friends at Tire Rack to examine some of the top all terrain tire options. Tire Rack is notorious for its testing and evaluation procedures, and we trust them to help our readers find the best tire, no matter what style they're after. We turned to the vehicle manufacturers that offer trucks and SUVs with serious off-road capability to see which all-terrain tires they use as standard equipment. The automakers' engineers work closely with tire manufacturers to develop all-terrain tires that meet rigorous requirements for off-road performance, on-road ride-and-handling, noise level, resistance to punctures, wear, quality, and cost. So they didn't do any testing. They simply did what I've been doing and perused the Tire Rack tests, and then checked to see what the OEM's put on their vehicles. And they categorized applications by trucks & SUV's, Jeeps, etc. But I have a pickup I'm using as a Jeep. What tire should I use for that? And, does it really matter what vehicle it is on? Wouldn't it be more for the usage of that vehicle? Also they said the OEM's choose the tire based on many factors, including cost. So if BFG cut a deal with them to sell the K02's at $2 less/tire than Falken did the A/T3W's then they would probably go that way - especially since there is almost a cult following of that tire. Again, Chad, I appreciate it. But I'm not impressed with that "review". I have the same info available to me, and I disagree with how they arrived at their results. Tires have certain capabilities, like traction in various conditions and noise on various pavements, regardless of the vehicle you put them on. So to say you want this tire based on the vehicle and not the usage is flawed. Also, do know what "notorious" means? What are they saying about Tire Rack?

Thanks, Lucas. I'll read up on those tires.

My KO2s were the same weight rating as my truck had OE (load range E), and at 50/40 I'm actually running below the OE pressures of 55/80. But those pressures are recommended with the GVWR in mind, so if I'm not running at full load I don't feel like it's wise to use the OE recommended pressure. I have also run at 60/50. I don't see any significant difference in handling from 50/40, and the ride is only slightly "crisper." I get pretty even wear at 50/40, so I don't see any reason there to go any lower. And if I could get 12 mpg I'd be elated! I'm pretty happy when I can stay in double digits! Running a little higher tire pressure than a chalk test might suggest might not help much. But where I'm running any help is something to grab hold of! I've been running 35 psi in the Coopers and that gives even pressure across the tires and seemingly even wear. But I'll experiment on the new tires to see where they run best. Who knows, maybe they'll need 40 or more psi and I'll be over 13 MPG consistently. Wouldn't take much as I'm at 12.8 now.

Yes, they are fragile. Big Blue came from the factory with one and when I got him he frequently wouldn't start. I'm sure it was the piece in the column that breaks, so when I "transformed" him I put a non-tilting column back in. Now I can hoist myself in with the wheel w/o worrying about breaking the column, and that's needed since he's sorta lifted.

I agree that I've not seen that item crack on any of the columns I've seen. But I don't know about an upgraded one. Maybe that's the E2TZ vs E0TZ?

I had fits getting the fitting to line up properly on Big Blue. And when I did I really had to crank down on it to get it to stop leaking, so I second what Jim said. But now's the time to go with a new box if you are ever going to do it. And if you do I recommend Blue Top.

How many KO2s are you getting at $1434 out the door? At Discount I got all four KO2s with two low miliage KO1s since they were discontinued for a pro rated store credit (only had 5,000 miles on the tires) and the set of four was $500 before the store credit. There was also a $200 rebate for better or higher rated tires if you get 4 of them for July 4th weekend so I got all four of mine for $200 when all said and done. I hate to see what they are now seeing as I got mine about 6 years ago. Four of the K02's for the $1434, and that's $291.99/tire or $1167.96 for four. Tire Rack would get me a set to the house for $1167.96, obviously not including mounting, balancing and tax. So that's the $266 difference. I'll be price checking 'cause they told me they'll match prices. But since the alignment was done at Tate Boys and they will redo it for free so the difference will have to be significant to make me want to change.

Ford apparently issued the MPC in both microfiche and paper format. A couple of people have gotten a license to digitize the 1994 version of the 1980 - 89 MPC, and they apparently used the exact same copy as it has the same creases - and same page omissions. Bill/Numberdummy gave me a couple of copies of the MPC on microfiche, an '82 and an '86. And he and Chris/Ctubutis gave me two microfiche viewers, which sit on top of my powder coating booth at about the 8' level. So when I need to view one of the microfiche catalogs I have to drag out the ladder and "climb the microfiche tower". Also, Bill gave me three cross-references - an '80, an '85, and a '90. It was the '80 version that nailed the part number for you tonight. So while I have one of the best libraries in the world on Bullnose trucks, I owe a lot of that to Bill and Chris.