Gary Lewis

Great!

It wasn't meant as a you-should-have-known-that. Just trying to answer the question definitively. Personally, I wouldn't buy an F250 4x4 nor an F350 4x4 earlier than 1986. Having witnessed the huge difference in the ride when going from the leaf-sprung TTB to the leaf-sprung monobeam I don't want to ever go back.

So that was the list to work on this month. I'm happy to say that list looks like this now: - Rebuild 9 inch with 3.55 gears and posi - Install 4x4/Low computer under dash I was able to knock out most of the original list. I have to get the 4x4 controller box mounted under the dash, then put the instrument cluster back together. It's going to be a tight fit to get that box under the dash, as it's piggybacked onto some other items - a small fuse block, a relay, and some power lugs. However, with the instrument cluster on the floor, I was able to start the truck, fill the trans with fluid, and take it for a quick test drive. Only about 2 miles, but it was enough to verify both the trans and the controller are working fine. Got it up into 4th, verified the kick-down function works, and so on. This thing shifts HARD! Not unpleasantly so, but it definitely does not muck around when it's time to grab the next gear. Getting the initial test drive out of the way is a huge relief. With the 3.08 gears still in the rear, it was loping along at about 1200 rpm when I was doing about 45. That will go up with the 3.55 gears of course, but I think overall I will get better mileage with the 3.55's and overdrive than I have been with the "straight" (1:1) drive and 3.08's. Since it rained and the ground by my shop was wet, I did put it in 4x4 mode and moved the truck a few feet. Impossible to tell if the front wheels were actually powered or not though, I guess I need to get it up on jackstands to prove it's all working. I threw it in Low as well, that produced some surprisingly loud mechanical clunks from the transfer case, but it did appear to change the ratio to something lower. More to come. I'll get pictures when I get it all back together. That is excellent news!!! Man, that has to have been a huge relief. Well done!

Glad you got the right bracket. But that's a bummer on the pulley. However, I doubt the pulley would mar the shaft as the shaft appears to be very hard. On the other hand, if you polish very much you might have a problem with the pulley slipping on the shaft.

Thanks, Shaun. And I agree. Plus, it is less likely to be hit while messing with the winch and its cover.

I don't think it matters that the arms aren't on.

I think the F150 is a bit light for towing, but it shouldn't sway like you say it does. So there's something wrong. You don't have the F350 in your sig so I don't know what it is, but if it is a 460 or IDI and you don't have at least a locker in the rear, better yet 4wd, you can have traction problems. The massive engine causes there to be little weight on the rear wheels so there's not much traction if you are trying to drive with one wheel.

Got the box in today, and I'm not too pleased with the optical properties of the cover. And I'm not surprised as the reviews pointed out exactly what I found - distortion. So I'm thinking I can cut out a window of the plastic and then glue in a piece of something that is optically clear. Maybe Lexan or even shatterproof glass. Anyone have an idea of what to use? And I stuck the box on the front of the truck to see what it would look like. A wart, really. The box is too large, but it is the smallest I could find that would work. Anyway, which do y'all dislike the least?

The factory shop manual section at Documentation/Electrical/Windshield Wipers has this to say:

I don't know of another forum that has such a map, and it works in a couple of ways. First, you can see who is near you, and in some cases we've had members get together to help each other. Another is that you can search for a member's name and then click on the pin and it'll give you a link via which you can email them. But you are right that we have no members from Russia.

Sounds like you don't have enough tongue weight. Did the sway happen when you had a load on the trailer? How does the truck drive w/o the trailer? I've pulled my car hauler trailer with Big Blue many miles with no problem, both with and without loads - usually Chevys. So the Bullnose trucks can certainly do it. And while your F150 may not be rated to pull the trailer when loaded, that's not a sway issue. More a lack of braking issue.

Yes, these trucks are frequently some of the oldest on the road. But some of us have them running quite well and there's little reason not to drive them. And btw, you are on the map.

Welcome! Glad you joined, in spite of not having a Bullnose. (One of our moderators doesn't have one.) Where's home? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map on the menu) and we'd be happy to put you on with a city/state or zip. Nice looking truck. And you are spot-on about a perfect pickup. Yeah, the joining process isn't "tuned" quite yet.

Basically 5x in two years!?!?!? Hagerty is showing basically 3x price increase in two years for a 1985 F250 RCLB 460 with 4wd. But that varies by condition, with a Cat 4 truck increasing 2x and a Cat 1 increasing the full 3x. However, his 5x is probably Hagerty's increase plus his buying low and selling high. Oddly enough my '69 Super Bee has only increased from 13 - 30% in that time depending on category. So it is highly vehicle dependent.

Yes, '86 appears to be "it" for the solid axle D60, aka "monobeam". Oddly enough, those axles are included in the Twin I-Beam listing, as shown below. The red shows that the MPC says that prior to 10/85 the TTB's were used on F350's and after that date the monobeam was used. There's a rumor that some 85's got the monobeam, but I kind of doubt it as by October of '85 all that should have been going down the assembly line were 86's. Perhaps the confusion is that axles 30.4V and W carry an E5TZ prefix, but all that means is that they were first produced in 1985, as they would have had to have been in order to be installed in October of that year.

I think they look like OEM, and the advert says "A nice pair of unusual OEM mirrors..."

I like beasts, and I like this one.

I like step bars, and that is what I have on Big Blue.

Complete with GM parts.

You are now on the map.

Sorry for the late reply. With that many videos and so many things to do here I had to catch snippets of time to view them all. Anyway, Prospector Gulch looks easy with that crawl ratio. Man, that obviously made a huge difference. You rarely throttled up and yet crawled over things. And the lack of the fan whine makes it much more relaxed sounding. That forest road sure seems narrow, and ROCKY! And some of the descents look really steep on camera, so must have been very steep. But the Bronco seemed to take it in stride. The suspension was limber and looked like it worked very nicely. On FR 8085 the trail really was narrow, but as you said it was hard to tell it was steep - until the 5:40 point, and then it was obvious! That really was steep and the Bronco went right up it. Well done! And Calamity Canyon is rocky as well. You didn't take a big tumble, but I heard laughter from the Bronco's occupants. And that rock at 9:00 was huge! The Bronco did well. As for the last video, my granddaughter said "Do they just keep looping around that bush?" I told her it was Groundhog Day, but she didn't understand. Anyway, it was interesting how the different lines made a huge difference. On some of them she thought the Bronco was going to turn over. Cool!

Very nice! But pricey. Odd though, I wasn’t aware that Broncos came with a big ugly blue dizzy cap. It says “all original” though, so…

If yours has the Nylon fuel lines, like I think it should, they'll be fine. But the rollover valve and the hose to it would be good to replace. The valve can leak and the hose get brittle and leak as well. If you have a skid plate I'd see if it needs to be cleaned to get trapped dirt off it that will eventually rust it out. And put anti-seize on the threads thereof.

Thanks! It is said to be an ‘82 but has the grille and hood lettering from an 80 or 81.