Gary Lewis

No, I didn't. Good point. I'll check that out before I start pulling fuses. Or, actually, before I pull fuses in the cab. I will pull the maxifuse to the alternator.

The other day I didn't think the starter cranked as fast as it should have after the truck sat for a few days, so today I pulled the positive battery cable and checked for dark current draw. What I found was interesting in that several things in the truck apparently wake up when you turn the power back on, and it takes a while for them to settle into their steady state draw. But when they did the draw was .131A. That's more than I think it should be, so I started checking fuse by fuse, and I've not found it. Here's what I've found: That's only .024A and is pretty much what I expected. So I think I'm going to have to pull all the fuses and measure the dark current. Then I can add things back and see what happens. Thoughts?

Well, as I mentioned above...it wasn't really a complete vehicle. All of the pictures posted were of a complete truck, but it came out later on that the truck was at least partially disassembled...it sounded more like all the parts of the truck were there, but not a complete rolling vehicle. I believe the ex-wife and the truck were at the same property...the guy had moved out. The laws around how this type of thing are handled vary by region, even up here. According to everything I've read on it this week, the police cannot do anything. It took the two brothers two weeks to figure out where the truck (or remains of the truck) went. By the that time, the truck had long been ground up into bits and loaded into a sea can. The ex wife is denying that she did it, and the scrap metal dealer is not obligated to hand over any documentation unless they're taken to court. I guess the police told the guy he'd have to take it to supreme court or something. I've scrapped cabs and frames before and nobody has ever asked me for a VIN. Things are pretty lax here as well. I was told I'd have to have VIN into the last time I took parts to the scrap yard but wasn't asked for it when I took them in. So I doubt anything will come from that episode. Still, it is a shame.

Well, as of a few minutes ago we are GO FOR LAUNCH! We have reservations for Monday night, June 7th, in Tahlequah and Tuesday night at Shangri La resort west of Grove. The lady in Tahlequah asked "What brings you to town?" I laughed and then described the Greencountry Overlanding Adventure Trail. She expected something to do with the college. But I explained that I graduated there in '69, and I got the feeling that was before she was born. Similar conversation with the lady at Shangri La: "Have you stayed with us before?" Yes, but in your system you'll just find the one on Aug 1st, 2019. "What was the other?" Fifty years to the day prior to that. Anyway, I have a few things I want to do to the truck 'twixt now and then, so may get started this afternoon with padding the storage compartment.

Ahhh! Ok, got it. Yes, it is a long haul over Ophir. And, IIRC, Ophir town doesn't allow things like RZR's through. As for Telluride, it had a sign outside of town but there were RZRs in town. Maybe I didn't understand the sign? ATV vs UTV? OHV? I thought an ATV is a single-person 4-wheeler where a UTV is a side-by-side. Right? And an OHV is either? Animas Forks might be a good "home" base. It is easily accessible out of Silverton. In fact, we drove half way there in the other couple's Beemer last fall. So maybe that's what we should do. And a boot might be a good option, especially if you had locking lug nuts on the wheels. I'll have to have a conversation with my brother about all of this. Not sure exactly why he wants to take his RZR, but it will certainly cause us to think about things.

Bob - Those are excellent thoughts/concerns. I'd already thought about some of those but hadn't thought about nearly all of them. For instance, I hadn't thought about there not being a way back on some of the trails. That's a big issue. Do you know which trails are one way? As for taking the trailer behind Big Blue, I don't want to do that. So we will need to leave it. And lock it. Not sure which trailer would be taken as my brother has one and his son has one. (Actually each has several.) His son's has the advantage of having brakes, which I really like. Anyway, I have a collar that fits over the Bulldog style coupler and that would help make it more secure. But I don't know what coupler either trailer has. And you have to lock up the safety chains as some trailers have been stolen using the chains instead of the coupler. That sure makes me nervous. And while it won't be my trailer, it will be a huge problem to get the RZR home w/o a trailer.

Gary, Bears...and all critters really, are a bit of a problem here, depending on where you live. Not sure what you guys do, but we have a fairly strict recycling program here where we have to sort all of our garbage before it is picked up (We even have to use clear bags, so we can't cheat lol). Anyway, part of this is that we have these large green bins for food/compost waste, and of course it is very attractive to bears and raccoons, etc. Every now and then our green bin gets knocked over and pulled apart...depends on what is in it, I guess...lol. Recycling here in rural Okiehoma is only for things like cardboard and plastic, and even that is voluntary. We don't recycle foodstuffs. So other than a place to live critters don't seem to care about our recycling.

At that stage they looks so CUTE! But boy, can they be dangerous. Glad your parents were inside looking out.

Thanks! The birthday is on the 8th. We plan to do the whole ~500 miles of the GOAT plus about 130 miles to get to and from it on the 7th - 9th, and will go from Skiatook to Locust Grove via 412 to start the GOAT. I spent my summers as a kid in a cabin on the Grand River just out of Locust, so part of that area is familiar. We'll go south on the GOAT past Tahlequah, where we went to college, and around the bottom of Tenkiller if there is time. I think we can make it to the spot on the map near Scraper where the trail goes west. That's just across the Illinois from Eagle Bluff and we can cross there and go back to Tahlequah. Having gone to school at NSU we've spent a lot of time along that part of the river, so that will be filled with a lot of memories. On the 8th we'll cross the river again and head north, hopefully making it around the horn to Bernice and then drop down to Shangri La, where we spent our honeymoon in 1969. But if not we will cut through Grove out to Monkey Island. Then on the 9th we'll continue on back to Locust and then head home. No camp sites will be involved!

True. And a different state. And a very different altitude. And probably a different attitude.

Thanks, Dane! Well, now that Big Blue is nearing "completion", at least for this phase of his transformation, the trips are starting to be scheduled. I just started two new threads about upcoming trips: Big Blue To Tackle The GOAT Planning For Big Blue's Trip To Ouray I'll keep the planning and all for those trips out of this thread, but do want to detail some of the things I do to the truck 'twixt now and then that will be common to all the trips. For instance, I really need to spend some time fixing the rattles. I think there are two major sources - the stuff in the storage unit and the coax to the GMRS antenna. So I'm going to cut some of the left over Noico self-adhesive foam insulation and pad the storage unit with it and see if that doesn't help with the rattles. And removing the GMRS antenna should solve the problem of the coax slapping the roof on bumps. Plus I need to do something to let me put the mike for the GMRS radio in place w/o it hanging down in the way. And then there's more set-up to do with the Sony radio as the speakers near the ears are giving way too many highs. And, I'm sure there will be other things that come up along the way. But, we are getting there!

We took Big Blue to my home town in KS yesterday and my nephew charged the A/C system, so there's one more to-do that is done. And, my brother drove the truck and pronounced it ready to go to Colorado. So he and I are now planning to go sometime in August. He wants to take his RZR, so I'll stop by and pick him up and we'll pull the RZR with Big Blue. (I'm sure that is going to seriously impact the MPG. ) Given that, I'm going to use this thread for planning the trip. Like what to take. Where to stay. Where to go, etc. Bob has written some very good guides to the trails, so we have a good jump on this. But there is still planning to be done. As far as Big Blue is concerned, basically all that I know of that needs to be done is to install the on-board compressed air system. So hopefully 'twixt now and then I can get that done. Oh, and there are a number of other "little" things to be done, like line the behind the seat storage unit with foam to stop the rattles. And add hooks in the Highliner for the mike and cord. But those are little jobs and should be easy to do. So jump in here with your ideas, please!

Assuming I can get the reservations set up, Janey and I are taking Big Blue on a 620+ mile adventure in about a week. We are going to take the Greencountry Overland Adventure Trail. It is a ~500 mile route through the back woods of Oklahoma that are sure to test the limits of Big Blue. Seriously though, I'll embed the map below, but Big Blue is going to think this is a dawdle. In fact, we took ~20 miles of it in Blue the other day just to go decorate graves near Grove and then to get some strawberries from a local farm. On top of that, we were married in a church building on the GOAT, albeit many decades before the GOAT was dreamed up. In fact, Janey's family lived on a section of it, and I've driven many of the roads in my '69 Super Bee, '72 F250, or on my Honda XL350. But, we've decided that Big Blue is now ready for the trip, and I'll be making reservations tomorrow. Turns out someone is turning 74 in a week or so and he requested that for his birthday he get to drive that route. So, here we go! The route is below, but you can Google Greencountry Overland Adventure Tour and find more info.

Here you go http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n98098/20200222_154845.jpg And before you ask sorry I did not jave the jack in place when I took the picture.Its there now but it dose not work http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n98098/20200222_154925.jpg And the jack handle across the radiator support http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n98098/20200222_154910.jpg Dave ---- I have the jack but didn't test it yet. What goes in the other slot? http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n98099/PXL_20210531_000320188.jpg http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n98099/20200222_154845~2.jpg Good question as I dont know Maybe some one will know? Dave ---- I think the lug wrench for the F250's and 350's uses the other slot.

Well, yes they clear just fine. I'm using the later visors with the rod sticking through an inch or so with a catch for it in the center, but I think the visors are the same size.

Depends on what alternator your truck came with. See the note in the lower left, below. However, you can't just go back with a normal piece of wire. A fuse link has special insulation that keeps the insulation from melting as they can run hot w/o blowing.

Pretty sure they do. Look at the listing below. Before 6/81 they were using 1970's radios in the 1980 and '81 trucks. And the same mounting plate was used from 1980 through 1984: E0TZ 10A860-A.

Yes, anything's better than nothing. But the two sizes are shown below. The longer one is 12" vs the 10" shorter on. Notice that the short one was introduced in 1970 (D0) and the longer one in 1985 (E5). I'm guessing that the trucks had the short one through 1984. But also note that if the customer really wanted a shorter 10" mirror they were to be sold the one that came out on the Aerostar. But why would someone want the short one vs the long one?

Excellent!

The top of my button is 3 3/16" below the bottom edge of the windshield trim, and centered L/R on the windshield.

Trailer Lamps Relay? You said "Brown with solid Yellow stripe. And White, Black, Black with Gray stripe" but it should be Brown, White w/red dots, Black, and Black w/a White stripe.

On posting pics, have you read the info at Bullnose Forum/Forum FAQ's? I need to update that 'cause it doesn't explain why so many people have trouble getting their pics oriented properly. But basically that's because they didn't take them with the camera oriented properly and the forum doesn't auto-rotate them like many other apps do. Anyway, if you have a vacuum advance you don't have a computer. So you can remove things w/o the computer getting its knickers in a twist.

I've not seen an ICVR completely fail. But I have seen them all of a sudden give different readings on all three gauges, only to go back to the previous reading in a bit. However, I can see that they could fail if the contact points in them fail to make as they close. I really like the true voltage regulator I have on Big Blue. My gauges are rock solid and never flinch. So while I scan all the gauges frequently I feel comfortable with the stock gauges now.

What I think you need in the way of vacuum systems is shown here: Documentation/Underhood/Vacuum Systems. That's not to say that I'm advocating the removal of everything else. As John said, removal of the vapor canister will bring the smell of gas. And removal of the EGR will mean you should re-curve your distributor. And if you have a computer then removal of anything will put the system in limp-home mode. I don't think an '83 w/a 300 will have a computer, but you need to confirm that before you start. Can you show us a pic of the distributor? We'll be looking for the telltale TFI ignition module sticking off of it, and if there is one then you have a computer. But if you don't and have a vacuum advance then you don't have.

Excellent! Are you getting ready to go soon? Please let us know how it goes and post some pics.