Gary Lewis

No, I didn't. But I just sent you my email address - via email.

You are now on the map, twice. And I guess there's no need to ask if you've been to the Loveless Cafe.

Welcome, Nick! Glad you joined. So, do you want to be put on the map in Nashville or Chicago? Or both? (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu.) And, is it really "Nashville"? Our kids just sold their house in Berry Hill and we just visited friends in Brentwood so are familiar with the area. Similarly, is it "Chicago"? We used to live in Elgin and I worked in Hoffman Estates.

Here's the picture again: Found a new use for my 5-ton crimper this morning. The cable connecting the two safeties on my lift broke so I ordered some new cable and sleeves. I installed the cable this morning and crimped sleeves on each end to ensure the cable doesn't unravel or pull out of the safeties. Can you tell what die I used?

Abnormal? My brother just told me of someone he knows that had the price of the house they are building go up by $100K due to the cost of materials! And Steve/Foxford33 is building a garage and the trusses have a looooong lead time and a much higher cost than expected. So I can see people saying they'll wait on the home projects and plowing the money into a truck.

Yes, it is CRAZY! And I can't explain it. However, there are things going on that may be contributors: Cost Of New: The problems the manufacturers are having getting electronics for new vehicles makes those vehicles more expensive, so are people willing to spend more on older ones? Electronics: The issue on electronics has been in the news a lot of late and there have been reports of the vehicles being nothing but rolling computers. That may have people wondering how much in the way of electronics they want on their truck for the long haul. Projects: COVID-19 has given many people a new focus. Many are turning to recreation, and that's driven the cost of RV's and boats sky high. (We just sold our 2002 boat for 95% of what we paid for it 7 years ago.) And working on project vehicles can be seen as "recreation" so have lots of people started new projects? Might these be contributors? What else?

The F150 and F250 bit doesn't matter. The tops of the frames and crossmembers are in the same exact place for all of the trucks so the body will fit. Jim's point about the kickup behind the cab is probably the issue. You can see the kickup here, although it actually starts ahead of the back of the cab as you can see the rear cab mounts just in front of the bed in this pic, which is of Dad's truck - a regular cab long bed. From there on back the frame is straight save for the kickup for the rear axle. You may be thinking you can move that crossmember back to line up with the rear of a Supercab. But this shot from Big Blue suggests that if the floor of the Supercab is flat, like I think it is, it'll hit the frame. I don't know that for sure, but that's my guess.

I agree that the later aluminum/plastic master cylinder is a good upgrade. I don't know about replacing the proportioning valve though. I went with the later master and hydroboost and the brakes are excellent. So I don't think the proportioning valve is an issue as it is still there.

Just an update on the eval of Big Blue. Hagerty has recently updated their information and they say that a Cat 3 is now worth $20,500 instead of "just" $12,500 as of January. Look at the slope of that curve!

Well, Hagerty says it is only worth $32,600 in absolutely perfect condition. So $36,500 surprised me. Maybe Hagerty is slightly behind the curve?

250/350 frames are considerably thicker, and C&C frames thicker still (while being narrower and having narrower springs) Cabs are the same right up into the 650's Trucks with leaf spring front ends need the front rails boxed to support the shackles and of course they don't have any fittings for radius arms. Diesel/460 trucks have a completely different engine crossmember, etc..... Wheelbase is an issue. I don't recall any SCSB trucks in this era. I stand corrected. It seems there is a 138.8" wheelbase supercab 4x2 shown for 1982. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/1982-light-truck-facts-book.html Of course there were no manual diesel or 460 trucks until 1983. And there was no diesel option in those 150's, but the thinner 150 frame was available with the correct supercab mounts and short bed wheelbase. Yep, cabs, doors, beds, fender liners, hoods, etc all were the same from F100's right on up through the line. The main differences were in the frame, as Jim pointed out. I can see that a nice table of what combinations of cabs and beds would be handy. But then there's the complication of "that was only available with 2wd" or some such that would make it difficult to create as well as use.

That is a slightly complex area, meaning that there are worse, but there are certainly better as well. So glad you figured it out. As for the guidelines, our joining process is broken and I can't fix it at the moment. So many people are missing the guidelines and, as Scott pointed out, we hold people to them.

This one may be slightly better. And even though there were differences in the valves, as Jim pointed out, they all work and install the same.

Scott - Thanks. Minipower - Scott is right, we hold ourselves to high standards. My 9 year old granddaughter monitors this site, so my goal is to keep the language appropriate for her.

I like to use a small fuel filter on the end of the vent hose. That way yuk can't get into the axle. But it doesn't stop a mud dobber or some such from plugging the end of the hose.

Probably not my best design. But I'm getting there. I've slipped the other brackets on, the ones the kickstands attach to. So when those parts come in I just have to install the kickstands and then deal with the A-brackets. On the rear I can pivot the tracks out a bit to get the bolts through the brackets and the lip of the bed. So I don't need to thread the bracket, which I like 'cause I'd rather have a steel nut than aluminum holding it on. Once the A-brackets are all on I can level it up with the kickstands. But that won't take much as the rails are pretty much level now. However, as and when the racks and tent are installed that may change, so I'll have the wherewithal to keep them level.

Sorry, I missed that.

Oh, now I see the light! Yes, the two halves of the A-bracket are separate. But they both butt up against the canister to prevent it from moving. And since the canister fits under the lip of the toolbox it has to be installed first. My process is to put the canister on supports to get it at the final height. Then slip the rails through the extrusions in the canister and slide the rails and canister forward and into position. Then bolt the upper half of the A-brackets to the lips of the bed and slip the lower half along the rails and under the upper half and bolt them together. Does that make sense?

Good report. Thanks.

No, the gear ratio can't be determined from the VIN. But it can be from the certification label. Go to the page at Documentation/Specifications/Certification Label. That shows you how to decode the whole label. But if all you want is the axle ration go to Documentation/Specifications/Axel Ratios.

The rails fit into extrusions in the canister that are just like the upper piece of the brackets I installed today, the one at the end of the arrow. But I'm not sure what "Or the bed half of the adjustable A style brackets ultimately attach to the track half that slides into the guide extrusion" means. Can you say that a different way?

Got the two front A-brackets installed. But not without some issues. First I measured and marked the bed lips for the holes. Before drilling it looked like they'd be very close to the top of the bed and it might be difficult to get the nuts and bolts in. As it turned out they fit, just. Then I started to install the brackets in front. But whomever came up with this plan didn't think through how all of this would go together. Today it dawned on him that there is no way to get a bolt through the top of the A-bracket. The bracket has to be slid into place until the hole in it lines up with the one in the lip of the bed. So the bolt has to come through from the outside and the nut has to be on the inside. Well, had I realized this initially I'd have tapped the bracket, but as it was I'd drilled it out 1/4" and didn't want to go larger. So I put nutserts in. But the face of the bracket needs to go flush against the lip of the bed, so I spot-faced the bracket so the nutsert's flange is flush with the face of the bracket. However, the thickness of the bracket is apparently greater than these nutserts were designed for and they didn't really want to crush. But a trip to the 20-ton press convinced them to do so, although I did have to chase the threads a bit. Then I installed the brackets. That was FIDDLY! But they are on and provide quite a bit of support, although the other brackets are certainly going on when they come in. However, that should be fairly easy.

I think the truck took a lot of work.

They were mounted both ways. And a York is aluminum and a Tecumseh cast iron, IIRC.