85lebaront2

FWIW, here is the left front after 3 1/2 years and quite a few round trips to Newport News VA and Pittsville MD.

As discussed earlier, further tyre pictures:

Don't know, my last set (Sears) had the load ratings as xxxx single and xxxx dual. As long as I have a minimum of 1850 lbs per tyre on the rear I am fine. These were actually a good price and readily available and the company has the equipment to handle the Alcoa rims without damaging them and can balance them.

That was my thought too. They do not ride badly at all and wear seems fantastic, I will get a picture of the front tread later today. One item I found in the past, DRW tire ratings are lower per tyre than SRW, probably due to greater heat buildup with the tyres so close together. Better more rather than less.

Ok, here is what I am running for tyres right now old bean, the tyres have 112/115 on them since all the old load ratings seem to have been devoured by DOT. I am running 58 psi front and 65 psi rear, these may be equivalent to LR E as they give a load rating for 80 psi but it was too dark to read it clearly (more tomorrow) These are the same size and tyre that the counties use on school buses, probably the E350/GM3500 ones.

Gary, there should be a seal in the adapter, however, I would check the transmission vent, if it is clogged then pressure from heat expansion will push fluid through the path of least resistance.

That would make sense since 3100 X 2 = 6200, 6200 + 2 X 600 = 7400. Maybe if could get the information on the individual leaves you could arrive at a viable option. As far as ride quality, Big Blue is a standard cab or 133" wheelbase, Darth is a crew cab or 168" wheelbase, that extra 35" goes a good way towards making it feel smoother. Also keep in mind Darth is 2WD and as such has big COIL springs which probably help the front ride feel over leaf springs. My 1958 F100 rode like a buckboard, 110" wheelbase and 4 leaf springs.

I used to haul a 30' 5th wheel trailer, 10K loaded and I think it was 1710 lbs pin weight and it would just bring the truck down to touch the overload spring. I have also twice had the proverbial "ton of bricks" in the bed with no problems whatsoever. I keep my rear tires at the recommended 65 psi (215 85R/16 LR D) for dual rear wheels. My axle is rated 7400 lbs.

The ones on Darth came off the parts truck "Big Ugly" with the exception of the front brackets for the sway bar to axle links, those are actually the correct pieces for the 1986 F350 2WD.

Here are a couple more pictures, there is a block between the main spring pack and the overload. What it appears to be is a 3 stage spring. 4 of the 5 main leaves are used empty and light loads, either the 5th leaf or the upper overload (I would have to load the bed until one or the other made contact, but I believe the upper was first from towing the 5th wheel) finally the very stiff 5th leaf makes contact with the main pack.

You can count! Amazing! I was saying what I have, if you want from the same angle it will have to wait probably until Thursday. But here are some when I was swapping rear axles.

I may have to go look closely at Darth, I count 5 leaves + the extra short leaf on top from the pictures. Mine is supposed to be 7400 lb rear and I know it takes a bit to even get close to the overload spring. Maybe that's why I don't think Darth rides that bad.

That would be his choice

Not really a tool, but it is for the garage. I think it was $10 (can't find the invoice) it came from an on-line auction site in Pittsville MD.

Problem is if it is too lean NOX goes up and those beasts run hot anyway which contributes to it. Unfortunately nothing either of us has found shows the standards for the over 8500 CA requirements.

Roughly, when the emission systems first came East, we had a combustion meter and they had to be set to I think it was 15:1 at idle, propane enrichment came later with catalytic converters as you couldn't get a mixture reading through them. To do the mixture setting the Thermactor pumps need to be disconnected and the lines to the head and or manifolds capped so you are reading actual A/F ratio. If it has to be tested, do a fresh oil change and maybe a PCV valve refresh. Damn glad I do not have that crap here!

I may remembering wrong, but I believe these are small Allen head (they are in the throttle body, 4 of them) and are a royal PITA to get to on a 460.

I put a 1990 booster and 1993 M/C on Darth, but I also changed the pedal to the 1992 up mounting and probably used the 1990 pedal on Darth.

Interestingly my emission label simply says US EPA for 1986 model year heavy-duty vehicles, no reference to 49 state or non-California. AllData shows 2 different vacuum and vapor hose diagrams, one CA specific and one except CA, they are not easy to read being a black and white snake's nest of vacuum lines and vent hoses.

I did my dash on Darth, the 1996 dash had a large crack that would not stay closed so I dyed a red 1995 dash Opal gray to match the rest of the 1996 interior. You can see the unpainted red areas

Just a replacement for the one that was on there, I would have to go look at the receipt for the PN. It is the one for the 1992-96/7 460 w/automatic. There is a place here in town sells new ones (they bought Precision out when it was closed). 3247N is the number for the automatic, 3246N for manual.

Today I changed the starter, second time since I've owned Darth, previous one was a PMGR I got when Matt was running the Portsmouth Precision Certi-Pro warehouse so it is a minimum of 13 years old. It was starting what the Taurus did to me a while back, periodically cranking slow when hot followed by spinning up normally once it started things moving. No excessive draw, just slow. While I was at it I also installed the cables from the F450 Jim brought me when we met in Delaware. Much cleaner looking now complete with a nice cover over the positive post.

I have been regularly referring people in the Ford truck groups on FB to your site, usually to the EVTM information.

No, because that would be an adapter for the carb to intake.

Indeed...considering Ray just bought a whole truck for less money...lol. I guess it is evidence that the spacer does indeed exist (that's IF it is an original Ford OEM piece?). Now that I have a picture of what the thing looks like, I can post up a want ad for Jon and see if I can find one for $10 bucks or something like that so it can be mailed cheaply;). It looks like the spacer my 1977 F150 300 had on it, no EGR, no air pump, no cat, just evaporative canister.