FuzzFace2

I have seen somewhere, other forum or Google?, Ford trucks from S.A. and they mix n match different models & year parts for their trucks. Some look pretty cool and others not so cool. What I dont get are the Uts from down under? They all look to be built on a car plat form so what could they carry? Then again look at what we got here where most are 4 door no bed trucks, what could they carry? Dave ----

I dont think you will find Lund's or Ford factory ones from what I have found. Now there was someone that started making them but the (other) forum was starting to get into it about the person selling them had to be a sponsor and that was going to be $$$$ so I dont know what will become of it? Here is a link to them. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1684289-here-they-are-i-said-i-would-build-them-and-i-did-fiberglass-steps-for-f150.html Now the other thing to note this is only for the fiber glass step and not the brackets needed to mount them. I think it was posted that DC or JBG has the brackets but they are not cheap. Some said they could make the brackets out of iron but needed the steps. In that same area there was a post on the brackets if you want to do a search. Dave ----

I would say anyone wanting to pull the dash, AC or non-AC, is pull the wiring with it. I had to swap the wiring & dash from my AC parts truck in to my non-AC truck, after a fire wall swap so I could have AC in the non-AC truck. I took the wiring with the dash. It was easy just mark & disconnect everything from in the engine bay and as you are pulling the dash from the firewall push the wiring into the cab. Here you can see how I pulled the wiring, ducts with the dash from the parts truck. It went into my truck the same way after I restored it below. Here you can see some of the wiring on the right side. That would be for everything going out the fire wall on the right side engine bay. I dont think I would ever try and remove the dash with out taking the wiring & duct work with it. Mine did have the "loop" that the fuse box wires went through and IIRC went up and over the pedal assy. to the top of the dash. Truck is a 81 F100 manual Dave ----

On the rear spring mount the way I would do it is support the truck by the frame so the axle will hang or better yet if you have wheel dollies set them under the wheels but no weight on them. Undo the rear lower bolts, both of them, leaving the top ones as they cant be removed yet. Now undo both front spring mounts and lower the axle with wheel on it to the ground or dollies. You should be able to move the axle forward enough and low to now remove the top bolts and bushings. The only think that may limit you is the rubber brake line and vent hose. The vent hose is easy if is even still there. The brake line a little harder with out opening the system but you may be able to rotate the axle / spring(s) to work on the rear bolts & bushings. Once all bushings have been replaced you cant tighten any of the bolts, goes for the front suspension also, till the weight of the truck is on the suspension. My bed was not on the truck when I R&R the rear suspension so did not have to deal with what you are going through. My rubber bushings looked good so I left them but up front I went with poly bushings. Dave ----

Wow band saw, a hand hack saw would not touch the frame I had, must of been different metal mix? CO2 is a lot better than flux core wire because you can get thinner wire than you can of flux core. Also you dont have all the weld splatter you then have to clean up. If I was in the middle of welding and ran out of Argon I would hook up the CO2 as the tank is sitting in the corner just in case its needed. All the welding on my drag car, rear axle tubes to the center, beef up the leaf spring mounts and fix the rust and open up the rear wheel openings for slicks was done with CO2 gas. Thanks on the truck work. I hope it helps others to get going on their projects or copy something I did for theirs. Dave ----

How did you cut the bed frame as I think a hack saw did nothing but knock some paint off. Not many would use CO2 as a gas. My first gas was also CO2 as a much larger tank than yours fell off a truck. It worked pretty good for what I used it on but when I started welding sheet metal I went Argon gas. Dave ----

If he has a carb that works other than the choke not all is lost. Someone hinted about electric cap and that with the hot air tube is the answer. Dose the old carb have an electric cap and if so swap it with the one on your good carb. This has been posted by someone before to get his choke to work right that he had to use the old carbs choke cap on the new carb. And yes he also had to have the hot air part working too. Dave ----

I guess because the 300 six has TQ off idle is why both of my trucks have 2.75 gears LOL Dave ----

Ok I got it where you are plugging your harness now. Where you are plugging in your harness I cut that flat 4 off and wired it directly into the 7 pin. This way I have 1 less connection that could go bad. I have adapter 7 pin to flat 4 like this https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Wiring/Pollak/PK12716.html Dave ----

So that setup you have to have a flat 4 wired in to the truck for most of the wiring from the looks of it. My Tee came on 1 of my trucks and fits between the frame rail harness and the tail light harness. You unplug the 2 and plug the Tee into the rail harness and then the tail light harness into the Tee. https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Fit-Vehicle-Wiring/Ford/F-100,+F-150,+F-250,+F-350/1981/118313.html?VehicleID=19811171986 I cut the flat 4 off and wired it into the 7 pin along with the brake & power wires. Both the brake & power are 10 ga wire as I did not want to have a power drop on either system before it got to the trailer. A few days after I ran the wires for brake & power I did not see my fuel gauge move? Having duel tanks I flipped the switch and see the other tank (rear) that should be full at half tank? When I ran the 2 wires to the rear the wire for the tank switch valve hit the frame at a bad splice I made and blew the fuse and by default goes to the rear tank. I fixed the splice, replaced the fuse and been all good since. So if something is not working after pulling the wires look over the frame rail harness really good. Dave ----

You should know for the rest of your life everything happens at the worst time I am guessing the oldest person at that garage is my be 30 years old no wonder why they cant find what is wrong with it. Every motor needs gas / spark / compression to run its not that hard to figure out what could be wrong for it not to start. Matt is on it what to check if they cant get anywhere with it. Good luck Dave ----

I knew you had that cal as I used it a lot when I was looking how I wanted to go with over drive and final drive ratios. And I am sure I even checked it out when a was looking to replace my T18 for a NP435 I have now what the ratio different might be. The M5OD with a 3.90 first and his 3.55 rear gear he would have a 13.845 total for a first gear where he has a 10.9695 with the T18 2nd gear of 3.09 and the 3.55 rear gear. So if he thinks he has to slip the clutch to much now then the 13.8xx would be real easy on the clutch from a stop. If he found with the 13.8xx was to low he could run a taller tire and not hurt starting from a stop and lower the RPM's more. I just think Ford put too tall gear ratios in the trucks to meet the MPG number and it dose not help when you have to start from a stop or move heavy loads. Just look at the 2.75 rear gear my truck has I do like the granny gear + over drive (split) to start moving with as it is easy on the clutch. Dave ----

That's a good idea! I'll look at ordering a waterproof junction box. On the back up light wire I would not worry about it. In all the trailers dad & I have pulled only 1 (travel trailer) had back up lights and they were not connected to the puller. If you wanted them on there was a switch in the storage box out back they were mounted to. Yes they were useless for seeing when backing up as they were not vary bright. My pickup is the first to use a after market Tee that plugs in between the rail harness & tail light harness and I cant remember if it has the back up wire in it now? I did have to run the trailer brake & power wire (10 ga for both) from up front to the 7 pin out back. If I need to run a flat 4 plug I have adapter behind the seat that will plug into the 7 pin and make it flat 4. My 02 Dodge came from the factory with the adapter and in the 20 years I have had the truck I have never needed to use it. One day I should hook the pick up to my car trailer to make sure the wiring is right before I need to use it LOL Dave ----

On the mirror I got mine from LMC and think they fit the holes I had in the doors pretty good. I did get the right side glass like the left side so I know what is next to me IS NEXT TO ME! When I first installed them the ball was loose. Each mirror has 3 screws and I was able to tighten them up but lately the left side has been moving so I took up on the screws more. If they need more then I will need to move the mirror head to get the screw driver on the screws. I cant even get a 90* driver on 1 of the screws so hope it is tight. If running a 2150 carb I take it not on a factory log intake do you think the intake could have something to do with the AFR in 4th? I also wonder if you are more into the throttle in 4th and when you go WOT the accl. pump is in the middle of the stroke and cant pump more than in the lower gears? When you WOT in 4th and it goes lean does it also bog? I am running the factory carb & intake and in OD on the high way (65 - 70MPH) if I WOT IIRC mine will show it lean then rich. I dont have a bog or anything so I dont really worry about it but I am still working on my timing and then leaning out the carb as I feel it is to rich at mid 13's to mid 14's. I would like to get AFR to mid 14's mid 15's and maybe get MPG up some from 15 - mid 15's to high 15's to mid 16's MPG. Dave ----

I am using what ever Auto Zone gave me when I asked for pads, nothing fancy that I asked for. I also running AZ calipers and rear shoes. I dont have a lot of dust but then I wash the truck almost every weekend before shows so how much dust can it have with maybe 300+ miles in a week? I do have what feels like the right front caliper grab / lock at the last little bit of stopping but it dose not pull when braking and if you roll back you can feel it unlock. If I dont roll back I dont feel it is "locked" when driving so I have not looked into it. And before you ask yes ALL the rubber hoses were replaced as part of the truck / brake system rebuild. Dave ----

Up till about 2 years ago you could get Advance Adapter Range Spliter over drive that was way cheaper than the GVOD and could be used in 4x4 unlike the GVOD. Think I got one of the last they made and I had to wait for it. As Matt said you have to step back and look at what you will be using the truck for and want in the end for the money put out. You already know the price of the GVOD and add a little more for other things that pop up. Look into front & rear axle gear set. Can you do the gear swap or needs to be farmed out? Gear swap is not easy and you now have 2 to do. So if a shop has to do it add more $$$$. Also with a gear set change it will be harder on the clutch as you will need to slip it more to get rolling from a stop. You could use granny but try than now and see how you like doing that every time from a stop! That leaves a 5sp transmission swap. Guys that have done this love it and it shifts better than the "truck 4sp" you have now. Thing is you no longer have a granny first gear to get heavy loads moving from a stop. I dont know if the 5sp first gear ratio is lower than the 2nd gear of the trans you have now or not but if lower would help with heavy loads and the 3.55 gearing you have now. I also hear the 3.55 and the over drive of the 5sp work out pretty good on the high way. If doing a 5sp swap it is best to get a full parts truck and park it next to yours for the swap as there are a lot of little things that need to be changed and going to the JY could be a PITA. After reading posts of the ZF5 transmission needing rebuilt most of the time when used and all the parts I would need to do the swap in my 81 F100 and not finding full parts trucks by me or having the time to hit junk yards it looked be about the same $$ as the GVOD. Only thing is I could keep my granny first gear transmission if I went GVOD. I also did not like that with the GVOD you could not split every gear and had to be going (think?) 30 MPH before it would kick in the OD. So starting in granny and then splitting was out of the question as you are3 under the 30 MPH limit. My 81 F100 flare side with a 300 six is my back up to pull my 20ft open deck car trailer and with car could be 6000lb so need the granny gear for starting and that is needed with a 2.75 rear gear. Most of the time the truck is used for weekly trash runs, to / from work (40 miles each way) and shows on weekends. I do have Advance Adapter over drive so I can split all gears turning my 4sp into a 8sp transmission. Some of the ratios are a little to close together to split when not loaded but if in slow traffic and in between gears that dont work I can split it. I do like that the RPM is lower so less wear on the motor but so far I have not seen the MPG go up but I am still adjusting timing and then carb. Sorry so long but wanted to post what I went through when looking to add over drive to my truck and the options I had at the time. I think if mine was just a driver the M5ODR2 would be the way to go if I could find a parts truck. Dave ----

Can you show a picture of where the electric plugs in? Some need a full 12 volts and others 6 to 7 volts. Also dose the carb have a fitting on it for the steel hot air line to screw on to it? That nipple you dont have anything to by the air filter flange may need to be capped but need to see if you have hot air choke. Dave ----

Dave, I think it may just be a coincidence because the forum is working properly for me now as well, and it wasn't yesterday morning. Cool and hope it stays working Dave ----

Yea I think it did go bad all the more reason to get a good hose / gauge set. I may have found where its leaking at but need to watch it to make sure. I think its at the service valve to compressor manifold. The valve came with the compressor and I never had them off so the O-ring is what came from the factory AFAIK. Dave ----

I do have new outside door locks but because the sliders are missing the rods have nothing to connect to and that jambs up so you cant use the outside locks. I only take the truck to work and there are cameras, or shows so not to far away and the windows are down so people can look in (no key left in). If I take it to a store its not left alone for long. Besides if someone wants to get inside they will break a window and if they want the truck they will come with a wheel lift tow truck or flat bed and drag it away. The only way to maybe get it back is if it had a GPS tracker and the police had time to go after it. Hate to say it but that is the way it is. Dave ----

Little up date: We had a power outage last night and being I dont have a battery in my lap top it shut down. I left it off till late morning and what do you know! It seams to be working as it should and I have checked a few different posts to make sure they show I have seen it. It is so nice to know what post I have been to and any updates since I had been to it I dont know if the laptop being off all that time or router off & on fixed it or not? I also have not checked if my phone is working right or not but will when I get the time. Dave ----

Oh I should point out I did not put my gauge set on for this re-charge. Son had one of them hoses that fit the cans that had a gauge. It has different colors and low / good / high / high danger! With 1 can it was on the low side of good. When I went to put a little in from the 2nd can it went way above the high danger but dont know why? Even after took the gauge / hose off the gauge only dropped to the low side of high danger? So dont know how good that gauge was to start. I need to get a new gauge set as the HF one I have the sight glass leaks when the high side is turned on. Have to see when NAPA has them on sale and pick up a good set. Dont know if I would trust any of the other parts store gauge sets? Dave ----

Yes I would add dye being you dont know where it may be leaking from. Have you put gauges to it yet? If so and it is vary low I think I would pull a good vacuum and see if it holds before putting any thing in it. When I got the compressor, used, it had dye in it. I dont know if the junk yard added it or it was pulled with it in there? They did tell me to make sure I added oil to it or they would not take it back. Like oil leaks when you go looking for where its coming from it is ALL OVER the place! Think I have it down to a fitting on the compressor but not 100% sure. Thing is I used all new green O-rings, 3 of the 4 hoses (could not find the 4th so re-used it). I replaced everything but the evap and when I first got it going it worked great. Forgot to tighten a fitting and lost charge, then installed 134a adapter fittings and forgot to tighten 1 of them and lost charge again Now I got this leak somewhere around the compressor from what I can tell from the dye. I will tell you if it goes low on charge again I will be pulling a vacuum before re-charging. Dave ----

Well you see I dont have any locks in mine as I could not find sliders at the time. I was looking to get new panels but I cant find them for sliders and the pin type have different door handle seals, fit from the outside mine fit on the inside and has a large washer type ring and 3 nuts to hold the seals to the panel, and being Gary sent me new seals I want to use them. Besides I would need to get the later door latch assy, for pins if I was to change to pin type door panels. I did buy sliders & arm rests, now I just have to redo the finish on my panels and fit the new parts on them. Dave ----

I do have dye in the system but I did not know it was leaking till it would not turn on the compressor and when I checked with the light the dye was all over the place so could not see just where it was coming from. I have since cleaned off the dye and put a little charge back in the system. I now have to run it and look for the leak but I did not want to run the AC till I had time to look as I did not want the dye blowing all over again. Dave ---- Well after driving home from work yesterday with 1 window open because it was going to rain and it was close to 90* I figured I need to look into the AC. I few weeks ago I washed the dye off everything and added a small can of charge with stop leak. It was still low on charge where the compressor would not stay running and blow coolish air. So today I picked up a few cans of 134a, checked with the black light and seen it had leaked but still could not tell from where? So cleaned the dye off again and put 1.5 small cans of 134a in. It is blowing colder but not where it should be. Out side air think my son said was high 70'S and the coldest it came out the vent at was 51*f. He said it should be low 40's. I kept checking for the dye if leaking even after a road test and did not see anything so will keep an eye on it and if it goes low on charge I hope I can find and fix the leak then pull a good vacuum and hope for the best! ​​​​​​​Dave ----