grumpin

I do, especially in mountain driving.

The way my 94 drove different may be one of the reasons why that tranny was so problematic. This E4OD in my Bronco has been great.

I was in this system a lot a couple of years ago. Just did a quick check and I’m pretty sure there is no relay in 86. Van could be different. 86 has the tank selector switch and the tank selector valve. My problem was intermittent fuel cut out, it was the oil pressure switch connector. You’ve checked that. Might have to trace wires and connectors, and of course always check the grounds. Also, Fuselinks, the Inertia switch and the Fuel Pump Relay.

Ha! Yeah there’s that. My cousin in Tennessee says Ore gone! Everybody thinks it rains all the time in Oregon. It does on the west side. People forget or don’t know that most of the state isn’t a rain forest.

Wow! Must be time to sell my Bronco!

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum. Welcome!

Interesting comment! My Bronco feels “lazy”, you have to give it a bit of pedal to get it to come out of lockup or to downshift. My 92 F250 didn’t feel that way, but it had 4.10 gearing, the Bronco has 3.55. If I’m in open spaces, no traffic etc., I drive more aggressively sometimes and don’t notice it as much, it’s fun too!

That’s cool! Lot’s of indian names in the northwest, that you have to learn how to pronounce. And then there’s the Willamette Valley, (wi lam it), lot’s of people wait to pounce on newbies when they say william ette. Had that happen to me, told the lady I was impressed with her welcoming skills!

What a monster! That driveshaft could rub on anything within 10 miles! On the E4OD I’ve not had one leak except when they get to warm and dump fluid out of that front seal, I believe is where it comes out. My 94 F250 I owned did that while I was parking a travel trailer in a spot I would have never gotten it into. Moving it for some friends and I said I can’t put that in there, the wife says my grandpa is going to help, he’s a retired trucker. I told him that I can’t get it in there, he says do what I tell ya, I said okay. Got it in there, but it took awhile and with no forward movement the tranny got warm, and when I was unhooking, out came the fluid. Shut it off let it cool, checked the fluid and away I went.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rusty, Firestik has a downloadable guide on their website, you may have seen it. I’ve found it to be very useful and informative. I’ve tried links and it goes to their main website. But I’ll try it. http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/Cb&swr-18pg.pdf AM is kind of weird to me, I’ve put radios in and did all I could to get it perfect and it would be crappy. I’ve thrown things together for a temporary setup and it’s great. Sounds like you have a good plan. Edit: The link worked!

You're completely right, I don't think I'll hear much traffic. Main thing for me is emergency communications where there is no phone service, natural disasters, and keeping up with the weather. If something happens at home I can drive on top of the ridge behind my house and hit one of the two repeaters I live in between. Or if I'm deep in the Ouachita National Forest broke down or hurt I can call for help. Had to look up Ohyoucheetah National Forest! AFAIK I’ve only been to Arkansas once and that was an overnighter at Little Rock Air Force Base. I’ve never seen so many C130’s at one place!

You're completely right, I don't think I'll hear much traffic. Main thing for me is emergency communications where there is no phone service, natural disasters, and keeping up with the weather. If something happens at home I can drive on top of the ridge behind my house and hit one of the two repeaters I live in between. Or if I'm deep in the Ouachita National Forest broke down or hurt I can call for help. There is that, and for us personally, our future in-laws live outside of cellphone tower range. While we are up there packing around the only way to contact each other is via radio. Fender mounts are popular just like bed rail mounts. The problem you get is ground plane. If you don't have a good even ground plane you affect the lobe of the antenna, basically turning an omni directional antenna into a directional one. Sometimes you just don't have a choice but with 2m (VHF, HAM freq's and NOAA found here) / 70cm (UHF - FRS and GMRS found in this range), the higher the antenna and the better the ground plane the better the performance. You can add significant range simply from going from the trunk, to the roof of a car. Uhf and vhf antennas are so much better. I took the 2m/70cm and put it in my garage (kind of a shack), and put the mag mount antenna I used on the freezer out there and it does great. I’ve been around uhf and vhf in my former career (aircraft mechanic). Different in cars and compared to CB’s. Although the little President Bill CB I put in the Xterra has impressed me. I’ve got a President Andy coming to put in the truck. I have a Cobra 148 GTL in the truck now. I wanted something I didn’t have to fidget with so I can concentrate on driving. The Andy is pretty basic. I could sure see wanting those for the comm you guys are talking about. I have my General license so I could use more freqs on the 10 meter, when we get the sunspots again. I don’t think I’ll test any higher.

Right now my intent is to run an antenna top dead center on the cab as it offers the best ground plane. Unit to be mounted in the center of the high-liner headliner. Ill run cabling down one of the pillars and tie into a fuse block under the hood. Due to COVID-19 my HAM test was canceled and they have not been doing them for a couple months now. I do have my GMRS and my commercial in the mean time but that wont suffice. I do have some concerns about the metal thickness there and if it would cause any issues but I doubt it will be an issue. My dad had a federal street hawk light bar/siren and antenna on his '86 with no issues. I put a 2 meter in my Bronco and a 2 meter/70 cm in a car I used to have. Wanted to try it on a road trip since CB can be really quiet. Well drove about 1800 miles I made two contacts. It’s as quiet as the citizens band. I was disappointed. Pulled the radios, sold one and put CB’s back in. Don’t want to be discouraging but that’s my experience. If you install them I hope it works good for you.

Welcome!

Welcome!

My truck had the EGR disconnected when I got it. I used a blank off plate just to clean it up and to preserve the EGR Valve, if that’s possible. I tried a couple of times to set up my EGR to work and was not successful. It runs really good without it so I’m not sure I’ll worry about it.

That’s great!

These type came in my Bronco.

I don't know a ton about goosenecks or 5th wheels. My understanding is that goosenecks offer better articulation than 5th wheels, which is important in trailers that will be towed through farm fields or construction sites. And 5th wheels have a higher hitch point, so they have less leverage on the trailer. there are kits to convert a 5th wheel trailer to a gooseneck, but I've heard that's not a good idea because the higher leverage on the trailer that wasn't meant for it isn't a good idea. I don't know what other advantages 5th wheels have, but the point is probably moot because camper trailers are essentially never gooseneck. They're either bumper-pull or 5th wheel. In a big trailer I'm sure a 5th wheel is more stable than a bumper-pull. But they do take up the bed and can't be hooked to the front receiver to push into tight spots. Also backing a 5th wheel is a different skill-set compared to backing a bumper-pull due to the hitch point being at or in front of the rear axle vs being overhung behind the rear axle. Combine that with being able to hook a bumper-pull to just about any truck vs the number of vehicles equipped to tow a 5th wheel and personally I'd go with a bumper-pull unless you were looking for a big trailer. If you were looking to full-time in it you'd want big and a 5th wheel might be a much better choice. But if you were in the 22' - 24' range, which would be good for 2 people camping for a week or two, I'd definitely recommend bumper-pull. Even the nominally 28' trailer my folks have (probably closer to 32' tongue to bumper), at around 5000 - 6000 lbs empty tows pretty well behind my F-250HD, even without a weight distributing hitch (I just got a weight distributing hitch this past week for when I pull it back to their cabin this weekend). http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n58114/DSC_0367.jpg I would rather have a conventional or bumper pull for the same reason. I could tow with the Burb or Bronco if it’s not too big. I’ve never towed a fifth wheel, but had people tell me how much better they are. I’ve towed many conventional trailers and never had a problem and I have never used a weight distributing hitch, although I’d like to try one. I would like to tow a fifth wheel and possibly may some day. As mentioned, if it’s bigger and I do like the floorplans on big fifth wheels.

This is interesting. One of my pet peeves is with a company that rents trailers and moving equipment. They say my F250 isn't rated enough to haul a 02 Jeep Liberty on an auto trailer. I’ve called them and emailed them to try to explain their reasoning. One lady told me “if our computer says it can’t, it is right!” I’ve always thought that this is an F350 with F250 badging. I looked into weights and such, but don’t remember it or forgot. Interesting, “veddy interessting!”

We did a drive by birthday yesterday. People meet up in their cars and drive by and honk and yell Happy Birthday or Happy Graduation or whatever. It’s a Coronavirus thing I reckon!

A friend of mine flew Chinooks in Viet Nam! I wrenched on 53’s in the Marine Corps.

Oh,ok, well duh!