Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

You have step on the running board to reach them easily. He also has outside handles (that need remounting) so you have one on each B and C post outside then the over the door one inside.

Ah! Big Blue's step bars are high enough that you want something to grab onto to get yourself up on the bar. Then you pivot and deposit yourself into the seat. On the driver's side the steering when accomplishes that - now that I did away with the breakable tilt function on it. But there's nothing to grab on the passenger's side.

If there was a handle on the B-pillar then you might be able to grab it with your left hand and put your hand on the arm rest and boost yourself in. But Janey thinks the doorway will work ok to grab on the left and if there was a handle on the A-pillar that combo would work.

So we are exploring possibilities.

[salans7]

Shaun - I'm not in a hurry so whenever is convenient would be good. But pics would certainly help. Maybe I can find a pair of those from a Ranger and graft them on.

 

The handles are held on with two bolts and then the a-pillar just clips on so I will pull it tomorrow and take some pictures with my good camera. I'm not sure how much the A-pillar on a 1998-2011 Ranger differs from an 80-96 F-Series truck, so that may cause an issue when mounting.

[kramttocs]

Ah! Big Blue's step bars are high enough that you want something to grab onto to get yourself up on the bar. Then you pivot and deposit yourself into the seat. On the driver's side the steering when accomplishes that - now that I did away with the breakable tilt function on it. But there's nothing to grab on the passenger's side.

If there was a handle on the B-pillar then you might be able to grab it with your left hand and put your hand on the arm rest and boost yourself in. But Janey thinks the doorway will work ok to grab on the left and if there was a handle on the A-pillar that combo would work.

So we are exploring possibilities.

I was out working on the 86 this evening and thinking about this. I see now that Bill beat me to it but after looking over the A pillar and picturing the angles, I think over the door is a great solution.

You could drill through the metal trim piece where the retaining clips are as the mounting points. Replace the trim clips with (not sure the name for these but akin to a drop in slot T Nut?) long rectangular "nuts" that fit in the slots and then rotate when tightening down. Hard to know what kind of flex will be seen without actually doing it though.

Bill - now that I know you've already got something setup like this, please do add some photos of it installed and if possible how it hooks in.

[Ford F834]

Shaun - I'm not in a hurry so whenever is convenient would be good. But pics would certainly help. Maybe I can find a pair of those from a Ranger and graft them on.

Jonathan - I think I'd like a pair of those, but I'm not sure. They are hard enough to come by and are, therefore, getting expensive. Our "finder" friend has struck out save for some really expensive ones.

Janey thinks the one on the A-pillar would be what she needs, but getting up to the tool box would sure be easier with one of those on the B-pillar.

So, how much do you want for a pair?

Gary, I sent you an e-mail about the grab handles. Admittedly I think they work best on the driver side for right handed people, but they should help either way. Sheri has some difficulty with our 1981 as she is only 5’ tall and the truck sits like an F250 because of the wheels. I need to mount grab handles and some kind of step for her. In the meantime I try to remember to bring a little folding step stool that we have. I find myself grabbing the A pillar itself to get in, so I can see why Janey wants a handle there. The medium duty handles are nice and long, and very comfortable to grasp, so they may be the next best thing as I cannot think of any elegant way to add handles to the A pillars.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, I sent you an e-mail about the grab handles. Admittedly I think they work best on the driver side for right handed people, but they should help either way. Sheri has some difficulty with our 1981 as she is only 5’ tall and the truck sits like an F250 because of the wheels. I need to mount grab handles and some kind of step for her. In the meantime I try to remember to bring a little folding step stool that we have. I find myself grabbing the A pillar itself to get in, so I can see why Janey wants a handle there. The medium duty handles are nice and long, and very comfortable to grasp, so they may be the next best thing as I cannot think of any elegant way to add handles to the A pillars.

Shaun - I looked at the Ranger's A-pillar cover and a picture of a Bullnose cover and it seems there's a lot of difference. So I'm not sure how that's going to work. But pictures will help a bunch. Thanks. However, there's not a lot of hurry on this. I'm not going to do anything very soon.

Scott - I'll have to check, but I really doubt Janey can reach above the door to a handle there. And with the metal there and the angle of the pull I'm wondering if some sort of reinforcement would be needed. But I've not looked, so may be way off. I'll look today.

Jonathan - I've replied to your note. Thanks! I think those medium duty handles will come in .... handy.

As for an elegant way to add handles to the A-pillar, I've been wondering if rivnuts could be used. Then studs screwed into them with nuts tightened down against the A-pillar. With holes drilled in the plastic cover it would slip over and the handle go on to cover the holes and acorn nuts to hold the handles on. The thickness of the nut against the A-pillar would be adjusted to ensure the handle isn't placing pressure on the plastic trim or else it could break it when the studs flex.

And, A-pillar handles would give something to hold onto while 'wheeling, and there aren't very many places for a passenger to grab on these trucks.

Thoughts?

[1986F150Six]

Yes, a Janey assist. But, as it turned out, it doesn't work well for her. What she would really like is one on the A-pillar. That's where it would do the most good. Second is the B-pillar.

A-pillar on the inside?

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, a Janey assist. But, as it turned out, it doesn't work well for her. What she would really like is one on the A-pillar. That's where it would do the most good. Second is the B-pillar.

A-pillar on the inside?

Yes, something like this from Shaun's Ranger. And it would also give the passenger a grab handle when 'wheeling.

[kramttocs]

As for an elegant way to add handles to the A-pillar, I've been wondering if rivnuts could be used. Then studs screwed into them with nuts tightened down against the A-pillar. With holes drilled in the plastic cover it would slip over and the handle go on to cover the holes and acorn nuts to hold the handles on. The thickness of the nut against the A-pillar would be adjusted to ensure the handle isn't placing pressure on the plastic trim or else it could break it when the studs flex.

There is a raised platform that contains the middle screw hole for the A-pillar trim. On either side of that platform it appears there is a decent amount of dead space between the pillar and the trim that would allow potential reinforcement. Rivnuts also came to my mind when looking at it as there is enough space inside the A-pillar to accept them. Just like over the door, hard to know how much flex will be present. A lot of that will be determined by the angle of the handle coming out from the pillar.

I am wondering if a "shell" the full length of the A-pillar all the way up to the sunvisor attachment point is needed (with a cutout for the existing raised platform). At the bottom it could curve a ways into the middle of the truck beneath the windshield and attach in pre-existing holes. That may be overkill but having the reinforcement span over more than just the A-pillar would alleviate potential twisting where it was never meant to be.

Just my thoughts

 

[salans7]

As for an elegant way to add handles to the A-pillar, I've been wondering if rivnuts could be used. Then studs screwed into them with nuts tightened down against the A-pillar. With holes drilled in the plastic cover it would slip over and the handle go on to cover the holes and acorn nuts to hold the handles on. The thickness of the nut against the A-pillar would be adjusted to ensure the handle isn't placing pressure on the plastic trim or else it could break it when the studs flex.

There is a raised platform that contains the middle screw hole for the A-pillar trim. On either side of that platform it appears there is a decent amount of dead space between the pillar and the trim that would allow potential reinforcement. Rivnuts also came to my mind when looking at it as there is enough space inside the A-pillar to accept them. Just like over the door, hard to know how much flex will be present. A lot of that will be determined by the angle of the handle coming out from the pillar.

I am wondering if a "shell" the full length of the A-pillar all the way up to the sunvisor attachment point is needed (with a cutout for the existing raised platform). At the bottom it could curve a ways into the middle of the truck beneath the windshield and attach in pre-existing holes. That may be overkill but having the reinforcement span over more than just the A-pillar would alleviate potential twisting where it was never meant to be.

Just my thoughts

Well the short answer on the Ranger setup is that it won't work without some custom brackets being made, and about the only usable part is the handle itself. There's not enough meat on the bullnose A-Pillar to run a similar setup. You would be better off with something like the ones off of a newer Econoline.

The A-pillar on my F350.

 

[Gary Lewis]

As for an elegant way to add handles to the A-pillar, I've been wondering if rivnuts could be used. Then studs screwed into them with nuts tightened down against the A-pillar. With holes drilled in the plastic cover it would slip over and the handle go on to cover the holes and acorn nuts to hold the handles on. The thickness of the nut against the A-pillar would be adjusted to ensure the handle isn't placing pressure on the plastic trim or else it could break it when the studs flex.

There is a raised platform that contains the middle screw hole for the A-pillar trim. On either side of that platform it appears there is a decent amount of dead space between the pillar and the trim that would allow potential reinforcement. Rivnuts also came to my mind when looking at it as there is enough space inside the A-pillar to accept them. Just like over the door, hard to know how much flex will be present. A lot of that will be determined by the angle of the handle coming out from the pillar.

I am wondering if a "shell" the full length of the A-pillar all the way up to the sunvisor attachment point is needed (with a cutout for the existing raised platform). At the bottom it could curve a ways into the middle of the truck beneath the windshield and attach in pre-existing holes. That may be overkill but having the reinforcement span over more than just the A-pillar would alleviate potential twisting where it was never meant to be.

Just my thoughts

First, I had a few drops of something on the inner fender liner and then on the pavement the morning after our 366 mile outing last Friday. I originally thought the worst - that the hydroboost unit was seeping. But on closer inspection today I think it may have been the clutch master connection to the line going down to the slave. So I've rigged up two more "diapers" to see where it is coming from:

Second, I've done some checking and the top of step bar is 22" above the ground, which is why a grab handle is needed. And a handle above the door is going to be about 75" above the ground, which is a reach for Janey. (I'll check in a bit to see if that's even possible.)

As for handles themselves, I see that Shaun has responded with pics of his trucks. And his conclusion is that the Ranger handle, or at least its bracket, won't work.

And I did some looking at the A-pillar on Big Blue as well. Here are shots with and without the trim piece where you can see the spot Scott was talking about where the screw goes in. And you can see the area above and below it where something could be added since the back of the trim is straight, meaning that you could have something above and below that screw hole to bolt to.

But, the screw is only 3/8" from the crease on the trim, which means its ~1/4-3/8" from the lip of the A-pillar. So I'm thinking that a piece of metal strap could be screwed to the pillar above and below the screw hole. You might get lucky and be able to get a 3/8" thick piece in there. If so you could drill the piece at the correct angle and weld a stud into it. Put the trim piece over it and then put the handle over the studs followed by nuts.

And, btw, I think the A-pillar is plenty strong enough that it won't twist if this approach is used.

Speaking of "nuts", am I?