Big Blue's Transformation

[ArdWrknTrk]

A couple of things for today. First, I lubed the rear u-joint on the rear driveshaft, but had to pull the u-joint off and hold the end caps with a c-clamp to do that. The issue is that there's just no room to get onto the zerks fitting. And, there doesn't seem to be anywhere near enough room to put an angled fitting in there.

Any thoughts?

Second, I forgot to post yesterday about my "bib" for changing the oil filter as well as the new filter. The bib is aluminum foil and worked perfectly. The filter is from Royal Purple, which came with the truck from Vernon.

And with that, I pronounce Big Blue READY for the trip to Ouray.

I've never had a driveshaft Zerk I couldn't reach from some position.

Sometimes I've had to roll the truck because I'm working on the ground...

But I do have a flex whip on one of my grease guns.

[Nothing Special]

I've never had a driveshaft Zerk I couldn't reach from some position.

Sometimes I've had to roll the truck because I'm working on the ground...

But I do have a flex whip on one of my grease guns.

I can't tell, is that zerk angled back? It looks like a straight zerk but maybe the hole is drilled in at an angle? If so, would there be more room if it was angled forward (big pain now I know)?

Otherwise, like Jim, I've always beem able to get a flexible whip in

[Bruce moose4x4]

A couple of things for today. First, I lubed the rear u-joint on the rear driveshaft, but had to pull the u-joint off and hold the end caps with a c-clamp to do that. The issue is that there's just no room to get onto the zerks fitting. And, there doesn't seem to be anywhere near enough room to put an angled fitting in there.

Any thoughts?

Second, I forgot to post yesterday about my "bib" for changing the oil filter as well as the new filter. The bib is aluminum foil and worked perfectly. The filter is from Royal Purple, which came with the truck from Vernon.

And with that, I pronounce Big Blue READY for the trip to Ouray.

I have some buddies that work at a driveshaft shop. The u joint zerk hole is usually on one side of the joint at slight angle. He said the angle should always point to the shaft not the outside or yoke. Does that make sense?

Wish we could have come this year to the Show. In the process of moving my Mom into an assisted living facility. Her is getting to where she needs some extra help. You guys have FUN. Hopefully next year.

[Gary Lewis]

I have some buddies that work at a driveshaft shop. The u joint zerk hole is usually on one side of the joint at slight angle. He said the angle should always point to the shaft not the outside or yoke. Does that make sense?

Wish we could have come this year to the Show. In the process of moving my Mom into an assisted living facility. Her is getting to where she needs some extra help. You guys have FUN. Hopefully next year.

Scott - I checked my trove of zerks and none of them would fit in that very tight area. But maybe there's a really short angled one? I'll go looking.

And I've never seen an angled grease needle like that. I have a straight needle on one of my guns and there's no way to get on with it, and I doubt I could with the angled needle. But I'll check.

Jim - This is the first one I've ever met where I couldn't get to the fitting by turning the suspension. I was working with it on the lift and with the suspension fully drooped the shaft basically goes straight in such that there was not enough extra clearance no matter how I turned it to make a difference. Maybe if it was on the ground it would, but I don't think it is much harder to roll the toolbox under the truck as a support for the shaft, pull the 4 nuts, and drop the shaft than to drop the truck down and crawl under, find I need to roll it, get back out and roll it, etc. I'd never lubed a u-joint with a gun when the caps weren't contained, but the c-clamp did the trick easily and grease came out of all four seals.

Bob & Bruce - I'd bet you guys are right that the u-joint is in wrong. I wasn't aware that the hole is on a bit of an angle, nor that the angle needs to point at the shaft. So it could easily be on wrong.

However, pulling the whole shaft off and pressing the joint out is way more work than just dropping the rear of the shaft to lube it. So until I have to replace the joint I think I'll do it that way. Or, if I can find a really short angled zerk like Scott suggested that might work.

Thanks, guys!

 

[Gary Lewis]

I have some buddies that work at a driveshaft shop. The u joint zerk hole is usually on one side of the joint at slight angle. He said the angle should always point to the shaft not the outside or yoke. Does that make sense?

Wish we could have come this year to the Show. In the process of moving my Mom into an assisted living facility. Her is getting to where she needs some extra help. You guys have FUN. Hopefully next year.

Bruce - We will miss you. But I remember moving my father into assisted living, which was NOT fun, and I had to be there for that. So I understand. My prayers are with you.

[Gary Lewis]

Bruce - We will miss you. But I remember moving my father into assisted living, which was NOT fun, and I had to be there for that. So I understand. My prayers are with you.

Well, I think it is time to take up the cudgel for progress or repair on Big Blue here rather than in Gary's Trip To Ouray. And one of the things I noted on the trip was a coolant leak, although I didn't know from whence it came.

Yesterday I tightened up the hose clamps on the lower radiator hose, but they weren't really loose. However, today when I came out I was greeted with a big spatter of coolant on the floor directly under the petcock on the radiator. And as you can see on the left below, the threads are wet so the leak is there rather than through the petcock itself.

So I snugged it up, but it was already pretty snug so I didn't go too far for fear of cracking the aluminum radiator. Shame that I didn't pull it and put sealant on the threads initially. But it looks like it is time to install the better one that Scott found so it can be drained w/o making a mess. I guess I'll add that to the list of near-term projects. And, at the same time pull and seal the coolant reservoir as I'm sure it was leaking as well.

In any event, this sorta makes me happy as I was really bummed that I might have to pull and return the radiator. Not only is that a pain, but I've run that 8mm tap through the pre-heat fitting and run it full of Water Weld to seal it up, and I was wondering what that would do to the warranty. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/thinking-26_orig.jpg

[Gary Lewis]

Well, I think it is time to take up the cudgel for progress or repair on Big Blue here rather than in Gary's Trip To Ouray. And one of the things I noted on the trip was a coolant leak, although I didn't know from whence it came.

Yesterday I tightened up the hose clamps on the lower radiator hose, but they weren't really loose. However, today when I came out I was greeted with a big spatter of coolant on the floor directly under the petcock on the radiator. And as you can see on the left below, the threads are wet so the leak is there rather than through the petcock itself.

So I snugged it up, but it was already pretty snug so I didn't go too far for fear of cracking the aluminum radiator. Shame that I didn't pull it and put sealant on the threads initially. But it looks like it is time to install the better one that Scott found so it can be drained w/o making a mess. I guess I'll add that to the list of near-term projects. And, at the same time pull and seal the coolant reservoir as I'm sure it was leaking as well.

In any event, this sorta makes me happy as I was really bummed that I might have to pull and return the radiator. Not only is that a pain, but I've run that 8mm tap through the pre-heat fitting and run it full of Water Weld to seal it up, and I was wondering what that would do to the warranty.

Looking forward to going with EFI on Big Blue, so am gathering part numbers here. In this post I'd just talked to Scotty and he said an OEM throttle body "is fine unless you want it to really rock above 3,500 - 4,000 rpm". I'm happy with the OEM, so am looking for options:

• Rock Auto: AUTOLINE 148071 Reman for $82.79.

• Pitt Auto Electric Company F4TZ 9E926-L for $224.58.

• BBK Performance Parts Power Plus Throttle Body 1987-2003 Ford F-250/F-350/RV 7.5L 460 is $399.99 at Summit. But note that it isn't for the later engines. Wonder what the differences are?

As for injectors, Scotty recommended 26# Accel from Summit Racing, and they are $360.95.

Idle Air Control:

• STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS AC55 is $31.79 from Rock Auto.

• MOTORCRAFT CX1665 is $57.79 from Rock Auto.

Throttle Position Sensor:

• STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS TH157T for $19.04 from Rock Auto.

• WALKER PRODUCTS 2001062 is $22.79 at Rock Auto.

What else am I going to need? What other/better options are there?

[swampedout]

Looking forward to going with EFI on Big Blue, so am gathering part numbers here. In this post I'd just talked to Scotty and he said an OEM throttle body "is fine unless you want it to really rock above 3,500 - 4,000 rpm". I'm happy with the OEM, so am looking for options:

• Rock Auto: AUTOLINE 148071 Reman for $82.79.

• Pitt Auto Electric Company F4TZ 9E926-L for $224.58.

• BBK Performance Parts Power Plus Throttle Body 1987-2003 Ford F-250/F-350/RV 7.5L 460 is $399.99 at Summit. But note that it isn't for the later engines. Wonder what the differences are?

As for injectors, Scotty recommended 26# Accel from Summit Racing, and they are $360.95.

Idle Air Control:

• STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS AC55 is $31.79 from Rock Auto.

• MOTORCRAFT CX1665 is $57.79 from Rock Auto.

Throttle Position Sensor:

• STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS TH157T for $19.04 from Rock Auto.

• WALKER PRODUCTS 2001062 is $22.79 at Rock Auto.

What else am I going to need? What other/better options are there?

Hey Gary,

This is the camera system I was thinking of. Its been a while since I looked it over and forgot or never realized it was professionally designed and installed. Anyways, it might be interesting. The build page has a bunch of other expedition style gadgets and thingamajigs I get a kick out of.

http://www.bajataco.com/totalvision/totalvision01.html

[Gary Lewis]

Hey Gary,

This is the camera system I was thinking of. Its been a while since I looked it over and forgot or never realized it was professionally designed and installed. Anyways, it might be interesting. The build page has a bunch of other expedition style gadgets and thingamajigs I get a kick out of.

http://www.bajataco.com/totalvision/totalvision01.html

Sam - That's a cool camera setup. That would be fun to have. But I'm not looking for anything as fancy. I'm thinking that a rear view mirror that has a video screen on the full width would be adequate. And a front an rear camera. I think I'll call Crutchfield and see what they have.

As for the cooling system, the coolant is drained and the !@#$%^&* Champion petcock has been replaced. But not without a bit of a mess and wasted coolant.

Here's a shot of how I drained it, and you can see the small stream coming down from the petcock into the funnel. But you might have missed the drip from the radiator support, so I circled it in red. And about the time I put the camera down that drip became a steady stream.

But once I got things drained I was able to check out the space available for the later reservoir, and it will JUST fit. In the shot below the reservoir needs to go 1" farther inboard to be missed by the hinge, but to do that it needs to come 1/2" farther forward to miss the receiver/drier. Fortunately there's just that much room available, so I can make it fit.

And given that, the Dorman one is on order from Amazon and is to be in Tuesday. We are running errands tomorrow so I'll move the PDB on Tuesday and start laying out the bracket that will be needed for the new reservoir.

[Gary Lewis]

Looking forward to going with EFI on Big Blue, so am gathering part numbers here. In this post I'd just talked to Scotty and he said an OEM throttle body "is fine unless you want it to really rock above 3,500 - 4,000 rpm". I'm happy with the OEM, so am looking for options:

• Rock Auto: AUTOLINE 148071 Reman for $82.79.

• Pitt Auto Electric Company F4TZ 9E926-L for $224.58.

• BBK Performance Parts Power Plus Throttle Body 1987-2003 Ford F-250/F-350/RV 7.5L 460 is $399.99 at Summit. But note that it isn't for the later engines. Wonder what the differences are?

As for injectors, Scotty recommended 26# Accel from Summit Racing, and they are $360.95.

Idle Air Control:

• STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS AC55 is $31.79 from Rock Auto.

• MOTORCRAFT CX1665 is $57.79 from Rock Auto.

Throttle Position Sensor:

• STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS TH157T for $19.04 from Rock Auto.

• WALKER PRODUCTS 2001062 is $22.79 at Rock Auto.

What else am I going to need? What other/better options are there?

Well, the acquisition of EFI parts has begun again. I just ordered BBK's #3502 throttle body. I'd misread their advert as saying it fits 1987 - 1993, when it actually says 1987 - 2003. I guess I want to "really rock above 3,500 - 4,000 rpm".

Seriously though, I don't like the idea of a rebuilt throttle body. Reading BBK's description I liked several things they said, like "BBK Performance F-Series 460 61mm throttle bodies are CNC machined from high quality 356 aluminum castings to ensure perfect OEM quality and fit every time. Features OEM quality throttle gear, double sealed bearings and o-ringed throttle shafts."

But, they are out of stock so it'll be 4-6 weeks before I get it. However, Tim, the tech who is from Leeds, England, got my joke that I went to Leeds to see Leeds Castle so I felt compelled to buy from him.