New Member Introduction - 1984 F250

[swampedout]

Hey folks, I just picked up this 1984 f250xlt 4x4. Previous owner said it has a 460 bored out 0.040, hooker headers, edelbrock carb. Airbag suspension, gear vendors overdrive. He also said it was previously owned by a gentlemen who worked at Naapa in Pagosa Springs CO. if anyone recognizes the truck, let me know. I'm always curious about the history of these things.

I'm used to working on older Japanese vehicles but I need something to tow/haul so I came back to Ford after about 10 years since my First truck, which was a 1994 f150.

It's been a long time since I've sat in something with this much power and driving it home was a blast!

I'd been looking for something with a 300 in it but this 250 checked off almost all my boxes and was in pretty good mechanical shape so I figure I'll put it to work for a couple months and see how it does. However, I do still want a 4x4 300 so if anyone can picture themselves being the other party in such a trade, let me know.

It seems like my biggest issue with this truck is going to be sorting all the wiring out. It has gone through a couple owners' worth of "modifications." Not all of them have passed the test of time. There's disconnected grounds, a headlight that fades in and out, overdrive is not receiving power, rear fuel pump not receiving power, trailer wires a mess of old splices, etc. But it does have cool stuff like msd ignition.

Other than that I'm probably looking at spark plugs and wires, tie rods and brakes.

I wish I could do the full restoration a truck of this era deserves but I bought it to work and get me through these worn out desert roads so my main investments above the basics will be in suspension upgrades and tires.

So I just want to thank everyone for all the information you've already made available. I'm an untrained shade tree mechanic without dads or uncles to teach me stuff so I learn a lot on forums. I will also apologize for any dumb questions I might ask. I'll try to keep them confined to this thread so if you don't want to hear me ask "where does this wire go?" every other week, you don't have to.

-Sam in New Mexico

[1986F150Six]

Welcome to the forum!

[grumpin]

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome!

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome!!! Glad you joined!

Where's home? We have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and I'd be happy to add you if I had a town/city.

Nice truck! I'll bet it is fun to drive. But I'm curious - is the front air bagged?

But, I don't think you want to ask your technical questions here. Instead I'd open a thread in the main section where you'll get more exposure to others. Maybe start a thread about the truck. Does it have a name?

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

Welcome Sam!

Glad you've joined the Forum.

We have all the wiring and troubleshooting manuals documented here.

Some of us are really good at reading schematics and locating points of failure.

I'd invite you to start a new topic down in the main section of the Forum

Maybe include some pictures to help us visualize the problem.

I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it.

[swampedout]

Welcome Sam!

Glad you've joined the Forum.

We have all the wiring and troubleshooting manuals documented here.

Some of us are really good at reading schematics and locating points of failure.

I'd invite you to start a new topic down in the main section of the Forum

Maybe include some pictures to help us visualize the problem.

I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it.

Thanks everyone!

I'll start a new thread in the general discussion for all my little questions. And I will take plenty of pictures. I'll try to get it up sometime today.

I'm still sorting through all the resources here. I'm very impressed with how thorough a lot of the documentation is. I was looking at various generations of fords and I'm feeling lucky right now I found a Bullnose.

Gary, to answer your questions: I'm right outside of Santa Fe, NM.

And only the rear is airbagged. Can the front be bagged as well? I only looked briefly at it, and the TTB system is still got me scratching my head a little bit. I've read a lot about it from trophy truck/pre-runner crowds and it seems like it's decently suited for my needs. It's definitely a lot tougher looking than some of the IFS systems I'm used to. The guy I bought the truck from also said he has a set of 99(?) 350 axles he'd give me. His impression was they'd be 3/4" off a direct swap.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks everyone!

I'll start a new thread in the general discussion for all my little questions. And I will take plenty of pictures. I'll try to get it up sometime today.

I'm still sorting through all the resources here. I'm very impressed with how thorough a lot of the documentation is. I was looking at various generations of fords and I'm feeling lucky right now I found a Bullnose.

Gary, to answer your questions: I'm right outside of Santa Fe, NM.

And only the rear is airbagged. Can the front be bagged as well? I only looked briefly at it, and the TTB system is still got me scratching my head a little bit. I've read a lot about it from trophy truck/pre-runner crowds and it seems like it's decently suited for my needs. It's definitely a lot tougher looking than some of the IFS systems I'm used to. The guy I bought the truck from also said he has a set of 99(?) 350 axles he'd give me. His impression was they'd be 3/4" off a direct swap.

Sam - You are now on the map - in Santa Fe. Beautiful country! Been there several times. And, we've even found Rancho de Chimayo north of there.

As for the F250's front suspension, I'm sure it can be air bagged, but with great difficulty. We were recently discussing a coil spring kit for converting the F250, and if that can be done then you could bag it. But, that kit is over $3K.

As for the '99 F350 axles, if I were you I'd get them. I think those will be the different bolt pattern for the wheels so you'd need to swap both front and rear axles so one spare would work on both ends. Plus you'd have to change wheels. And, get the front springs as well, if not the rears.

I'm not a big fan of the 4wd F250's front suspension. There's nothing wrong with TTB's, and they work great on the F150's. And there's nothing wrong with leaf springs, which work great on the F350's with solid axles. But in my experience the combo of TTB's and leaf springs isn't a good one. The geometry is wonky.

Big Blue had that suspension and it was very rough riding. Even when the sway bar was disconnected, although that helped a lot. And there was very little wheel travel. In fact, there was only 3/4" between the spring and the bump stop.

So I'm swapping that suspension out for a '95's F350 front Dana 60 solid axle and adding SuperDuty springs as well as a reverse shackle kit. You can read about that on my thread here: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install.

[swampedout]

Sam - You are now on the map - in Santa Fe. Beautiful country! Been there several times. And, we've even found Rancho de Chimayo north of there.

As for the F250's front suspension, I'm sure it can be air bagged, but with great difficulty. We were recently discussing a coil spring kit for converting the F250, and if that can be done then you could bag it. But, that kit is over $3K.

As for the '99 F350 axles, if I were you I'd get them. I think those will be the different bolt pattern for the wheels so you'd need to swap both front and rear axles so one spare would work on both ends. Plus you'd have to change wheels. And, get the front springs as well, if not the rears.

I'm not a big fan of the 4wd F250's front suspension. There's nothing wrong with TTB's, and they work great on the F150's. And there's nothing wrong with leaf springs, which work great on the F350's with solid axles. But in my experience the combo of TTB's and leaf springs isn't a good one. The geometry is wonky.

Big Blue had that suspension and it was very rough riding. Even when the sway bar was disconnected, although that helped a lot. And there was very little wheel travel. In fact, there was only 3/4" between the spring and the bump stop.

So I'm swapping that suspension out for a '95's F350 front Dana 60 solid axle and adding SuperDuty springs as well as a reverse shackle kit. You can read about that on my thread here: Sky's Offroad Design Super Duty RSK Install.

Gary,

The first thing that caught my attention on the TTB was the leaf springs. I dont know if they are meant to be this way but mine look flat, but flat in a way where the front is higher than the back, if that makes sense? As in there is a rake to the springs. Seemed odd to me.

I'm definitely going to try to get those axles. It might take me a couple years to actually do the swap but it seems like it would be worth it. From what it sounds like, the axles are already pulled and might not come with springs.

Thanks for putting me on the map! Let me know if you're ever out this way.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary,

The first thing that caught my attention on the TTB was the leaf springs. I dont know if they are meant to be this way but mine look flat, but flat in a way where the front is higher than the back, if that makes sense? As in there is a rake to the springs. Seemed odd to me.

I'm definitely going to try to get those axles. It might take me a couple years to actually do the swap but it seems like it would be worth it. From what it sounds like, the axles are already pulled and might not come with springs.

Thanks for putting me on the map! Let me know if you're ever out this way.

The springs on the 4wd F250's seem odd to me as well. And, they are pretty much flat when the weight is on them.

Good plan to get the axles if he's giving them to you. As for the springs, instead of looking for the original F350 springs you could go with the longer SuperDuty springs, like I'm doing. You'll have to go with a reverse shackle kit.

And, I'll let you know if we get out that way.

[swampedout]

The springs on the 4wd F250's seem odd to me as well. And, they are pretty much flat when the weight is on them.

Good plan to get the axles if he's giving them to you. As for the springs, instead of looking for the original F350 springs you could go with the longer SuperDuty springs, like I'm doing. You'll have to go with a reverse shackle kit.

And, I'll let you know if we get out that way.

Just because I haven't been asking stupid questions, doesn't mean I haven't been using the site! Getting into the resource sections. Great info there.

Updates: Love the 460. The last vehicle I was using to tow was the toyota 3.4L v6, which is a great engine and I'd put it every Japanese truck I own if I had the time/money. But it's no big block. Towed my project truck home finally and gave the 460 about as much of a workout as I'm ready to give it for the moment. But nowhere was I disappointed.

I knew it when I bought it that the transmission wasn't perfect. I usually drive a manual, but I can get used to the auto.

I pulled the airbags off the back because they limit my suspension travel too much. Getting home was a backbreaker with them on. Now it's a mild discomfort.

I like the TTB so far. Put Bilstein 5100 shocks on front and back and the suspension gets worked but it gets the job done for pretty much being stock.

Now the real problem: There's an 86 F250 with a manual trans and the 300 I6 that just popped up on craigslist.... I know I shouldn't but it's so tempting. Trying to get my buddy to buy it. We'll see what happens.