FordFETruck Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 excellent. yet I still don't like messing with an already torqued main set. I was planning on double checking the torque on all the rod and main bolts. DefInitely going to plastigage a rod and main bearing to get an idea what the clearances are on this thing. This engine will be scrutinized pretty good before it goes in the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordFETruck Posted May 11 Share Posted May 11 I was planning on double checking the torque on all the rod and main bolts. DefInitely going to plastigage a rod and main bearing to get an idea what the clearances are on this thing. This engine will be scrutinized pretty good before it goes in the truck. Alright had the truck aligned this morning and wound up not bending the I beams or radius arms. The guy said the issue with lack of return to center is the kingpins being a bit on the tight side and it has plenty of caster and camber was good so we set the toe and it does drive a bit better now with the toe set but there's not much that can be done about the lack of return to center other than let the kingpins break in more and maybe use a thinner grease. He wouldn't bend the I beams with those adjustable offset radius arm bushings but will if I change them but he said the alignment is pretty good where it is so I don't know if it would really make that noticeable of a difference if the I beams were bent or not at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigEasy Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 OMG. I GOT IT STARTED!!!!!! 2 Months ago I ripped all the wire out, and didn't take near enough pictures, and the ones I did take just made me more confused. But I bought a cheap harness, watched a lot of videos and read every page on this website and forum and with the help of ALL OF YOU, I got it done! I'll post some pics after I clean it all up, still have the dash and lights, but I installed push button start and it worked!! Thank you again to everyone in here, & GARY I need to send you a few cases of beer. You seriously saved me a lot of time and money. Thank you for creating this incredible resource. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 OMG. I GOT IT STARTED!!!!!! 2 Months ago I ripped all the wire out, and didn't take near enough pictures, and the ones I did take just made me more confused. But I bought a cheap harness, watched a lot of videos and read every page on this website and forum and with the help of ALL OF YOU, I got it done! I'll post some pics after I clean it all up, still have the dash and lights, but I installed push button start and it worked!! Thank you again to everyone in here, & GARY I need to send you a few cases of beer. You seriously saved me a lot of time and money. Thank you for creating this incredible resource. Matthew - It may take quite a while for the king pins to loosen up. But I don't know what else there is to do. Good luck! Mike - Glad you got it started! Such a good feeling! And glad we could help you. That's what makes us happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 Matthew - It may take quite a while for the king pins to loosen up. But I don't know what else there is to do. Good luck! Mike - Glad you got it started! Such a good feeling! And glad we could help you. That's what makes us happy. I've only replaced the king pins on my 1958 F100 and I did ream the bushings to fit so they weren't a problem. I also did the ones on our 1955 Packard Patrician. Darth's are still the original 1986 ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordFETruck Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 I've only replaced the king pins on my 1958 F100 and I did ream the bushings to fit so they weren't a problem. I also did the ones on our 1955 Packard Patrician. Darth's are still the original 1986 ones. I reamed these bushings myself with an adjustable kingpin reamer and they fit really well but I suppose the resistance changes with the weight of the truck on them. He did recommend I run a 1/4" steel plate bar from frame rail to frame rail which my truck no longer has a front sway bar but the brackets on the frame are there so I can bolt it right to that. That's on my list of things to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelplate Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 I reamed these bushings myself with an adjustable kingpin reamer and they fit really well but I suppose the resistance changes with the weight of the truck on them. He did recommend I run a 1/4" steel plate bar from frame rail to frame rail which my truck no longer has a front sway bar but the brackets on the frame are there so I can bolt it right to that. That's on my list of things to do. For what it's worth: I replaced all ball joints, tie rod ends, and u-joints in the front axle on the bronco, as well as adding a redhead steering box, and an appropriate flow-rate reducer in the saginaw pump. It changed the steering a lot, and things were really good after alignment, but it also did not return to center. After a while of driving on it, it does return to center now. I'm sure it'll be the same way for you as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordFETruck Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 For what it's worth: I replaced all ball joints, tie rod ends, and u-joints in the front axle on the bronco, as well as adding a redhead steering box, and an appropriate flow-rate reducer in the saginaw pump. It changed the steering a lot, and things were really good after alignment, but it also did not return to center. After a while of driving on it, it does return to center now. I'm sure it'll be the same way for you as well. I'm sure after about 50,000 miles they'll be good and broken in lol. It drives a lot better since I replaced my redhead box with a motorcraft reman. Redhead is 5 miles away from me and the guy I took the truck to has had so many problems with them he won't have anything to do with them. They used to be great when they were in Seattle but the owners died and the sons or whatever took over the company and stuff started getting weird at that point, which was when they moved to their Auburn, WA location in 2015 which is right when I went and bought one. They were just moving into that location when I bought mine. The truck drives pretty good other than the lack of return to center at the last 1/4 turn from straight otherwise and the new steering gear helped a ton so I guess it's about as good as it'll get. I do need to center the steering wheel slightly at the input splines since the box relation to the tires straight is now correct. My borgeson steering shaft is clockable any position and I got it a tad off from where it was when I changed the box but that's no big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scbill Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 I'm sure after about 50,000 miles they'll be good and broken in lol. It drives a lot better since I replaced my redhead box with a motorcraft reman. Redhead is 5 miles away from me and the guy I took the truck to has had so many problems with them he won't have anything to do with them. They used to be great when they were in Seattle but the owners died and the sons or whatever took over the company and stuff started getting weird at that point, which was when they moved to their Auburn, WA location in 2015 which is right when I went and bought one. They were just moving into that location when I bought mine. The truck drives pretty good other than the lack of return to center at the last 1/4 turn from straight otherwise and the new steering gear helped a ton so I guess it's about as good as it'll get. I do need to center the steering wheel slightly at the input splines since the box relation to the tires straight is now correct. My borgeson steering shaft is clockable any position and I got it a tad off from where it was when I changed the box but that's no big deal. FWIW, I just let an $8 part cost me $3k. The clip that goes on the TV cable @ the carb came loose...AOD toast! Son was driving, didn't realize what had happened, (I would have)... My question, does the lockup converter make a "bad pump whine", it does not do it after about 5/10 MPH. It was doing that before rebuild, still does after rebuild. Thanks for your input Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelplate Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 I'm sure after about 50,000 miles they'll be good and broken in lol. It drives a lot better since I replaced my redhead box with a motorcraft reman. Redhead is 5 miles away from me and the guy I took the truck to has had so many problems with them he won't have anything to do with them. They used to be great when they were in Seattle but the owners died and the sons or whatever took over the company and stuff started getting weird at that point, which was when they moved to their Auburn, WA location in 2015 which is right when I went and bought one. They were just moving into that location when I bought mine. The truck drives pretty good other than the lack of return to center at the last 1/4 turn from straight otherwise and the new steering gear helped a ton so I guess it's about as good as it'll get. I do need to center the steering wheel slightly at the input splines since the box relation to the tires straight is now correct. My borgeson steering shaft is clockable any position and I got it a tad off from where it was when I changed the box but that's no big deal. That borgeson steering shaft was one of the best things I put on the bronco. At half a million miles, most everything was loose and wallered out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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