Gary Lewis Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Looks good! For others who might be interested, is this what you installed? https://www.etrailer.com/p-14001.html?hhyear=1984&hhmake=Ford&hhmodel=F-150,+F-250,+F-350 Looks great, John! That will give you a lot of peace of mind now when you are towing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I've been towing off my rear bumper ever since I got the truck and have long wanted to put a tow hitch on it. Yesterday, that is exactly what I did. Install was so easy I was certain I did something wrong. No blood given either!!! You're probably going to want to lower the hole in the end of your tire cradle so you can get the lug wrench in there to lift it, now that your receiver plate is blocking. I posted some pics back when I rebuilt mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machspeed Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Looks good! For others who might be interested, is this what you installed? https://www.etrailer.com/p-14001.html?hhyear=1984&hhmake=Ford&hhmodel=F-150,+F-250,+F-350 Yes David, that is what I ordered. It's a class 4, very nice, well designed, and not overly pricey! You know Jim, good point! But, I've never used the lug wrench to drop it. Always crawled under....no way to stay clean changing a tire on our trucks....lol! You know, my lug wrench and jack have never been removed from their OEM positioning. Blackie does not get flats....lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Blackie does not get flats....lol! Ya know, I have been driving my '84 Flareside since 2017 with no jack, no tire iron, and no spare...lol. Mind you, I don't go all that far with it, but I have driven it to visit my folks a few times, and that makes for a 250 mile round trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Blackie does not get flats....lol! Ya know, I have been driving my '84 Flareside since 2017 with no jack, no tire iron, and no spare...lol. Mind you, I don't go all that far with it, but I have driven it to visit my folks a few times, and that makes for a 250 mile round trip. https://www.ebay.com/i/143771037421?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=143771037421&targetid=4580290572086399&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=403204655&mkgroupid=1227055191472610&rlsatarget=pla-4580290572086399&abcId=9300377&merchantid=51291&msclkid=60be4d11452a1d18ff482d1bbdea4537 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machspeed Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Blackie does not get flats....lol! Ya know, I have been driving my '84 Flareside since 2017 with no jack, no tire iron, and no spare...lol. Mind you, I don't go all that far with it, but I have driven it to visit my folks a few times, and that makes for a 250 mile round trip. https://www.ebay.com/i/143771037421?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=143771037421&targetid=4580290572086399&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=403204655&mkgroupid=1227055191472610&rlsatarget=pla-4580290572086399&abcId=9300377&merchantid=51291&msclkid=60be4d11452a1d18ff482d1bbdea4537 Dave, I have a good spare. Corey needs that....lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Dave, I have a good spare. Corey needs that....lol! Ha! I have all the parts to put a spare under the bed, I even had them all powder coated, I just never did reinstall them. If I ever take it on a proper trip, I'll put the spare and everything back under there...I just need to find a nice 15x6 steel wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 I put a set of front and rear sway bars on Darth from a 1990 F250 2WD. The definitely improved the handling on corners, but the 168" wheelbase helps too as far as sweeping curves. On the king pins, are they new? If so were the bushings reamed properly or are yours plastic? I still have the original 1986 king pins in Darth and they are still well within tolerance, but I do grease them regularly. One day I will do sway bars to the truck, most likely when they fall into my lap LOL The kingpins were frozen on my truck and needed to be replaced. I was going to use and had bolted in the parts truck suspension as it was in great shape then fount out my wheels would not fit as the bolt pattern was different and did not have a set of wheels for them so have to have new bushings / pins installed in my setup. The is where the problem started. I was told by 4 different people there was only 1 shop that would press the bushings out / in and ream to size. Well they did do the pressing and reaming but when reaming they reamed EACH bushing to fit the pin from EACH side and not parallel so the pin would go through both bushings. I did not find this out for a few weeks latter when I went to mount the spindles to the beams and could not get the pins to fit. This also happened over Xmass / new years holiday and they are only open M-F like 8-4 and with my work hours I could not take them back like I should have. I used a brake cly hone to make the bushings larger for the pin to fit but I still had to drive them in a little. I do have a reamer now and should pull the front end apart to ream the bushings. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Thanks Dave. Yep, I just dropped $600 on new tires so spending $400 on a sway bar right now is too much. As long as it's not dangerous it's not too bad, just very annoying. I guess it's OK just to do the front sway bar or does it need both? Once it warms up some I will do a better inspection and read up on front parts and their workings. I have close to 5k on my truck since I got it on the road a year Nov. and you kind of get use to it. I have also seem new tires need to "seat" before they feel right. When they are first installed on either of my trucks they were a little darty till they wore in a little or scuff in like they do in racing. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Thanks Dave. Yep, I just dropped $600 on new tires so spending $400 on a sway bar right now is too much. As long as it's not dangerous it's not too bad, just very annoying. I guess it's OK just to do the front sway bar or does it need both? Once it warms up some I will do a better inspection and read up on front parts and their workings. I have close to 5k on my truck since I got it on the road a year Nov. and you kind of get use to it. I have also seem new tires need to "seat" before they feel right. When they are first installed on either of my trucks they were a little darty till they wore in a little or scuff in like they do in racing. Dave ---- I have a jack, dose not work so guess I don't have a jack Lug wrench that may not fit my after market wheels & lugs I do have all the parts to mount the spare so good there but .......... no wheel to fit my truck Nice looking hitch I picked up a Reese Towpower universal off either Ebay or CL When I installed it as per the paper I felt the hitch was to low so I had to pull it apart, cut bolts, and flip the over and side to side to raise it up some. What you doing for light tie in and will you be running trailer brake in the truck? I use a Tee (Etrailer.com) between the frame harness and the tail light harness that had flat 4 connection. I cut the flat 4 off as my trailer uses a 7 pin flat connector. I also ran a trailer brake & power wire to the connector. I still need to mount the controller in the truck yet but have all the parts to do it. I have a 7pin to flat 4 adaptor I keep in the truck just incase. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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