WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[JMUBullnose]

I don't know about Fiat's designs. But I sure like what they've done with Jeep, Dodge and Ram. Or maybe more accurately what they've let Jeep, Dodge and Ram do. 707 horsepower in modern versions of '60s muscle cars? Let alone in a suburban soccer-mom SUV? And what corporation would let them design a vehicle where the windshield folds down? I know there's a lot of excitement over Ford "bringing the Bronco back", but Fiat / Jeep sure set the bar high. We'll see if Ford can rise to the occasion or if it's just going to be one more example of Ford recycling a name on a vehicle that no one likes as much as the original.

(And yes, I've heard that F I A T stands for Fix It Again, Tony!)

Well I've actually gotten time to work on Old Red. Recently changed oil, plugs, snugged up the fuel filter so no more leak (Yay!) and took it for a ride, promptly drained my battery by leaving the headlights on and then swapped in a new battery. Progress!

Today I think I'm going to replace the blower motor/cage - old one has had duct tape on the edge of the housing forever, I'm curious to see why. So as a backup I picked up a replacement set for a truck with factory AC.

After that I think the next project will be removing the very old cap from the truck and installing a folding tonneau cover. The cap has limited me when I've needed to move furniture, etc with the truck and the cap is dinged all the heck from a hail storm a decade ago and has a few leaks. Biggest challenge there is finding a new home for the cap.

[Nothing Special]

.... After that I think the next project will be removing the very old cap from the truck and installing a folding tonneau cover....

When I bought my '02 F-350 used it came with a roll-up tonneau cover. I really liked that for a lot of reasons. I like the looks of a truck without a topper and it gives that, clearance for easier loading and load of oversize things (as you mention) plus being able to protect most stuff.

The killer for me is that I need to be able to put my dogs in kennels in the bed of the truck. I can do that with an open bed, but I prefer having them covered, especially since they are usually sharing the bed with hunting gear or luggage, or camping gear or something. So I'm stuck with using a topper. But I think you'll like the tonneau.

[FuzzFace2]

.... After that I think the next project will be removing the very old cap from the truck and installing a folding tonneau cover....

When I bought my '02 F-350 used it came with a roll-up tonneau cover. I really liked that for a lot of reasons. I like the looks of a truck without a topper and it gives that, clearance for easier loading and load of oversize things (as you mention) plus being able to protect most stuff.

The killer for me is that I need to be able to put my dogs in kennels in the bed of the truck. I can do that with an open bed, but I prefer having them covered, especially since they are usually sharing the bed with hunting gear or luggage, or camping gear or something. So I'm stuck with using a topper. But I think you'll like the tonneau.

Last Wed/thru/fri I took the truck to work, 30 miles each way and ran great.

Also took the trash to the dump on Sat. in the rain.

On the way home Fri I hit HF and picked up a $100 transmission jack. Trying to use a floor jack by my self swapping T18 for the NP435 is asking for trouble!

I also ran into a NC chapter FTE member in the parking lot and he was able to look over the bed of my truck. He picked up a 80's flare side to flip but the bed has no wood and the bed side lips are gone.

He also has a 80's parts truck with a 95 flare side bed want to hook up with him to see what he has and is willing to part with.

Being the truck was good figured I would tinker some.

The behind the seat storage would move when start / stopping. I picked up Velcro weeks ago so got that "stuck" to the back wall and will not move but can pull the Velcro to remove the unit.

On a roll I wanted to look into why the dome light did not work?

Looking it over I found I cut the wire going up the pillar to the light of the old truck harness.

I also cut the wire from the harness I was using bbut both parts were long enough to splice together after I used a test light and the truck side had power when it should! After the splice was done the light did not work? Moved my test light to the dome light and hit it when trying to find ground and I now have a dome light, just need to get a lens for it.

That is were I should have stopped!

I picked up a clock off Ebay and figured easy install. Remove radio bezel find plug on truck side plug it in, bezel back and all would be good .... NOPE!

Pulled radio looking for plug, still can find it. Pull gauge bezel so I can pull dash pad to find plug, still cant find it. So truck dash is pulled apart sitting in the house garage, were I said no work would be done.

I think I found the wires just waiting to see if my thinking is right and if so how to go about wiring the clock in. I started a post on "clock wiring part II"

Dave ----

[fords4life]

Confirmed the ID number on the thermactor bypass valve today and Gary's findings are correct so at least I know what I'm looking for.

Also got bushings and links swapped on the front sway bar, almost got rear bar done, but the links are a bit too long so I will need to modify them. Got the oil dipstick mounted and RTV'd. Also started pulling all the old brittle plastic wrap of the harness. Just need to decide what I'm putting back on the harness.

So I had found 2 places with an NOS thermactor valve listed as in stock. One is $85 and NOS, the other is $50 and pulled from a used motor.....Guess I'm calling back tomorrow and dropping $85 for the new one. Was hoping for half that, but I guess I don't have much choice.

[Gary Lewis]

So I had found 2 places with an NOS thermactor valve listed as in stock. One is $85 and NOS, the other is $50 and pulled from a used motor.....Guess I'm calling back tomorrow and dropping $85 for the new one. Was hoping for half that, but I guess I don't have much choice.

At least you found some. And I'd agree - go with the NOS one.

 

[JMUBullnose]

.... After that I think the next project will be removing the very old cap from the truck and installing a folding tonneau cover....

When I bought my '02 F-350 used it came with a roll-up tonneau cover. I really liked that for a lot of reasons. I like the looks of a truck without a topper and it gives that, clearance for easier loading and load of oversize things (as you mention) plus being able to protect most stuff.

The killer for me is that I need to be able to put my dogs in kennels in the bed of the truck. I can do that with an open bed, but I prefer having them covered, especially since they are usually sharing the bed with hunting gear or luggage, or camping gear or something. So I'm stuck with using a topper. But I think you'll like the tonneau.

Thanks for the input! I hadn't considered the dog angle. Think I sourced a generic one from a local truck dealer for a reasonable amount.

[Nothing Special]

.... After that I think the next project will be removing the very old cap from the truck and installing a folding tonneau cover....

When I bought my '02 F-350 used it came with a roll-up tonneau cover. I really liked that for a lot of reasons. I like the looks of a truck without a topper and it gives that, clearance for easier loading and load of oversize things (as you mention) plus being able to protect most stuff.

The killer for me is that I need to be able to put my dogs in kennels in the bed of the truck. I can do that with an open bed, but I prefer having them covered, especially since they are usually sharing the bed with hunting gear or luggage, or camping gear or something. So I'm stuck with using a topper. But I think you'll like the tonneau.

Thanks for the input! I hadn't considered the dog angle. Think I sourced a generic one from a local truck dealer for a reasonable amount.

I never ran any kind of cover on my first truck until I got a dog. Then I ran a topper during hunting season and left it off the rest of the year. But my second truck (a SuperCab) also ended up being the family-going-up-to-the-lake vehicle. My wife didn't like the idea of our luggage being outside. So the topper stayed on all summer. At that point it wasn't worth taking it off between the end of hunting season and the start of cabin season, so I've probably had a topper on my truck for all but about five or six weeks total out of the last 22 years, and that mostly in one or two day periods.

Edit: that doesn't count the week or two every summer when I took the topper off to put a slide-in camper on. But now that we have a motorhome that doesn't happen either.

[JMUBullnose]

I never ran any kind of cover on my first truck until I got a dog. Then I ran a topper during hunting season and left it off the rest of the year. But my second truck (a SuperCab) also ended up being the family-going-up-to-the-lake vehicle. My wife didn't like the idea of our luggage being outside. So the topper stayed on all summer. At that point it wasn't worth taking it off between the end of hunting season and the start of cabin season, so I've probably had a topper on my truck for all but about five or six weeks total out of the last 22 years, and that mostly in one or two day periods.

Edit: that doesn't count the week or two every summer when I took the topper off to put a slide-in camper on. But now that we have a motorhome that doesn't happen either.

That's some commitment! There are definite benefits to having the cap - it's been nice to be able to store project materials while I wait to get time/space to work in the garage!

[85lebaront2]

I never ran any kind of cover on my first truck until I got a dog. Then I ran a topper during hunting season and left it off the rest of the year. But my second truck (a SuperCab) also ended up being the family-going-up-to-the-lake vehicle. My wife didn't like the idea of our luggage being outside. So the topper stayed on all summer. At that point it wasn't worth taking it off between the end of hunting season and the start of cabin season, so I've probably had a topper on my truck for all but about five or six weeks total out of the last 22 years, and that mostly in one or two day periods.

Edit: that doesn't count the week or two every summer when I took the topper off to put a slide-in camper on. But now that we have a motorhome that doesn't happen either.

That's some commitment! There are definite benefits to having the cap - it's been nice to be able to store project materials while I wait to get time/space to work in the garage!

I have had an aluminum camper shell or topper on each of my trucks. The 1958 F100 was a 6' styleside and the 1977 F150 and Darth had/have 8' beds so when I sold the 1977 I kept the topper, my older son, who bought it acquired a fiberglass topper for it.

[Nothing Special]

I have had an aluminum camper shell or topper on each of my trucks. The 1958 F100 was a 6' styleside and the 1977 F150 and Darth had/have 8' beds so when I sold the 1977 I kept the topper, my older son, who bought it acquired a fiberglass topper for it.

The topper that I (rarely) had on my first truck was aluminum. That was cheap and light, both of which were good. But it was cold in the winter and hot in the summer for the dogs (but was hardly on in the summer) and noisy.

Since then I've had fiberglass toppers and I keep getting better at ordering what I want. My current topper has a headliner (better insulation and quieter), a sliding front window (for pass-through from the cab), a 12V interior light (that's up above the back opening so it doesn't get smashed when loading / unloading), windows on both sides that slide open (about half of the area will open) with screens, but also will swing open (hinged at the top) for access. The side and back windows are tinted fairly dark (to help keep things both cooler and hidden) but the front window is clear (for better visibility through the topper from the cab). All six latches (2 per window) are keyed alike. About the only problem with it is that the brake light is on the window rather than being cut through the fiberglass above the window, so the wiring has been bashed enough loading/unloading that it's cut and the brake light doesn't work anymore.

I have 4 bolts per side drilled through the flange of the topper and the tops of the bed side on the truck holding it in place so there aren't those silly C-clamps to bump into. And I've added switched 12V power ports so I can plug in a fridge for trips to the cabin.