Gary Lewis Posted August 29 Author Share Posted August 29 I THINK the trim was low on the body up through '84, but was raised closer to the door handles briefly in '85 and then back low mid-year in '85 (I'm pretty sure about the '85 and later, but less sure about where it was in '84 and earlier). The trim is high in that picture so I'm thinking it's an early '85. I had an early '85, and when I had some bodywork done on it in about '92 those trim pieces already weren't available. The joys of a 1/2 model year part! I think the change was between 84 and 85 and it didn't change again. Here's 84 on the left and early '85 on the right. Then below that is late 85 and then 86. (You can tell early 85 as it had the stick-on trim and late 85 as it doesn't.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scbill Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 I think the change was between 84 and 85 and it didn't change again. Here's 84 on the left and early '85 on the right. Then below that is late 85 and then 86. (You can tell early 85 as it had the stick-on trim and late 85 as it doesn't.) 83 had this style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted August 29 Author Share Posted August 29 83 had this style. Yes, 1980 - 84 had the break above the marker light and 85 & 6 had it below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 I'm waiting for Jeff to chime in! Oh Yeah, I love these white steel wheels! Sorry for delay Gentlemen. Presently, the short free time I have for the Forum is spent on the "other side of the Black Hole", testing InVision with Gary to understand how crossing the event horizon will take place. «Progress», I would say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordFETruck Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 I'm waiting for Jeff to chime in! Oh Yeah, I love these white steel wheels! Sorry for delay Gentlemen. Presently, the short free time I have for the Forum is spent on the "other side of the Black Hole", testing InVision with Gary to understand how crossing the event horizon will take place. «Progress», I would say! Did some odds and ends yesterday. I replaced the two shifter linkage bushings from the bell crank to the shifter, should have done that when I put the engine and transmission in and I readjusted the linkage it got kicked out of position slightly somehow when I put the engine and trans in. Went to adjust the shift modulator the other day and one of the flats broke for the screwdriver slot so I couldn't adjust it anymore, replaced it and adjusted it - it was holding the shifts longer than I wanted. Greased kingpins and decided to turn the driver side adjustable radius arm bushing since it had a tendency to drift to the left slightly on some roads. It was either that or greasing the kingpins, I don't know which but the steering return to center has never been better and it drives excellent on the highway. I barely turned that bushing at all. Think the next project is replace the ICVR and put my new LED's in since I have a few occasionally twinkling. I found a OEM like solid state ICVR pretty cheap so we'll see how it works. It's an ACP brand regulator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 Did some odds and ends yesterday. I replaced the two shifter linkage bushings from the bell crank to the shifter, should have done that when I put the engine and transmission in and I readjusted the linkage it got kicked out of position slightly somehow when I put the engine and trans in. Went to adjust the shift modulator the other day and one of the flats broke for the screwdriver slot so I couldn't adjust it anymore, replaced it and adjusted it - it was holding the shifts longer than I wanted. Greased kingpins and decided to turn the driver side adjustable radius arm bushing since it had a tendency to drift to the left slightly on some roads. It was either that or greasing the kingpins, I don't know which but the steering return to center has never been better and it drives excellent on the highway. I barely turned that bushing at all. Think the next project is replace the ICVR and put my new LED's in since I have a few occasionally twinkling. I found a OEM like solid state ICVR pretty cheap so we'll see how it works. It's an ACP brand regulator. I stopped by National Parts Depot this morning to pick up some items for both my old F150's door I bought as a memory, and some small parts for my F350. The F150 door received a new door glass run, the beltline, and the upper trim molding (Dennis Carpenter piece from the original tooling). I picked up a used mirror and regulator on Ebay, so once I have those, all I will need is the lower trim molding to finish out the door. For the F350, I picked up a 460 Emission decal for the radiator support, a battery hold down clamp for the driver's side bricknose tray, some repro tail lights (that I had to trim to fit ), and a throttle cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 I stopped by National Parts Depot this morning to pick up some items for both my old F150's door I bought as a memory, and some small parts for my F350. The F150 door received a new door glass run, the beltline, and the upper trim molding (Dennis Carpenter piece from the original tooling). I picked up a used mirror and regulator on Ebay, so once I have those, all I will need is the lower trim molding to finish out the door. For the F350, I picked up a 460 Emission decal for the radiator support, a battery hold down clamp for the driver's side bricknose tray, some repro tail lights (that I had to trim to fit ), and a throttle cable. It would be really cool to have a place like NPD locally! I always buy TYC head and tail lights. They're inexpensive and ffit like a glove every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 It would be really cool to have a place like NPD locally! I always buy TYC head and tail lights. They're inexpensive and ffit like a glove every time. I am fortunate to have them pretty local to me. Saves me on shipping costs and I get to see the cool vehicle they rotate around in the lobby. As for TYC, that's who made these taillights. One came in a TYC box, and the other came in a United Pacific box but was obviously a TYC product with the sticker ripped off (you can't rip off the TYC logo molded into the plastic though). They fit great once I trimmed the excess and re-drilled the holes for the screws, but I'm not impressed because I shouldn't have to do that at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 It would be really cool to have a place like NPD locally! I always buy TYC head and tail lights. They're inexpensive and ffit like a glove every time. I am fortunate to have them pretty local to me. Saves me on shipping costs and I get to see the cool vehicle they rotate around in the lobby. As for TYC, that's who made these taillights. One came in a TYC box, and the other came in a United Pacific box but was obviously a TYC product with the sticker ripped off (you can't rip off the TYC logo molded into the plastic though). They fit great once I trimmed the excess and re-drilled the holes for the screws, but I'm not impressed because I shouldn't have to do that at all. I have a pair of LKQ ones on Darth. My son got them for his 1986 F150 and found they just didn't look right on the 1986 bed. Since I had replaced the bed with a later dually bed (1985/86 is different from 1980-1984), this is due to the change from a Dana axle to a Ford/Sterling axle and widening the track width. As a result, finding a good 1985/86 bed is essentially mission impossible, but 1987-1997 beds aren't that hard to find. He wanted to use the later tailights as they are brighter even though they use the same bulb, better reflector and lens design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salans7 Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 I have a pair of LKQ ones on Darth. My son got them for his 1986 F150 and found they just didn't look right on the 1986 bed. Since I had replaced the bed with a later dually bed (1985/86 is different from 1980-1984), this is due to the change from a Dana axle to a Ford/Sterling axle and widening the track width. As a result, finding a good 1985/86 bed is essentially mission impossible, but 1987-1997 beds aren't that hard to find. He wanted to use the later tailights as they are brighter even though they use the same bulb, better reflector and lens design. One thing I haven't really researched is whether the aftermarket taillights have a better design to fix those issues. You're correct in that the 80-86 taillights are always pretty dim compared to the newer trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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