Gary Lewis Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Your bed floor looks beautiful Cory! 😍 1/2" pipe is sized nominal ID so 5/8. Tubing is sized OD. (Gary is in the same predicament) I have transfer punches, but I don't think they are the 8' long that Gary needs for his tool box. But just a dab of grease on the end of one of your bolts should leave you a mark. Drill through something tiny (like 1/16") so you can center up the pip on the front of a forstner bit and make the washer recess.. Yes, the bed looks wonderful! Well done! And yes, I was in the same predicament. And my transfer punches are only 4" long, which leaves them way too short to go through the bed and supports to reach the box. Janey's solution was to put the bolts in place, heavily coat the ends with fingernail polish, and then push them up against the bottom of the box. It worked very well. As for getting in and out of the truck 500 times, yep. I was worn out last night. Not sure which would be the hardest - getting in and out of the bed and rolling under an F150 or getting in and out of the bed of a tall F300 (F250 on steroids) that is on a lift. For the most part I lifted the truck up to get under it so was standing up. But there were plenty of times I crawled under. And getting in the bed got to be a real challenge towards the end of the day as I don't let the lift come all the way down or the truck tends to walk sideways a bit each time, so I'm stepping on the step bar or rear wheel to get it and it is still a chore from there. Plus, I wonder if the fact that I'll turn 74 in just over a month had anything to do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 Yes, the bed looks wonderful! Well done! And yes, I was in the same predicament. And my transfer punches are only 4" long, which leaves them way too short to go through the bed and supports to reach the box. Janey's solution was to put the bolts in place, heavily coat the ends with fingernail polish, and then push them up against the bottom of the box. It worked very well. As for getting in and out of the truck 500 times, yep. I was worn out last night. Not sure which would be the hardest - getting in and out of the bed and rolling under an F150 or getting in and out of the bed of a tall F300 (F250 on steroids) that is on a lift. For the most part I lifted the truck up to get under it so was standing up. But there were plenty of times I crawled under. And getting in the bed got to be a real challenge towards the end of the day as I don't let the lift come all the way down or the truck tends to walk sideways a bit each time, so I'm stepping on the step bar or rear wheel to get it and it is still a chore from there. Plus, I wonder if the fact that I'll turn 74 in just over a month had anything to do with it? Good day gents! Happy Saturday or for Gary happy 6th Saturday! I’m hoping to install the new bed wood floor tomorrow so I’m trying to get a bunch of jobs completed today that are much easier with no bed floor in the way ha! So this truck...which kinda came in pieces if you remember, had no tail lights and what was left of the rear harness was trash. So I made a new harness today with Belden cable and installed a junction box on the rearmost crossmember. So input is from the cab, and three outputs to the 2 rear tail lights and the plate light. I know it looks a little messy, but I’m going to make a diagram to throw in the file folder (and glovebox) for the next guy. That’s a new plate bracket from Reamer and a NOS lamp assembly from EBay. I found a new Grote bulb socket and pigtail at a local truck shop this morning. Interesting...this ‘80 had no ground wire at all to the rear end. My ‘84 has a ground wire to the rear end, but only to the plate light. I think in 85 or 86 they added ground wires for the tail lights. (I used stainless M6 screws to mount my junction box, but they are threaded into the frame so they double as ground lugs...one in the box and one out of the box in case I get ambitious enough to run a dedicated ground wire from up front). Anyway, another step towards being a functional truck...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Good day gents! Happy Saturday or for Gary happy 6th Saturday! I’m hoping to install the new bed wood floor tomorrow so I’m trying to get a bunch of jobs completed today that are much easier with no bed floor in the way ha! So this truck...which kinda came in pieces if you remember, had no tail lights and what was left of the rear harness was trash. So I made a new harness today with Belden cable and installed a junction box on the rearmost crossmember. So input is from the cab, and three outputs to the 2 rear tail lights and the plate light. I know it looks a little messy, but I’m going to make a diagram to throw in the file folder (and glovebox) for the next guy. That’s a new plate bracket from Reamer and a NOS lamp assembly from EBay. I found a new Grote bulb socket and pigtail at a local truck shop this morning. Interesting...this ‘80 had no ground wire at all to the rear end. My ‘84 has a ground wire to the rear end, but only to the plate light. I think in 85 or 86 they added ground wires for the tail lights. (I used stainless M6 screws to mount my junction box, but they are threaded into the frame so they double as ground lugs...one in the box and one out of the box in case I get ambitious enough to run a dedicated ground wire from up front). Anyway, another step towards being a functional truck...lol I like it, Cory! Should last a good long time, and be easy to work on should you ever have to - which I doubt. And the license plate and light looks great. As for the ground, the '81 EVTM shows that they used the frame as ground for the lights. You didn't have that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 I like it, Cory! Should last a good long time, and be easy to work on should you ever have to - which I doubt. And the license plate and light looks great. As for the ground, the '81 EVTM shows that they used the frame as ground for the lights. You didn't have that? Looking good there Cory. My 81 did not have a ground wire from the front to the rear either. The plate light socket (pig tail) you can get at any parts store as it is a GM 1/4 turn type deal. The pig tail has 2 wires so 1 I have power going in using a connector to remove it from the main harness and the other wire a loop to ground. IIRC the tail lights ground through the brackets to the bed sides. Remember I have a metal ribbed floor and I have a frame ground in the engine bay. BTW even the 81 style side did not have a ground wire to the front, it was done at the tail lights screwed to the bed in the light area. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Good day gents! Happy Saturday or for Gary happy 6th Saturday! I’m hoping to install the new bed wood floor tomorrow so I’m trying to get a bunch of jobs completed today that are much easier with no bed floor in the way ha! So this truck...which kinda came in pieces if you remember, had no tail lights and what was left of the rear harness was trash. So I made a new harness today with Belden cable and installed a junction box on the rearmost crossmember. So input is from the cab, and three outputs to the 2 rear tail lights and the plate light. I know it looks a little messy, but I’m going to make a diagram to throw in the file folder (and glovebox) for the next guy. That’s a new plate bracket from Reamer and a NOS lamp assembly from EBay. I found a new Grote bulb socket and pigtail at a local truck shop this morning. Interesting...this ‘80 had no ground wire at all to the rear end. My ‘84 has a ground wire to the rear end, but only to the plate light. I think in 85 or 86 they added ground wires for the tail lights. (I used stainless M6 screws to mount my junction box, but they are threaded into the frame so they double as ground lugs...one in the box and one out of the box in case I get ambitious enough to run a dedicated ground wire from up front). Anyway, another step towards being a functional truck...lol I'm pretty sure it was the '87 model year change when Ford added a lot of ground 'home runs' to the harness. (this would be late '86 production) The truck is looking great, Cory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 Looking good there Cory. My 81 did not have a ground wire from the front to the rear either. The plate light socket (pig tail) you can get at any parts store as it is a GM 1/4 turn type deal. The pig tail has 2 wires so 1 I have power going in using a connector to remove it from the main harness and the other wire a loop to ground. IIRC the tail lights ground through the brackets to the bed sides. Remember I have a metal ribbed floor and I have a frame ground in the engine bay. BTW even the 81 style side did not have a ground wire to the front, it was done at the tail lights screwed to the bed in the light area. Dave ---- Dave, My ‘84 Flareside has a ground in the rear harness but it is only tied to the licence plate lamp, nothing else. The taillights were grounded only to the bed, through the mounting brackets. Do any of you know what this wire might have been for on the 1980? It enters the firewall through a large rubber grommet just below the mounting studs for the park brake bracket/assembly. It is light blue and goes up behind the fuse box. There is a plug just outside the firewall and the wire is then green (I think). It has the fabric sheathing on it like the wire for the temp sensor and oil pressure sensor. It did have a single push on plug on the end of it down under the cab. Anybody know what it is for off hand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Dave, My ‘84 Flareside has a ground in the rear harness but it is only tied to the licence plate lamp, nothing else. The taillights were grounded only to the bed, through the mounting brackets. Do any of you know what this wire might have been for on the 1980? It enters the firewall through a large rubber grommet just below the mounting studs for the park brake bracket/assembly. It is light blue and goes up behind the fuse box. There is a plug just outside the firewall and the wire is then green (I think). It has the fabric sheathing on it like the wire for the temp sensor and oil pressure sensor. It did have a single push on plug on the end of it down under the cab. Anybody know what it is for off hand? I know the 4wd indicator is a single light blue wire with a connector (417) before it reaches the transfer case. While I know nothing about an early (1980) harness, the wire colour is going to identify it's intended purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 I know the 4wd indicator is a single light blue wire with a connector (417) before it reaches the transfer case. While I know nothing about an early (1980) harness, the wire colour is going to identify it's intended purpose. Jim's nailed it - that's the 4wd wire. Great work on the wiring We have trailer junction boxes on the rear cross members of our flatbed trucks since the wiring always ends up hacked up on those. If you ever wire in a 7way, you have just made life a lot easier for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 Jim's nailed it - that's the 4wd wire. Great work on the wiring We have trailer junction boxes on the rear cross members of our flatbed trucks since the wiring always ends up hacked up on those. If you ever wire in a 7way, you have just made life a lot easier for you. Awesome, thanks guys. That explains why I don’t have it on my ‘84, and why it wasn’t connected to anything on this truck (there was no trans or t case in it when I bought it). So how did it work then? It just went to ground when 4x4 was engaged? I’ll have to check behind the instrument cluster for wiring as the truck has no 4x4 indicator light...just a black blank where the light would be. The BW1356 trans case in the truck now I assume has a two wire 4x4 switch? I’ll have to investigate this further to see if this truck will ever have a 4x4 light...it may not lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Awesome, thanks guys. That explains why I don’t have it on my ‘84, and why it wasn’t connected to anything on this truck (there was no trans or t case in it when I bought it). So how did it work then? It just went to ground when 4x4 was engaged? I’ll have to check behind the instrument cluster for wiring as the truck has no 4x4 indicator light...just a black blank where the light would be. The BW1356 trans case in the truck now I assume has a two wire 4x4 switch? I’ll have to investigate this further to see if this truck will ever have a 4x4 light...it may not lol. Yes, it is grounded in 4wd, and I believe the 1356 is the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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