Oswald: Nothing Special's '97 F-250 Crew Cab

[81-F150-Explorer]

Ford's ratings strongly favor the auto trannies, but I'd not seen one with a minus number.

To me the manuals should be able to tow more than the autos since there's so much less heat generated. And especially when comparing a 3-speed auto to a 5-speed manual, or even a 4-speed auto vs the 5-speed manual. The heat generated in that torque converter is lost power.

Big Blue is rated for 11,500 lbs with a manual and 15,000 lbs with an auto. With the van yesterday we were probably at 15,000 lbs and it handled it very confidently. But the wide gearing makes all the difference.

Ford had an aversion to towing with manual trannies. They preferred automatics, as is seen in the owners manual specs.

If you look in the 1981 manual it specifically states "Do not tow with manual transmissions".

I think they had a lot of clutch failures at the time and would be my guess for the restriction.

With that said, I tow with my 1981 all the time. No issues with it. But I do not exceed my trucks capabilities. A F-150 isn't supposed to tow a single wide mobile home for example.

As for rust protection. Spray wax and paste wax are your friends. Wax everything including the engine bay. Also keep the drain holes open and clog free. Galvanized primer in critical areas helps too. Paint is also your friend. If you have a new part that isn't painted, paint it before assembly. Water pumps, brake boosters etc. are commonly not painted and will rust.

Also check the seams where sheet metal is spot and pinch welded together. If needed, caulk them with something like "3M all around body sealant." The drip rails on the cab are a common place for cracked sealant. Water leaks here can rust out the lower cab corners for example as the water runs down the inside of the cab sheet metal. The bed of the truck has similar seams that should be sealed as well. The sealer in the bed seams are usually "removed" by people dragging and hauling things, etc..

Hope this helps

[Nothing Special]

Ford's ratings strongly favor the auto trannies, but I'd not seen one with a minus number.

To me the manuals should be able to tow more than the autos since there's so much less heat generated. And especially when comparing a 3-speed auto to a 5-speed manual, or even a 4-speed auto vs the 5-speed manual. The heat generated in that torque converter is lost power.

Big Blue is rated for 11,500 lbs with a manual and 15,000 lbs with an auto. With the van yesterday we were probably at 15,000 lbs and it handled it very confidently. But the wide gearing makes all the difference.

This truck now has a name: Oswald.

Feel free to skip the rest of this post which has the LONG backstory on that name.

I've never really been one to name my trucks. The one I have at any point in time has always just been "my truck." My previous trucks have gotten names so to speak, but they haven't been particularly imaginative. My first truck (an '85 F-250HD) is called "my first truck." My second truck, a blue '95 F-150 SuperCab is called "the SuperCab" (although Lesley calls it "the blue truck"). My third truck, an '08 F-250 crew cab that I was able to sell back to Ford on a lemon law claim is called "the lemon." My fourth truck, a '02 F-350 crew cab diesel, is called "the diesel."

But now I have two trucks, the '97 F-250 crew cab and the '07 Dodge, so "my truck" doesn't really work anymore. The Dodge is pretty easy. I call it "the Dodge". But I've been struggling with what to call this truck. "My old truck" doesn't really work because that also applies to all my old trucks. "The Ford" doesn't really work because almost all of my trucks have been Fords (along with the Bronco and motorhome I currently have). "The white truck" doesn't work for the twin reasons that "the diesel" was also white, and I don't expect this truck to be white when it's done.

So that's why it needs a name. But why "Oswald"? For reasons I'll put in my Bronco thread, my Bronco has come to have the name "Pluto." Lesley is a Disney freak (and I'm at least an enabler!), so a Disney name seemed like a given. While a '97 truck doesn't seem old on this board, "old" is the adjective that gets used for it the most, so the oldest Disney character floated to the top.

"But wait a minute" you say. "Isn't Mickey the original Disney character?" Well no, he isn't. Walt's first work was animated "shorts" that would be shown before the main attraction at movie theaters. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was one of his first regular characters. But when he went from California to New York to try to negotiate a better deal he found that Universal Studios (his distributor) had "stolen" Oswald from him (Walt had never copyrighted Oswald and Universal had) so Walt was out of luck (pun intended). They had even hired away most of his animators.

So on the train ride back to California Walt came up with a new character, Mortimer Mouse (fortunately for him, his wife said something like "that's a stupid name, you should call him "Mickey"). And the rest is history. But Oswald was still first.

An interesting post script to that story is that in 2006 Al Michaels wanted out of his contract with ESPN so he could move over to NBC and work with John Madden. His request worked its way up through the ranks and eventually landed on the desk of Bob Iger, Disney's CEO (Disney owns ESPN). Iger said that NBC could have Al Michaels in trade for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. No one knew what he was talking about (including NBC!) but Iger knew that Universal, the parent company of NBC, still had the rights to Oswald in spite of not having done anything with him for over 60 years. So Disney got Oswald back, and Al Michaels became the answer to a trivia question!

So that's the LONG story. And now I have a truck with a name!

[Gary Lewis]

This truck now has a name: Oswald.

Feel free to skip the rest of this post which has the LONG backstory on that name.

I've never really been one to name my trucks. The one I have at any point in time has always just been "my truck." My previous trucks have gotten names so to speak, but they haven't been particularly imaginative. My first truck (an '85 F-250HD) is called "my first truck." My second truck, a blue '95 F-150 SuperCab is called "the SuperCab" (although Lesley calls it "the blue truck"). My third truck, an '08 F-250 crew cab that I was able to sell back to Ford on a lemon law claim is called "the lemon." My fourth truck, a '02 F-350 crew cab diesel, is called "the diesel."

But now I have two trucks, the '97 F-250 crew cab and the '07 Dodge, so "my truck" doesn't really work anymore. The Dodge is pretty easy. I call it "the Dodge". But I've been struggling with what to call this truck. "My old truck" doesn't really work because that also applies to all my old trucks. "The Ford" doesn't really work because almost all of my trucks have been Fords (along with the Bronco and motorhome I currently have). "The white truck" doesn't work for the twin reasons that "the diesel" was also white, and I don't expect this truck to be white when it's done.

So that's why it needs a name. But why "Oswald"? For reasons I'll put in my Bronco thread, my Bronco has come to have the name "Pluto." Lesley is a Disney freak (and I'm at least an enabler!), so a Disney name seemed like a given. While a '97 truck doesn't seem old on this board, "old" is the adjective that gets used for it the most, so the oldest Disney character floated to the top.

"But wait a minute" you say. "Isn't Mickey the original Disney character?" Well no, he isn't. Walt's first work was animated "shorts" that would be shown before the main attraction at movie theaters. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was one of his first regular characters. But when he went from California to New York to try to negotiate a better deal he found that Universal Studios (his distributor) had "stolen" Oswald from him (Walt had never copyrighted Oswald and Universal had) so Walt was out of luck (pun intended). They had even hired away most of his animators.

So on the train ride back to California Walt came up with a new character, Mortimer Mouse (fortunately for him, his wife said something like "that's a stupid name, you should call him "Mickey"). And the rest is history. But Oswald was still first.

An interesting post script to that story is that in 2006 Al Michaels wanted out of his contract with ESPN so he could move over to NBC and work with John Madden. His request worked its way up through the ranks and eventually landed on the desk of Bob Iger, Disney's CEO (Disney owns ESPN). Iger said that NBC could have Al Michaels in trade for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. No one knew what he was talking about (including NBC!) but Iger knew that Universal, the parent company of NBC, still had the rights to Oswald in spite of not having done anything with him for over 60 years. So Disney got Oswald back, and Al Michaels became the answer to a trivia question!

So that's the LONG story. And now I have a truck with a name!

I tow with a manual frequently and, so far, haven't fried a clutch. But I do see how that could happen. However, I also see how you could fry a tranny with something like a C6 that has no clutch in the torque converter. So there's a real tradeoff there.

As for Oswald, that's an interesting story. I'd heard of him but didn't really know the story. Cool!

[Nothing Special]

I tow with a manual frequently and, so far, haven't fried a clutch. But I do see how that could happen. However, I also see how you could fry a tranny with something like a C6 that has no clutch in the torque converter. So there's a real tradeoff there.

As for Oswald, that's an interesting story. I'd heard of him but didn't really know the story. Cool!

On the towing I wonder if concern over breaking driveline components with a clutch-dump is a concern? Basically that the ratings are for people that don't know how to drive a clutch. Or if it has to do with ability to hold speed on a hill without manually downshifting. Basically that the ratings are for people who don't know how to drive a manual.

Whatever, I always thought that was pretty silly, especially in the case of an 8800 GVWR truck with a 7900 GCWR (I think the GCWR with the 351, 3.54 gears and an auto would've been 10,000 lbs).

 

[Nothing Special]

As I discussed in this thread, it was getting time to do something about the rusty condition of this truck. I decided to try to restore it. I'm intending to cut out the rusted metal from the cab and weld in patch panels, and probably replace the bed and front fenders. I'm also planning on replacing the 460 and E4OD. Right now I'm leaning toward a 351W and a 5 speed manual trans (possibly a ZF5, possibly an NV4500, possibly a Tremec...).

Those are the current plans, we'll see what really happens!

At this point all I've done is put it out to pasture. As was discussed near the end of that thread above, I now have a 2007 Dodge 2500 with a 6.7L Cummins and a 6 speed auto. That's going to be "my truck" until I'm finished with the '97 Ford (in whateverway I end up being finished!). I don't have room for 2 trucks, a Bronco and a motorhome in my suburban driveway, so the '97 has to go away until I'm ready to work on it. So today it towed my Bronco up to my parents cabin. I don't think it realized that it wasn't coming back home with us! (we drove the Bronco home)

Hopefully the restoration will get started late this summer.

Well, Oswald got a little love this week. No work ON him, that would be too much to hope for. But at least he got to DO a little work.

We're at my folks cabin this week and I was putzing with a few smaller jobs. I needed to split some wood which involved moving the log splitter around. Then I needed to move the split wood out of the way, which involved moving my little utility trailer around. And then I did some work on my boat which involved moving that trailer around. As Gary knows, pushing a trailer off the front bumper is a LOT easier than backing a trailer, especially when it's a very small trailer that you can't see in your mirrors or over the tail gate. Oswald has a front receiver while the Dodge doesn't, so he got to flex his muscles just a bit. In spite of sitting in the woods for 2 months he started right up!

[Gary Lewis]

Well, Oswald got a little love this week. No work ON him, that would be too much to hope for. But at least he got to DO a little work.

We're at my folks cabin this week and I was putzing with a few smaller jobs. I needed to split some wood which involved moving the log splitter around. Then I needed to move the split wood out of the way, which involved moving my little utility trailer around. And then I did some work on my boat which involved moving that trailer around. As Gary knows, pushing a trailer off the front bumper is a LOT easier than backing a trailer, especially when it's a very small trailer that you can't see in your mirrors or over the tail gate. Oswald has a front receiver while the Dodge doesn't, so he got to flex his muscles just a bit. In spite of sitting in the woods for 2 months he started right up!

Way to go, Oswald!

Yes, pushing in front is soooo much easier to guide than pushing in back. So happy to have the front hitch.

And that makes "work" so much easier.

[BigBrother-84]

As Gary knows, pushing a trailer off the front bumper is a LOT easier than backing a trailer

Couple of years ago, a friend of mine gave me a hitch to install on Big Brother's front.

Each time I need it, I grumble while remembering it is still on a shelve. Shame on me.

[Gary Lewis]

As Gary knows, pushing a trailer off the front bumper is a LOT easier than backing a trailer

Couple of years ago, a friend of mine gave me a hitch to install on Big Brother's front.

Each time I need it, I grumble while remembering it is still on a shelve. Shame on me.

Silly boy!

[Nothing Special]

Silly boy!

Pluto (my Bronco) actually had a front receiver before he had a rear hitch!

[Nothing Special]

Pluto (my Bronco) actually had a front receiver before he had a rear hitch!

About a year since the last post in this thread, but I've finally started on Oswald's restoration! Or more accurately I've started working on him to get him ready for his restoration. So far it's just disassembly.

But to back up a bit, I posted in June about getting Oswald out of storage, and other than a dead battery, getting him started, loaded on a trailer and brought home to start working on him.

However, as discussed in these posts, my Dodge didn't like towing Oswald home. The Dodge ended up in the shop for three weeks, getting a new transmission. I needed a truck, so Oswald couldn't go under the knife yet as he needed to be the reliable drive-to-the-cabin truck for a few weeks. Fortunately he was up to the task. He even got to pull some bushes out for my son, but proved that he is tired when he couldn't spin the tires on wet grass.

Then the Dodge got back from the shop late on a Friday, so I drove Oswald to the cabin one last time (it's sad to have more confidence in a 27 year old truck than a 17 year old truck, but it is what it is). Since then I've been driving the Dodge to try to regain my confidence, and also going on vacation, and to the cabin.

But today I finally started working on Oswald! Nothing much yet, I just pulled the seats out, vacuumed up most of the mouse droppings (they are filthy creatures!) and started taking the dash out.

The overall plan for this project (in broad brush strokes) is:

• Replace the rusted metal above the windshield, in the cab corners, and wherever else it shows up

• Clean up the chassis

• Repower him. What with is still up in the air, but I'm currently leaning toward a 12 valve Cummins and a 5 speed manual trans.

• Restore the front clip, adding an intercooler if I do go with the Cummins

• Replace and/or restore the bed

The goal for this summer had been to finish restoring the cab. But that was with the idea of starting work in early June. The new goal is just to get the cab stripped out and removed so I can start trying to restore it next year.

OK, not much progress, and not a lot to show, but I do have one picture to document where he is.