"Rocky" - 1981 F250 Restoration

[FuzzFace2]

maybe i am missing something. does the bed from an 86 fit an 80 ?and if so how can the frames be different widths? all too often i see beds swapped from 80 on through to 96. same bolt pattern.i know that 60s and 70s trucks are different. and i have modified brackets to use older style bumpers before.

We're the brackets from your old bumper?

If so they might been a package deal, bumper & brackets to fit the truck.

Now you want to use the old brackets with new bumper and it don't fit!

Measure say from the ball mount to the bracket holes and you may find they are different between the two bumpers.

Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

I think you may have the wrong bumper mounts. But, it sounds like you know how to make it fit.

LOL well, not really. But it's not off by much. I was too tired and cold to deal with it at the time, but it looked like about 1.5" on either side. I guess my options are to add a spacer to the frame, maybe via some square tubing, or to remove the bumper and weld in an extra mounting rib in the right location. It should be easy, I have the old one, but I'm not a very experienced welder so I might do better taking it somewhere. It can't cost that much - I had a guy tig up an aluminum intake manifold for me once and it was only $75.

I would have to do something like that even if I had kept the old one. Not only was the old one in rough shape rust-wise, but it also had a bunch of welds let go along the plate the ball normally attaches to. Somebody added an aftermarket Class III hitch to Rocky so I don't plan to use the ball for towing, but it's always handy knowing that attachment point at least "works".

Question for you guys, is there a preferred brand or style of rock slider / side step? This is one case I'm not into the original factory option, I want something more modern. Looking at the frame from underneath it seems farther from the edge of the cab than on my other later model trucks. Attaching anything directly to it would need quite an offset. So I assume this will need to be bolted to the cab floor or something? Wondering if there's a "just do this, its easy and solid" option here.

I have a used pair of Westin Platinum Series step bars on Big Blue. But as light as the tubes are they are certainly not rock sliders, although I wish they were.

I had to make the mounts that attach to the frame but initially used the original brackets which attach the bar to the mounts. Here are some pics, although if you are interested I can take more. But, suffice to say that there was a LOT of fabrication.

In this first pic you can see the rear brackets on the left and the front brackets on the right. And each pair has the original bracket on the right and my beefed-up version on the left. Basically, what I did was to put a second side on each and a piece of angle that bolts to the bottom of the mounts. And I did that because in the recent trip to Colorado we attached a winch line to the step bar and wound up bending the bracket. That won't happen now.

And in this pic you can see everything powder coated. On the left are the front mounts that attach to the frame, and on the right are the rear mounts that attach to the front spring hanger for the rear spring. And in the middle are the brackets that attach to the mounts. They slip over the ends of the mounts and bolt to them top and bottom. And the step bar itself bolts to the bracket.

 

[taskswap]

I have a used pair of Westin Platinum Series step bars on Big Blue. But as light as the tubes are they are certainly not rock sliders, although I wish they were.

I had to make the mounts that attach to the frame but initially used the original brackets which attach the bar to the mounts. Here are some pics, although if you are interested I can take more. But, suffice to say that there was a LOT of fabrication.

In this first pic you can see the rear brackets on the left and the front brackets on the right. And each pair has the original bracket on the right and my beefed-up version on the left. Basically, what I did was to put a second side on each and a piece of angle that bolts to the bottom of the mounts. And I did that because in the recent trip to Colorado we attached a winch line to the step bar and wound up bending the bracket. That won't happen now.

And in this pic you can see everything powder coated. On the left are the front mounts that attach to the frame, and on the right are the rear mounts that attach to the front spring hanger for the rear spring. And in the middle are the brackets that attach to the mounts. They slip over the ends of the mounts and bolt to them top and bottom. And the step bar itself bolts to the bracket.

Wow those are gorgeous. A bit above of my skill level though I think! I'll keep poking around.

On the

Regarding the bumper I didn't take the brackets that came with this one but they LOOK the same. They're definitely both some kind of "step bumper" because you can tell those by the diamond-plate tread across the top. But they clearly are different at least a little. In the diagram above there's a ghost view of what looks like a single plate welded into the inside of the bumper, but it's not, it's actually a single bent U-shaped piece from one side to the other, including the step section.

On my old bumper that measures about 37.5" from side plate to side plate. The new one came off an '83 F150 and measures 33" or so. The Illustrated Parts Manual doesn't have measurements here but they do have a different bumper (looks the same but different part number) starting in '87. I didn't pay much attention to the truck I took this off of (I was moving fast, there were literally two guys pulling from the same truck as me that day) but I suppose maybe somebody had an accident and replaced the bumper at some point with whatever they could get. But the '87 doesn't really answer it either because that has some kind of replaceable top surface piece. Mine is the same diamond-plate as my old one.

Anyway, a fun mystery. But after looking at it I think it's not really that big of a deal to make up the gap. I'll probably just put in some pieces of rectangular tubing, use longer bolts, and put bushings inside the tube to prevent them from getting crushed. I think it'll work fine. I'm not going to bumper-pull anything anyway.

[taskswap]

Wow those are gorgeous. A bit above of my skill level though I think! I'll keep poking around.

On the

Regarding the bumper I didn't take the brackets that came with this one but they LOOK the same. They're definitely both some kind of "step bumper" because you can tell those by the diamond-plate tread across the top. But they clearly are different at least a little. In the diagram above there's a ghost view of what looks like a single plate welded into the inside of the bumper, but it's not, it's actually a single bent U-shaped piece from one side to the other, including the step section.

On my old bumper that measures about 37.5" from side plate to side plate. The new one came off an '83 F150 and measures 33" or so. The Illustrated Parts Manual doesn't have measurements here but they do have a different bumper (looks the same but different part number) starting in '87. I didn't pay much attention to the truck I took this off of (I was moving fast, there were literally two guys pulling from the same truck as me that day) but I suppose maybe somebody had an accident and replaced the bumper at some point with whatever they could get. But the '87 doesn't really answer it either because that has some kind of replaceable top surface piece. Mine is the same diamond-plate as my old one.

Anyway, a fun mystery. But after looking at it I think it's not really that big of a deal to make up the gap. I'll probably just put in some pieces of rectangular tubing, use longer bolts, and put bushings inside the tube to prevent them from getting crushed. I think it'll work fine. I'm not going to bumper-pull anything anyway.

Picking away at little items. Got the 7/4-pin combo trailer socket installed (but not wired yet).

I also got the license plate camera frame installed (also not wired). Electrical is my big upcoming task so I'm trying to get all the peripherals mounted so I can sort out connections to them.

 

[mat in tn]

Picking away at little items. Got the 7/4-pin combo trailer socket installed (but not wired yet).

I also got the license plate camera frame installed (also not wired). Electrical is my big upcoming task so I'm trying to get all the peripherals mounted so I can sort out connections to them.

i agree .it's a great find as condition goes and certainly looks to be made for a ford. if you can make up the difference within the bumper at its mounting points ,i can't see it being any weaker. possibly weaker if you were to space it at the frame but hard to say for sure or by how much

[Gary Lewis]

Picking away at little items. Got the 7/4-pin combo trailer socket installed (but not wired yet).

I also got the license plate camera frame installed (also not wired). Electrical is my big upcoming task so I'm trying to get all the peripherals mounted so I can sort out connections to them.

Making progress.

[taskswap]

Making progress.

Yep!

So today was a bunch of little things and one big thing. I got the wheels!

I'll take a better pic of the whole truck tomorrow. The photo is modern-camera-magic - it was way darker than it looks. The sun was down and it was getting late. I got 3 of the 4 wheels mounted and then ran into a snag. So typical "Oh... Rocky..." moment. Every set of lug nuts was different on every wheel. I had my whole socket set out. Not kidding.

Things went fine for the first 3 wheels but on the 4th EVERY lug nut is frozen on there. I normally would never use PB Blaster or anything around a brake, but I chanced it and still no go. Guys, I'm no He-Man but I'm not a wilting daisy either. Even with a large lug wrench and a 2' breaker bar stuck in one end of it I couldn't budge these nuts. I actually stopped because I've broken engine manifold studs before doing this and figured I was about in that territory.

Tomorrow's a new day but I know I don't have a ton of options. I don't really want to use a torch because I don't want to risk annealing the studs. I can't drive the truck to a tire shop to have them use their biggest impacts on it right now because you know, no steering wheel or instrument panel makes that a MITE challenging. I could tow it over, it's only a few streets away, but I'm slammed with work the next few days pre-holiday.

I'm tempted at this point to get some nut splitters. I've never tried one on a lug nut - the angle of the wheel makes it complicated. But barring any other options it might be my best plan... Somebody stop me from doing something idiotic...

[mat in tn]

Yep!

So today was a bunch of little things and one big thing. I got the wheels!

I'll take a better pic of the whole truck tomorrow. The photo is modern-camera-magic - it was way darker than it looks. The sun was down and it was getting late. I got 3 of the 4 wheels mounted and then ran into a snag. So typical "Oh... Rocky..." moment. Every set of lug nuts was different on every wheel. I had my whole socket set out. Not kidding.

Things went fine for the first 3 wheels but on the 4th EVERY lug nut is frozen on there. I normally would never use PB Blaster or anything around a brake, but I chanced it and still no go. Guys, I'm no He-Man but I'm not a wilting daisy either. Even with a large lug wrench and a 2' breaker bar stuck in one end of it I couldn't budge these nuts. I actually stopped because I've broken engine manifold studs before doing this and figured I was about in that territory.

Tomorrow's a new day but I know I don't have a ton of options. I don't really want to use a torch because I don't want to risk annealing the studs. I can't drive the truck to a tire shop to have them use their biggest impacts on it right now because you know, no steering wheel or instrument panel makes that a MITE challenging. I could tow it over, it's only a few streets away, but I'm slammed with work the next few days pre-holiday.

I'm tempted at this point to get some nut splitters. I've never tried one on a lug nut - the angle of the wheel makes it complicated. But barring any other options it might be my best plan... Somebody stop me from doing something idiotic...

yeah, the new cameras can make low light look like mid-day. and in some cases make part of your fender look red. really like the three ball hitch although i have not used one there before. maybe i gotup too early today. haha.

[Gary Lewis]

Yep!

So today was a bunch of little things and one big thing. I got the wheels!

I'll take a better pic of the whole truck tomorrow. The photo is modern-camera-magic - it was way darker than it looks. The sun was down and it was getting late. I got 3 of the 4 wheels mounted and then ran into a snag. So typical "Oh... Rocky..." moment. Every set of lug nuts was different on every wheel. I had my whole socket set out. Not kidding.

Things went fine for the first 3 wheels but on the 4th EVERY lug nut is frozen on there. I normally would never use PB Blaster or anything around a brake, but I chanced it and still no go. Guys, I'm no He-Man but I'm not a wilting daisy either. Even with a large lug wrench and a 2' breaker bar stuck in one end of it I couldn't budge these nuts. I actually stopped because I've broken engine manifold studs before doing this and figured I was about in that territory.

Tomorrow's a new day but I know I don't have a ton of options. I don't really want to use a torch because I don't want to risk annealing the studs. I can't drive the truck to a tire shop to have them use their biggest impacts on it right now because you know, no steering wheel or instrument panel makes that a MITE challenging. I could tow it over, it's only a few streets away, but I'm slammed with work the next few days pre-holiday.

I'm tempted at this point to get some nut splitters. I've never tried one on a lug nut - the angle of the wheel makes it complicated. But barring any other options it might be my best plan... Somebody stop me from doing something idiotic...

Before you strip the nuts or studs off, check to see if they have left-hand threads. Some of the F250's and F350's came with LH threads on the left side of the truck.

I'm not remembering which axles got those threads, but yours might. There may be an "LH" on the end of the stud, but I may be confusing these trucks with the Chrysler products which did the same.

[taskswap]

Before you strip the nuts or studs off, check to see if they have left-hand threads. Some of the F250's and F350's came with LH threads on the left side of the truck.

I'm not remembering which axles got those threads, but yours might. There may be an "LH" on the end of the stud, but I may be confusing these trucks with the Chrysler products which did the same.

So apparently I have left hand threads on my left rear wheel

This truck is "special" in so many ways LOL. Every wheel has different lug nuts, apparently replaced/sourced over the years. You wouldn't by any chance happen to know the standard thread sizes here would you? I can't find my thread gauge anywhere and was hoping to order some new ones today. My wheels came with new nuts as part of the package but none of them fit.

I can tell for one thing that the front and rear threads are different. The front also takes a 13/16 socket and the rear takes a 1-1/16. So I think the rear must be 1/2-20 and the front might be 9/16-18? But I'm not positive.