rolling 500,000 today :)

yep close to 300,000. actually last two tanks empty were 23.6 and tonite's fill up was 24.8 mpg (4.54litres vs 3.78 litres for Us gallon) taking it easy trying to nurse the old girl until august
I'm pleased with that as my best tank was just over 25 back when I first got it. went over it tonite and did my mid service grease job at 5000km , oil level has not moved from full mark . oil cooler has a moderate leak but no dripping so I'm going to monitor coolant loss. Friday its going to be hauling the trailer a good 2.5 hrs each way. but only a 1989 Ranger supercab on the trailer so should be around 7000 lbs or so including trailer weight> no challenge for this old girl but supposed ot be the hottest day so far this year. no ac

daughter took a video of it rolling over and I'll try and load it up from her ipad somehow. was on the way to look at the ranger I am picking up tomorrow.

funny one here:
was talking to a guy when we were both filling up , with a 2009 Mercedes big honkin SUV that is a 3 l;itre V6 turbo diesel and I took his number from his fill up and did my same calculation as with mine and his milage when I got back to the shop at 28.7 mpg. I'm pretty happy with my old worn out van

You should chip it. oke

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79jasper said:

You should chip it. oke

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did it a few months after I got it.

superchip 2 position on tow safe, tried the race once but all it did was make a lot of smoke and the trans seemed to slip like mad.

I actually thought the trans was weak when I first got it but the tow safe improved the shift so much I haven't done anything with it. towing mileage jumped 3.5 mpg as soon as I did the chip/program. empty mileage dropped a wee bit but , the shifting was so much better it felt faster so I left it alone.

I think I'll be putting a new set of rear brake pads on after this trip with the trailer, no sense pushing them and ruining my premium grooved rotors!

You would be surprised the difference some better tuning would do over the superchips.

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this tuner was an early one, but the price was right and it did the job when I needed it. I think I will retire this van in august, was looking it over close tonite when I was greasing it and its in need of floor pans , a cab mount and a rad support mount now. I have a 97 F250 for its replacement, working on switching it to 4wd by the winter. I'm not hauling my trailer nearly as much as I used to and I definitely won't put another safety on the van so its just a matter of time when they pull me into a safety lane and that will be the end. then it will be forced off the road.

if I lived in the southwest, I could run this old van for another 500,000km but here it just rots to dust/iron oxide.

I actually had a salesman stop me at our tiny liquor store in Wingham and ask me if I wanted to sell it a few months ago. I laughed at him and asked if he knew what it was. (rotten old high mile van) he said "oh yeah Iknow, its a powerstroke clubwagon, and our customer saw you towing with it" they had asked him to inquire if he saw it stopped. he was driving a Lexus SUV.

sure surprised me.

Well if you're retiring it, you should've sold it. Lol
Funds for other projects.

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79jasper said:

Well if you're retiring it, you should've sold it. Lol
Funds for other projects.

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I was thinking about that................... if I sell it I lose my "farm plate " status. we are rural but only 3 acres in the middle of 500 acre farms . rules have changed and now I need an OFA card to be eligible. if I keep up this vehicle I can keep my plates, as soon as I take it off the road .................
so I'm watching for a van with a minty body and maybe a blown up triton , keep the old girl rolling with a new lease on life.

it will make for some decent storage if I fill all the rust holes with urethane foam .

have a bond with my farm plates , grew up on 230 acres and still spend a lot of time there. couldn't afford to buy so we moved an hour away from the Urban crush and bought a 3 acre farm.

well my 12 yr old daughter and I figured out how to link her ipad to my home PC, but here texting thing won't work without wifi.

she made a short video but we were on a bend and the road so I missed the flip.

notice the dust on the instrument cluster? too many rust holes in the body to keep the dust out when on a gravel road. keep all the windows closed and fans on high until we hit the hardtop.

up to 505,000 and almost due for its 10,000km service, its still in the safe range on the dipstick and have added no oil. this old girl doesn't even use oil anymore.
going to pickup a 1977 F350 crewcab on Friday, I better do my oil change early. its deserves a treat . its going to work its ass off. should be at or above 10,000 lbs trailer and load.
its hauled more , at Christmas it hauled a 90 F350 crewcab 4x4 diesel home. but that was pretty well its limit, lots of pulling power but with just single wheels on the rear side stability was touchy on uneven roads> no rear sway bars on the vans

I'll have to get some pics with the new camera.

putting less miles on it now , basically just trailer hauling. this tank will roll 510,000 but won't get much winter use unless we don't get snow this year. dragged a 1982 Mercedes diesel wagon home 2 weeks ago.


brought this thing home a while back and am selling off all my 73-79 crewcabs for winter and will be moving it again to a new owner.




amazing how much my towing fuel economy has improved now that I keep it under 100km/62.5mph now and leave the cruise control off

hmmmm can these be made into bump sides with door mods, new fenders and a bed?

the 73-79 is my least favorite. they just don't grab me like the others.

500k km is about 310k miles. I'd be interested in what has been replaced along the way. Axles? wheel bearings? Stuff that I could anticipate since my 99 has 245k miles and still rolling.

original 60 semi as far as I can tell. it is very worn out. handles better with a load on the trailer than it does empty..............carrier is phucked but still rolling.
I bought the old shop van a 2000 E150 for $300 and it has 2 realy nice side doors and rear doors so Barney is going to run another winter. steering box is leaking and worn out but a litre of ATF every 2 months isn't bad? 512,000 km this tank and still running strong. putting some aggressive snows on this year and 2 sand bags on each rear wheel well this winter.

if it makes it until spring , I have a 230,000km parts van with a nice rear and steering and box. will swap in the coils even and maybe the low mileage leafs with the diff?

in the cold weather I get as good or better mileage with a loaded trailer on the back because it runs at a lot warmer temp loaded.

if I lived in the south this damn old van would make it to 1,000,000km no problems it just seems to run better the more miles I put on it.

IDIoit said:

hmmmm can these be made into bump sides with door mods, new fenders and a bed?

the 73-79 is my least favorite. they just don't grab me like the others.

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sold all my dentside crews and parts now, including the yellow one. had to focus!
keeping all my bump crews and parts. torn between building my 1970 into a longbed 4x4 or keep it a stock highboy. wife wants a big lance camper so the longbed mod might be in the works. I like my OEM Ford stuff. lost 21 65-79 Fseries and broncos that I personally brought form the southern US over 25 yrs March 25/2013 massive barn fire almost nothing insured . several bump crews from TX and AZ in the loss ,but I still have one solid 72 cab left and 2wd and 4wd chassis' .

rooms full of NOS and southern parts, vintage wheel sets etc etc etc . lost too. still an open wound

compressionignitionrules said:

sold all my dentside crews and parts now, including the yellow one. had to focus!
keeping all my bump crews and parts. torn between building my 1970 into a longbed 4x4 or keep it a stock highboy. wife wants a big lance camper so the longbed mod might be in the works. I like my OEM Ford stuff. lost 21 65-79 Fseries and broncos that I personally brought form the southern US over 25 yrs March 25/2013 massive barn fire almost nothing insured . several bump crews from TX and AZ in the loss ,but I still have one solid 72 cab left and 2wd and 4wd chassis' .

rooms full of NOS and southern parts, vintage wheel sets etc etc etc . lost too. still an open wound

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sorry about that. too much Wisers.