New tow rig

[KyleQ]

Well - I loaded the truck up with fuel and took it on a 150 mile trip and fill it back up. This tank I did some tow testing, some freeway driving averaging ~73mph and mostly driving the truck ~60mph. I can happily say I got 15.5mpg and I know I can get more out of it without the freeway miles and towing.

I drove the truck on the front tank until it read just above a 1/4 tank before filling up. I'm not sure if the filler foot is still on the pickup and the rear tank leaks, so I don't want to get stranded out of fuel. The truck took 8 gallons - exactly what it took last time it was at a 1/4 tank. The gauge kinda moves around, sometimes it will read on empty if I'm stopped and bounce back up to where it should be when I'm moving. I'm going to guess it is an electrical issue - my headlights pulse as well. I'm going to look for the body to frame and block to frame grounds and make sure they are still in one piece.

I'm going to build a relay for the headlights so they run directly off the battery, they should run much brighter and be easier on the electrical system setup like that. Any insight on the fuel gauge issues?

 

[KyleQ]

I'm going to chalk up my fuel gauge issues to connectivity issues - I cleaned up the wires on the headlights and they got much brighter, same thing on the horns and now they work. My rear tank leaks when I put fuel in it, somewhere under the skid plate...

I'm looking at purchasing the LMC Euro glass headlights and their headlight relay - worth the ~$130?

 

[RLDSL]

The LMC headlight relay kit is great, but you can't get replacment relays anywhere for love or money when one goes bad so you will need to grab a spare standard Bosch cube relay and add some jump wires to it and throw it in the glove box to plug in in an emergency.

That air fliter looks nifty, but water and diesel engines do not mix. You need to pitch that thing and get a proper stock filter housing on there with a functioning water drain and make sure it has a good seal on the center holddown screw. If you want airflow, get a Hypermax Cowl induction kit, it'll give you all the fresh air you can use

 

[RedTruck]

I bought new fuel tanks here:

Metro Cooling, Willmar MN
800 876 5008

SWB Side:
Serial #: 1190

LWB Side:
Serial #: 1191

Rear 19 Gallon:
Serial #: 1187

Rear 38 Gallon:
Serial #: 1187-H

I like to keep things local.

Welcome to the site.

Paul

 

[sle2115]

Was also going to mention, that if you were planning to test your pickup/fuel gauge by running it out of fuel, it's prolly not a good idea. 1. the fuel lubricates the injector pump. 2. you will most likely introduce air and have to bleed the fuel system by loosening the lines at each injector and turning the engine over until fuel appears (10-20 seconds of cranking at a time with plenty of starter cool down time in between). While it's not a huge deal, often times when you run out of fuel, the truck won't just start up once fuel is added because of the previously mentioned air lock.

Good looking truck and welcome to the IDI community.

 

[KyleQ]

Last night I finally got some maintenance done on the work truck. My brother and I need to run out to Wyoming to pickup a truck he has in storage, which is 875 miles away... I have yet to look at the truck since I bought it - it isn't too bad.

I tossed it up on the hoist and my brother, who is a mechanic by trade, looked it over and pointed a few things out that needed attention.

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The rear pinion yolk was loose - like grab the drive shaft and wiggle it a 1/4" or so... I popped off the drive shaft and tightened up the pinion nut - the play went away and it felt really solid. I think that is where the Sterling's and broken pinions come from - the nut loosens up and the yolk gets sloppy, breaking the pinion.

The front drives shaft axle side u-joint does have any bearings left in it, some how I was able to use the 4wd without problems before.. lol. I put it into 4lo and pulled my truck and trailer up a steep incline with the tires slipping - I'm glad it didn't let loose there... Calling my Spicer dealer to fix that-

I was able to grease all the rest of the u-joints, kingpins (upper and lower) axle joints (need to be replaced after winter) as well as the steering. I couldn't get one of the TRE's to take grease, it popped out the zerk a few times as well... thinking it will need to be replaced eventually, no slop and it's tight though... ?

The rear axle was low on lube, I think I got around 2 quarts in there, probably due to the loose pinion, which didn't seal properly, which rust prevented the underside of the box

The transfercase was full of ATF, wich turns out to be correct, but the T19 shouldn't have AFT in it too I'll get the correct fluid for that before the trip - I don't understand why people put ATF in a MTX, it's called Automatic Transmission Fluid, so one would think it would be ill advised to put a fluid that was designed for hydraulic pressure and cooling in a transmission that rely on gear on gear contact lubrication...

I was also able to do my first oil change- my brother had a FL-1995 in stock and I did a quick search and found that is a common replacement filter for these trucks. It fit and I added around 3 gallons of Rotella T and it seems to be happy about it - runs great.

I need tires and we test fitted a rim/tire he had laying around - looks good, might have to talk to the owner.

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I want to run a larger tire to get the RPM's down at cruising speed as we will be driving straight out there, a 285 would be great for MPG's. Looks like our speed will be limited to around 65-70 unloaded and whatever feels comfortable loaded.


I'm really annoyed with my pulsing headlights, and with a little research I have found that a bad ground on the external voltage regulator can cause that, so I took it apart, cleaned the connections and added a direct ground to the battery hoping it would resolve the pulsing.. it didn't, almost seems worse. I didn't take the plug off the VR and clean the connections though, it could be that, it could just need a new VR. The alternator and belts look to be brand new -so it wouldn't hurt to have a fresh charging system.

We are going to be driving mostly at night - so I'll going to purchase the LMC clear headlights and relay harness. I need to be able to see when we are driving through the mountains. Any ideas on my pulsing headlights?

 

[oldmisterbill]

Pulsing headlights in my limited experience is usually the VR.

WELCOME to the site!

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Mr. Bill hit it on the pulsing headlights. A simple $12.00 voltage regulator will stop that issue.

The pinion nut problem is common I believe on every truck here.
160ft/lbs to torque that nuisance down and a healthy dose of loctite will keep it from loosening back up.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Pulsing headlights could be just a bad circuit breaker on them.
Since you've changed the oil and gonna make that trip, I would suggest that you get some Auto-RX, good stuff, that will clean the lube system out, I can attest it will make a difference on how that engine runs after the 1st cleaning. RLDSL will verify that.

tossed it up on the hoist and by brother, who is a mechanic by trade, looked it over and pointed a few things out that needed attention.

Geez, just how big a guy are you?

 

[KyleQ]

Pulsing headlights could be just a bad circuit breaker on them.
Since you've changed the oil and gonna make that trip, I would suggest that you get some Auto-RX, good stuff, that will clean the lube system out, I can attest it will make a difference on how that engine runs after the 1st cleaning. RLDSL will verify that.


Geez, just how big a guy are you?

Thanks - I'll look into that. I'm thinking the relay will take care of any pulsing issues and bypass the circuit breaker. I could replace the headlight switch, but I really want to use as little as the factory wiring as possible. I've got corrosion issues, my windows are dreadfully slow and when I got the truck the horn andf headlights didn't work until I took the connections apart and brushed them clean.

I want to get the proper lube for the transmission, a new thermostat that will hopefully solve my random running hot issue, a new VR and some Auto-RX.

I'm a big guy - lol. Nice working on a lift, first time for that.

 

[opusd2]

That should be a nice ride to WY. A good way to shakeout any problems not found before the trip. Which way are you going, through the Badlands? I usually run through Nebraska since you could just set the cruise and sleep since it's such a straight run.

 

[KyleQ]

That should be a nice ride to WY. A good way to shakeout any problems not found before the trip. Which way are you going, through the Badlands? I usually run through Nebraska since you could just set the cruise and sleep since it's such a straight run.

I think we go through Nebraska - my cruise doesn't work... I would REALLY like to get that to work, we are thinking of rigging up a manual choke cable, but I'd rather get it working correctly.

Anything common to fixing the cruise?

 

[opusd2]

I don't have that answer. Mine works when it wants to and to be honest, I've been so busy with so many other things that I haven't even looked at the idea yet, although I've been batting around the idea of a fast idle solenoid just for that purpose. But I'd rather do things right, and at the moment that would take time I don't have

 

[KyleQ]

Ok, my trip is right around the corner and I've been trying to finish things up as I go.

I replaced the voltage regulator and jumped for joy when my lights stopped pulsing, that drove me nuts at night. I also replaced a rear axle seal, got it up on the hoist and noticed the tire was soaked after I filled the rear end...

Yanked it apart, scored a good deal on seals and replaced it. Did something quite dumb and forgot to fill the rear end back up, put around 200 miles on it last weekend picking up some rockwells and when we got home I checked the diff and it was pretty warm, but I've been towing with it like this, so I think it will be ok. I've got another seal, so if this one is bad I'll just replace it again.

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Being that this truck is so noisy we are going to need a stereo - only two door speakers means we can bridge the channels and get the RMS up for some Infiniti Kappa 6x9's and I wired a 4ga cable off the battery to power a sub we will toss in before we go. Hopefully that will drown out the 6.9 awesomeness I've got with that open air filter.

Wired up some driving lights on the high beam circuit, they only come on with the high's and fill the road nicely - I also got some goodies from LMC. I think these will do the trick

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On top of that I got a stack of these in my garage to go on as well (dummy photo, there are a friend's)

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265/75/16's - Treadwright's in E range on BFG A/T sidewalls - look and feel like the real deal. $415 to my door, cannot complain.

Every fluid has been changed besides the antifreeze as it looked very good and I'll check the power steering (it's nice and quiet). I've got to replace the thermostat (got one from Ford - spendy lil *******) and wire up the headlight relay this weekend. Tires will go on and then I'll wire up a new 7 pin trailer hookup. I'm really hoping my Tekonsha Prodigy P3 will just plug in under the dash like my 95' did, but who knows, it's a long shot. If not I'll hack and slash to get it in there - not a ton of time. I'm not going to tow with the 95' (original plan) so I'll use that harness to cut up and use to get the P3 in the 350.

For fun, here is my old 4x4 and now plow rig.
95' F150 - mass air roller 302, FRPP headers, 4R70W with trans controller, Powerlock'd D50 with 4.56 gears, 8.8 Trak-Loc with 4.56's and skid plate. 2" suspension and 32" BFG's. Sold my LTB's and went back to the BFG's for plowing.

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Stupid truck, everything works. Power everything, A/C, CC, Manual shift 1356, full stereo, etc etc. It's the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned...

 

[KyleQ]

Yanked the thermostat and it came apart easily, although it was kind of a lot of work to get at it, but not difficult to do.

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Was that an original or a cheap replacement? The truck was getting warmer then I liked driving empty over hills with only a few start/stops. The neck housing check ball retainer was shot and I cleaned it out not knowing that it held the ball in. After some quick research I opted to leave it out, I didn't want that floating around inside my block or trying to keep it in place with some sort of glue or gasket material.

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I ran and got speakers and my bro jambed a stereo in it we had laying around, the speaker replacements took 5 minutes in total.

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I got 6 1/4 4 ways, one screw per door panel and that was it - bridged the front and rear's to each door speaker and it sounds really good. Both amps I brought to wire up ended up being garbage, I'll pull the Rockford out of my car for this trip...

What I was really looking forward to were the headlights - and wow!
These things are BRIGHT with the relay harness, totally worth the money. The output is just as good, if not better then the 55W HID's I have on my SVT.

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The driving lights only come on with the high beams, we are going to point them the the very sides of the road to watch for deer as our entire trip will be in the dark.

Also the tires are on the truck, drives better already. I've got M-W to wire up a new 7 pin in the rear and get the brake controller wired up inside the truck. I pulled the driver's drum off to adjust the brakes, found a little oil on that side and the drum somewhat disenagrated when I tapped it off after setting the brakes too hard If I've got time I'll replace the seal before we go, but it doesn't look too bad.