Fred has a new home

[bbjordan]

I don't know whats wrong with me, I bought another truck. A 1996 F-250 Extended Cab E4OD 4x4. I didn't really need it, but the price was right $1,000 CDN. So here's Fred:

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Looks better from the passenger side:

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There was a major problem with the steering. It was ******* out power steering fluid when added, and even with armstrong steering something still wasn't right. While maneuvering the truck behind my garage, the steering went pop and there was no more steering. I pulled the steering box off and this is what I found:

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I had another steering box from a 1993 F-250, but the pitman arm was a 1/2" shorter. A comparison:

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After swapping it over, I noticed the rag joint part that connects to the steering box was also busted. That's probably what went pop. I'll have to go to the auto wreckers to get a replacement.

Time to update the sig file.

 

[saburai]

Glad Fred has a good home. Also glad that the steering didn’t go pop in traffic...

 

[bbjordan]

Put in a 203 degree thermostat and the winter front today.
Also tried to take off the fan. No luck. I gave up after about an hour of beating on it and heating it (just a little bit. I was worried about putting too much heat into the water pump and messing that up).

 

[79jasper]

Air hammer. It is reverse thread, iirc.

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[bbjordan]

You recall correctly. It's hard to miss the big red sticker that says Caution Right Hand Thread.

My biggest problem is trying to prevent the water pump pulley from moving. Any suggestions?

 

[79jasper]

My 94 was missing the sticker. Lol so you can imagine how mangled it got before I thought to try the other direction.
With the air hammer method, I've been able to hold the pulley by hand.
With the belt on, you could put more pressure on the tensioner.

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[Garbage_Mechan]

I like to go through my 3/8 drive extensions and find one just the right length to prop the female end against a water pump pulley bolt and the other end against something stationary. Voila free pulley wrench!

 

[greenskeeper]

You recall correctly. It's hard to miss the big red sticker that says Caution Right Hand Thread.

My biggest problem is trying to prevent the water pump pulley from moving. Any suggestions?

ratchet strap....drip candle wax onto the threads once you get the nut warmed up

 

[chillman88]

It's hard to miss the big red sticker that says Caution Right Hand Thread.

Uhh.. Come again? Right hand threads are normal. LEFT hand threads are reverse. I assume that was a typo but just in case I figured I'd say something!

 

[bbjordan]

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[bbjordan]

Finally, got it off today. I used an old serpentine belt to clamp around the water pump pulley with vice grips. The vice grips kid of bound up and increased the clamping force. Then I beat the living **** out of my home built Fan take off tool. It still didn't come. So I put the propane torch on it for a little bit longer. A few more beats, and victory!

BTW, it was Right Hand Thread.

Prep'd for winter.

 

[bbjordan]

Welcome back. In today's episode, Fred gets a new (used from a 2000 F250) front poly tank. The poly tank has almost twice the capacity, and is plastic, so it won't rust.

Below is a size comparison.

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It's a tight fit, but it fits. I used the mounting straps from the 2000 F250, and also the filler neck and tube. The fuel gauge has the same ohm range for full and empty. It even uses the same electrical connector. Sweet! I just had to re-pin one pin. The strainers in the fuel pickup were cleaned, as they were pretty dirty.

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I had to use some longer bolts on the driveshaft side.

Rear

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Front

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On the frame side, on the back I was able to use an existing bolt.

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On the front, I welded a stud on the front rivet, and hogged out the bolt hole on the strap so the strap would fit over the rivet. That is where the front strap wanted to sit.

Continued...

 

[bbjordan]

Test fit over rivet.

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Stud welded onto rivet, and strap attached.

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Oddly, on the filler neck, the lower screw hole was not aligned, so I drilled a new hole.

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The poly tank has two vents. I ran hose from the rear vent to the filler neck. For the front vent, I just ran a piece of hose to higher up on the frame and stuffed some 3M cleaning pad into the hose to act as a breather.

I wasn't happy with the way the e-brake cable rubbed on the rear of the tank, so I drilled a hole in the fiberglass (?) tank guard and zip-tied the e-brake cable to it.

I still have to figure out a way to put the tank guard on. The attaching brackets are too short, so that means a bunch of cutting and welding. The tank also sits lower than the original tank. Not being 100% confident in my welding of that front stud, I also put a ratchet strap around the frame at the front of the tank. Normally, the tank guard acts as that safety feature, but since I don't have the guard on yet ...

As it now sits:

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I'm very happy with it. I can now drive out and back to my brother's farm (750 km) without having to refill at the farm, and I still have a 1/4 tank left over! This is really great since I use a WMO cocktail, which is kind of messy transporting and filling.
The other bonus is that it is a poly tank so the biodiesel won't polymerize sitting in the tank.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

That's a sweet retrofit: did you say it was twice the capacity of the original tank? How many gallons is that?

 

[bbjordan]

IIRC from my research, the original tank was 76 Litres or 20 US Gal. The new tank is 143 Litres or 38 US Gal.