"Tank" my 91 Crew Cab Dually

chillman88

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Alright folks, I figured I'd oughta have a thread for my ol beast. I haven't done anything major but I do have a few projects in mind so they deserve a place to rest.

Before I even picked the ol girl up. First two pictures are in Graham, Texas where it was for sale and the third picture is from my buddy's old shop in Jacksboro, TX after he picked it up. This was back in September/October of 2016

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Here's a link to my thread on FTE about going to get it from before I was on here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1455645-bringing-my-new-truck-home.html

Boy she was a DOG when I picked her up. Could barely get out of her own way. Changed the fuel filter and ran a few quarts of MMO through it on the trip home to NY.

Before I left we put new brake hoses on the front and put some good used ground cables on. Didn't like to start, had a long crank time.

I had him put new glow plugs in for me before I picked it up. I explicitly said Motocraft only and asked twice. Pulled out autolites when I got home.... Ugh.

It wasn't too long before I started messing with the timing and found out why it was hard to start and had no power. The IP was retarded all the way. I played with it until it felt right and I ended up having it ADVANCED all the way. At the 2018 Rally we confirmed I was at 9.3 degrees now, close enough to perfect for me. I don't know what it was at before but it's a tremendous difference.

I've done a few things here and there, new O-rings on the injectors, new rear brake hose, wheel seals, diff oil change etc. She's only let me down a couple times. Nothing major and I have never been stranded on the road and unable to get home (although it was close a couple times when the lift pump started leaking and the throttle cable broke).
 
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chillman88

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Last year we bought a house. I finally got a hitch mounted on it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFVRF8Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_TKh8BbMGGCRW2

Ended up needing it too! Borrowed a trailer to move with.

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I also removed the "Western" mirrors and put factory gooseneck towing mirror heads on, made some mudflap brackets and put on some super handy reverse lights.

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chillman88

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Not as pretty as the factory tow mirror brackets, but way better than floppy "western" mirror heads!

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The_Josh_Bear

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Good to see your thread! I need to do the same.

Jealous of the crew cab BTW.

I like your mud flap brackets! Really smart to put them on the frame. Everyone else seems to think mud flaps should be sheet metal screwed to the wheel wells. cookoo I'm sure there's a way to make it work but now my wells have chicken pox from all the screw holes the PO made.
Do you have a picture of them off the pickup?

That trailer is a monster. And the lowest/longest box I've ever seen. That thing literally wouldn't make it out of my neighborhood before dragging its hiney all over Cedar Falls Road, lol.

Congrats on the house!

Good choice on trailer hitch, I have the same thing from eTrailer.com. Very solid and absolutely worth the less than $200 price tag. Make sure to put a wrench on those hitch-to-frame bolts if you haven't since the move. The first trailer ride will always loosen up anything that can be loosened, just like lug nuts.

Oh hey and if you want to actually see the road someday in the dark the Ebay headlight sets for $179 or whatever are actually really good. Add the relay mod and the headlights are super solid, as good or better than modern halogens. Rumor has it that getting some clear coat on the brand new Ebay lights will make them last a LONG time. God knows the basic acrylic lenses they come with wont be lasting like OEM.

It just occured to me that you have a dually that didn't even have a tow hitch...what did it do before you owned it? 5th wheel?
 

Runningaford

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I like your ride!! I was considering doing mirrors like you have there, and may just end up with them; looks good.
 

chillman88

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@The_Josh_Bear

There is a crew cab dually in Texas on Facebook for $1500!

That trailer is a two car trailer. I don't know but it has to be 48' long. Thanks for the congrats. We moved in... July of last year I think? I'm not worried about the hitch. They got torqued to spec with liberal doses of red loctite and it has hauled many times. I believe I probably did check them at some point though, I worry about that stuff all the time. Usually over torque my oil drain bolts out of paranoia!

It HAD a hitch on it at some point. The holes were there in the frame. Also has a fold down gooseneck ball in the bed.

The place I got it from was a salvage yard. I was pretty upset to see someone had swiped the overhead console before I bought it. I never knew it had one before buying it but you can tell by looking at the headliner.

I DID do the relay mod, just forgot to mention it. I plan to sand and clear the headlights, don't have the funds for the new housings yet but thanks for the feedback on them.

I feel the same way about the mudflaps. Truthfully I bent the drivers side to hell a couple times (backed over the mudflap on uneven ground), I would hate to see the wheel well damage if they were just bolted to the thin sheet metal! My only issue is the way I made them they're really close to the leafs and I think they occasionally clink together. Not a problem just annoying. I'll pretend I plan on fixing it some day lol!

I think the frame side is some 3/8 plate I had lying around. I used existing holes in the frame and fastened them with some 7/16 bolts I had left over from something else. The mudflaps I scored for $10/ea at a surplus place had holes in them so I drilled the angle accordingly. I think I got 3ft of the angle and cut them down. If I had gotten a longer piece I wouldn't have used the fender washer on the outermost bolt. They weren't overly thought out but I'm content with how they turned out.

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I like your ride!! I was considering doing mirrors like you have there, and may just end up with them; looks good.

Thanks!

I wasn't sure about the look. I still don't love it but I don't mind it anymore. I did have to drill the holes oversize a hair, I think they are 5/16 stock and I think I drilled them to 3/8. I know I had to reuse the nylon washer from the old mirrors because the bolts were too long.

I plan on putting the correct mounting brackets on whenever I go to paint the truck. No point drilling and patching holes until I'm going to paint when they already work.
 

chillman88

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Pics as promised.

Amber lights (fog lights)

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White (driving) lights

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White (driving) lights with low beams on

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We'll see how they do. I certainly won't run the white beams with traffic anywhere near me! I'm just hoping the amber beams help with snow and fog. Couldn't even see the road a couple weeks ago because the flakes were so big my own headlights were blinding me!
 

Jason1377

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Got some fleBay fog lights in today. They do both white and amber. Colors are triggered individually. I'll update when it gets dark enough to test them.

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I've seen a few IH plates around here what's the difference between a idi IH or am I just confused about thebwhthe thing since I thought they where made the same by same ppl
 

chillman88

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I've seen a few IH plates around here what's the difference between a idi IH or am I just confused about thebwhthe thing since I thought they where made the same by same ppl

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Harvester

The 6.9 IDI used by Ford (and the IDI 7.3) was co-developed by International Harvester, the same company that made the tractors and their own line of trucks. In 1986? The International Truck division branched off into Navistar International.

Not sure if that answers your question or not but I'll help what I can if it didn't.
 

Jason1377

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Harvester

The 6.9 IDI used by Ford (and the IDI 7.3) was co-developed by International Harvester, the same company that made the tractors and their own line of trucks. In 1986? The International Truck division branched off into Navistar International.

Not sure if that answers your question or not but I'll help what I can if it didn't.


it does was confused when I googled it before so my late "93 is a Navistar International will have to see if i can find a plate for it then thanks
 
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