Formally Introducing... Red Fred the Rusty ol Flatbed

Thanks for bringing it back up. Fred has been an awesome truck! To the point that I've sold all my other vehicles, Daily Driven Fred for a year, and now bought another IDI (Smokey Pete) to let Fred live out his days as a farm truck.

The journey has been a good one.

After I left off, the 38gal tank did indeed solve all my fueling issues. But then I went in for an alignment after seeing crazy uneven tire wear, and they declined to do it because my front end was too sloppy. After getting a quote of almost $2k for ball joints and tie rod ends ( ) I bought the parts and did it myself (and found a new shop).

But because I'm a glutton for punishment, "ball joints" turned into ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks, brakes, new brake fluid, new transmission fluid, new TRANSMISSION (found a used one that came out of a wrecked truck, and my old one would pop out of first and third on deceleration), new clutch, new seat, wheel bearings, new heater core and I think a few other things I'm missing. Talk about scope creep. But I learned a ton about my truck. It was also soooo nice to have my shop to work in! Hooray for barrel stoves.



From there he got put to work. When I wasn't commuting with Fred, he got loaded up.

Lots of loads of firewood.



Some dirt bike excursions when things would slow down a bit.



And dump runs every other Thursday (but no, I didn't throw the seat. Found a buyer for $50)



After all that work, a bath was needed. A cleaner wax, a finish wax, and some new tires and he cleaned up waaaaay better than I expected.



Although, I should say, it's a 10ft truck. Looks great from 10ft, but closer and you definitely see the defects.

Next up on the list is:
-mount up a used plow I picked up and all hoses and hydraulics
-new vacuum pump, my brakes are SKEEEETCHY. So firm they're scary.
-new steering box. Steering is all over the road.

All in all, I'm loving it!!!!

 

$2k to rebuild TTB is quite standard, sadly. Most shops use similar book-time software, and they quote with premium parts because the margin is fatter when the % is applied. DIY is the way to go - beat the system.

I love the looks of a truck with a good load of firewood onboard

 

I'll bet that you don't have a lack of riding areas either.

 

Purdy after the wax job!

 

Oh yeah!!! Here's the last ride I did of the year. Pretty unbelievable stuff.

Thanks! Cleaned up way better than I expected.

 

Wow, I had no idea that was average. Yikes! Makes me glad I dove into it and figured out how to do it myself for a few hundred bucks!

 

Parts on the way...
That’s a sharp bull, same color as mine!

 

You need to hook me up with a similar order.

 

classicdieseldesigns.com

everything is 10% off through monday using code "classic10" at checkout.

 

Sounds good. Dropped you some PMs.

 

Fred is looking clean after that wax! Even the tires got a nice shine on them with the country back drop.

 

Niiiiice! Snazzy bull you got there too! Yours is definitely straighter and cleaner than mine!!

Seeing that pump headed my way....I might have to change course. I'm building a 91 for a customer, and the pump WAS going into his. But man that looks nice. Might have to pick up a second and stuff that one in my truck. Maybe even Smokey Pete. Man, decisions decisions.

Too many trucks....

 

It looks like a GREAT time! Maybe I'll actually take mine out to Colorado this summer. It's harder to ride with ATVs, but I also don't like to "ride like you're racing" either.

Nope. Not true. Only not enough time.

 

Yours runs so it’s wayyy cooler haha

 

Sometimes the truth hurts, doesn't it?