IDI Island Style

[TangTonic]

Well the truck finally arrived. Traveled from Yuba City, CA to Jacksonville, FL. Hopped on a ship and came on down to St. Croix, US ****** Islands. It's a one owner, 1994 F250 IDI Turbo, ZF5, 4x4. Completely stock with 99,600 on the ticker. She runs great and has been handling the island roads nicely so far. Just got my banks down pipe in the mail and will be installing that along with 3 or 4" straight pipe exhaust soon. Hypermax cowl induction will probably follow. Eventually I will do a Dana 60 swap, but for now the front end seems real nice, and the springs don't seem to be sagging much. I also will get the windows tinted and probably replace front windshield because its pretty pitted from living in Nevada all its life. I am still getting my centrifuge setup and will post pics of that in the Alternative fuel section when finished. Below are some pictures in all her glory. She sure is clean and I have been thoroughly enjoying driving the truck. Going on a surf mission tomorrow as we have a tropical storm passing to the north.

Cheers!

 

[86ford69jw]

VERY NICE!!!!

 

[towcat]

lookin' nice
you going to build some shade for it?
sun looks mighty intense over there.

 

[TangTonic]

lookin' nice
you going to build some shade for it?
sun looks mighty intense over there.

I think when hurricane season is over, I'm going to get a canopy from Harbor Freight. The salt spray worries me more than the sun. I plan on undercoating with POR-15, chassis saver, or some other product that is best, before the rust starts. Right now the only rust this truck has is on the exhaust pipe, and that's getting replaced. If that nice ford paint fades from the sun, I'll spray on some tintable raptor liner with the same color.

 

[RANOVRU]

Very nice rig!


******* color scheme.

 

[TangTonic]

Thanks man, I do love the ford two tone brown color combos. I couldn't convince the wife to go for a lund visor like yours. I like the look, plus with the sun here, it would be useful.

 

[Diesel_brad]

How long did it take to get there. It seams like you bought the truck 2 months ago

 

[TangTonic]

Took awhile, got it this past Wednesday. I would not recommend DAS auto shippers, they took forever and went past the day they said it would be delivered. But anyways, I live on island time down here, nothing happens fast and there's always tomorrow. So I've just been patiently waiting.

 

[itsacrazyasian]

I think when hurricane season is over, I'm going to get a canopy from Harbor Freight. The salt spray worries me more than the sun. I plan on undercoating with POR-15, chassis saver, or some other product that is best, before the rust starts. Right now the only rust this truck has is on the exhaust pipe, and that's getting replaced. If that nice ford paint fades from the sun, I'll spray on some tintable raptor liner with the same color.

my chassis is undercoated with rust bullet. I live right on the water so it does a number on metal. You should see my 5 year old central hvac condensing unit.

 

[Rot Box]

Wow very nice rig!

Keep the glow plugs healthy and make sure that block heater works before winter hits

 

[The Warden]

The salt spray worries me more than the sun.

With good reason, I've learned...what shape's the paint in? I live on the water also (about 1 1/2 city blocks from the beach), and my truck had sat in the desert in southern California for many years before I inherited it...and, all the paint that had been sandblasted away is now showing up as rust spots ...other than keeping the paint maintained, washing regularly, and immediately and vigorously attacking any rust spots that show up, I'm not sure what the best way to combat it is.

In any event, that's a beautiful truck congratulations on finally getting her home!!

 

[TangTonic]

Well, the truck has been running great so far. She's 3 miles shy of rolling over to 100K. I took some pictures of her just up the hill from my house where there is an old sugar mill. It dates back to the 1700's and was used to turn the sugarcane to molasses for RUM!

Anyways, I plan on doing an oil change tomorrow and was wondering what oil would be best for the warm climate of the tropics. I've read how most guys recommend the Rotella 15W-40, but in my user's manual, it recommends SAE 30 for warmer temperatures. So does that mean 15W-30 or just plain ol' SAE 30. Is there a Rotella 15W-30? I went ahead and bought the NAPA version of the Powerstoke oil filter, so I guess I'll be needing 11 quarts, and I'll make sure to fill the filter some before installing.

Also, regarding exhaust. I have the Banks downpipe but have not installed it yet. Is it worth spending the extra $$ to get 4" SS to attache to the downpipe. Or should I just get 3" aluminized and paint it with high temp paint to save myself some $$. IS there much performance difference between 3" or 4". EGT's aren't an issue because I don't tow much.

One last question. When the truck is being driven during the cooler morning temperatures, I can feel a slight vibration under my left foot when going over certain bumps. It's very subtle and makes no noise, but I can feel it on the right bump. When its the blazing hot during the middle of the day, I don't feel it. My best guesses are body mounts or swaybar endlinks? The body mounts look good to my untrained eyes. The endlinks seem to be well greased, hard to tell if they are bad or not. What's the best way to diagnose and solve this problem before it gets worse? It is very subtle and my foot has to be in the right spot to feel it.

Thanks for any input you might have.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[gatorman21218]

I dont think it really matters if you use 15w-40 or SAE30. Being hot down there you might benefit from 30 weight. And yes its straight 30, CF-2 rated. I find that rotella 15w-40 will burn off near the end of the oil life. Ive been meaning to use SAE30 in the summer but I just used up the last bit of oil that I got on sale a year ago.

Now the old Detroits MUST use straight weight oil, usually 40 weight. any other grade will scuff the cylinder walls.

 

[sandrow]

LOOKS GREAT

A double for the one I am buying although the opposite color scheme. Same year and the whole bit I have the delux interior though with the convertible middle seat.Bet you are tickled with it!! congrats!!! I get mine next week.
By the way .... how do you post pics here? I have pics of mine on my phone just don't know how to get em from the phone to the site.

 

[icanfixall]

Great looking truck and pics. I like the background too.I run 15W40 all the time. I like the Chevron Delo 400 blend. I used the Motorcraft 15W40 once. It was fine too. Always run the psd oil filter. The have a finer micron media so they filter out to a smaller dirt partical... Also welcome to a fine Ford idi forum. We have more combined knowledge than any dealership on the planet...