tnthielen
Registered User
Hey Guys,
I'm new to the forum and I'm looking for some education from folks with a lot more experience than I have... So buckle up:
I inherited my late grandfather's farm truck. '89 F250 XLT Lariat 7.3 IDI 2wd 3-spd auto with 4:10 gears. It screams at 65 mph and gets 11 mpg city or highway. I thought it was 4wd but it wasn't. When I asked my grandmother why he didn't buy a 4wd, she said "It was more expensive and we couldn't pay cash for it." I then asked what if he got it stuck in the cornfield. She replied "Oh, he'd just pull it out with the tractor..." A farmer's wife through and through! A lot of wisdom from that generation!!
I recently bought a '92 F250 Custom 7.3 IDI 4wd with a 5-spd manual (my guess is it's a ZF5?). It's a supercab with a long bed and 3.55 gears and 255k on the clock. The interior is rough, but then I'm comparing it to my grandpa's XLT Lariat which Grandma always kept clean and it good condition. My plan is to keep the '89 cab and front end body panels, but move them over to the '92 chassis (essentially combining the best components from both trucks into one) so that in the end, I have a 4WD 5sp that will be more useful.
I have about 2 years before I begin this project so I want to do as much research as I can. The '92 runs like a champ, clutch will probably need replacing as sometimes have to really muscle it into first or reverse. Here is my wishlist:
- Banks Sidewinder kit (I have no idea what the standard psi is)
- 2-3" lift with beefier wheels/tires
- Banks Methanol injection?
Points of concern:
- When the body is off the '92 chassis, this seems to be a great time for any mechanical work
- At 255k do I need to invest in rebuilding the motor?
- With the power adder, do I need to upgrade any hardware? I've heard about ARP bolts, upgrading gaskets?
- New clutch seems to be a given, should I rebuild the ZF5? My info says it's all original...
- The motor rattles at warm idle about 550-600 rpm (aren't they supposed to? lol), but when I give it a touch more throttle to about 650-700 rpm, the rattle goes away. After running about an hour, it doesn't return, so my guess is it is just cold?
Goals for this truck:
- Occasional 4-wheeling (nothing major, truck is too long and heavy and my brother-in-law has a jeep)
- Not a daily driver (mostly once a week), but will drive it more in the winter so the soon-to-be-had Shelby GT500 will stay in hibernation
- Would like to increase towing capacity to around 11-12k
My Dad and I brought this truck back from Waco, TX on a trailer I rented (see pic2)
I'm happy read and learn, but after a preliminary search through the forums, it is a mountain (all puns intended) of info to sift through...
Any advice or direction to other links are much appreciated!
Thanks for your help, guys!
-Todd
I'm new to the forum and I'm looking for some education from folks with a lot more experience than I have... So buckle up:
I inherited my late grandfather's farm truck. '89 F250 XLT Lariat 7.3 IDI 2wd 3-spd auto with 4:10 gears. It screams at 65 mph and gets 11 mpg city or highway. I thought it was 4wd but it wasn't. When I asked my grandmother why he didn't buy a 4wd, she said "It was more expensive and we couldn't pay cash for it." I then asked what if he got it stuck in the cornfield. She replied "Oh, he'd just pull it out with the tractor..." A farmer's wife through and through! A lot of wisdom from that generation!!
I recently bought a '92 F250 Custom 7.3 IDI 4wd with a 5-spd manual (my guess is it's a ZF5?). It's a supercab with a long bed and 3.55 gears and 255k on the clock. The interior is rough, but then I'm comparing it to my grandpa's XLT Lariat which Grandma always kept clean and it good condition. My plan is to keep the '89 cab and front end body panels, but move them over to the '92 chassis (essentially combining the best components from both trucks into one) so that in the end, I have a 4WD 5sp that will be more useful.
I have about 2 years before I begin this project so I want to do as much research as I can. The '92 runs like a champ, clutch will probably need replacing as sometimes have to really muscle it into first or reverse. Here is my wishlist:
- Banks Sidewinder kit (I have no idea what the standard psi is)
- 2-3" lift with beefier wheels/tires
- Banks Methanol injection?
Points of concern:
- When the body is off the '92 chassis, this seems to be a great time for any mechanical work
- At 255k do I need to invest in rebuilding the motor?
- With the power adder, do I need to upgrade any hardware? I've heard about ARP bolts, upgrading gaskets?
- New clutch seems to be a given, should I rebuild the ZF5? My info says it's all original...
- The motor rattles at warm idle about 550-600 rpm (aren't they supposed to? lol), but when I give it a touch more throttle to about 650-700 rpm, the rattle goes away. After running about an hour, it doesn't return, so my guess is it is just cold?
Goals for this truck:
- Occasional 4-wheeling (nothing major, truck is too long and heavy and my brother-in-law has a jeep)
- Not a daily driver (mostly once a week), but will drive it more in the winter so the soon-to-be-had Shelby GT500 will stay in hibernation
- Would like to increase towing capacity to around 11-12k
My Dad and I brought this truck back from Waco, TX on a trailer I rented (see pic2)
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and about an hour away from the Kansas/Colorado border, the trailer blew a tire (at 75 mph!) with no spare. Wonderful. So I got to drive the truck the rest of the way home. As we got closer to home and we gained altitude, the exhaust was getting more and more prevalent, which is to be expected since there is no computer to compensate. Now that I'm home, the truck is "rolling coal" at full throttle and even more so when under load. We went up in the mountains to get a load of firewood (see pic1) and it was really smoking even back at regular elevation. My understanding is that I can "turn the fuel down", but is this done at the injector pump? If so, how do I do it and how do I know where to put it? Because it's a diesel, I'm exempt from emissions testing in my county, but I still want it to be a little more efficient. I'm currently getting about 13-14 mpg empty.I'm happy read and learn, but after a preliminary search through the forums, it is a mountain (all puns intended) of info to sift through...
Any advice or direction to other links are much appreciated!
Thanks for your help, guys!
-Todd