New member, old trucks.

[SirRea63l]

I have been lurking here for a while and figured it was time to say Hello.

We have two IDI's, both F350 4x4's, the first is a 1991 E4OD that is basically our water truck. It needs a lot of help before it can be a highway truck. The front end is very loose and needs a rebuild, the glowplugs are out, it pours out black smoke and looks like a plethora of shadetree mechanics have bypassed and wired around just about everything. It does make a good water truck on the farm though. We affectionately call it "The Beast", one drive explains the name.

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The second is the latest addition. 1994 F350 ZF-5 crew cab, 8' bed, factory turbo truck. It is rocking 390k+ miles and still runs and drives very well. It has minimal issues for the miles and will be the first one that we attend to. It does need ball joints, the wastegate on the turbo is frozen and the piping leaks. The turbo does look good, the blades are not nicked but it doesn't seem to be functioning properly, it will be the first thing that is corrected. The poor thing sat for two years and was only driven a few times during that two years, it was filthy and the paint is in very bad shape. This truck will replace the 03 Chevy 2500 HD 4x4 that has been the farm truck. (The Chevy is in fantastic condition, 305k miles and runs like new, but we are converting everything to diesel so it has to go.) We affectionately call it "The Beauty" and compared to the Beast, it is fitting.

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The interior is in excellent condition, at least now that it has been cleaned. It was very filthy but it only took a day to get the front cleaned, I still have to clean the back.

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Can you say Highway Miles? I thought you could.

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I have enjoyed the past few months of lurking here and look forward to learning as much as I can about these old trucks. I am already hooked on them, yes the Chevy runs circles around them but only gets about 10mpg, (less when towing or hauling,) so I am keeping it until the Ford is in good health. I will be happy with the 94 as my daily truck and once it is in great shape again, it will be more than enough truck for our farm needs. The heaviest thing it will have to haul is the tractor, only about 5,000 pounds on an 18' trailer, it should do that with no problems.

 

[79jasper]

Nice trucks. On the 94, the turbo won't work very well until the exhaust leading up to it is sealed up.
Does the chevy have the 8.1?

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[SirRea63l]

I don't think it is the exhaust side as much as the intake side, but I suspect both need attention, I can smell exhaust inside the cab when sitting in a parking lot. We have a very good old school diesel place near us called Hamilton Diesel that I am going to let go over the truck very well before I start messing with it. The exhaust will be one of the first concerns. I will probably order some stuff from R&D to help it breath a little better and maybe replace the turbo. I am not looking to make 300 bhp, but I do want it to be in top notch working condition, I insist on that with everything but the Beast. Just prior to the truck being stored for a few years, it had new injectors and injection pump put on and the clutch was converted to a single mass about 3 years ago when the original ZF was replaced. I am the third owner of the truck, it has lived it's whole life with 50 square miles. The guy I got it from is a preacher and an environmental scientist, who happens to like wrenching too.

The Chevy has the 6 liter Vortech. I am the second owner, it was an ATT supervisors truck for the first 270k miles and got excellent maintenance. I did replace the motor mounts and put in a Melling high flow oil pump a year ago. The Vortech and the 4:10 gears make a nice pulling truck, but horrible fuel economy. It will make me sad to sell it, it has been a fantastic truck.

 

[79jasper]

Easy way to tell is rub your hands on the exhaust/firewall to look for soot.

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[SirRea63l]

Yep, there is a whole pile of things I want to do, after the turbo and exhaust repair/replacement. I need to add gauges (I hate idiot gauges), replace thermostat (idiot gauge shows it running on the high side, new Motorcraft will be ordered in a few days.) maybe replace the radiator, find some 3:73 or 3:55 axles, or failing that, replace the gears. Our Texas highways are 75 mph in most places as you know, but going that fast kills fuel economy. It will need new tires, these have plenty of meat but have sat so long they have spider cracks in them. The tach sensor needs to be replaced and I want to add a better stereo with backup camera so the wife can drive it safely. My list is long, especially long as I am building our house as well as getting the farm ready for livestock. This old geezers plate is full. I suspect the mechanic is going to have to do a lot of this, I just don't have the luxury of time for the next few years.

 

[79jasper]

That's how it goes. Haha

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[SirRea63l]

No doubt, at least the 94 is in decent shape so that is a bonus. I looked for months for this exact truck, all over the state and was happy I found it 45 minutes from home. I think the wife is afraid of it, her 2013 Tahoe is so much shorter and easier to drive. I will feel the truck is good to go when I can take it to Cloudcroft, go the speed limit and get at least 17mpg.

I need new shocks, but I want something geared more towards comfort, any suggestions?

 

[towcat]

No doubt, at least the 94 is in decent shape so that is a bonus. I looked for months for this exact truck, all over the state and was happy I found it 45 minutes from home. I think the wife is afraid of it, her 2013 Tahoe is so much shorter and easier to drive. I will feel the truck is good to go when I can take it to Cloudcroft, go the speed limit and get at least 17mpg.

I need new shocks, but I want something geared more towards comfort, any suggestions?

Eshock warehouse has Bilstiens for $288/set(last time I bought a set). hurts wallet a little, but it buys an immense amount of peace and quiet from the wife. Many customers have verified the truth to my statement here

 

[riotwarrior]

Nice trucks. On the 94, the turbo won't work very well until the exhaust leading up to it is sealed up.
Does the chevy have the 8.1?

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Works better when exhaust leading away flows well too

 

[SirRea63l]

Eshock warehouse has Bilstiens for $288/set(last time I bought a set). hurts wallet a little, but it buys an immense amount of peace and quiet from the wife. Many customers have verified the truth to my statement here

That's the info. I need. Thanks. Funny thing, this truck lived the first 10 years of it's life in Gustine, TX, if you are from Hamilton, you should know where that is, just up HWY 36.

 

[SirRea63l]

Works better when exhaust leading away flows well too

How large is the stock exhaust? Is it the same diameter all the way through? My tailpipe is large but I haven't crawled up to look at the rest of the exhaust, but I am pretty sure it is the stock one.

 

[riotwarrior]

How large is the stock exhaust? Is it the same diameter all the way through? My tailpipe is large but I haven't crawled up to look at the rest of the exhaust, but I am pretty sure it is the stock one.

3" is sufficient however I was speaking more to replacing the squashed downpipe the factory installs with a banks or custom one.

 

[SirRea63l]

Yes, a new down pipe is on the list, I have seen the Banks is still available from Summit, I think, as is the R&D setup. I will lean towards the Banks, much cheaper and since I am just wanting a little more boost than stock, it should be fine. My goal is about 7-9 psi for max boost. It is an old engine, so no need to get abusive to it. I am happy to say it doesn't smoke, black or white, so it should still be in decent shape. I loaded the truck with a pallet of cinder blocks last weekend, no smoke even up the hill by the house, but I did have to drop down to fourth on the highway. I let the rpm's drop a bit and looked for smoke under the load, I saw none. The 91 would have smoked massively.

 

[Waystro]

Eshock warehouse has Bilstiens for $288/set(last time I bought a set). hurts wallet a little, but it buys an immense amount of peace and quiet from the wife. Many customers have verified the truth to my statement here

Last shocks I bought from them. Didn't get them for over a month. When I called to see where my order was(it's already been 2 weeks) Guy says he can't help me I say ok cancel my order then Well guess he didn't like that called me about every name in the book. Yep never do business with them again.

 

[towcat]

Last shocks I bought from them. Didn't get them for over a month. When I called to see where my order was(it's already been 2 weeks) Guy says he can't help me I say ok cancel my order then Well guess he didn't like that called me about every name in the book. Yep never do business with them again.

he's my source for Bilstiens and I've never had a problem with him.