Project Red Cent

[F350camper]

Latest update.

The truck is doing great. Still my daily driver, and I've been using my 2 tank veggy oil system without flaw.
The only thing I dont like about my setup is the 4bt with a solid flywheel mated to a ZF5 is the perfect combination for tons of gear rollover noise. Guys with 8cyl IDIs sometimes complain about it, I'm here to tell you having had both, its much worse with a 4bt. These were only medium duty engines, and were not balanced from the factory. When you only have 4cyls its just really lumpy at idle and low RPM, and it makes the gear rollover noise all the much worse.

I did a lot of research and decided to go with 50wt synthetic. The info in this thread sums it up pretty well.:
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?48224-Oil-change-for-ZF-5-Transmission

Today I drained the ZF and filled it with a full gallon of Lucas Synthetic 50 WT Transmission Oil. Which puts me at about 1/2 quart overfilled.

HOLY COW what a difference. the GRN is almost completely gone, at idle and low rpm acceleration. It is definitely harder to downshift when its stone cold, but that resolves itself pretty quick.

I'll keep you guys posted. Maybe this will be the end of my ZF, or maybe this will be the perfect solution for my setup. we shall see.

 

[subway]

Went back through the build and you did some great work! Not sure how I missed this before. I blame navigation with the phone lol. Anyway you have a great solid truck going!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[towcat]

Latest update.

The truck is doing great. Still my daily driver, and I've been using my 2 tank veggy oil system without flaw.
The only thing I dont like about my setup is the 4bt with a solid flywheel mated to a ZF5 is the perfect combination for tons of gear rollover noise. Guys with 8cyl IDIs sometimes complain about it, I'm here to tell you having had both, its much worse with a 4bt. These were only medium duty engines, and were not balanced from the factory. When you only have 4cyls its just really lumpy at idle and low RPM, and it makes the gear rollover noise all the much worse.

I did a lot of research and decided to go with 50wt synthetic. The info in this thread sums it up pretty well.:
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?48224-Oil-change-for-ZF-5-Transmission

Today I drained the ZF and filled it with a full gallon of Lucas Synthetic 50 WT Transmission Oil. Which puts me at about 1/2 quart overfilled.

HOLY COW what a difference. the GRN is almost completely gone, at idle and low rpm acceleration. It is definitely harder to downshift when its stone cold, but that resolves itself pretty quick.

I'll keep you guys posted. Maybe this will be the end of my ZF, or maybe this will be the perfect solution for my setup. we shall see.

rob- if it makes you feel better, I ran Kendall Race 50wt in my towtruck's howing ZF for a couple of years. muffled the howl, syncros prolly didn't like it much, but it didn't make shifting worse. just a little notchy when cold.

 

[F350camper]

Went back through the build and you did some great work! Not sure how I missed this before. I blame navigation with the phone lol. Anyway you have a great solid truck going!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

Thanks Man. It wont be hauling any dt360 type loads anytime soon, but it gets the job done with what I use it for.

rob- if it makes you feel better, I ran Kendall Race 50wt in my towtruck's howing ZF for a couple of years. muffled the howl, syncros prolly didn't like it much, but it didn't make shifting worse. just a little notchy when cold.

good to know calvin, I'm hoping it does the trick for me. So far so good.

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Love it Rob! Great Job!










Hey,... That rhymed...

 

[F350camper]

That's better!

 

[compressionignitionrules]

very nice build thread, if the 4bt were common here I might go that way with my sport trac. for now its going to get a 3.0 5cyl MB and a ZF 5spd. wife would probably hate the noise of the 4bt and refuse to drive it anyhow .

personally the red interior tops this truck off!

 

[F350camper]

Thanks man. Yeah the 4bt is a is like a shaker deck on gold rush only louder! I'm sure your wife would much prefer the MB motor. Its perfect for me tho, I love the power and simplicity.

 

[BrandonMag]

How large of a difference did your intercooler install make?

 

[subway]

So how do you like the powertrax?

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[F350camper]

How large of a difference did your intercooler install make?

It really makes a huge difference. Keep in mind that this little truck only ever hauls 20 bags of mulch at a time, or maybe an appliance now and then.
But here is what I notice:
before the IC on any substantial hill around here, 5th gear, 1800 turns, 20 to 25 psi of boost, I could bury the pyro if I wanted to. (1300° pre turbo. I either had to take my foot out of it, and or down shift to cool the egts down.
Now with the IC I cant get it over 1150°. I either run out of hill or safe speed (85+ mph in this area). So I feel like I got over 100° back on the bottom line. I do notice that the coolant runs about 5° hotter, but the ac still works fine. And when i do have the egts up over 1000°, when I take my foot out the egts sink to 300 like the titanic, almost instantly.
So yeah, intercooler FTW, get one!

I think many people get too caught up in the "cooler air is more dense" aspect. This is certainly true, but for me its all about letting you use more of your available power till you hit a limit. The limit for me on diesels is always EGTs, and on gassers its detonation.

 

[F350camper]

So how do you like the powertrax?

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

The locker has been awesome. Its crude and clunky sometimes on dry pavement and sharp quick turns, but it locks up solid for much needed traction in mud and snow. In 4x4 low i feel unstoppable! Hahah, makes me want to tuck one into the front diff! But I dont know if I will, that will just put more stress on my already less than stout dana 35 up there.

 

[tbrumm]

The locker has been awesome. Its crude and clunky sometimes on dry pavement and sharp quick turns, but it locks up solid for much needed traction in mud and snow. In 4x4 low i feel unstoppable! Hahah, makes me want to tuck one into the front diff! But I dont know if I will, that will just put more stress on my already less than stout dana 35 up there.

I originally bought a Powertrax for the rear diff. in my 1997 Ranger. Then I got a deal on an Eaton E-Locker and put that in instead. I know what you mean when you say you feel unstoppable! Got in and out of some tough spots with that Ranger using the E-Locker.

 

[F350camper]

really tempted to lock up the front!

 

[laserjock]

Unless you are planning on off-roading the ranger a lot I would advise against locking the front. It can make a 4x4 ill mannered on slick roads unless you go with a selectable locker that you just use for sticky situations. Even the guys I used to mud race with would not lock the front diff because it caused control problems. Just something to think about.