Tuffbuddy221
Registered User
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So what did you do with your truck today?
- Thread starter GOOSE
- Start date
Tuffbuddy221
Registered User
Went and finally installed my jack and spare tire.. Yep, been driving around without one. AND put on my new mud flaps. Pretty proud of them, made them myself, even the art work is mine.[emoji2]
Can30Diesel
Full Access Member
Figured out why every once in a while my truck has no electrical power! Also explains why once in a while when I turn on the headlights I suddenly have no electrical power.
Meet "Melty" the ancient connector!
Meet "Melty" the ancient connector!
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madpogue
Full Access Member
Sachs kit for OBS came via Amazon/Pep-Boys. Took more fab than I thought. I had an old OBS master lying around that I used for a "dry run". Had to grind off one edge of the bracket to fit a pinch weld on the firewall, and make room for a sheet metal screw (for the firewall reinforcement).
What I didn't notice, until the new one came, is that the mounting hole spacing is different. Had to elongate the lower hole, a little on the bracket and a little on the firewall. Some stainless bolts, washers and flange nuts, and Bob's your uncle.
Other challenge was the pushrod; the Sachs kit came with the pushrod already in the master, with that infernal internal clip. But I couldn't find a position for the arm to mount on the pedal shaft splines that matched the length of the pushrod. I had put an adjustable pushrod on the old master that I wanted to transfer. Tricky part was getting the pre-installed fixed-length pushrod off the new master. A few pries/pokes with long skinny screwdrivers, and some choice adult language, and it just sorta popped out. Perfect fit with the adjustable. 100% operational.
And my Christmas present came - diesel dash with a tachometer. I received a tach sensor from another forum member a while back, finally found a tach dash at a yard in Oregon, but they sent me the wrong one. Couple of Emails back and forth, and before I know it, another one is on the way, no extra charge. Very clean, better shape than my dash on the whole, lettering is much sharper. And double-bonus, it has a trip odometer! Buuutttt... this one didn't have a lens, and no button to push the trip reset. So I found a piece of dowel rod (3/16"?) in the basement and cut off about 1.5". Took my existing lens, eyeballed the location of a hole, drilled it out to fit the dowel, cut a slit in the dowel to engage the reset trigger. I just "painted" the dowel with a magic marker.
I also painted the pointers with fluorescent orange paint (I had done the same on my old dash), and modded it slightly, same as I did on my old dash. Put some spacers (I just used nuts) between the mask and the main body of the cluster. Also put some EPDM foam around the outside, and between the indicator light areas. This allows the green illumination light to flood the gauges better, but keeps the output of the indicator lights from "bleeding" to one another. Def improves the illumination. Here's how it looks day and night:
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Now someone needs to invent something. I want to keep the green backlighting, but I want to introduce _some_ UV light to get those painted needles to really jump. So, y'know those LED "bulbs" with multiple LEDs and standard bases (such as 194)? Somebody needs to come up with one that has, say, 4 green LEDs and one UV. I'm surprise no one has made a "combination" bulb, with two (or more) colors of LED on the same base.
They fire at different internal voltages (UV being higher than green) so while it wouldn't shock me if someone somewhere makes it as a single package, it also wouldn't shock me if it wasn't a common thing for a replacement bulb.
GENIUSLOERTS
Full Access Member
Didn't realize you were in Arkansas too, I thought the bluffs formation style looked familiar
freebird01
Post Turtle!
i cleaned up the front driveshaft i had got for my 4x4 conversion... swapped over a u-joint and was going to install it today but its raining 
gotta run for some bolts today for a few other projects but also for a new lower shock bolt as one decided to fall out completely
gotta run for some bolts today for a few other projects but also for a new lower shock bolt as one decided to fall out completely
Gotta love losing fasteners completely. In fact I think I've lost more on my 86 IDI than I have on both my Harleys. And that's saying something since the 75 Harley is the reason I learned about lock-tite in the first place, sometime in high school
freebird01
Post Turtle!
yea...now its got a good bolt with nylock nuts so hopefully it wont fall off again and should have taken care of a suspension rattle too...now i just need to get the spare case im buying from diesel crawler then i should be able to finish the 4x4 conversion...turns out my truck needs the ultra rare double cardon front yoke that is NLA from ford. and the spicer 2-4-5441 will not fit the F250 case i have.
Replaced the 20A fuse in slot 10, since the dash 12V receptacle had quit.
This made me think of adding some soundproofing to that plastic dash piece. The diesel rattle is iconic, but damn is a friend's 460 big block quieter than my IDIT! We both have E350 chassis.
I also replaced the 12V battery gauge. The first "Dragon Gauge" didn't work for long. Hopefully this one will.
This made me think of adding some soundproofing to that plastic dash piece. The diesel rattle is iconic, but damn is a friend's 460 big block quieter than my IDIT! We both have E350 chassis.
I also replaced the 12V battery gauge. The first "Dragon Gauge" didn't work for long. Hopefully this one will.
Began ujoint replacement. Immediately irritated that skid plate must be removed for access, and skid plate had an inch of oily mud on top and rusty bolts which I managed not to snap. More cleaning and degreasing, prep for paint... Then remember how unpleasant changing double cardan joints is. I give up for tonight, can't finish anyhow as the centering yoke needles were pretty dry and a few starting to come apart so need a rebuild kit or new yoke. Tomorrow I'll cut the last joint out, clean and paint the shaft, and hopefully reassemble if I get the yoke situation squared away.
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pwrfool
Registered User
Finally got around to checking the FIPL sensor. One screw was almost falling out and it was way off! Shifts so much better now!!! Glad I found that newbie checklist post on here!!!!
Looks good. I did mine a while back and used LED bulbs. Came out nice. I'm satisfied with the lighting with warm white 5 SMD LEDs.
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If I had to do it again I'd use green LED vs warm white. I really like how the green looks on the gauges I restored for my bike. It's a bit deeper/darker green than it appears in the picture.
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Regardless, freshly painted gauges brightly lit makes a world of difference. It's bad enough with relatively dim headlights to then be struggling to see the dash.
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New battery volt gauge - glow plug controller manual switch - electric transmission cooler fan switch - solenoid switch to link coach batteries to engine compartment batteries - brake controller - engine coolant temperature gauge
