offroad-list Digest V2000 #82

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offroad-list Digest Thu, 15 Jun 2000 Volume: 2000 Issue: 082

In This Issue:
Re: New to the list and need some advice
Re: New to the list and need some advice
Body lifts are cheap and easy, under $100.
Re: New to the list and need some advice
Black Smut : Re
Re: Black Smut : Re
new 4x4 owner, need advice...
Re: New to the list and need some advice
HI GUYS!
Re: [Re: [Re: new F250...a couple questions]]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 20:04:30 -0400
From: Brad mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: New to the list and need some advice

At 08:25 PM 06/14/2000 EDT, you wrote:
>Hi everyone...I am April, proud owner of a '99 F150 4x4 Flareside, known as
>TsToy.
>
>While I love my truck it seems it has been nothing but an ongoing battle
>between me and the Ford Dealership regarding this truck..I wont go into all
>the details on all the problems but I need advice on one particular problem.
>
>About 2 months ago I started noticing black smut building up on the back of
>the truck just passed the tire and tailpipe. I would assume a little would
>be "okay" however this is a severe amount of black fluid building up there.
>Is' very black and a bit oily. Now the dealership is telling me this is
>normal for this truck, I feel that it is not, since it was not always doing
>that from day one. Everything is stock on my truck with the exception of
the
> tires wheels which are 33" Dunlop Mud Terrains, or something like that.
>There is a tapping noise under the hood and when I tried to get the
so-called
>ASE technician to listen he said he didnt hear a thing but the tires, so I
>"politely" pulled the truck over and asked him to step out and listen, well
>he says there is a slight knock in the motor but it should be fine. Am I
>just clueless or is the guy a complete fool? I told the guy that I checked
>out some friends who have the same kind of truck and that their tailpipe is
>in the same position as mine and they have never had the black smut like I
>have had. The Tech guy at the dealership said he looked at all the trucks
on
>the lot and found all of them in good condition, I am like Hello they are
all
>brand new and freshly washed and probably have never been driven how can you
>tell me this?
>
>Is this correct is it okay to have black smut, not just a little but a lot
>coming out of your tailpipe on a daily basis? I understand condensation
>settles in the tailpipe overnight, but to me this just does not sound right
>and the tapping seems like could be timing.
>
>Any advice that anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated : )
>
>~A. <~~~Thinking of changing her name to Frustrated F150 Owner...lol

The first thing I would do is go to another dealership, and tell them about
your dissatisfaction with the one you are dealing with.... I would say that
your problem is not normal... And as far as the knocking in the engine, I
would make them do something about the, even if you have to call Detroit...
All major car manufacturers are increasing rod bearing clearance to "reduce
resistance" so that there vehicles get better gas mileage nowadays... And
they are starting to pay the price in rod chunking episodes... Get this
problem fixed... Go to another dealership, and call Ford!

Brad

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 20:34:01 -0400
From: Brad mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: New to the list and need some advice

At 09:03 AM 06/15/2000 EDT, you wrote:
>In a message dated 06/15/2000 8:31:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
>bdefore

computerlogic.com writes:
>
>I have considered taking it to another dealership for a second opinion but I
>do not know if under contract am I allowed too. I know the shop foreman
>thinks I am a flaky blonde woman, but I know he treats my husband the same
>way and boy does that rile him up. He has finally gotten to the point to
>where he says the heck with it if the engine blows he will tow up there and
>dump it in there service dept and let them deal with it. I think we just
got
>a "bad" truck in general, not the make or anything just the truck itself. I
>can deal with minor problems, but these just do not equate to minor in my
>book...the thing is falling apart. We do not abuse the vehicle, we took it
>out once to test the new tires and that was it...we keep it on the street.

>For fun we take the other toy.

OK, I did not tell you this, but drain the oil out of the thing, and drive
it down the road until it blows up, make sure you put the drain plug back
in, and leave maybe 1 quart in it so that it makes a nice oily mess...
There is not a dealership that I know of that does engine failure analysis
on site (all are sent back to the manufacturer if the manufacturer requests
where they may or may not do failure analysis) then you can make them buy
it back and you get a new vehicle... or worst case scenario a new motor...
And even if the manufacturer one day 8 months from now did do a failure
analysis, and concluded the failure was due to insufficient lubrication,
whose to say the vehicle didn't develop a massive leak just before
failure.... OK, Now for those who read this I know this is wrong, and
costly to the company, BUT a decent service department will never let it
get this far. Oh yeah, how do I know this will work, because a customer at
our dealership did this... My svc. mgr was giving him the runaround, and i
knew the guy... He told me he was gonna do ut, and he's driving a new truck
now..

Good Luck!
Brad

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 21:47:33 -0700
From: Adam McLaughlin jps.net>
Subject: Body lifts are cheap and easy, under $100.

Hey Brian,

How did you lift your truck presently? Did you buy it with the superlift kit on
it?

I have a 1988 Bronco 2. I put on a 2 inch body lift and I also replaced the body
mounts. It took me one day, Christmas 1999. I needed a breaker bar, a pair of
vicegrips, and some awesome wrenching strength. The front bumper mounting bolts
were the biggest obstacle, requiring some thirty minutes for each bolt with the
breaker bar.

I found that an air hammer makes the job go much easier when you want to seperate
the body mounts. That late eighties design with the compression fit was a bear to
remove!

Steering was fine, I didn't need the extender that James Duff provided in their
kit.

I didn't relocate the bumpers, because I was fine with the way it looked with
them where they originally were, and that I was afraid that bumper brackets would
be a little bit weak.

Fan and Fan shroud was a slight inconvience, as I had to sawzall the lower edge
of the fan shroud to make the fan clear. Even with me chopping it down, I still
had a little bit of a fan buzz on tight turns or when jumping off of curbs.

I eventually moved on to an electric fan and a new radiator, so I got rid of the
whole mess all together.

Adam

Rebel4dMan

aol.com wrote:

> I got an offer today from a guy that wants to buy the tires that are on my
> truck. He's gonna give me $100 ea. for my Goodyear Wrangler 265/75R15. This
> is great ya know, but, now I have to decide on what tire to put on to replace
> it. I have a '96 Ranger 4X4 w/ a 4" lift. I know I need a new wheel, and
> have some lined up already. But, I don't know if I should run 33's or 35's.
> To run 33's I don't have to do anything lift wise but to run a 35 then I need
> a body lift. I much rather run 35's but I don't know about body lifting it.
> So, my questions are: Has anyone body lifted a 95-97 Ranger or like truck
> before? If so, can you purdy please give me any tips or problems that you
> have or had? Please address the following mostly: fan to fan shroud,
> steering and bumpers. Thanks in advance.
> -Brian Sack
> '96 Ranger 4X4 4.0L/auto. 4" Superlift
> ==========================================================
> To unsubscribe, send email to: listar

ford-trucks.com with
> the words "unsubscribe offroad-list" in the subject of the
> message.

------------------------------

From: TsWife1994

aol.com
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 07:32:34 EDT
Subject: Re: New to the list and need some advice

In a message dated 06/15/2000 7:26:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
JUMPINFORD

aol.com writes:

<< This engine is definitely not running right, either to rich, or someone
forgot to install Valve seals. Does it use oil excessively? Whats your
mileage like? Another thing kinda popped in my head today thinkin about
this. If your engine is putting that crap on your truck, its also getting
into the environment. This falls under emissions, which they MUST service,
or face severe fines by the EPA. Boy you got enough dirt on that
dealership
to really cause hell. If you dont get much further in the next week, use
the
truck to redecorate the landscaping. If anything else you may feel better
about yourself.
>>

It is has been using a little bit oil not a whole lot, I do not know what
hubby classifies as a "little bit". It has about 16k miles on it. You
talked about emissions, well Jacksonville just did away with emissions
testing this month, actually they just finalized it this week, will this
matter since we no longer have to take the truck down and get it tested every
year?

Decorate the landscaping...lol...boy that made me spit my coffee every where
this morning.
~April

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 07:43:27 -0400
From: "Guy W Sleeth" mail.mcg.edu>
Subject: Black Smut : Re

This is for you guys having problems with your dealership on warranty cliams, ok If you go to the Dodge Ram site on www, not affiliatied with the company... there is a link to resolving warranty issues which covers any and all makes dealerships, There is some very interesting info there for those of you who are not familiar with the behind the scenes operations of the car business.
Also I am still waiting for some offer to come and get this 78 Bronco and donar vehicle off my hands, I am willing to take little to nothing for them to a serious Ford enth. , and they must take them both.
Georgia Boy
82 E-250
78 Bronco 4-sp
70 something LTD

------------------------------

From: TsWife1994

aol.com
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 08:20:51 EDT
Subject: Re: Black Smut : Re

In a message dated 06/16/2000 7:46:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
gsleeth

mail.mcg.edu writes:

<< This is for you guys having problems with your dealership on warranty
cliams, ok If you go to the Dodge Ram site on www, not affiliatied with the
company... there is a link to resolving warranty issues which covers any and
all makes dealerships, There is some very interesting info there for those of
you who are not familiar with the behind the scenes operations of the car
business.
Also I am still waiting for some offer to come and get this 78 Bronco and
donar vehicle off my hands, I am willing to take little to nothing for them
to a serious Ford enth. , and they must take them both.
Georgia Boy >>

Thanks for the info....hiding the very last of your post from hubby...lmao

My dad has a 76 bronco, been in the family the whole time. He is just now to
the point he is willing to sell it...we have considered it but we just bought
hubby his 85 toyota 4x4 sr5 so we do not have the extra cash laying around
anymore...we waited and waited for him to call us to say you can have it
now..lol We are gonna let the brother in law have it just hope he keeps it
mint like the pops does.

What are you asking for the Bronco if you dont mind me asking {you can email
it privately, if you do not want the price published here}

We have an 85 F150 4x4 flareside that we hope we will be putting on the
market in a few months once we get the engine and tranny back in and bed
either repaired or replaced...been having a hard time finding a flareside for
the truck and if we do find one they want an arm and a leg for it.
~April

------------------------------

From: "Joe Stewart" purepacket.com>
Subject: new 4x4 owner, need advice...
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 08:23:23 -0400

Hello folks, I am the proud owner of a 98 F150 4x4 Off Road. It is an
awesome truck, and I love it!

So far I have been off-roading a few times (staying out of the mud, these
stock tires aren't so hot), but I would like to take it to the next level
and try some more hard core trails.

The only problem is I'm a little green, and need some help on where to get
started. I have tried searching web sites, but there are so many, and I
can't find what info I need. Basically, here are the questions I have, maybe
someone can answer them for me, or at least point me in the right
direction....

1: I know I should have some sort of basic offroad toolkit. What should it
contain?

2: How about some general off road driving tips altogether? I am fairly
competent on-road, but I find I have a hard time judging what my truck is
capable of. (I have already just about ripped one of the front tow hooks off
going through a gully that I thought looked perfectly acceptable to drive
through...)

3: What upgrades should I get for offroad? In what order? I assume that the
first thing to do is get some real tires. How big can I fit? Do I need a
lift? What is next after tires?

4: My dealership told me that my truck has the 3.55 rear end with Posi (or
whatever Ford calls it) but he didn't check, he just said "most" of the Off
Road packages have it. How can I tell for sure?

Any help, info, pointers, URL's advice, comments are welcome!

Thanks!

-Jay
97 F150 4x4 (stock for now)
97 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX (far from stock)

------------------------------

From: "Brad DeFore" computerlogic.com>
Subject: Re: New to the list and need some advice
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 08:34:32 -0400

April, it doesn't matter that they have stopped the testing in your area,
this is a Federal issue. They have to warranty all emission related items
for at least 60,000 miles! so you have them there. I liked the other
response about oil missing, (I reeeeaaallly liked that idea) that would do
it and they'd get socked for the whole thing! I think I've read about Lemon
laws stating that you can legally get a new vehicle through the court system
based on the extensive problems you've had with this one. Maybe someone else
knows more about it on this list? I guarantee that if you get a lawyer going
to the dealer and asking for the repair records on your truck they'll jump
real quick into fixing it.

Brad D4

-----Original Message-----
From: offroad-list-bounce

ford-trucks.com
[mailto:offroad-list-bounce

ford-trucks.com]On Behalf Of
TsWife1994

aol.com
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 7:33 AM
To: offroad-list

ford-trucks.com
Subject: [offroad-list] Re: New to the list and need some advice

In a message dated 06/15/2000 7:26:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
JUMPINFORD

ford-trucks.com with
the words "unsubscribe offroad-list" in the subject of the
message.

------------------------------

From: Bad4dFilly

aol.com
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 12:41:36 EDT
Subject: HI GUYS!

Did y'all miss me! I got a new PC and the addresses for the FTE list played a
vanishing act for a lil bit, but I'm still here. Envy is running great, she
finally got a bath after about 3 months! LOL Anyways, I was thinking about
gettin her repainted in the next few months if I can afford it. 2 questions:
Where are some places that'll do it for REALLY cheap
and but I TOTALLY wanna get it painted purple I'll be a single chick lol> Will that make it harder to sell when I do decide
to sell it? Cuz if so maybe I'll have to go with a more normal color? Any
advice? Thanks y'all! =)

*~*~Lisa and Envy~*~*
*~*~Silly boys....trucks are for GIRLS!~*~*

------------------------------

Date: 17 Jun 00 21:27:57 EDT
From: Tim Turner netscape.net>
Subject: Re: [Re: [Re: new F250...a couple questions]]

"Jason Derra" internetcds.com> wrote:

> It is true that they use different computers for different applications
> instead of a PROM chip, but the computer doesn't know or care about tire > > sizes and gear ratios.

Remember I noted that what I said was mostly 1996 and up, but I'll continue. I
also work on all makes so which ones have the ratio as part of the programming
aren't at the forefront of my brain unless I'm doing speedometer work.

> For example, the basic 5.0 SEFI mass air engine > > Mustang has 4 ECM's available. 1. Auto, Fed. 2. Manual, Fed. 3. Auto,
> Calif Emis. 4. Manual, Calif Emis. There is not a computer just for 3.08
> gears or 3.55 gears.

Nor does it have a wide variety of tires/ratios available... easy enough to
rely on the VSS input and the speedometer isn't an output of the PCM.

> I have an '86 Lincoln LSC 5.0 HO and an AOD (same
> engine as the Mustang) in my Bronco. The original tires from the Lincoln
> were much smaller than the 35's that currently reside there. The shift
> points, lockup RPM, etc are very close to where the Lincoln performed at
> (within 100 RPM).

But I assume you're not using the same speedometer gear! (Unless you lucked
into the same overall gearing.) As long as the vehicle speed sensor input is
correct so will the output(s). The newer vehicles are not adjustable with as
simple a correction and I thought the subject was NEW F-250. I was trying to
point out that VSS is a somewhat important parameter and gear/ tire changes may
need addressing.

> Keep in mind that this was the EEC IV system used up
> until around '93 which was replaced with EEC V which is much more
intolerant
> of changes to the drivetrain than the older systems you are referring to.

And that's where we erred.. I was referring to OBD-II (EEC-V) and other
manufacturers PCMs where the VSS is not changeable and must be reprogrammed.
I too prefer the 'old' way with gears but technology marches on.

Tim

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------------------------------

End of offroad-list Digest V2000 #82
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