Filled the gas tank up today. Got a full dollar off. $1.58 per gallon. Got 10.4 MPG with the electric fan, with about 5 short full throttle sessions. Should be about 11 next time. MPG has definitely gone up a little.

I've driven the truck about 45 miles this weekend and today, since I put the new cap and rotor on. It idles smoother and seems to run slightly better.

 

Filled up Rusty, and the boat, on the way to the lake. Got 9.1 pulling the 23' Sea Ray. Not bad for pushing hard running 65 and towing 5000 lbs. And he gets about 12.5 MPG running light.

 

You dang ol' flatlander you!

 

When your replacement "tow truck" arrives, repeat the trip and conditions and compare the mileage [1981 vs. 2015]. It will be interesting.

 

That may be a while as the boat should be in the water for the season. But running light should be about 23 - almost double Rusty's MPG. Not bad for something that can tow over 11,000 lbs or carry over 3,000 lbs.

As for towing MPG, I'll bet it'll be better than Rusty's 12.5 when running light. That's because I know of two guys that towed their heavily-loaded trailers with multiple side-by-side 4-wheelers to Crested Butte from here, running 80+ the whole way. Those 2014 3.5L EB's got 13 MPG, so surely a lighter truck pulling a streamlined boat at more sane speeds will get at least that much.

 

Been getting the run around on a license plate mount for off road lights. I keep asking multiple different vendors even the manufacture if it would be a problem mounting the mount using just two mounts vs the four they state to use in the owners manual. I refuse to drill my chrome front bumper just for a temporary mount like this. If I could get a definite answer on if the mount can support the weight of two 4 1/2" LED spot lights and not rip the two license plate screws out of the bumper then I will gladly spend the $30 for the mount just so I can finally mount my lights.

 

That just gave me an idea. But I need some measurements first.

 

These get used a lot over here
X Bar - Universal Light Mounting System

They fit them to sedans and utes that don't have bullbars or nudge bars to mount lights to.

I've fitted them in the past to new vehicles and the biggest issue is mounting strength and vibration resistance. Instead of the self-tapping screws into the plastic bumper, I've had to make spacer tubes and use long bolts to mount up to the metal under-bumper back behind the plastic.

In your case, just use some penny washers to spread the load and some decent bolts to snug it up to the metal bumper. Those crap bent tabs at the top are then the weak point.

 

I understand we are on FTE. However, I don't see the point in buying a new F150 when you could buy a Toyota Tundra. Their half ton is built with 3/4 ton parts. Such as the 10.5" ring gear and the 12" rotors. They also come with 380HP/410 FTLB's of TQ. Well built trucks with great customer service. Go have a look at Doenges in Bartlesville.

 

I ordered up all of Whitey's rear end parts. I was going to go with Motive Gear for the R&P, but found a sweet deal on a Dana R&P. I did go with Motive's master rebuild kit. I liked the option of Koyo bearings. I could have gotten Timken. However, I explained the inconsistency with Timken and China.


When it came to clutch packs there was a dilemma. Apparently Dana made some carriers and so did Ford during this time. The Dana carriers took steel clutches and the Ford required carbon. Mine has the Dana Trac-Lok carrier. So I found the right clutches. That ran me about $520.00 for the R&P, MRK and clutches. I need a pinion yoke , U joint and friction modifier that will be around $150. Looks like under $700 for parts.


The axles, side gears and spiders are fine , but I haven't checked the rear hub bearings yet.

 

I saw Cash at the locksmith today. He said he got into a wreck and it tore up his Ranger. Sad to hear. The truck was in decent shape. He said he is sourcing some parts and about to rebuild it.

 

My go-to place is Consumer Reports. I've purchased a couple of vehicles against their recommendations and lived to regret it as everything they said could go wrong did. So, I checked with them on the pickups. Here's what they said about the Tundra:Then there are the ratings. Unfortunately, CR hasn't completed their testing of the 2015 F150, although their first drive report was very promising. However, the 2015 Ram diesel gets an 82 and the 2015 Chevy 5.3L gets an 80, but the Toyota gets a 63 - the worst of all full-sized trucks. And, considering what CR said about the new Ford in their overview and how it has fared in other reviews I expect CR to rate it highly.

Yes, he and his girl friend were in a wreck and mashed the front of his truck up pretty badly. But, he found a guy that straightened the frame, and an old codger with a large stash of parts (fenders, hood, core support, and even an 80/81 grille) and is in the process of rebuilding it.

 

I was thinking of trying out using just the hex headed screw/bolts that are screwed into the plastic clips to see how stable they seem to be. My line of thought is if the bracket is mounted at the top snugly and it has those long legs to mount at the bottom plate mounts even if they are not used they will act like cherry picker legs and the short bent top that the lights are mount to in theory should not have enough leverage to pull the screws out.


If need be I could always just replace the plastic and run some long machine screw style bolts through the plastic with a washer and nut just as added precaution. Personally I would like to stick with just the screws if its doable just for the simple reason that I can swap my plates out without using a wrench and a socket. But I might have to do that anyways.

 

The ride is a little jittery when compared to 1/2 tons, but like I said it is set up more like a 3/4 ton. I have a feeling the price is what keeps it from "making the inroads" as they said. Also Toyota is battling the generational indoctrination of branding. I have no doubt GM has the worst vehicles on the road to this day, but since somebody's daddy and grandpappy have always driven a Chevy truck they drive them.


I like CR don't get me wrong. However, they cant test accurately what it's like to own and drive a truck for 10-15 years. I have a Sequoia (just like the Tundra's) that has been sitting in my driveway for 10 yrs with 140K on the clock. It has gone through several sets of tires, thermo quiet brake pads, a couple batteries, a gas cap, about 20 oil changes and still books for over $15K like it sits. Never has a part of any kind been installed on it except for a tailgate latch.


The Sequoia has never had any AC work and still blows cold every Summer. When you pop the hood the motor and tranny still look the same as it did when it was new because it doesn't leak anything. Not only do they hold their resale better than any other in their class, they don't show up used very often and when they do they get sold quickly .


Just something to think about. I challenge anybody with a 10 yr old F150 to make the same claims.

 

Gary, my brother has one of the first big Tundras, he has owned for 8 years, but he is seriously looking at a new Ecoboost F-150, super crew with a 5 1/2' bed, same package as his Tundra. His reasoning, fuel economy, Toyota in his opinion hasn't kept up with Detroit in that area.

A couple of funny stories about Bob and his Tundra. He hadn't had it a week before he took it and had a dual exhaust system put on "so it sounds like a truck". Over Labor Day weekend in 2013, we were moving our cousin from one end of Easton MD to the other, Bob has been giving me a bunch of crap over Darth ever since he bought the Tundra, he asked me "what's wrong with the exhaust on your truck, it sounds kind of loud?" when I told him, that's what a big block V8 sounds like he just looked at me.