Eric - thanks. It's coming together. It'll get its own thread before long. Stu

 

Well, I told you earlier I was going to go for a ride today.

I left home with my wife driving the chase car, just in case. We drove to Lake Elsinore, then up to a friend's restaurant in Corona for lunch, then back home.

That was a 60 mile round trip (according to the GPS, not my odometer). Well, it says 59.667 miles, but I rounded up.

Betsy ran cool, had great oil pressure, charged the battery and got terrible gas mileage. All of this is what I wanted to see. I used about 1/3 of a tank of gas. I expect poor mileage, since the cost of gas was not even a concern when this truck was built and I was running towards the top end of her comfort range, between 35 and 45 mph. Actual top speed recorded today was 46.49 mph. I like the app on my phone, Android Speedometer.

My lovely bride took a few "Through the Windshield" shots for me. This is the best one.

 

Awesome! Sounds like a great day.

 

Thanks Stu.

I just crawled under Betsy again to look. I don't have that hole in my flywheel cover for the spring.

I have a contact in SoCal who might be able to find that Dana 70, but I'm really not ready to go there yet, if ever.

My shorter rear tires do impact the top road speed, but if the calculators are correct, that two inches difference is equal to the difference between 50 mph and 47 mph. Both hit about 2,540 RPM. And since my rear tires are like new, I won't sweat that for a few years, if ever.

Without changing the way this old farm truck was designed, I'll just settle for the 40mph average range. It bounces so much at that speed that I don't want to go any faster anyway. I may add some padding to the tools in my tool tray. Every bump sounds like an alarm going off behind the seat!

And I agree with what's been said. Your truck looks really nice.

 

It was awesome. I was a little more nervous the farther we got from home, but everything worked like it should. I'm still grinning!

Nice way to start the new year.

 

Congrats on a successful voyage, Joe!

I wouldn't put any stock in the gas gauge moving 1/3 tank. Near Full, that would be a lot of gas, near Empty it could be 2 gallons. The only way to get any kind of accurate MPG reading is to look down the fill pipe with a flashlight while pumping it in, and stop when the gas gets to the bottom of the tube. Drive, then refill the same way. You could EASILY be getting 12 mpg!

 

Thanks Ross.

I've never filled the tank because I don't trust the rubber seal on the filler pipe, so I don't want to "test" it. I added 10 gallons the other day, and the gauge was reading full. So, the gauge or sender isn't right, since the tank is supposed to hold 25 gallons and it was near empty (on the gauge) when I added gas.

And I'd be quite happy with 12 mpg.

 

Congrats Joe!!

Sounds like you had a great time on the shakedown run. Good for you

 

Thanks Bobby.

I'm seriously considering putting a filled 50 gallon water tank in the bed when I get that finished. I think the extra 400 pounds back there might lessen the bouncing some.

 

Ain't gonna happen.:-X15 Make that about 4,000 lbs and it may ride a little better.

Congratulations on a good trip and thanks for the report.
My SWAG is that Betsey may get 10-12 mpg, probably less.

 

Which gas tank holds 25 gallons? The stocker behind the seat? Is the Big Truck tank different than F-1s'?

 

It's the same 20 gallon tank as all the other Bonus Built early effies.


Congrats on the successful drive, Joe.

 

Yeah, after I wrote that I started thinking that would probably be a drop in the bucket for a truck with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds. Half of that is the truck. So another 4,500 would probably just slow her down and eat more gas.

Well, now that you ask, I'm confused. The Text Parts Catalog shows 7C 9002 for 48/52 TL as 20 gallons. The TDAA-9002-C for 48/52 TL as 24 gallons.

The specs page in the Shop Manual on page 378 shows:
9002 Fuel Tank
First line TL 7C 9002 / 20 gallons
Fourth line down TL / *8T 9002-A / 25 gallons
note *1951

I guess I'll have to measure my tank to see which one it is? But it looks like every other one I've seen in pics here, so I'm betting it's a 20 gallon.

 

Thanks Wayne.

I'm going out to measure my gas tank... I've read 3 different specs for the 51 TL now.

 

Well, now you made me dig out my chassis parts book and look.

The 7C 9002, 20 gallon tank fits all 48-52 closed cab trucks. I never even considered another tank since I've never seen one. The 8T 9002-A 25 gallon tank shows a dimension of 10.5 high, 32.5 long and 18 wide, for F 4,5,6 conventional and cabover except school bus. That sounds more like possibly an optional exterior aux. tank and would really stick into the back of the seat if it was inside the cab, imho.

The other tank you mentioned, the TDAA unit, I show as for 54-55 F-500/600 panel trucks, with similar dimensions as the 8T tank, above.

Interesting.