I go to school with a 'prepper' and he has a 'bug out' truck...he calls it a "deuce", and when I did a image search on Google, one of these popped up:



I never knew you could even buy one of those and drive it on the street legally, but anyway...basically something that wouldn't be affected by an EMP blast.

That got me thinking...how hard would it be to make my 86 F250 Lariat (with cruise control) EMP proof?

I'd like to retain the power locks, power windows, and the cruise...but I guess get rid of the computer and make it a solenoid only sort of thing.

 

There are a few truck like the deuce that are street legal, and really cheap to buy.
6x6 2.5 to 5 ton trucks that get about 10 mpg, and can barely attain highway speed.
Usually 10,000$ will get you one with a more recent rebuild with only a few miles on it.
They have a few engine choices, including an 8.3 cummins, but the power ratings are all very low, I don't think they're over 200 hp. The intakes etc are also restrictive, so you can't just jack the fuel pump and get tons of power either.
They are basically a giant offroad toy. Sure they're street legal, but you wouldn't want to drive them all the time.

As for your truck, is it diesel or gas ?
EMP destroys lightly build, poorly shielded electronics. Contrary to TV shows, the current isn't going to destroy batteries or starter motors etc. Computers and digital circuits are what will fry.

 

The only thing you'd need to change on your '86 is to remove the computer, if you have one. If you remove it you'll have to change to a carb if you have EFI and do the DS-II conversion.

Which brings up a point - I don't know what you have. How 'bout adding a sig and including details about your truck? Then I won't have to ask.

 

That's a good first step, but the DS-II module is itself electronic, and would be susceptible to EMP...although perhaps not as much so as the computer.

It really depends on how strong of a pulse one wants to protect against, and how much effort one wants to put into doing so. Given that the only electronics in my truck (aside from the radio) is the DS-II module, if I ever decide to protect against EMP I will simply buy a spare module and keep it in shielded storage.

But if I wanted to do more, I would convert to points ignition, and then keep some spare parts for *that* in shielded storage. Even that's not perfect, but I suspect any EMP big enough to fry points would probably do me in as well, and the whole issue would be moot at that point.

 

It's a 460 gas, with the Holley 4160 carb. It does still have the computer.

 

Good points. I suspect the DS-II module would survive as Ford put them under the hood in a very electrically-noisy environment, but put the computers in the cab away from the "noise". However, I don't know that it would survive, so placing one in a shielded environment would be a good plan - if one is worried about EMP. As for points, if the blast fries them I seriously doubt any of us will survive. My steel-framed eye glasses will probably melt into my head, and my belt buckle into my stomach.

 

I do have one, I just replaced it a little while ago actually because it stopped sending a signal. Quick $30 later from O' Riley and she was back up and running.

Does the computer control the cruise, or is that something separate? Maybe vacuum operated? I know there's a solenoid that controls the throttle once it's turned on, but as far as setting it goes, I would think there's at least a speed sensor that tells the computer how fast it's going, then it tells the solenoid to either increase or decrease the throttle to make it work.

As far as the DS-II conversion...I think I would still have the Dura-spark? Or Opti-spark? I can't remember the name, but it's a bare bone stock 460, Holley 4160 carb, emissions are still on it and working fine, 49k miles. So the distributor would still be stock as well. I know there was a very long post last year that I tried to make sense of, but since it didn't apply to me, I never made it through, and could never tell what the advantages/disadvantages to doing the conversion would be.

 

1974/86, possibly 1987 as well: DuraSpark module located on the left fender inner apron, across from the red hot V8's exhaust manifold.

When I bought a new 1988, discovered that Ford had (FINALLY!) moved it to the inner fender splash shield...down and well past the engine compartment.

 

Mine is mounted to the top of my fender well on the driver's side, away from the exhaust at least.

 

Eric - Thanks for the sig. That'll help a lot. As for the "computer" that quit, where was it located? I didn't realize the 460's with a 4160 Holley would have one. Or, do you mean 4180 - the original carb? Still, I didn't realize there was a computer on those trucks.

 

The computer that quit was the engine management one. The one that controls the spark. I was driving along, then right before a stop sign, it died on me. It would crank and crank and crank all day long but never fire. It wasn't sending the signal to the coil to fire off the plug wires, so once we put a new computer in, she fired right up without a hitch. I thought it was a carb problem, but the shop told me it was the engine computer.

Sorry, I do have a 4180, a stock 4 bbl carb for a 460, which was the 4180, not the 60. My bad.

The computer is on the driver's side fender, with a bunch of weird looking plugs and wires going to it.



I guess I could buy another one and stuff it in a faraday cage, but that would be a pain, especially when it hits, i'd like to be able to get out of the city ASAP, ya know?

 

Ahhhhhh! Got it. That computer is the DS-II ignition module. The one I'm guessing is more likely to survive a pulse than the computers that ran the early EFI or feedback carbs on these trucks.

As for a Farraday cage, that's difficult when the unit is being used as the wires bring in the pulse.

 

The military truck is called a "deuce and a half" iirc. I didn't know they were still made that recently. The earlier ones from the 1950s were "multi-fuel" and would burn gasoline or diesel and combinations thereof. Mogas and 90 wt. gear oil in a pinch. Some had a turbo or blower and made a distinctive whistling sound.

 

That's what he said, he could run it on just about anything. Deuce and a half, yeah, that's what he called it. I remembered the deuce part.

 

So I do have the Duraspark then huh?

Is it possible to just run a solenoid only kind of thing and be done with it? Could the solenoid get power from the battery, then just power a coil to run the plugs? Is there something that simple out there? Something that can still run when the lights are off ya know?