wow!! there's a good deal!
and right around the corner too!
keep us posted Rick.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the inspections not that bad.what took me so long,was just finding a good deal on a good size/not completely rusted out, complete,electric over hydraulic dump bed.
found this one with pump/ram/stake body complete,and not too badly rusted for 1k.
thats what took me so long.
that rotted out factory box would have passed if i filled it full of bondo.but i didn't really need the truck yet.so i just waited to put it all together for my needs.
i did an estimate today,and have a job for tomorrow.so im going to break her in for her first time.

now for the bad news:
i have discovered the front (plastic) tank has a hole in it half way up and the rear tanks pick up must be broken lmao.
so i can run 1/4 tank in the front at a time.oh boy.
ah well.i'l see about patching the front tank and getting a new pick up for the rear.maybe i should fill the rear tank and see if the top half works fine.that would give me 3/4 total.
lol.i'l get this straightened out soon.
iv been driving all around,and see this thing hardly uses any fuel.so 1/4 tank at a time is easy to deal with for this job.iv got a 5 gallon jug on the back full and ready just in case too though.

 

i used to live in pcola, when i saw it was close by, i thought of your posts!! Hope it is a good one.

 

Maybe,I have to check with my banker before I spend anymore on it,I already have 1000 in it,another 300 on my backup little truck! They just closed schools here due to our SNOWSTORM tommorow! Its sleeting now,to blooming cold for me!! BTW Thanks for thinking about me wrecker!

 

If your refferring to the banker in the kitchen, I discovered years ago that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission.

 

That would be the one,I told her she could sit beside me and watch the Daytona 500 on Valintines day for her present! For some reason she didnt like that..............Wonder why??

 

well i worked the truck today....well not really,but i took her to work.
small job so i didn't get to really try her out.i had a couple softwoods and a couple hardwood trees,but they went in other directions.i took the softwood to a friend and the hardwood to my dads.
so all i could do was two medium size trees at a time.she hardly knew they were there.
basically that's 2 rows stacked as high as the racks in the front.the hardwood was 2 and a quarter of a 3rd row.
this would be enough to sink a stock sprung f150 of course,but not much for this beast.
took out a load of brush too,that doesn't weight anything,but man that's where the extra room in the bed really shines(old dead brush,doesn't go through the chipper,that's what this was.its dulls the knifes in a hurry).i love it!
no problems at all being able to brake the speed limit of course.this was just a baby test/teaser for this rig.
had some fun anyway braking her in!
no probs with just using 1/4 of the front tank for now.put a couple galls in this am,then dropped of the wood,then a load of brush,then put a couple more galls in to drop the wood and get home.she really sips the fuel.can't wait to fix the tanks so i can start figuring my mileage.didn't need to use the diesel jug lol.

 

springs! springs! i need more springs!

filled her up lol.....well i had to try it don't ya know.

the rear took a full load of softwood with some arch left actually.
i stopped and didn't fill up the last row.
it was the front springs that where giving me quite the frown. (she's really dispersing the weight good tho,so this a plus.but i guess i have to sacrifice some ride comfort and toss in a 3rd leaf.damn.)

engine took her good tho.the IDI has a distinct sound under a good load.havnt heard her grunt a bit til today.sounds pretty tuff actually.even through that poor stock piping.
and yup.i still disagree with the IDI being slow lol.(don't worry.i took her easy after a lil test )


ahh this things a sissy :
http://forestry.about.com/cs/forestv...onv_phcord.htm

ok.my bad.i didn't mean to give her so much before i sprung her.oopsy.
hey,the brakes where great.np at all.

 

hey,you know what i got thinking today.
im thinking backwards for the front leafs right?
the more frown they have,the less weight.if you where to see them sit flat,then you would know,your loaded on the front end right?
iv never had leafs before.(first HD truck)
they're arched backwards from the rear due to how they're mounted right?
must be,cus what got me to thinking today was that the front felt light....not extreme.i didn't overdue it.(tho i was really maxed for just 5 leafs)
hopefully im right,as i really don't want to add a leaf in the front and make it ride worse than a HD already does lol.
once i stack 5 overs and have 5 on 5,i should have more spring than i'll ever use.
so,im going to grab the dually axle,the 6 rims,custom 5 overload pack and U-bolts made up,and two more 225's.
then i'll be set and never worry what i put on her back again.
this i could do if i didn't have a large overhead bill right now for my biz.
i'l need a little time.for now,im loading about half full and calling it good.
loving the rig more as i work it.going to be perfect soon enough.

 

Actually, your weight distribution kinda sucks now - your rear axle is right under the middle of the bed, so a huge part of what you load in there is handled by the rear axle alone. That's why you see so many cab-chassis trucks with flat beds that have the rear axle like a foot before the rear bumper, this is what allows them to distribute the load more evenly between both axles. You are correct on the front leafs tho, due to the negative arch the flatter they look the less load the axle sees, basically the load in the bed is causing the front to try to lift off the ground. To avoid this you need to load all the heavy wood in the very front of the bed, and keep the light stuff in the rear. As far as rear springs go - do you have overloads? My truck came with 5-leaf main packs and single leaf overloads (the overloads have their own perches on the frame, this way not the whole load is handled just by the main springs hangers and shackles. This actually wasn't enough for me so I added an extra leaf in the main packs, and also double-up on the overloads with these monster F-Superduty overloads, so now I have 6-leaf main packs and dual-leaf overloads, she handles heavy trailers rather nicely now, but at the same time when empty she rides quite ***-high, like a shackled-up muscle car.

 

Nope, front springs are negative arch.

More weight on the front, bigger frown.

Brand new front springs laying on the ground before you install them, straight as a board.

Cord of wood, 4' x 4' x 8'.
So how many cords did you have on it?

 

Dave is 100 percent right. Before I added a spring up front, I would look real hard at some airbags.

 

Firestone RideRite makes a front air bag for the F series leaf springs, mine are 15 years old and still work fine.

 

Alright, I just reread both of his somewhat-confusing posts, and it seems that he does have too much load on them, cause apparently he sees more arch when he's loaded down so I guess he won't be lifting off any time soon... Which really makes me wonder how badt the rear springs are doing

FORDF250HDXLT the thing about adding extra leafs above your front axle is that you'll mess up your camber when running empty - now when you're empty your wheels sit straight and whey you load down they squat like this /-o-\, well with extra leafs your wheels will sit straight when loaded but when you're empty they will go like this \-o-/. It's just the nature of the TTB front suspension, 1-tons usually don't have that issue cause they run a monobeam front axle and not what you got. So the ideal solution is indeed air springs, this way you can adjust the pressure in them so no matter the load your wheels always sit straight upright.

 

yeah,your right.i was mistaken about the front leafs.
when i got looking at them again,it appears to be the same as when its empty.
i guess i got nervous,and not ever running front leafs before,i forgot just how much frown they had empty too.
this morning i looked at them and they where the same as when i looked it it with that load on.i just forgot how much they arch down.
phew!
it must have been lighter in the front.because the steering was just starting to get floaty.

stock 5 main.
no overloads yet.
yeah,iv added overloads on my previous truck.
iv got a 9 leaf superduty spring pack with an overload.but i just cant go up with this truck.plus i dont want the stiff ride.so im not going to use it.
i will rob the overload,and take that one in with me and have 4 more overloads made up to make a nice overload spring pack.
iv got the perches.
this brings me to a question..... will grade 8 bolts be enough to mount these with my plans of 5 overload spring pack?


ok thanks.
turns out they didn't frown more,like stated above.i just got worried not being used to them.

thats right,4' x 4' x 8'. i had 1 solid cord plus a little,measured just slightly differently.

thanks.i'l keep this in mind and go this route,should i notice the front taking a load.
i'll pay attention more to these springs and get used to how they arch.

yeah.it didn't make sense to me either lmao.because i felt it get light in the steering.
so there's no way they could have frowned more.
just not used to looking at them yet.
once i add my overload pack,this should be the end of the light front end issues.
the rear bumper was really low. (i didn't totally flatten the springs.they still had a nice smile actually.but i knew i better limit my test right there.)
i'm loading much lighter for now until i build it up.
i just had to see what she would take stock just once.
quite a bit.but not what id ever do again.

 

How thick is the F-Superduty's 9-leaf main pack, in inches? Keep in mind that your truck being 4x4 has 2" lift blocks between the rear axle and the leals, and this is the factory setup - when you go to put the F-Superduty packs in place of the wimpy ones you got now you remove them 2" lift blocks, so the overall ride height might just end up being about the same.

About the strength of the hardware for the center bolt use 7/16" Grade-8 bolt and nut, it's a tight fit but it will fit. For the U-bolts you want 5/8" size, Grade-8 should be just fine but if you can get some Grade-10 that would be sweet.