Buffalo NY members how are you?
 

I just wanted to give a shout out to all of our Buffalo members to see how you are doing. Please post up how you are and if you need anything. There are members that are nearby that may be able to give you a hand if they know what your needs are.

Other members feel free to share your comments and how you may be of help to our fellow Buffalo members who may have been without electricity for the last week.

Thanks everyone.

Last that i spoke to ang(aka cowlady) she was in a slight panick. that was last friday. haven't been able to callher and get her since.

JD - what was ang in a panick about?

Anyone heard from John Pen, ameritaz3038, cujo8, Benton, or any of the other Buffalo members??

I guess since no one has been on they are still without electricty?

I think that their electric company is Niagra Mohawk who is owned by National Grid. Not to turn this political but anyone from Long Island can expect the same when they finish buying Keyspan.

In this day and age no one should be without electricity this long!

That is very possible. There were over 400,000 households without power last week and the last report that I heard there were still somthing like 50,000 still without as of yesterday. It was a pretty bad storm as I was in Buffalo earlier this week and every tree that I saw had some damage to it and we were only in the southern most part of Buffalo. I can't imagine how it is farther north. I am just hoping they are alright. John Pen is in or near where the storm hit hard. I am not sure of the others.

i think anj was panicking mainly because of her mother. she couldn't leave to go to rochester. still have not had a chance to call. just got home a lil while ago today. was out all day

JD - keep us posted on what you hear from ang. I am just hoping everyone is alright. There have only been 12 reported deaths due to this storm. Most are due to people running generators indoors. When will people learn. :-X15

Dodged the bullet here..all damage was about 10 min south of me...My buddy in West Seneca was without power for 6 days...still some out, but most have power back

John - glad to hear you are alright!! I was concerned as I thought you were in the heart of it. Thanks for posting up. I hope the others are fine too. Haven't heard from anyone else. Have you??

Well the latest report is that there are still 400 to 600 homes without power in the Snyder area and as Jason stated in his post people are very upset about how long it is taking them. It sounds like most schools and businesses will be back up and running as normal on Monday.

Hope everyone is well and post up so we now how you are doing.

As of this morning they are reporting 250 homes and businesses that are still without power. Most of the schools are open, but the buses are only staying to the main roads. No secondary roads due to they are not clear enough for the buses to pass.

So how are the rest of the Buffalo members??? Only John Pen posted up.

What is going on with the rest of you and are you alright??

Well everyone's power is back on. 12 days later!!! :-X16 I guess everyone is alright. Have not heard from anyone other then John Pen. No more deaths associated with the storm so that is a good thing. The cleanup they are predicting will take a month or more in some areas. Now they are suppose to get hit with high winds this weekend which could cause problems due to the trees being weakened from this snow storm. Hopefully it will miss them.

Hi All,

Re: The 10/12 storm: Returned to Buffalo during the worst of it, left for home at about 12:50 am. Locked the hubs in on the Quigley 4x4 (first time using it for real) and waded through the wet heavy stuff with stock "all-season" tires. Took an hour, weaving around downed trees, stuck vehicles, closed streets, to get to NY 400, another hour to get home. Little at East Aurora, nothing at home.

Got the Van back from the body shop (deer damage at 5 weeks, 5 days of ownership), and it's looking good as new, some $3,700 later (thanks Progressive and Ott's Collision in Warsaw).

Glad life is returning to normal for those hit on the city. I was able to get to work from country and filled in for many closer than I who couldn't get off their streets.

Later, Dave

Dave, glad to hear that you are alright. Sounds like it was really bad where you were. Glad the van is back to normal and that it performed well for you. Did you decide on deer protection for it yet?

I am going to go up to Niagara Performance to see if they can help me out. They're supposed to be dealers for that Australian Company. I'm thinking I want something that includes the vertical push bars...my bumpers ride right over the top of others in the parking lot at work.

Was noticing in the sunlight the really nice job the body shop did and was searching for the place where the new paint ended and original began...wow...

Same color and everything, but the new stuff looks like it has a glass coat on it and the factory part is just very shiny. Maybe I'll see what they'd charge to put another coat of clearcoat (I guess that's the difference) on the remainder of the vehicle.

Thinking ahead here:

If we ever think we would like to stage a get-together in the western part of the state, might I recommend Letchworth State Park? There's lots of outdoor space, picnic areas, camping both in and outside of the Park, very scenic. Just a thought.

Dave, let me know how you like Niagara Performance. You should be happy with whatever product you get from ARB. Glad to hear that Ott's Collision did such a great job for you. It will be interesting to see how much it will cost you to have the rest of your van clearcoated.

Letchworth State Park would be a great place to have a G2G. You have any particular time you would like to have a meet? I think the park is even open during the winter if anyone wants to do a winter G2G. Let me know your thoughts.

Letchworth State Park
 

Yes, there is a small part of the Park open all winter. There has been a tubing hill open in the past (got more than a few rescue calls there when on the squad!) and I will check it out. I actually like a winter cook out, if you can get the food down before it gets cold!

Right now my schedule is on an "on-call" basis, so I would just have to develop the "flu" to be able to rely on attending on any particular date.

Let's get some input from the others.....

Dave

Hey Guys!

My first post here, still lurking the SD forum...

I just purchased a 99 (10/98 build date) V10 F250 SD SC SB 4x4. 3.73 gears, Auto, 126,000 miles on it.

The first thing I want to do is get this thing off the ground a little. I just sold a GMC Sierra with a 4" lift, and offroaded the hell out of that thing. Looking to do some offroading in this one. Would love to run 35s with some lift... but I'm finding that my pre-March 99 build date is completely screwing my options.

Any suggestions? Can I fit 33s stock?

Ronin, I like how yours sits. Good Job!

BTW - I'm 22, a Sr Programmer, and just bought a house in Akron on 5+ acres. 3 of which is mud for my truck. I also love anything automobile.

Jake, welcome and feel free to join the NY Chapter to become an official member. I take it you weren't affected too much by the storm??

Well your truck is 3 months younger than mine. :-D So I know what you mean by limited lift kits, but you can make late 1999 components work on early 1999 SD's if you are not afraid of some modifications. When my truck was stock I was running 33x12.50R16 tires on 16x10 wheels, but my truck has the x-springs in front and 4-inch blocks in back. Don't know what springs are on the front of your truck and you have the 2-inch blocks in back. Other than that our trucks are the same.

Hey, can we come and play in the mud??? :-D

Mud is open anytime!

And it is Jack BTW :)


My power went out on Thurs the 12th, and came back on Monday night. $200 in gas for the generator, and I pumped out about 10 basements through the weekend.

If you want to meet up I'd love to check out your truck... and get some tips from you.
Please gimme a call when you are available 901-1081

Jack sorry about that, I don't know how I got that wrong on your name. Glad to hear that you were not effected too bad with the storm. I understand that there are still people without telephone or cable as of today in some places.

It would be great to get together. The only problem is I am pretty busy with work and family events right now so I don't have time for a road trip. If you think you might be up to coming down I could probably free up some time depending on when it is. I would be glad to discuss with you how I have the truck setup.

As for the mud, we might have to do a NY Chapter G2G at your house!! :-D I just need to get a new wheeling rig as my SD with the plow frame on the front would just bury itself. Thanks for the invite!! :-X22

Letchworth sounds good to me....Maby if we plan something a few months forward, it'll give everyone a chance to plan, get through the holidays and make sure they can get the time off !!

Id love the excuse to fire up the smoker and make pulled pork and ribs for the event !

You're on!!! :-X22 I will start a separate thread and see what we can get together.

Sorry Ronin, thought you were local...

Found a 2 yr old V plow, w/ back drag for $3k.. and I'm thinking about getting it. They are red too... so they will match my truck.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/...V10_Driver.jpg

Jack, not a problem. We will get together some time. Post up in the Letchworth State Park thread.

Did you figure out what springs you have on your truck? That plow could cause a lot of sagging on your truck depending on what springs you have.

without the search function on, makes it really hard to... search.

What are X-Springs?

The search feature will be back on for non-FTE members once the new server is in. The original vendor that Ken bought the server through stiffed us so he is buying one from a different vendor.

The x-springs are the factory Ford front springs that were an option or were included in the plow-prep package.

Is there a code I can look for or anything that I would be able to see that would differentiate an X spring setup from a base setup?

I'm so a car guy.

Jack, I think it is listed on your door jam but can't remember for sure. I can check mine tomorrow and let you know.

Jack, sorry I was wrong. It must be in the VIN and the tech folders are down right now due to the server issues so you don't have access to the VIN decoder unless you have access to another one somewhere else. For the most part you should not have a problem putting a plow on your truck, but the front might sag more than you like if you don't have x-springs. With your truck being an auto I would check to see if you have a trans cooler. That and a higher output alternator were also part of the plow prep package from Ford.

i almost forgot about the tranny cooler... didn't they change the rad setup and actually removed the cooler?

The cooler is actually a part of the radiator. If I remember right it was integrated into the lower part of the radiator so you have cooler lines running from your trans to the radiator and back. Even if you don't have that you could add your own after market one. Just trying to think of everything so you don't hurt your new ride plowing.

BTW, is the plow you are looking at a Boss? If so that is a good price. Just remember that is a heavy plow.

Meyer.

I'm thinking the Cub Cadet in the garage is going to have to plow this year... I just put a $2000 down payment on the honeymoon for next year.. so just tires this year.

Something else I got thinking about is if you put a plow on your truck you won't have as much fun playing in your mud pit!!! :-X07 Even the most tucked away plow frames take away from your ground clearance along with messing up your approach and departure angles. I wouldn't even consider taking my SD wheeling due to the plow frame.

Yeah... I've buried a couple plow frames in the mud... they plow even w/o a blade on em.


Tire suggestions?

Yeah I did some wheeling with my old 1977 F-150 with a plow frame and it got old real fast. You would plow so much mud up with the frame it would stop all forward progress real fast. Gave up on that.

As far as tires, what are you looking for? Mud, all terrain, all season street, towing, a combination of several categories? Also what size and price range?

Jack, the VIN decoder information is back in the Super Duty forum in the sticky at the top. Go to this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...orum-tips.html

That should answer your question. Let me know if it doesn't.

awesome.... I couldn't get the FAQ to work for the life of me.

And as far as tires go, I'm keeping the stockers around for towing, I just want to go taller and a little wider for mud traction, and an aggressive look. Like 33s or bigger, if I need helper springs or something to clear 35s I will.


Why do all of the lift places around me complain about add-a-leaf? How bad can axle wrap actually be if the factory adds blocks?

Yeah, a lot of the stickies have been taken down in most of the forums to be turned into tech articles. They just put the sticky back for the SD FAQ's. Once you get 25 posts under you the search feature will be available for you too.

As for mud tires in the 33 or 35 flavor I have been looking at Maxxis Buckshot Mudders myself. For the price they seem to be a great bang for the buck.

Don't know what the deal is with the shops around you. Axle wrap can occur not only with add-a-leafs and blocks, but an all spring suspension too. I was getting some pretty bad axle hop (wrap) with my truck while plowing. Once I put the leveling kit on it that solved that problem.

Thanks!

BTW - I took a closer look at the springs in the front... I def don't have any helper springs or anything in the front. Looks like the bare essentials. And it is definitely sitting about 1.5-2" lower in front.

I'd like to follow the FAQ and do a 2" block, or add a leaf in the front to clear 35s. I really don't have to go very wide, I would like to even keep the stock wheels on it...