Oh, and i will put more pics up soon of the motor and engine bay. I did not just put in the dirty old motor. It has been painted ford blue. Now i just need to polish the valve covers.

 

Looks good!

My original plan for mine was to just get it running & then at a later date go back & do bedliner, etc. on the firewall and cab, etc. but now I'm thinking I'll just go for getting it to a much more "finished" state before I start driving it because I'm sure I'm not going to want to or have the time to pull it back apart again later.

 

Today the truck made its second trip towing the boat to the lake and it did awesome! Now that i have it driving there are a lot of things i want to tidy up. First off is my fuel tank. Right now it is running a crappy aftermarket tank that has broken twice so far. So i definitely need to get that tanken care of. Since i want to put a tool box in the bed anyway, i decided to look for a toolbox fuel tank combination. I found a great one here: FT-50 Truck Fuel and Tool Box Combinations - Custom Truck Fueltank & Toolbox Combo | Handy Industries
I really like the idea of having a 50 gallon tank, but this would end my ideas of getting a camper for it. What do you guys think? Any other ideas for fuel tanks? Or does anyone have stock tanks for under the bed they would sell?

The next thing i need to address is brakes. They arent terrible, but not awesome. Right now the master cylinder cap is leaking a little bit so i was going to order a new one, but then though about a hydroboost setup. Is it worth it? And what would i pull the hydroboost out of? Anybody have an estimated cost of converting this?

The last major thing that is on the list right now is the front suspension and steering. I just traded a guy some parts for a kit from Ballistic Fab for converting the front end to coils and 4 links. I wasnt looking for this kit, but he needed the parts i had and offered the kit so i took it. Im not sure i really want to do this yet, especially with my 44, but its nice to have. Do you guys think its really worth it to convert to coils, or should i just stick with some better leafs? Either way, something has to be done about the steering. This thing already doesnt turn, but when you cant go full lock to the passenger side, it REALLY doesnt turn. Here are a few pics of the steering setup:



Here you can see where the pitman arm and tire are rubbing




A little background info on the suspension/steering setup. This truck was a factory longbed f350 2wd that was converted to 4wd with a dana 44. They said it was out of a hi boy, but who knows. The only other thing i know about is that it has a Saginaw steering box.

So the truck needs to come up almost 2" in the front either way to make it level. The question is what can i do to fix the steering and what should i do for front suspension? Ive been told to do 95-97 powerstroke 4" lift springs work well, but i would like some more advice and help on planning the whole front end setup.

-Jon

 

NO!!!!


Steele Rubber is made in USA and is top notch quality. Dennis Carpenters is supposed to be good. LMC is garbage. They don't even last a year.

 

I have a spare stock rear tank. I'm pretty sure it's in good condition, but I'd have to check

 

Thank you 1972. Do you have a link to where i can purchase those?

jgavac,

That could be useful. I have not finalized what i am going to do yet, but how much do you want for it?

 

Your truck is really coming along nicely. You said earlier about running a Super-duty inter-cooler in the truck. I was wondering if you had any pics and info as to how you got it to fit?
Keep up the good work.

 

650,

Thank you for the compliment! Yes, it has an intercooler from a 2000 powerstroke. I will have to take pics of the setup this week for you. It took minor notching of the core suport and i had to trim the grill and inserts a bit for them to fit, but all in all it fit really nicely with out too much work.

 

I can definitely understand the rubbing issue with the steering box. I have never seen one mounted like that. check out the Saginaw boxes on 78-9 250's for a better option. They mount on the inside of the frame, and the arm comes under the frame to actuate the little connector rod there.

 

The steering box I pulled off the 73 had the same setup as my 78. That setup right there is really weird.

 

It appears someone rigged up a Chevy box or something. The box I took from a 78 looked essentially like the one in the pic, but on the inside of the frame, and the arm came under the frame. My 75 F25 had an arm that passed through the frame to actuate as shown, but closer to the frame. It then had the hydraulic assist on the crossover link.

78-9 box

 

The setup on Jcarrick's truck looks like it might be a 4wd dodge box. They were outboard of the frame and on a weird bracket like that. Can't remember off-hand if they were turned sideways like his or not though.

A dodge or Chevy 2wd box is what is commonly used for the swap. They mount outboard of the frame & turn the "correct" way for crossover steering on our trucks. The 4wd boxes look the same but the internals are set up differently so the pitman are turns the opposite way on them.

 

Thanks for all the info guys. Do you think it would work to convert it to 78-79 steering? I know it was done before the cummins swap. It was used to convert it to 4wd. Honestly if it worked properly i wouldnt worry about it, but the tire rubbing is getting really old. If you guys suggest a 78-79 setup would anyone have one for sale?

-Jon

 

I did it to my 75. Wasn't that hard to adapt, as the column still ran to the inside of the frame, and the pitman came under the frame and connected much like the original setup did. My assist cylinder leaked like a sieve and eventually locked up the pump. The pics are very much like mine was set up.

 

What do you mean? What did you do?