Thanks! I thought it was part of the tie rod area not the steering shaft I will check it out!

 

No problem. If the truck is not shaking driving down the road, I'd be the tie rods are ok.

There is also a bolt on the steering box you can tighten to decrease black lash in the steering gears. That could be another problem spot.

 

Yeah i was reading that, i am going to check that first since its free lol it doesn't shake just wonders from side to side and since the wheel is so loose it takes a lot of mini turns to keep her straight on the road.

So brain storming while here at work lol and i want to mount a gauge and a few carling switches (4 to be exact) to an overhead console. I was originally thinking about getting an 05 overhead console and retrofitting the switches and gauge but then i started to think about making my own instead. How would i mount it to the ceiling though that's the only par ti cant find anything on OEM or custom made for these trucks lol.

 

One idea is to use Shelf-It. It's sold from LMC. It mounts to the visors and would give you a great start for overhead switches and console. See here: Truck Parts and Truck Accessories

Next I would say remove the headliner and design something that clamps to the roof bracing. Or weld tabs onto the roof bracing.

Or finally, you could pull the headliner, make a mounting bar that goes from visor to visor, but mounts above the headliner and lets some tabs drop out through the liner to create mounting points.

 

Glad you guys all had a good Christmas.


Hey Matt, I like the idea of an overhead console. They can look pretty cool sometimes. My Dad had a pretty cool looking one for his 88 F250 going, that I thought looked pretty good. It was on the headliner going across the windshield. I've got some pretty good ideas for that once I get to fixing it up. Not sure how it would work on the super duty though.


But my buddy from Ohio on here RUNVS, did a custom console on his truck a while ago. Not sure if its what you're going for, but I thought it was pretty cool and might give you some ideas. Here's a link to his thread.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...le-thread.html

 

Thanks I really like that console! I think gauges in place of where the CB is since i don't have one would be a great spot. do you know how he mounted it? i skimmed through on my while on my phone just now.

 

So i went on my rewards points thing for my bank finally after years of racking up points and realized i could get $300 in amazon gift cards plus roughly $100 i got for Christmas so i will have $400 i can spend on amazon and i am thinking of buying an OBA set up and air bags for basically $270 lol

I was going to get these and add my own switches which i already bought as you know and a single gauge with two needles to measure airbag pressure and tank pressure from glow shift. The bags will be tied together with one way valves to prevent sway but i will not fill them separately.

OBA Set up:
Viair Constant duty set up ( )

Bags:
Airlift 5000 Ultimate Bags with Jounce Bumpers ( )

Glowshift Gauge dual needle pressure gauge:
(GlowShift | Tinted 7 Color Dual Needle Air Suspension Gauge with Electronic Pressure Sensors)

Now i can put my air horn switch to use! lol

Also IDK if i shared this thought but i thought about placing my old tank in the truck bed up against the front wall (parallel to the cab) and using it as a water/meth injection tank for when i get the 12v swapped in. I was going to run a gauge to the sender unit from the floater and i have a 29 gallon tank with a fuel level gauge instead of a 7 gallon one i constantly need to check and i save money off the kit since i don't need the tank lol. I was going to run a matching glowshift fuel level gauge with it.

 

Only problem is won't the stock sender unit on your tank rust out from the water/meth sitting in the tank?


I might not be understanding you completely though.




I like the air set up if I were to run air bags I probably would do similar. The gauge also is very cool looking.
Trav

 

Never thought about that but i don't think i even fully understand what i am trying to say lol. Basically just bolt the old SD tank into the bed and fill it with water/meth for the diesel is all. You can buy kits from snow performance that come with the pump set up and controller but have no tank for around $200 cheaper, my thought was i spend $200 less and gain 22 gallons for free lol.

I just want to use the floater not the pump or anything would it rust out the floater arm possibly? I was going to remove everything except the floater arm and plug all the vent and filler holes except for the one that i will use to fill it obviously.

 

No problem. Yeah the gauges would be cool, you could probably mount them anywhere and maybe add some more switches too like he did. And I went back and looked over the thread, and the I'm pretty sure he just screwed it directly into the headliner. So I guess its kind of permanent haha. Not sure if that's the best way to do it, but I don't think there should be any problems with it if you're comfortable with doing it like that. I'm really not sure on how else to mount it either though, lol.


Not sure about the air bags, not exactly my area of expertise, LOL. But that sounds good to me.

 

If the floater arm on a SD is steel like the older ford trucks (which I believe they are but not sure since I had a shop replace the 02s fuel pump) then ya that will rust out also.


Now you might be lucky enough to bend some type of metal that won't rust and yet be strong just like the floater arm you might be on to something.
Trav

 

Hmmm... I'm plenty sure i can do that with our scrap at work might be able to make an aluminum one in the machine shop here. thanks for that Trav i never knew and that could have ended up bad...eventually lol.

I am looking at Ol birds retrofit consoles and i think i may go with one of those since there is a template and it is easier to install since i am looking for just gauges i could use one of the doors and maybe get an overhead gauge pod.

 

Went back and looked at the air kit more. That Vlair kit looks nice and could be pretty useful, wouldn't mind putting that on my truck eventually. The air bag kit looks good too. I think that's the one that most people prefer right? And of course gauges look cool haha.


On the water/meth tank. I kinda agree with what Trav is saying. Not really sure if the stock tank is designed for that use, so I could see how you could run into rusting issues. But again I'm not for sure, probably something you'd have to look into more. I do like the idea though. If you could make it work, that'd be a pretty big plus right there. Like you said, you'd get a nice big tank for free and be able to save money on the kit too.

 

No problem Matt. I would make sure it isn't a cheap aluminum like they use for chain link fencing as that would fall apart fast.


I personally have a couple tanks in the backyard from a parts truck we had (84 so tanks wouldn't work on anything) and the gas sat so long the floater arm completely rusted off. I also had this problem on my 88 F150 and the 89 F250.


Jon the tank itself shouldn't rust out (it would be weird if it did being they are plastic on SDs).


The only thing is you would probably end up running out of bed space then again you got the 95 for that. The fuel tank is about the same size as the truck box on our 02 F250 so that gives a bit of a perspective of how much bed room you will have.
Trav

 

Yeah people usually get the airlift or firestone kit i personally like airlift as i have talked to them a few times and they are very friendly and helpful. I am not saying firestone isn't just talked to airlift first and liked them lol. off the Viair tank i am going to run air bags, air horns, and an auxiliary quick connect inside the bed and maybe up towards the front for tires.

Yeah i will investigate that more i will hang on to the tank since the swap wont be for a while but if it turns out it will work fine then i will mount it in the bed once i get her on the frame again and just leave it until the swap is being done.

The hardest part is going to be mounting all these things, my original plan was to mount he tank like i said and build a nice metal enclosure like they make for the T pip on trucks that have stacks and then mount my air tank and compressor on top of that since i will have lost that bed space anyway. I am not concerned that much about bed space since it will only be a little more than a foot and i also have my 95 with a 6ft bed lol. Plus my dad has his truck as well so we have 3 trucks lol. I will check what kind of metal we have lying around work here but i bet it is pretty good quality scrap pieces. If not then i can order through work since we order in bulk i can get a discount on metal, thats my plan for the bed supports.