I have a 1976 Ford F-100 2wd, long bed, regular cab, 360/C6. I got it when I was 15 and have worked on and driven it daily since. I am now 19 years old and going into my sophomore year of college. I have recently had several issues come up on the truck and need some guidance - more like tips and tricks.

Recently, the truck has been driving very poorly. It has always had some play in the steering and bumpsteer but it is nearly undrivable on the highway at 55 MPH. The passenger side front tire has begun wearing on the outside edge. I got it on an alignment rack and learned that the king pins were badly worn. I ordered a new kingpin set with the brass bushings, coil springs, and axle insulator bushings.

I believe that I have finally found a gentleman near me with the tools to press the old kingpins out and ream the new bushings. For anyone that needs to do this to their truck, I wish you luck in finding anyone willing to complete this task. Now, the only catch is that I have to take the twin I-beam set up out of the truck.

I am looking for any tips or tricks to make this job simple. What else should I replace while I have the front end apart? I would love to make this old truck drive the best that it can. What other bushings should I replace? Radius arm bushings, axle insulator bushings, am I missing any others? For those of you that have replaced the steering gear box with a Redhead box, did it remove all of the slack? Is it worth replacing? How about rebuilding the steering column? I've got about 2 inches of play in the steering wheel at the moment. Rag joint is fairly new so that shouldn't be a major cause.

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The other issue that I'm having is that the blower motor is not working. I have factory AC but took the compressor off when I first got the truck as the AC did not work. I had heat up until about the coldest part of the year when the blower motor went out. I would like to get the AC working again as I still have all of the stuff but need to get the blower working again first.

I have checked the fuse, replaced the blower motor relay, replaced the blower motor switch, and last week replaced the blower motor itself (yes I tested it before I put it in). It still will not come on at all. What else could I be missing? I doubt it will be anything like a chewed wire from a rat, I got the truck with 89K original miles and have found no reason to believe that anything was ever butchered up by previous owners.

Any help with either of these issues would be great!

Thanks, Jay.

 

A multimeter. You need to actually check for power at the blower motor and move upstream until you find it. As you have already found out, taking shots in the dark is time consuming and expensive. We can offer much more effective advice if your problem is stated as "I have no power at location X under XYZ conditions" rather than "the blower motor doesn't work."

My local Harbor Freight has a running ad for free multimeters right now. Otherwise, something as cheap as $10 does the job.

 

For the play in the steering, use your eyes. Have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth while you get up underneath and look for play in the steering. Start at the rag joint. If that looks good then go to the pitman arm, see how much lag there is between the input and output of the steering box. The movement should be almost instantaneous. If there is play then yes! Red Head steering gear. After that look at the drag link and tie rod ends. There should be no play in any of these items.
Like fmc400 said, you need to get a multimeter and start back tracing the blower until you find power.
A couple of things. Check the connection at the blower resistor, make sure it's plug is seated. I doubt the resistor is bad though. Usually when it fails you'll still have high speed on the blower.
Also, pull the control panel out and check the wiring behind the panel. Apparently the wiring Ford used was undersized (at least in my opinion). I've worked on quite a few of these a/c systems over the years and I've found that it's not uncommon to find melted insulation and burned wiring. It's also common to find the plastic housing for the blower switch plug to be melted.
One last thing, eventually, if you need to replace the compressor, consider doing a Sanden style compressor upgrade. Cheaper, lighter, more efficient and quieter than the old York.

 

I still haven't been able to get the blower motor working. I have done a few things as far as troubleshooting what the possible problem be but have come to a loss as I cannot find a clear wiring diagram for it.

Things I know are not a cause:
-Blower motor - replaced with a tested new one (from the engine bay)
-Blower motor relay replaced with a new one as well as several from junkyard trucks
-Blower motor switch replaced with several different ones from junkyard trucks
-Fuse - checked fuse, even replaced the fuse

With a multimeter I have no power at any of the wires in the connector for the blower motor switch. None. 0 volts on every last one of them. I have checked and do have power at the fuse. So, in what sequence does the power flow for the blower motor? An explanation of this sequence would be nice if anyone knows or can possibly interpret a diagram better than I.

Any ideas will be helpful as well as any wiring diagrams anyone may have. Gotta get the heat working again before it gets too chilly!

Thanks.

 

Here I am sure there is a great elec diagram in here. Pretty sure a 2wd has "ball joints" not kingpins.....

Ck for play in all these areas. Rag joint in steering shaft, steering box play, ball joints, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, radius arm bushings.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...then-some.html

 

2wd F-100's definitely have kingpins. It was tough finding someone that had a reamer and knew the trade of pressing the old pins and bushings out and reaming the new ones. I finally found someone local though. I ended up replacing wheel bearings, tie rods, drag link, kingpins, coil springs, shocks, rag joint, axle pivot bushings and threw a new set of Michelins on it. Drives great, 100% better. No more road walking. The only play that it has now is in the steering box itself and I plan on replacing it with a Redhead box soon.

Now that I've got it driving great again though, I still need to get the heat working.

I have a set of original '76 shop manuals. However, I cannot find wiring diagrams in them. Do Haynes/Chiltons manuals have clear wiring diagrams?

 

Look in that link I posted above, there are a # of elec diagrams in there, and here are a few a/c links for you.

1979 F100 Air Conditioning

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