So guys a few weeks ago I posted about 4.9 frame towers from an 87-91 will work on a 80-86.. I went to look at an 88 and 91 with them engines in them an they seemed different.. On this not my question is can I use an 80-86 2wd frame towers on a 4wd? I know the 70s trucks you can't. Thanks

 

Thought someone said the 4x2 & 4x4 used the same engine towers.
There was a year cut off because the rubber mounts changed but don't remember the year.
Dave ----

 

I think it's the later years like 1990 or around that year... That's what I'm trying to figure out if 80-86 2wd are the same as 4wd...

 

I've been here almost 10 years now and don't recall them being different (2WD vs 4WD 80-86), you'd think I'd be aware of those differences given all the 4WD conversions that happen here... assuming we're talking about engine stands, commonly known as "perches" around here and I guess you call them "frame towers"... these are NOT the things known as "motor mounts" which are available in the aftermarket world.

 

I don't know why they would be different 2wd to 4wd. 2wd and 4wd use the same oil pans, and 4wd components bolt right in to a 2wd frame without changing the mount frames.

 

Correct I'm talking about the perches that are bolted. So the 2wd will work on a 4wd then.??

 

Yes, except they are usually bolted and riveted. (I'm amazed no one checked the part #'s here: Engine Perches - Gary's Garagemahal)

 

Why are you amazed? At 05:30 in the A of M it's all I can do to keep from spilling my coffee onto the laptop on the kitchen table, the thought of nosing around your site to see if you have this stuff isn't in the forefront of my mind.

 

I realize it is a teeny bit closer, more real, to me than anyone else. But, since I've announced when I've added pages, with links and descriptions thereunto, and since I've linked to that page a few times to help others......

So, the question to y'all is how do I make it easy for y'all to find the stuff?

I'm not taking shots at anyone, but when I see three of the gurus here say:

• Thought someone said the 4x2 & 4x4 used the same engine towers
• I don't know why they would be different 2wd to 4wd
• I've been here almost 10 years now and don't recall them being different (2WD vs 4WD 80-86)

And yet there's a web page that, I think, easily answers the question, then it is obvious to me that I've not done a good job of giving you guys an easy way to see what's out there.

So, again, how do I make it easy for y'all to find the stuff?

 

Gary you know you could post a link and we would still ask the questions.
We want the easy way .... right in front of us with out link clicking J/K




Now this rivet thing you talk about is this on v8's or 4x4's or by year?
I ask because both my 81 4.9 trucks are bolted on.
Dave ----

 

In my case, the first thing that comes to mind is going upstairs to my main computer and looking up the information in the parts catalog - two exceedingly large PDF files - because that is how I was initially trained and is what I've been doing for years. I know you (Gary) are announcing here and there about the various additional information you're putting up... but there is absolutely no way I am going to remember any of that stuff and why should I even try, so long as I can remember your site's URL, I should be able to find what I'm looking for, no need to waste brain cells on remembering such details.

But I don't find a Search box in your theme, and that, to me, is a major discouragement.

Let' use these engine stands/perches/frame towers as an example... IIRC they are shown (depicted, drawn) in the Engine section of the Illustration Manual, but their part numbers may or may not be prefixed with that of other engine parts (60). IOW just because something is drawn on the same illustration and is shown with an engine doesn't mean it has a part number in the 6000 range (an alternator would be a good example of this).

Now, if I were to go to the PDFs and manually go find this stuff, that's what I would do - the manual method of looking through the drawings for part and finding the Group (aka Basic) Number, then going to the text section to find the details. That can be a fair amount of work sometimes and isn't always something I'm willing or able to spend time on.

Now, there is no Search function on your site... so I would click the 80-86 Ford Trucks link in the LH column... after which time I would have seen that a JavaScript sub-menu appears but that's OK, that same information should all be contained on that page that's appearing before me.

The page loads, I scroll through and become discouraged because I can't find any nav menus on it that look like that javascript thing.

Fine... hover over the thing, a context menu appears.... OK, where would these things be... I don't see a Body & Frame category (my first place to look for some reason) so they can't be there... Literature? Let's look... it's all split up by unique years, doesn't look like a place to be... fine... back up, what else is there... Engines looks good... uh oh, doesn't look good, 351M and 400 only... yep, not good, further context menus show stuff not at all related to what I'm looking for.

Fine... what more is there... Specifications? Let's look... nope, this looks to be cert label stuff... fine...

And that is about all the effort I am willing to put into finding something before using the search tool... think of it as browsing through the web sites of various auto parts retailers, each site/store organizes things differently and so there is a learning curve, just like there is a significant curve in learning how to use the parts catalog and how Ford organizes stuff.

~~

Rambling... you asked what can you do to make it easy to find stuff... a search tool is foremost in my mind, this is almost universally available on most any wordpress theme I've run across.

Next would be to have the information contained in the pop-up context menus available on the page that appears should one clock that top-level link and forgo the javascript context menu thing.

Next would be organize all the information in some sort of manner that is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer, so that non-microfocusing-engineering minds can use it. Said another way, set it up so that mindless dolts (lusers) can use it. I realize this is harder than it would first appear to be... a long long long time ago - when the www was just beginning - there were guidelines published by various entities that explaining how to make a site useful - for example, common navigational menus across each page... I'm sure there are still such things available, might look into that stuff.

~~

After all that, I still have no idea where I would find this information on your site; and without a search tool, I'm not about to click around any more than I already have to try and find it.

~~

Fuzzy - the things are generally both bolted & riveted in my experience, no matter the drivetrain installed.

 

Ok just wondered as both mine (4.9) are bolted in and why I asked. Just trying to learn a little more is all.
Thanks
Dave ----

 

Chris - Thanks for the detailed response. I know it took you quite some time to do it, so I REALLY appreciate it.

In response, not push back:

• Search Function: My site doesn't have a search function because that is only available in the Pro subscription, which means another ~$100/year on top of the $40/year I'm already spending. But, if that is what is needed I can think about it.
• Announcements/Memory: I'm not expecting anyone to remember where things are on my site. Even I don't remember exactly where I've put things, although more later on that. But, I was hoping that an announcement that I'd put a certain piece of info up would have sent at least one of you scurrying to my site to find it. (Or, did you?) Apparently not, so there needs to be a better way.
• Organization: One person's organization is not another's. So, while it is reasonably organized to me, it isn't to you as I certainly didn't use the "organization" the catalog gives. But, if it were organized that way then the non-initiated wouldn't be able to find things. And, by the way, perches are in Exterior/Frame/Engine Perches.

So, given the above, do I really need the search function? If it weren't for an annual expenditure it would be an easy decision. But, it is basically signing up to spend another $100/year forever.

And, regardless of that, would there be a way to put a set of links on FTE to my site? Links that could be searched for? And, how would they get modified as I put new pages up several times a week?

And/or, do I put a comprehensive set of links on the 1980-86 page on my site?

I'm well aware that it isn't working, so I'm looking for a good solution and appreciate your help. And/or anyone's help.

 

I have 5 minutes before I go to a meeting....

Long long long time ago I used this as my primary design tutor:

Yale C/AIM Web Style Guide

I think I used that one because I had just gotten out of a state-sponsored public university, and to be reading stuff from the med school at Yale University just wow'd me. It is from the time of the Netscape vs IE browser wars, around the Pentium II era. Of course stuff has evolved considerably but some of the basics still pertain, e.g. the amount of time people are willing to spend, what they expect to see where, etc. Might take a gander through it.

~~

Yeah, I later found the perches stuff but located under Exterior - not the place I would go looking; Exterior to me is chrome trim around wheel wells, license plate frames, maybe bumpers & headlight doors & grilles - and certainly isn't where I would expect to find these things.

I'll see if I can say more tonight....

 

A search feature is just a widget; if they're charging you that much money to enable a dang widget, they are using that as a money-making scheme.