I think I put some pictures of the one I pulled off Darth on somewhere. Inferred mileage sensor is the name on it.

 

Yes, and no. There is such a thing as the Inferred Mileage Sensor, as shown below on Page 59 of the 1986 EVTM, which is for the 5.8L w/a computer. It also shows on Page 60 of the 1985 EVTM as being for the 5.0L w/EFI, but I don't have that EVTM online - yet. In both cases it is only for manual transmissions, and the output of it goes into the computer. The 1985 EVTM says:Given that, I'm pretty sure that the Emissions light on Big Blue isn't connected to the Inferred Mileage Sensor. However, I do not know to what it is connected. I've just paged through the whole of the 1985 EVTM and I cannot find it.

 

As for Big Blue's battery cabling, I've gotten all the bits and pieces on order:

• Cole-Hersee smart battery isolator #48350
  Cole-Hersee smart battery isolator #48350
• Wire: Lengths of 2/0 and #2 marine battery cable, and I'll use the #4 marine wire I have left from the boat for extra grounds - from Tinned Marine Wire
• Terminals: 25 Magnalugs in various wire and stud sizes from Century Tool
• Shrink Tubing: 48" each of red and black adhesive-lined 3/4" that will work for #4, #2, and 2/0 wire, from Century Tool.

And, in case anyone else is doing this, here are the stud sizes I have:

• Battery Positive: 3/8"
• Battery Negative: 5/16"
• 3G Alternator: 1/4"
• Megafuse: 5/16"
• Starter: 5/16"
• Cole-Hersee battery isolator: 5/16"
• Frame and fender grounds: 1/4"
• Block grounds: 7/16"

And to summarize the plans:

• 2/0: Primary battery positive to starter, and primary battery negative to engine block
• #2: Primary battery positive to battery isolator; battery isolator to aux battery positive; engine block to frame ground; aux battery negative to engine block ground
• #4: Both primary and aux battery grounds to fender

And if you really want to know, all of this costs about $300, and the cabling costs are about $200 and makes 9 cables. (This isn't very accurate because I have 2 connectors from previous projects that I'll use, and will have 9 connectors left over as the best buys are in quantities of 5.)

 

My truck also has the Inferred Mileage Senor. It's an '82 (which had the EEC III) the 5.8L and C6.

 

I'm thinking it's not used in an '85 F-250HD. I know I had mine for 182K miles and no emissions light ever came on. I'm thinking it was just there for the lighter trucks and they didn't bother deleting it from the heavier ones.

 

Mine had one, but the light never came on so maybe what ever it used to activate it wasn't there.

 

One day I'll look to see what is connected to the Emissions light. But, right now there are bigger fish to fry. Maybe someone else will figure it out first?

 

Chris, is this what you were remembering? https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ons-light.html

 

While I can't use the schematic Ralph put out on photobucket as a survey comes up that I don't want to take, I think we are talking about the same thing. Apparently Ford had several iterations of it, but from what I read it is a useless device that could cause a lot of consternation when the light comes on and no one knows where the thing is much less how to reset it. So, it is a perfect spot for my Batteries warning light as I'll kill two birds with one stone.

 

Well, work on Big Blue is taking a back seat to work on Dad's truck at the moment. The plan is to get the front end parts powder-coated or painted and re-installed on Dad's so it sits on all fours and can be rolled around. That way it can be winched onto the trailer to go to the car show in my home town in Sept. And, that will clear the parts off the work table in the shop so then it'll be available for Big Blue's parts.

But, that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about Big Blue and work on him. In fact, at a party last night a friend of mine suggested that I put a front receiver on him. So, as I walked by him today I had a look.

The rear receiver is 2 1/2" tall:





And the space between the crossmember that the sway bar bolts to and the radiator support is ........ 2 1/2". And that crossmember is 3/16" thick and is 5" wide, so it is pretty stout in the fore/aft plane.




And this is where the receiver would go, probably welded to the crossmember and bolted to the bumper. By the way, the bumper is made of 1/4" plate and is bolted to the frame using 1/4" brackets, although I need to upgrade the fasteners some.






I might have to shim the crossmember with a washer on each fastener to get some clearance between the receiver and the radiator support. And, I will have to shim the bumper up 1/2" to let the receiver come under it parallel to the ground, but that's no problem. So, what'cha think?

 

I'm a big fan of front receivers. They make it SO much easier to move a trailer around the yard. In fact, when I needed to "back" my parents 32' travel trailer into a driveway and then about 300' down a winding 2 track gravel drive, I had my wife drive the truck (she can't / won't do anything with a trailer other than straight down the highway) and I spotted for her. We had no trouble getting the trailer put just where my parents wanted it, tucked up against the side of the drive. I just pointed right or left and we walked it in, never having to reverse direction at all.

As far as shimming to get the receiver level, you certainly can if you care (and I know you do!). But it's not that critical. When I put the front receiver in my Bronco's front bumper I had to angle it down as it went back to get it under the radiator (I didn't want it any lower in front to hurt approach angle). It looks a little goofy when there's a draw bar in it, but it works fine. And you don't have draw bars in front receivers much anyway.

 

I actually thought I was going to have to put this receiver in Big Blue's bumper when I was talking to my friend last night. But when I looked at it I realized that the winch is going to be sitting there, so the receiver can't. However, then I saw that it will go perfectly below the bumper and was happy. Later, after I posted, I realized that I can put a plate on the receiver with a 4" x 10" bolt pattern and the receiver and the winch will be held on with the same bolts.

As for moving trailers, I kinda thought it might come in handy. I pulled our 25' Sea Ray out of the storage area behind the shop with Big Blue a month ago, but getting it back in there while backing won't be as easy. But with a front receiver maybe it won't be so bad.

 

A receiver below a front bumper can be sort of a... fashion statement. But it's not THAT noticeable and the utility FAR outweighs the appearance as far as I'm concerned. I had a front receiver on my '95 and swore I'd always have one after that. And then didn't on my '08 (owned for ~1 year) or my '02 (~5 years) because I realized pretty early on that I didn't want to keep either of those. So it was a pretty quick addition to my '97! And I'm planning on putting one on the motorhome we just bought too.

 

So, is that a Curt made for the truck? And I see J-hooks welded to it. I'm thinking about incorporating some kind of hooks into mine. Any ideas?

Also, what do you think about the idea of welding the tube to that crossmember and bolting it to the bumper and winch combo? I'm thinking the receiver will end flush with the bumper, so most of the tongue weight will be borne by the bumper. That means that the force on that crossmember will be fore/aft, which is its strength.

 

Or, why not use one of these in the receiver? The 1/4" steel bumper is well bolted to both sides of the frame, and the other end of the receiver will be welded securely to that crossmember, so that would seem like a much stronger point to pull on for retrieval than a J-hook attached at one point.