When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Gary, got to ask why does the receiver have to be level?
I will say it would most likely look better, do you really see it, but it should work just as good on that little tilt no?
Dave ----
I was fortunate that Big Blue came with this one. It apparently has been on the truck forever as the fasteners have rusted and the inside of the bumper has surface rust. In fact, the bottom is losing the chrome in places. But we hadn't even truly gotten on the road pulling it back to Okiehoma from Florida when my brother said "I know what you need to do to the bumper - powder coat it black." And, that's the plan.
Dave - It doesn't have to be level. I just don't want to have everything in a bind when the bolts are tightened down. Let's see what I can figure out.
Here's what I've learned this morning. This is how I want the receiver to sit, although it is slid forward several inches to clear the crossmember so I had to use a 1/4" plate in front of the crease, and 1/2" behind. But that puts the receiver parallel with the bumper, and when I cut the rear of the current piece off to the correct length then I'll weld 1/4" strap to the receiver fore and aft of the crease, and they'll tie into the gold colored bolts you see, which secure the winch to the bumper.
And, as you can see below, the bottom of the receiver is basically parallel to the bottom of the crossmember. But, what you can't tell is that the front lip of the crossmember is 5/8" above the bottom and the rear lip is 3/4"'. So, I see these possibilities for fastening the rear of the receiver:
Flange: As shown, I could weld a piece of strap to the underside of the crossmember, and then drill it and the receiver and bolt the receiver to the strap. And, since there shouldn't be any up/down stress on that joint, only front/rear, that should be pretty strong.
Cut: I could cut the bottom off the receiver along the white line that matches the front and rear lips of the crossmember, and then:
Angle: Weld two pieces of 1 1/2" x 3/16" angle to the top of the crossmember's lips, simulated below with one piece of really light angle, and drill the angle and the receiver so the receiver would be held between the pieces of angle. And cut the bottom 3/4" off the rear 5" of the receiver to clear the crossmember. In addition I'll weld spacers made out of heavy tubing between the walls of the receiver at the rear so the bolts can be cinched down w/o collapsing the receiver. Since the crossmember is 5" front/rear I could easily put two bolts in and it would be quite strong. This would probably be the least obtrusive if the receiver were removed. In fact, the angle could be cut off and the welds on top of the lips ground down such that it wouldn't be obvious they were ever there.
Weld: Or, I could just weld the receiver to the top of the lips of the crossmember. This wouldn't be as removable as either of the other approaches, but it would be the strongest. And, it could be removed with cutting/grinding such that it wouldn't be obvious.
Thoughts? Other possibilities I didn't think of?
EDIT: Updated the plan for Angle. I'm liking that plan more the more I think about it.
Plan X (leaving room for Y & Z): Put the angle on, as previously described, and instead of cutting the whole bottom off of the end of the receiver just cut the red piece out. That will let the receiver sit down in the crossmember and retain more strength in the rear piece where the bolts pass through.
Big Blue's air cleaner is progressing. Got the body and snorkels powder coated today. Had planned to coat the fasteners black, but I kinda like the dark stainless look they came with. So, here it is put together w/o the vacuum motors or temp sensor. Still need to finish the top, including coating it satin clear and having a decal made.
Got Big Blue's air cleaner sorta installed today. Obviously it doesn't have the vacuum tubing to the vacuum motors, or even the temp sensor. Nor does it have the hot air ducting nor the fresh air hose to the valve cover. But, it is plumbed to cool air in the radiator support, although the driver's side is to an alternate location 'cause someone ran the engine oil hoses to the cooler through the spot where the ducting is supposed to go. However, it will get cool air and to both snorkels, and since there doesn't seem to be a need for warmer air right now, the doors being held wide open to cool air by the vacuum motors is a good thing.
Can't get the A/C line brace in yet w/o rotating the hose and tweaking things quite a bit, so thought I'd wait until the engine comes out. The oil hoses will also move at the same time as I have to rotate the cooler itself, reroute the hoses, and then weld in a piece to repair the radiator support as "they" cut a piece out of it.
But, at the moment I'm spending most of my time on Dad's truck. I want to get the front suspension powder coated and back together before September for a car show I'm planning on taking it to.
I think I would get the A/C line brace on before I finalized the air filter snorkels. It would be pretty bad if after all the planing and fitting the A/C lines and brace interfered with the left snorkel.
Snorkels are done. The air cleaner is essentially done. But I've scoped out where the A/C line will go when the brace is on and it all works. In fact, with the brace on and the line tweaked it fits even better than now.
So, I'm anxious to work on Big Blue and get those things sorted. Especially since there's a long list of things needing fixed with the engine out, like the intake manifold's seal to the block, the pan and dipstick seal, the front and rear mains, the transmission itself, the shim on the driver's side mount, the fuel lines that almost touch the headers, the fuel pressure regulator that will be moved and changed out, the starter and battery cabling that will be replaced, the 3G alternator upgrade, the bolt on the rear of the head that hits the firewall, the oil cooler position and the routing of its lines, the aux battery, etc. But, I need to get Dad's truck on all fours first. Lots to do and so little time.
While I was using Big Blue to test-fit the underhood tool box, I had to remove the brace that supports the auxiliary battery. That's part EOTZ 10769-A Brace (Battery Support), and it bolts to the radiator support in exactly the spot the tool box's inner brace bolts on. In fact, it uses the same retainer that the tool box bracket uses - 461A12 - which doesn't show in the catalog associated with the tool box. But, in a serendipitous event, when I unbolted the battery support there lay the same retainer that came with my tool box, but which I hadn't been able to identify. So, turning to the catalog I found it in the auxiliary battery illustration: P-17269.
But, I knew the brace wasn't in the best of conditions as it had set under the battery for decades. So, I put it in the blast cabinet along with the bolts for Dad's truck and cleaned it up a teeny bit. Then I dusted it a bit with semi-gloss black and put it in the oven when the bolts when in. Here are a few before and after shots.
Bill - Thanks! Those brackets don't fare well given the environment in which they live. Especially given the batteries when these trucks were made with their vats of caustic liquid that evaporated through the loose caps while being charged. I like the new batteries much better.
As for what I did today, I made a bracket to hold the outside edge of the coolant recovery reservoir. The original Ford bracket, which I think is E0TZ 17651-A, is no longer available, so I made one. This is what works for me, but isn't all that pretty, although it'll look a bit better with a dusting of powder and 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
But, I still need to find another screw like the one in the front hole. That's the original one that held the front tab of the reservoir to the fender, and it is back in the original hole. So I want to find another to put in the rear hole, which is a new hole in the fender.
This Hennessey Takes the Expedition Tremor's Off-Roading Capability to the Next Level
Slideshow: The VelociRaptor Expedition gains a lift, upgraded suspension, Brembo brakes, and trail-ready equipment while retaining the stock 440-horsepower EcoBoost V6.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
