Good point NumberDummy about the Dana 60...
Do you have any info on the spring codes? Andonso's is 44P and mine just says 3P

 

I had a 83 ford Ranger that got stolen. It was missing for 7 years i believe. A car lot applied for a title and I was notified. I had to go round and round with the police but got it back. There was something fishy about it all. Someone wound up with it and used it to haul fuel out to pulpwood trucks. Someone had gotten 2 DUI's while they had it. The day i found out about it I called the police department in the city it was supposed to be in and the officer said he was just looking that vin up! The next day I went to the county sheriffs office where I had originally reported it stolen and they originally told me the officer was on vacation and I would have to wait till he got back because the vin number somehow got changed on the report and no longer matched the title.
I insisted on talking to the sheriff and he assured me I wold have it back that evening.
So they were all around in the office bragging how they recovered a stolen truck after 7 years. When the tow truck got to the office with it, they had brought the wrong truck and it to was stolen, they had to go back and get mine!

I had a company check book in the truck and the someone wrote over 50k in bad checks. Because I was notified by the bank on each check, I tracked where he was and what he was buying. I kept turning information over to the police till they finally told me that they had much bigger cases they had to focus on. I even gave them a name and description of the guy and they told me he was wanted and they didn't know where he was but that he wasn't wanted for anything connected to auto theft.

He would buy tires and not have them mounted,just thrown in the back of the truck so perhaps the dealer woldn't take down a tag number.
One shop did take down a tag number and it belonged to Dixie bearing company and belonged to a truck that was stolen with 40k worth of bearings on it at the time. I called the detective handling that case and he ask me, SO what are you calling me for? I politely told him, well since the tag belonged you your case and the check book belonged to my case, I would think there might be a connection there, somewhere!

All the work i did trying to find my truck and tracking the guy and then to have the sheriff brag about how they set a record recovering a 7 year old case!
UGGGG

 

For my Jeep I have a Jeep factory Service manual and a Jeep OEM parts manual which comes in handy when ordering parts and allows me to cross-reference aftermarket to OEM parts.

I found and purchased a Ford Factory Manual on CD however I'm not able to find a CD or pdf Ford OEM parts manual for a 88 Econoline.

Is there someplace to download a Ford parts manual for an 88 Econoline?

While looking for springs I came across a set of rear springs ( 6 leaves) rated at 1750 lbs, however it stated that the springs were not for a 124" wheelbase E150. The online store help said I would need the OEM spring part number for specifically the E150 as there are various spring sizes and he could not cross reference 44P

 

1980/89 Ford Light Truck Parts Catalog available on a C/D from hipoparts.com

Includes: Aerostar; Bronco, Bronco II, E100/350, F100/350, F(Super Duty).

Here's a random pic from this catalog:

 

After searching a bit I found a couple other same or similar Ford Parts Catalogs CDs.

I'm assuming hipoparts.com https://www.hipoparts.com/1980-89-fo...ts-catalog-cd/

Catalog is the same as this one from eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/162749949352 ?
_____

I found another from Amazon authored by where a reviewer stated it lacked certain searching capabilities.



Also found part 2 of 2 of a free pdf download

http://www.icsarchive.org/icsarchive...ll%20index.pdf

 

The only C/D's I have are from hipoparts.com. These were scanned from the original loose leaf paper catalogs.

The reason I have the C/D's is, I can post pictures from them. I also have original FoMoCo bound paper, loose leaf and microfiche catalogs.

 

Yes microfiche and paper was the media commonly used at one time. I think a few autoparts stores may still use microfiche catalogs.

For my E-350 motorhome I have mostly soft and hardback Ford catalogs picked up over 10 years ago. I paid iirc around $30.00 for my Jeep factory manuals and was able to find free downloadable part manuals. I can't remember what I paid for the 92 Ford E-350 paper manuals but none have a date range, their either for a 1992 or 1993 Econoline. Separate manuals covering more than one segment of vehicle repair such as Electrical and Vacuum Troubleshooting and Repair, etc.

There is a place online that has a few factory service manuals for around $8.00 but none for Ford vehicles.

Pacific Coast Manuals Full Service Manuals

I may hold off for a while ordering anything more as I'm probably at least two months away from finding out if Alaska DMV will issue a new title. Without a title the RV may be good for storage or place for someone to sleep.

Other possibilities may be a body swap. I've seen information online where Econline Owners have swapped bodies from a same or similar years Econolines. However I would need to find a good frame and possibly engine and drivetrain as It would be more difficult to swap out other items such as the engine, transmission, etc.

If you can partially dismantle, loosen and lift the body from what I under stand with perhaps some modification you could set another body on a new frame and drivetrain. However the body VIN often follows the vehicle as the frame and drivetrain usually don't have a VIN. AFAIK it's illegal to remove a VIN placing it on another vehicle.

However one can perhaps apply for a new VIN as a customized vehicle, depends on the state, some state you only need to fill out a couple of forms to apply for a new VIN and then have the vehicle inspected, when performing major modifications to a vehicle.

 

faxonautolit.com .. brick and mortar store located in Riverside CA

'Ol Ed isn't cheap, but has 1,000's of owners & shop manuals, vacuum & electrical diagrams, sales brochures, dealer facts books and other paper goods that silverfish love to feast on.

 

Thanks will take a look. Some that are around $15 - $20.00 I may be interested in. The more expensive ones $100.00 - $150.00+ some appear to be complete sets. I'm not certain would need and usually like to be able to thumb through a book before making a purchase.

When I first started to work on cars when I was around 14 back in the 60's (52 Ford). For years I rarely used a shop manual as most repairs were based on figuring things out. However as cars progressed become less simplified, especially after adding pollution prevention devices and more electronics, aftermarket car manuals and factory service manuals started to become more popular.

I use to have an 86 chev (4x4) however for repairs and maintenance I never looked at or dealt with it's ecu. It wasn't until it was replaced with a 98 Jeep Cherokee that I became interest in OBD / OBD2. I ended up checking out a bunch text books on OBD/OBD2 from the local library to figure out exactly what OBD is and how it functions.

I learned the primary function of an ECM or PCM is to prevent pollution, which is normally accomplished by a well running engine and transmission. However since the primary function of an ECM/PCM is to prevent pollution the PCM will potentially sacrifice runabilty and even fuel economy to produce less pollution. There's really no way to modify it's programming other than using add-on modules, where each have limitations in what they can actually do.

My 98 Jeep with now just over 200,000 miles is rated at 18 / 22 mpg, doesn't get that great of fuel economy worse than it's rating. As an engine ages and wears it helps to be able to adjust things such as timing, fuel delivery, etc. to compensate for an engine's age and wear. However with a PCM there's really no way to adjust an engine. There are add-on modules however their limited and usually designed for performance and not for an aging vehicle.

The Jeep has a 4.0L cast iron block whose basic engine design has been around since the 60s runs well, but the fuel economy could be better. I've tried to get it to produce better fuel economy by e.g. installing different fuel injectors, swapping out o2 sensor for new, new distributor, cleaning the intake, and other items related to air and fuel but it's still gets only around ~15 mpg and sometimes less similar to a 3/4 or 1 ton pickup.

I rewelded the cracks in the stock exhaust manifold which didn't make any difference and have a new one that suppose to have a better design that hasn't yet been installed.

One pro of the 4.0L is the cast iron block engine last a while, when maintained. Usually at least 300,000 miles. I read of one single owner who claims to have over 400,000 miles on his Jeep Cherokee with 4.0L ( without any major engine or transmission work). Mostly only replaced some parts such as alternator and distributor. I can't remember if he had to replace or repair the head or not.

Most of the Jeeps now use a small block V8, have swapped out the transmissions and have improved on their diesel version. There also is one with an electric motor but can't remember if it's still a prototype. I don't know I think if they ever make headway with electronic cars and electronic car prices come down, gas, diesel & lpg vehicles will eventually become less popular.

I've driven an older electric car from years ago and there's not much to them, under the hood there's an electric motor much smaller than a petrol engine and no transmission. Fairly simple you pressed on the pedal to go faster without any need to change gears and let up on the pedal to slow down. Most of the maintenance was battery replacement which lasted quite a long time on one set of batteries. I'm not certain what the newer elect. cars are like I think some may be alot more complicated. than older designs but get many more miles out of a charge.

The head of Telsa stated about their new mid-range cost Telsa that mistakes were made adding too many features to it. I think he's right because car manufactures in general start adding too many new features to new vehicles which increases the chances of things going wrong and additional repair costs. Better to start out by trying to keep things simple. Many of the new vehicle addons and features appear to exist to help increase sales.