Me too like it!

 

Started a separate thread on this with instructions on how to do it for anyone else here that is interested.

DIY Steering wheel wrap

 

Hey, Just read through your thread, thought I’d compliment you on your build. Thats a nice truck you’ve built up. Good shape overall too. Nice job!

Subscribed and Following along.

 

I appreciate the kind words! Its been a long frustrating journey to say the least. That being said these trucks are a blast! My wife's 2020 Tacoma is a nice ride but man its a dog with the shift strategy.

 

@Khan is that your original filler neck, just modified and repainted? It looks mint!

 

Yes sir! I cut out the inner fill neck portion with a 12" Sawzall blade to be able to fit the big rig pump in there. Not that I really cared about that, its just a restriction.

Then I JB welded a 1/2" NPT 3/4" hose barb vent so the pump nozzle doesn't click off every 3 seconds.

Finally finished off with rustoleum aluminum colored paint.

 

Well done on utilizing the P-cord on the steering wheel. Now there is yet another use for it.

When packing pallets for a deployment, we always ensured we had several rolls of P-cord. One time I used it as a strength member to stretch communications lines across a gap where big trucks were in danger of taking the lines down. This line supplied voice and data capability to the generator farm in Pakistan in 2002.

Great stuff to have around.

As for the filler neck, I did a similar thing when I installed the 45 gallon auxiliary fuel tank in the bed. A momentary switch activated pump pushes fuel into the second vent port on the fill neck. Been working great for many years now and several cross country trips.

 

The steering wheel grip is taking some getting used to, but the top is holding up awesome. I need to pull and redo the bottom. I missed a couple wraps and its a little loose. At least its not the bigger section that needs redoing....

 

Make a DIY how to wrap it like that for us please.

 

Done sir done..

 

Oops, must have missed it.

 

Such a good idea with the NPT fitting so the pump does keep cutting off. May take a page from your book and do the same!

 

Probably one of the best mods I did to date.. I love the full blast on filling up. I haven't tried a big rig nozzle yet though. Only thing I would do different is probably do either a 90 on rear fill neck or stick the straight barb on the opposite side. As it stands now it comes out into the wheel well a little bit. I'll mess with it more when I copy Byron's fender liners.

 

Well I have some slush box goodies waiting to be installed in the garage, but since oil for our trucks are a hot topic, I reached out to Triax for some info regarding their approval process, and the fact their data sheet for the 5w-40 shows 800ish ppm Zinc/Phos, yet claim the Ford approval. I'm sure this info has been covered before, but it never hurts to get the info from the source periodically to make sure it's up to date. George is the man.

Also, the link lets you compare overall formulations, such as CJ4, CK4, etc. The Volvo standard is pretty interesting though. I ran the 15w40 Fleet Ultra from Triax and didn't notice much, though that may be due to the AC injectors not being worn. I may give the 5w40 Fleet Supreme a try after my next oil change.

Hello,

I am curious about the specs for your 5w-40/15w-40 oils in a 7.3 powerstroke application. I see that the Fleet Ultra claims the Ford spec, but Ford does not have that on their approved oils listing as of this year. I know Ford is concerned about the lack of Phos/Zinc in the oil, and the 5w-40 Fleet supreme shows under 1000ppm for both zinc and phos.

What is in the additive package that makes up for the lack of zinc/phos? Are the Triax oils going to show up on the Ford approved oil listing any time in the future?

Hello Jake,

Our Fleet Supreme and Fleet Ultra oils perform absolutely superbly in all powerstroke applications. The data on the zinc at 800 is old, the current zinc level is about 1100-1200, also about 150 ppm molybdenum carbonate and 400 + ppm nanoboron. Those last two are what significantly changes the performance and makes our oils perform the way they do. This is a significantly boosted and improved additive pack vs anything else on the market. Hands down no competition.

Claiming a spec is normal, we basically are guaranteeing specification. In this case, the Ford Spec requires a API CJ-4 / CK-4 compliant oil. That's it. Nothing special about it. The ford specs are basically clones of the API Specs, no difference.

To get approved by Ford one needs two things:

1. Use a standard, unmodified additive pack, which is readily available for purchase on the market. Almost everyone uses one of 3 additive packs (Shell, chevron, mobil, shaffers, amsoil etc)
2. Pay Ford a "license" fee of 500K USD one time and then a % of every gallon of oil you make with their approval on it. If you want Ford to license your own additive pack, you need to pay them over 1 million USD fee + % of every gallon made. As a manufacturer you become a permanent cash cow for Ford.

Needless to say we are not going to be doing this. Not ever. We have modified our additive packs to offer substantially improved parameters on every level (no, Ford doesn't care). Better oxidation, better frictional properties, etc. Basically our oils are like a Hennessey Mustang vs a stock Mustang. Some people want that stock car, most do not however, when given a choice.

We do have a great many API licensed products, it took 5 years to get the approvals because they are all modified.

Also - for your reference, look here: https://online.lubrizol.com/relperftool/hd.html - this will give you a good idea of what the specs are and the level of protection for each. The absolute best diesel HD spec, with the highest required protection level is the Volvo VDS 4.5. You can never go wrong with an oil that meets this for any Powerstroke.

Maybe I rambled too much but I hope it helps you.

Thank you
George Visan
Triax Tech Services

 

This is good info. Appreciate you sharing! I am giving the 5w-40 a try on my next change here pretty soon. That way, a certain bro of mine will quit hounding me ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY.

He should have some input here on this I would guess. I especially like the MolyB formula. That is more akin to the older diesel oils that we ran when we had these trucks new. I'll report what I find. Even downloaded a decibel app to see if it's any different on this oil.