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First; I have missed you guys! Between life, relocating, lawsuit, covid, wrecks, more lawsuits, more life challenges, starting a farm, starting a new business, then expanding, having a new baby, and expanding business some more.....I have just been gone from FTE.
I won’t bore you all with the details of the lawsuits but during those times my attorneys suggested that I lay low with the online presence mainly with the truck since that is what the lawsuits were about. But…the wreck, now that is a fun one.
Thank you all who reached out when we were basically stuck in Nashville and offered help….I even had a few members ready to jump in their trucks and drive several hours to come to our aid. Thank you. Here are a few pictures of the wreck that took out the tank.
2 semis, my truck and trailer, and 4 other vehicles. The amazing thing is no one died….
More info on the wreck is here… Wreck Thread
It took almost 4 months to settle with my insurance on the Excursion but we finally settled on a value that was decent. Now the dilemma was I had over $60k in the truck up to this point and more than half of that was the engine and transmission. I could not deal with getting rid of this truck and starting over after all the work I have put into it. So my options were either part the truck out or find a way to rebuild. So naturally I found a “temp” excursion to drive around while I rebuild the other one….
It is not often you can find these trucks with all the original documents and books...
The search started for a new body and frame.
I found a black 2003 6.0 Limited with no engine or transmission just outside of Branson, MO that I talked the guy down to $700. As you can imagine….someone with the name “Twitch” doesn’t always bring a ton of confidence to the other party when trying to buy and or sell things online. Luckily I knew some law enforcement in the area and that actually drove up there in his police cruiser to seal the deal and hand the man his money. I got a text from the seller shortly after saying “well I guess you are for real. See you in a few weeks”
The wife and I drove up there to pick this bad boy up and to our surprise the captain chairs were actually in great shape! I actually had them sold as soon as we got back for $1000.
I had to find a way to remove the body off the old excursion and then get it out of my barn so I could remove the body on the new excursion.
Yes, I know it looks pretty sketchy….but if it works…it aint stupid.
Trust me...there were a lot more sketchier photos taken but I didn't want to give anyone ideas on ways they could try it themselves at home. You can easily "unalive" yourself while doing a makeshift body removal on these trucks.
I did have the body fall a short bit once and I had to change my shorts after that one.
New Excursion went into the shop to have the same thing done.
I decided since the body was off and there is no engine in the frame yet, now would be the perfect time to swap the axles and suspension with a 2009…so here is my way overpriced 2009 f350 parts truck with a blown motor that will eventually get parted out and sold once I am done with it. I am still trying to decide if I want the front clip as well.
The next step is to take the frame over to a shop to get it blasted and painted…but that has been the next item on the list for almost a year and a half now. I am hoping I will have time and motivation to get back on this project soon. Fingers crossed that having this thread up here will help with the motivation a little as well. I mean it is not like I have anything else going on right now right.....
Wow, it's gonna be nice when it's done. When you lower the new body on her new home, consider replacing the body mount bushings with SB Filters silicone bushings. They're a little pricey but well worth it in my opinion.
Wow, it's gonna be nice when it's done. When you lower the new body on her new home, consider replacing the body mount bushings with SB Filters silicone bushings. They're a little pricey but well worth it in my opinion.
Rock-On!!!
I had a brand new set on the brown excursion when it was wrecked....they only had about 3k miles on them. I mad sure to set those aside when I took the other body off.
