Here's a little story of my success, or lack thereof, in trying to create a 4x4 out of my 2wd. Read on if you're bored and need something to pass the time... or if you can warn me of any future complications I may stumble upon...


Why do projects hardly ever go as planned?

The plan: To use my "bare frame" and swap my '78 body on it, and use misc, drivetrain parts that I have collected. Then I find out that my "direct swap" cab project needs a different steering column... and my engine needs a different oil pan... which quickly takes my to the "Amended Plan"

The Amended Plan: To buy a wrecked parts truck and use the drivetrain and power steering box on my old power assist steering frame, then swap on my '78 body and call it a day.

Here is the "bare frame" and the "parts truck"

*click on the image for a larger image*


The truck was *supposed* to have a 390... but it's a 360 instead! Then after I go look at it, I see it has a 203 t-case too!

Then the steering dilemma: I thought I could just bolt the power steering box to my bare frame, but i thought wrong. I am starting to think I would be better off to use my "parts truck frame" than to use my "bare frame". The bare frame has the power assist steering and the frame is in good condition and has stock suspension. The parts truck frame has slight front end damage, but is easily repairable, and already has the power steering and engine/trans/t-case and lift that I was going to swap to the bare frame.

The parts truck was hit in the front left. It has a bent frame horn, bent radius arm, and the radius arm bracket is broken from the frame. The truck was drove without the tires and it ground flat spots on the rotors and flattened the bottom of the differential. I have all the parts (including another complete front D44 with radius arms) to fix it.

Here is some of the damage

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...3-19-06012.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...3-19-06010.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...3-19-06014.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...3-18-06007.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...3-18-06009.jpg


I think I'll just repair the damage on the frame and then swap my '78 body onto the frame, especially since this frame already has the drivetrain and suspension I want to use. I will have to use the steering column from the '77 parts truck in my '78, and do some rewiring I guess. Here is the '78

http://photobucket.com/albums/f22/f-...2-05-06006.jpg


I wonder what other *suprises* are still coming....?



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If I were you I'd find another donor parts truck.. one with the parts you want. I dunno about there but you can pick up an old ford for a few hundred dollars here.. especially with that kind of damage..

Otherwise it sounds like your new plan will work ..

My favorite quote these days is from homer simpson.. "Trying is the first step towards failure".. so true so often . Always seems like the more I try to do the more trouble I get myself in .. I should just stay in bed

 

Well, I think I finally have all the parts I want/need... it just took a while to get them.

 

As mentioned elsewhere, power assist isnt such a bad thing if you know whats up.

I'd go find a highboy frame if I were you.. But I also carry loads of up to 3000 lbs in the bed of my truck

 

Want to sell the 203 T-case?

I need one for my AWD project, and Ford ones are hard to find for some reason. You can get chevy and dodge ones for the price of paperweights all day.

 

Hope it all works for you. I am just stripping my 78 now.

 

Keep failing until you succeed!

 

I'm going to keep it for now since I don't have a rear driveshaft for a 205 t-case. This one has a part time kit in it, so who knows, I may actually like it. This is my second 203 I've had; I traded my first one for a 205.






Or as Curly from the Three Stooges says, "Keep on sucking 'til you do suck-ceed"... lol

 

Some days my truck projects seem impossible to the point where I just grind to a halt. Usually if I take some time away from it, I come back with a second wind and it all makes sense again - that's when I make good progress. I don't enjoy working on them nearly as much when I know I have to fix it so I can get to work the next day.

Or you can take a ride down to the dealer and price the new trucks - that will set you straight.

 

yeah thats a big one for me. I'm starting a renovation / contracting business with some partners, and now that I have a lot of contract income coming in, I have the tax preparers telling me I should buy a new truck to write off for taxes.

I dont WANT a new truck that i'm scared to death of putting a mark on, and who's electronics will give me grief after the warranty runs out (if i'm THAT lucky). Not too mention the fact they're no better on gas.

hmm. $500 a month to operate my highboy, gas and insurance in. (canadian dollars) or $1500 a month for a new truck with EQUAL capability, after lease payments or financing, with increased insurance premiums, and fuel costs.

Those costs maybe worse than my current fuel costs.

I get 12 city mpg with my 300 six, which will get that figure empty, or with 2000 lbs in it's bed. On the highway with the AOD, I get about 20mpg. ---At 65mph @ 2000 rpm!--

Not bad for a 6 cylinder powered 5,200lb truck.

Saying all that, I figure I'll be making too much money to care before I bother thinking about a new truck.

I see a lot of smaller contractors tying up all their money in those powerstroking, duramaxed cummins specials out there that never do a lick of work, cause they can't scratch the paint. They can have them, I figure.

Sorry for getting on my soapbox..

 

Come to my town and see different Craig.

Most of these are company trucks that the drivers just drive and refuel.
They don't care that much about them.

They do look at the fancy cleans one though

 

Hey Dennis...

I was a service writer for Welcome Ford, in Fort Saskatchewan in 1999.. I remember being surprised at how many fleet trucks were around there.

Most of them were bare bones.

In my last post, I was thinking more of the smaller independant contractors and sub-contractors out there.. framers and renovators and such, who go and get themselves 1 ton dually diesel pickups and then never do a bit of work with them.. just drive em around as a mobile office.

Not for me!

 

I see those at the hospital here

It seems farmers and ranchers don't buy Lincolns or Big Mercs anymore, they buy King Ranch duallies instead

 

yeah. it actually bothers me more than you'd think. Nobody can tell me those suckers aren't polluting badly, and consuming our resources. Is the Duramax still the only diesel of the three to use a Catalytic Converter?

(which themselves are useless within a few years, and people like to neglect them.. is the sulphery crap that comes out of them when they're plugged, poisoned or overheated create an overall worse polluting condition than if they weren't used at all, I wonder?)

I do try and have an environmental conscience. I am still seriously considering the fresh built propane powered 300 six idea for next year, and I don't drive my truck for recreation whatsoever.

I know some of my thoughts would put me at odds with many 4x4 enthusiasts here, so I'll leave it rest. I know we all gotta get off the grid and ride a bloody horse anyhow to stop hurting the environment! Wont make myself a hypocrite.

One thing I miss by being in the lower mainland is snow. That used to be my fun.
Now it's just the pride on hauling around stuff, and getting onto any jobsite, no matter what. I have carried 2,000 and even 3,000 lbs in the bed of my truck several times, to no ill effect other than a little floating steering when it's real heavy..

I used to have real rusty shock mounts, and ripped them right off the bottom of my D60 rear diff once though, when I hit a nasty bump with one of those 3k+ loads... heheheheh

The craziest part of it all, is that the 300 and AOD will STILL let me do 120kph on the highway with loads like that. Don't get me wrong, I don't do that at all, but I had to try it one day on a straight stretch on a Nova Scotia highway before I brought the rig across to Vancouver. I tell all of you this with a straight face. The six is bone stock, and worn out to boot... i can turn it over by hand. **hisssss**

And yes, my overdrive servo is still crisp and consistent!

Now I'm going to install my freshly rebuilt Bendix Control Valve for Power Assist Steering, which I was able to purchase from another kind FTE'er. You guys rock.

Cheers

 

460- ever hear of "Murphy's Law"?