Driving quality
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Driving quality
Greetings,
I have owned and worked on restoring my '67 f-100 1/2 ton, 240, 2wd, manual everything :-), for about 7 years now. In five words... It's A Lot of Fun!
Steering:
My steering was fairly loose until I had my king pins redone, a new tie-rod end, and a rebuilt gear box. After that it was great.
(Note: if you change you gear box, replace your "steering column flex disk" at the same time, you'll need to grind off the heads of the locating studs and pound them out, but it will pay off. I didn't do it, and have been fumming over having to buy another gear box because I thought it was shot again. Turns out the fabric had finally torn loose. Replaced it. My box really is fine and now it's tighter than ever.)
I have thought about converting to power, but honestly it seems expensive to me, (buy junkyard steering column, pump, gear box, use as cores and buy new pump, gear box at store) if you take the time to replace the loose parts up front, it will not be a problem.
On the other hand the big steering wheel and more spinning of the wheel it takes to say parallel park is intimidating to my girlfriend.
As for cornering, the Hellwig front-end sway bar has been the best thing I have ever put on it. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! It not only tracks better in the turns (ie on ramps), but instead of "rocking" when you do quick/short movements of the steering wheel while driving, now the nose goes where you steer it's great!!
Shifting: First off the 3 on the tree is an H-pattern.
(R) (2)
(N)---(column)---
(1) (3)
And I'll be honest, in my opinion 3 speeds are a lot of fun and less work, and I'll beat any yuppy 5-speed Honda off the line any day.
On the freeway, assuming you have the same differential (3.7) you'll do about 65mph at about 2800 rpm.
Plus your friends will be shocked when they get in and you shift from 1st to 2nd with what they expect to be an automatic's shift lever.
Brakes: Again, if you fix what you need to fix, (ie, new brake shoes, rebuilt cylinders (brake and master) if they are leaking) it's not a problem. It does take work though if you are hauling something and coming down a steep hill.
Again, I'm still pondering coverting over to power disc brakes for the front. (pump, booster, new spindles, ect.) We'll see. I need to finish college first. :-)
One more thing: The rear-ends are really light in these trucks, so if its wet outside don't expect to always cut into traffic without loosing your traction. (especially if you are turning up hill). Sollution: When it gets to be rainy/snowy whatever, throw some sand bags in the back over the axle and you'll have no problem. (I use 3 70lb bags of tube sand)
Well this is a bit longer than I meant it to be.
Bottom line: Don't be intimidated by it, BUT don't forget it's a boxy truck and it will handle different than any car you've likely driven before. I think you'll enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
Brian
'67 F-100 240 2wd "and loving it!!!"
I have owned and worked on restoring my '67 f-100 1/2 ton, 240, 2wd, manual everything :-), for about 7 years now. In five words... It's A Lot of Fun!
Steering:
My steering was fairly loose until I had my king pins redone, a new tie-rod end, and a rebuilt gear box. After that it was great.
(Note: if you change you gear box, replace your "steering column flex disk" at the same time, you'll need to grind off the heads of the locating studs and pound them out, but it will pay off. I didn't do it, and have been fumming over having to buy another gear box because I thought it was shot again. Turns out the fabric had finally torn loose. Replaced it. My box really is fine and now it's tighter than ever.)
I have thought about converting to power, but honestly it seems expensive to me, (buy junkyard steering column, pump, gear box, use as cores and buy new pump, gear box at store) if you take the time to replace the loose parts up front, it will not be a problem.
On the other hand the big steering wheel and more spinning of the wheel it takes to say parallel park is intimidating to my girlfriend.
As for cornering, the Hellwig front-end sway bar has been the best thing I have ever put on it. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! It not only tracks better in the turns (ie on ramps), but instead of "rocking" when you do quick/short movements of the steering wheel while driving, now the nose goes where you steer it's great!!
Shifting: First off the 3 on the tree is an H-pattern.
(R) (2)
(N)---(column)---
(1) (3)
And I'll be honest, in my opinion 3 speeds are a lot of fun and less work, and I'll beat any yuppy 5-speed Honda off the line any day.
On the freeway, assuming you have the same differential (3.7) you'll do about 65mph at about 2800 rpm.
Plus your friends will be shocked when they get in and you shift from 1st to 2nd with what they expect to be an automatic's shift lever.
Brakes: Again, if you fix what you need to fix, (ie, new brake shoes, rebuilt cylinders (brake and master) if they are leaking) it's not a problem. It does take work though if you are hauling something and coming down a steep hill.
Again, I'm still pondering coverting over to power disc brakes for the front. (pump, booster, new spindles, ect.) We'll see. I need to finish college first. :-)
One more thing: The rear-ends are really light in these trucks, so if its wet outside don't expect to always cut into traffic without loosing your traction. (especially if you are turning up hill). Sollution: When it gets to be rainy/snowy whatever, throw some sand bags in the back over the axle and you'll have no problem. (I use 3 70lb bags of tube sand)
Well this is a bit longer than I meant it to be.
Bottom line: Don't be intimidated by it, BUT don't forget it's a boxy truck and it will handle different than any car you've likely driven before. I think you'll enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
Brian
'67 F-100 240 2wd "and loving it!!!"
