I've got a SnugTop Expo camper shell (circa ~1995) on my truck that has a straight opening with a rubber boot on front (butting up against the cab). The boot squeaks like a son of a gun, especially with moving slowly over curvy pavement and flexing the truck. I searched around a little bit but I can't seem to find anyone giving suggestions for possible fixes. The boot rests against the paint right around the edge of the window frame so if I lubricate it I'll have to make sure to use something that can't damage paint over time. Does anyone have suggestions for lubrication? My first thought was maybe Armorall. Open to ideas. Thanks.

-Chris

 

Get yourself a jar of Vasoline, its a good lube, and wont hurt the paint. Hope this helps you.

 

do you typically get a lot more flex with the crew cab conversion? I'm kinda curious, because I have seen a truck similar to yours for sale in Maryland, and upon inspection underneith it was a regular cab with 3 foot pieces welded into the frame from the cut behind the cab. Since this frame was never really intended to be stretched like that (F250 and F350 frames were different), does it tend to flex a lot more over uneven terrain or even just over suburban obstacles (parking blocks, sidewalks, construction cones etc...)? I love your truck and I'm hoping you could elaborate on the conversion a little if you could. I almost bought the truck I saw in MD, but they wouldn't make a deal on a bedliner and camper. I settled for a super cab with both at a little cheaper price. Thanks!

Brian

 

Well Brian, I can tell you whatever you'd like to know about it

Aside from a few snags I've had (vibration in driveline due to unshimmed carrier bearing, and broken auto hubs were the two bigger ones), I LOVE this truck. And my truck is just as the one you described, it started as a regular cab short bed and got extended. It was a professional conversion done by Centurion, a company (which now doesn't exist, got bought out by Southern Comfort) that used to do a lot of trucks for Ford, including a custom four door Bronco, which looked like Ford's version of the Suburban. They did good work I assume because this truck has held up well. The extended frame, body, and driveshaft did make me a bit nervous for a while but this thing is tough as nails. As far as flex, hard to say. The suspension doesn't flex much, its pretty new. The frame though? Ehh, I dont really think so, otherwise my camper would be knockin' on the top of my cab, and it never has, and I climb curbs and rocks pretty often. I've never seen any irregularly large amount of flex in the frame (but what do I know? I'm drivin' the damned thing!), but obviously I am getting a little bit as the camper boot squeaks a bit when I'm flexing the truck, but it's pretty typical to get SOME flex. Don't know what else to tell ya, let me know if you have any other questions. I LOVE this truck. You can see some higher res pictures of it here:

Truck Pics

Hope that supercab's workin out for ya'.

-Chris

 

Hey Brian I just checked out your rig, love the supercharger. How much did that run you up?

 

the supercharger was definately a buying point for me. It had 115,000 when I bought it, and I paid 7500 for it. The guy with the Centurion mod truck was asking 9000. But, that truck was a 95, and only had 64,000 miles. Honestly, with as busy as I am, the difference was the options. The centurion also didn't have tinted windows either, and the interior center console/middle seat was falling apart. It was a rare find, and with 64,000 miles probably a good drivetrain for a lot of years, but I had to pass it up. This truck with the supercharger the guy I bought it from advertised it as 300 hp. I don't think its quite that high, but it definately is powerful.

Thanks for the info, the centurions mod trucks are cool trucks, and I also smile when I see one out there, whether an F-150 or Bronco...