dump kit
Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 93
Likes: 3
From: Northern Connecticut
I did one on my '93 F250. Install was pretty straightforward. Problem with the filler up here in New England is that snow, ice, road salt, and sand build up real bad on the fuel filler in the wheel well.
I didn't like the idea of attachin the rear bumper to the bed hinges, figuring if some inattentive soccer mom rear ended me it would screw up the dumper. I fab'd some brackets to bolt the bumper direct to the frame, with the bumper lowered and moved forward (touching the spare tire) so the tailgate would clear the bumper with the bed fully raised.
The kit also came with a rinky-dink piece of cable to support the cylinder when retracted so it doesn't sag down and hit the rear diff. I welded up a rigid bracket using 1x1x1/8" angle than spans between the two fram rails.
Two other things-
Had to modify the front fuel tank skid plate to clear the lift mechanism.
There is no provision to secure the bed to the frame when down, so it tends to bounce when driving on bumpy roads. I was going to fab up a holddown, but other projects got in the way.
It's not all bad. No problems with any of the supplied components after 5 years, and it will dump as much as I'm willing to load in the truck. I moved 15-20 yards of heavy New England clay/rock that passes for soil here and had no problems. And the cool factor when I go to the town landfill to get rid of construction debris and all the other pickup owners drool makes it worth it.
Still, after my experience-mostly frustration over the inelegant fuel filler situation- i don't think I'll do it to my new '08.
I didn't like the idea of attachin the rear bumper to the bed hinges, figuring if some inattentive soccer mom rear ended me it would screw up the dumper. I fab'd some brackets to bolt the bumper direct to the frame, with the bumper lowered and moved forward (touching the spare tire) so the tailgate would clear the bumper with the bed fully raised.
The kit also came with a rinky-dink piece of cable to support the cylinder when retracted so it doesn't sag down and hit the rear diff. I welded up a rigid bracket using 1x1x1/8" angle than spans between the two fram rails.
Two other things-
Had to modify the front fuel tank skid plate to clear the lift mechanism.
There is no provision to secure the bed to the frame when down, so it tends to bounce when driving on bumpy roads. I was going to fab up a holddown, but other projects got in the way.
It's not all bad. No problems with any of the supplied components after 5 years, and it will dump as much as I'm willing to load in the truck. I moved 15-20 yards of heavy New England clay/rock that passes for soil here and had no problems. And the cool factor when I go to the town landfill to get rid of construction debris and all the other pickup owners drool makes it worth it.
Still, after my experience-mostly frustration over the inelegant fuel filler situation- i don't think I'll do it to my new '08.
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