I've always felt it was better to get the mechanical aspects sorted out first when building a vehicle from the ground up and save the painting until all the bugs are worked out. Here are some bugs I found in my truck during its first 400 miles of driving...

(1) Brakes not good. Had to bleed them many times to get them working well
(2) Brake lines leaking at front calipers and at combination valve (tightened)
(3) Front tires rubbing on fenders (adjusted torsion bars/changed tires)
(4) Fan bolts loose (forgot to tighten them)
(5) Leaking rear end seals (I installed them backwards)
(6) Alignment done twice (second time because right upper control arm
adjustment bolt came loose on a panic stop...very scary!)

Even though I've been doing this stuff for 50 years it shows that you can't be too careful regardless of who you are or how much experience you have. I'm not posting this to embarrass myself but I hope that some of you will heed this warning...

I am almost comfortable enough with my truck now to take it on a road trip. I know it will start every time, it won't run hot, the charging system works, the brakes work, and I no long keep an eye peeled for stuff falling off as I drive down the road. It will take it's longest trip this weekend to a show in a nearby town...about a 120 miles round trip. If anything goes wrong I'll post it here. Later this month it's going to the NSRA Northeast Nationals in Burlington, Vermont. Woohoo!

 

That’s great advice. I am building one from the ground up (see my gallery) and changing all of the suspension and doing a lot of welding that lives may depend on. Slow and steady wins the race in quality. I think it’s valuable that we are reminded of it from time to time.

Best luck on your trip…

Larry

 

When you start putting them back together you begin to realize just how many nuts and bolts you took apart..... and I always forget to finish a few here and there.

That's why my first year of driving was one long shake-down cruise: really short distances, longer distances, short trips, medium trips and finally the long trips. What a feeling, wondering how far you'll get from home before you have to call for help....... And them making it back home on your own!

Go get'em Vern!!

 

I have been shaking my 55 down for 4 years now and about 17K miles. Also it does not hurt to have a truthful buddy take a ride or two with you. You can't hear and notice everything. Donald

 

Anybody else driving their truck to the NSRA show in Burlington in a couple of weeks? If so, I'll be on the lookout for you...

 

Something I just found a few weeks ago were my front cab mount bolts were both loose. They had been tightened, but the rubber donut gasket must have "relaxed" a bit over time. Anyway, that is one another item to check.

 

Well said Vern! Great advice

Bobby

 

Oh yeah definetely some great tips there......

 

I have been driving the beast of a 56 f600 around and went to 1st car show tonight. All went well and 25 miles alltogether. I pulled into the drive and the damn generator light came on. I thought that was fixed-haha!!!! I need to learn the shifting of the 2 speed rear. Maybe this week I will get her on the freeway---yahoooo---Bill

 

I'm just jealous... DRIVING????? you mean some day I'm gonna actually get to drive this thing???? I'm still takin stuff apart...

Driving???? I'm just looking forward to the day I start putting something back together....

Thanks for the carrot...

 

I sort of felt the same way for a long while, but "Someday" is really starting to look like a truck again. Hopefully we'll all get to drive our toys

 

Good advice !

I'm still missing most of the Nuts and Boltz that I will forget to tighten before I venture out on the road.

 

Your gennie light should come on when you pull in. They don't charge under 12-1500 rpms so the light usually comes on anytime it's idling....unless it doesn't go out when you rev it up.

I'll need lessons from you in shifting that 2 spd rear when I get my 48 F6 up and running.

 

I feel your pain. I bought my truck in August of 2002. It's took until September of 2006 to get it drivable, until now to get it dependable, and it still has to be painted. My plans were to have it drivable in a couple of years. Yeah, right! What I didn't take into account was that with the cold weather here I can only work on it about 6 months of the year.

The only good thing about being able to work on it only 6 months of the year is that you don't suffer burn out....

Keep diggin' and it will get there eventually. Check back with me in about 4 years with a progress report!