So when is this going to happen? Sunday?

 

Mike can do anything! and if he can't, it is all Dan's doing!


Sunday works for me, as does Saturday, Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday and Monday. It is your project - you set it up.


But, please, make sure there are a couple of 8 lug spare tires around, in case the fire cooked the front ones! Wheel bearing grease would not hurt either - for the "in case of's"

 

Okay, right now the trash bin at the back of the complex seems to be relatively empty. There are some items in it, but it is not as full as it was a few days ago, so we can probably cut up the camper and dump it in there. Using a torch on the front bumper is ok by me, nobody has said they want that. The lights on the back of the camper did not get burned, but I am sure the wiring did, they could be used as brake lights if wired up. Of course if Mike has a light bar that would be faster to hook up I would guess.

I figure that some freeway driving would be necessary in order to get to Mike's and would be easier on the brakes of the towing vehicle since they would not be used as often as a surface street drive would require. I have a temp sticker I can put on the back of the truck should any CHP get in behind it. It is expired, but it would be fine unless the CHP stops the truck and takes a good look at it.

I have a 100 foot extension cord we can use, but we may need atleast a 25 foot or possibly a 50 foot cord also. My neighbor has one, and I am sure we can use that. He also has a sawzall, or access to one anyway.

Just saw the last two posts. The driver's front tire has the tread burned off on the top. It is holding air, but it would causea vibration, and may not hold up for 80+ miles. One of the tires Mike gave me went on the truick, and the other was in the camper when it burned. So, now I am back to not having any spare tires available. Sunday works for me as I am off that day and Monday.

 

Nighteyez - After making a couple of phone calls I have come to the following conclusion.

It would probably be better to call the junkyard and get the $100 or so they will give you for the truck. Or, give / sell it to Frank for the hubs he's looking for.

Here's my reasoning behind this:

1) I do not have any money to give you and am not 100% sure you were giving this to us for free.
2) I thought that we could haul it down to Mike's just in case I could; IF it was given to the chapter for free. I figured the other guys could use parts too. We haven't made it over that hump really.
3) I haven't had the time to look at the motor and all associated parts side by side with my truck. It looked pretty toasted and I'm not sure it would be that easy to covert my FE to that (375 series?) with brackets, radiators, driveshaft, transmission.
As you can see that a lot of things to consider. That is something I wanted to do before I committed to hauling it off. Haven't had the time and suggested a pass last week.
4) Mike was kind enough to say .... we'll figure a way.
5) Additional issues - My water heater went out and I'm in the middle of repipe of the house and replacement of water heater and job search etc.....
6) Frank wants hubs but, in order to get them he'd have to trade his off right away. We haven't talked about that.
7) How to haul this is still a difficult feat for me.
8) ....... We'll you can see this is all to much for me.

Therefore, unless you can work out the hub issue with Frank so you can give the roller to the junkyard .... I would recommend having the junkyard come buy and just get it out of your way.

I like to say ... we were trying to help out some chapter members here but, if it's up to me.... I have to opt out this time.

Thanks for understanding..... AJ

 

It is a shame that these parts will not be able to be used by club members. I can get a junk title for it and have the junkyard come and get it, but I was hoping club members could benefit from the engine/trans, and front hubs (nobody else has stated they wanted anything). I figured ThumperRoo could have used the aluminum wheels to save some weight, and even the rear end with its 4:56 gears. But taking all those parts off the truck and leaving it sitting on the ground is not an option. I hate losing those wheels, as they cost 3 times more than the junkyard will give me for the whole truck. But even if I buy another full size Ford pickup it would be an F150 instead of an F250 so he wheels would not fit anyway.

Towing it to Mike's is turning out to be more hassle than it is worth. Frank, if you still want the hubs, I guess it would be possible, but not practical, as it would have to be done in a day, and we would need to swap your old ones on so the beast can be towed by the tow truck.

The more I think about this the madder I get at the kids who burned it down. All the money, and time I have invested in this is gone, and now I can't even put any of the parts to good use unless someone has a need for a tail gate.

 

i was thinking if its going to mike's, if he dosent mind after the good parts are taken off he could just torch the rest of the truck and take it to the scrap yard. if mike wants after he cuts it up he can use my truck to take the debris off the the scrap yard.

just my $.02 just thinking out loud. i think there are endless possibilities if we all put all our heads together. what size ball do i need to get for the hitch, 2" ;1 3/4" ???
i can be in fresno anytime sunday morning since im not a chruch person, i do have access to a sawzall and i do have a couple of extension cords one is about 150' the other is about 50' if you want me there at 6am on sunday? oops too early to making alot of noise. who knows what u-haul charges for a car trailer?

 

I would buy a 2" ball, that is what I buy when I get hitches. U-Haul charges $49.95 for auto trailer, and $39.95 for a tow dolly. I checked online using a F-250 towing a Ranger to get that quote. Because they do not recommend an F-250 towing an F-250. If you DO decide to rent a trailer make sure it is wide enough for the beast. From outside of the left tire to the outside of the right tire is just under 76" If the trailer is wide enough that would eliminate the need for a temp tag on it, or brake lights for the back of it.

The sawzall and extension cord would be fine, I am sure it would cut what is left of the camper up. I have a hand truck (dolly) we can use to haul the camper pieces to the bin, or even one of the dumpsters in the area as long as the pieces are small enough.

 

Honestly, I don't want to have to spend the time cutting it up and hauling it off.

Frank, if you want to haul it down and swap stuff from your truck to it, that's fine, but it needs to be left as a roller so the tow yard will pick it up.

That was the problem I had with the Cougar, since I pulled the suspension out of it, no one would come and haul it off, so I was forced to cut it up to get rid of it.

 

Jim, I have a set of stock Ford rims from a 73 F250 4x4 that you can have. They even have some old bias ply tires mounted on them. If you want to keep wheels on the Beast, then you could use these to send her off to her grave, if you wish. That way you could keep the aluminum wheels for someone that wants/needs them. The only problem would be how to get them out to you on the other side of the mountain. If someone is heading this way for whatever reason, I could load them in the back of their truck.
Let me know if you want them.
Tim

p.s. Take a picture of the aluminum wheels if you get a hankerin to do so, and post them up on the site. You never know, I might even have a use for them. Just don't tell my wife that I asked you to do this.
Same thing though, would still need to figure a way to swap out for the ones in my basement with the distance and all.
I really don't need them, so if someone else does, don't worry about posting up pics. But do keep in mind the rims in my basement. I would like to see them go away.

 

Thanks for the offer Tim, but the distance is just too far. It would not be worth it to me to go up there and get them. It would have been nice to keep the wheels so I could possibly sell them, as I mentioned before I would not be buying a F-250 in the future so I would not need them for myself. Maybe ThumperRoo could use them, but again, unless we had some wheels to swap out with it is not practical.

 

Nighteyes, we will not be buying any "nice to have" parts for the thumper truck at this time. Our goal is to get it on the road and see what we have.

Thumper has a set of white spoke wheels, and an aluminum set - we have no use for a third set.

 

Plus, at far as a Mudder Truck goes. I am not sure if they will let you run alum because they break vs bend like a steel wheel does. Most Serious Off Roaders like steel wheels so that if they bend them on the trail they can just pound them out again and go. If you bust a alum wheel on the trail your out of luck.

However, for the street.... I'd love to have the rims and I plan on buying a set pretty much like the ones you have. My problem like your is in the bolt pattern.

It's a good idea .... But, I'm sure your main goal at this time is to get the truck out of the parking lot.

 

WillyB,

I had no intention of "selling" the wheels to the ThumperRoo truck. The parts on this truck "could" have been used by ThumperRoo if they were needed, like the Dana 70 rear end. Or for that matter the engine and transmission if AJ chose not to use them for his truck. Or even the wheels.

However, since it is turning out to be a major deal to get this thing up to Mike's I am just going to throw in the towel and call the junkyard and have them come get it. It would have been nice to be able to put these parts to use on club members trucks, or on ThumperRoo but it doesn't look like it is going to happen. So, I will make the manager happy, and put a little change in my pocket by having Pick-N-Pull come get it on Monday.

I would have liked to been able to keep the wheels and sell them on ebay or craigslist or something but have no replacements for them, so they have to stay on the truck.

f2501967, hopefully you can find some hubs in your area relatively cheap.

 

That was an nice gesture on your part Jim, too bad it turned out to be a hassle...guess it's a by-product of "distance vs. needs".

 

Okay, new rule for all Northern California Chapter members. You all need to move closer to me!