Midnight brainstorming; project direction
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Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,661
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Midnight brainstorming; project direction
Alright, midnight brainstorming. Need to type out some thoughts so they are out of my head, but hey might as well get some feed back on them right?
So my truck is out of the snow, but looks like I won't be able to get it till June, which I'm not exactly happy about but hey what you going to do? My driver doesn't seem to have an open weekend till June, and neither does the guy I'm buying it from. Leaving me to twittle my thumbs.
I've been brainstorming quite a bit because thats what you do when you really want to work and have been delayed four months... after look for about a year,lol.
My truck is a pretty decent F-600. I've never owned a big truck, to be honest I've never had a use for it. I never moved more than a '92 S-10 could carry... with a 4-banger. Even as a blacksmith I simply don't have the need to move 20,000#s, I don't even have a need to move 1000# on my heaviest day. Unless I get into bronze casting and accidentally completely fill it, I'll never need to move anything any where near what this truck can move. Sure, I can hear the thought "might someday", but the question then is; are the downsides to a truck so large really worth the "might someday" use? If it never gets driven except for once a year, why bother? I'd rather have a daily driver.
So yeah, a F-600 could be a daily driver, not the most effective one, but it could work. But the more difficulties I have, the less I'll use it. Heck I hardly take my Mustang out just cause I don't have an electric garage door opener right now (trust me its a pain on a busy street to park, turn it off and then go close the garage and get back, same when getting it back in)
My original plan before finding this truck was to get just a cab or something and then put it on a modern 4x4 frame. Having a 4x4 has made a difference in my life, I could use a 4x4. I saw the deal on the one I've bought and I couldn't pass it up, mainly because I've been hard pressed to find a cab at that price around here, let alone the sized fenders I would need for the tires I wanted.
So then I planned on shortening it up and putting a custom bed on it, making it look like a normal truck but with a bed that fits the size. I would use a flat bed as much as I would be moving 20,000#s and if it was really that critical I could always get a trailer. I'd rather have a standard bed, the wheel wells is one of the things I fell in love with, a flat bed to me isn't the same, its a flatbed instead of a '56 in my head. They also make a difference in that this is my business truck, and as an artist my truck says a lot about me and what I can do. A beat up truck can cost me a sale, a cherried truck can get me four extra ones.
But then I also have the problem that I need new tires on the rears, I don't even know if I have widow makers yet and if I do, then I'll need 6 new wheels. And to be honest I like duallys, but when I picture a truck, I picture 40" tired on a LOW 4x4 (basicly the same stance as a F-600). Either way I'm looking at a couple thousand just for the tires, and with duallys I'll have six, not four. (the fronts are "new" but at least a couple years old). And truthfully, for that money, I'd like spiffier wheels (granite I like the ones on it, but there are others I like more), but with the duallys I'm greatly limited and I've yet to see an after market wheel for a dually that I honestly liked. So if I have to change the spindles...
Plus, I still don't know how I feel about a 2 speed rear. Again keep in mind most of the time I'll be hauling NOTHING but myself.
I suppose what I could do is swap it over to a newer chassis and leave the original untouched, if I ever change my mind I'll always have the option of going back... course that means I'll also have a big honk'n chassis in my yard, guess we'll see if I can get some land when I move.
I'd like to keep a Y-Block, even though I'm an EFI fan and thats whats going in my car later this year, but I was thinking a 368 (or whatever, but large) with an automatic trans, they sound so... cool and unique. Again, in my car I waited for a manual, but when it comes to driving a big honk'n truck, having an automatic would be helpful, plus it would clean up the cab (I still have a leaver in there I have no idea what does yet, I'm assuming an engine break? I thought it was for the rear but I've learned differently today). Course I'm just spit-balling here.
It would be helpful for me to be able to take it on the freeway, though thats not my main use by any means, I just don't want to be limited. And I'll be truthful, I don't know what I think about 53 year old breaks either.
Cause truthfully when I stop to think about it, I always wanted the low profile 4x4, always, and thats what I would be building if I didn't have a driving F-600. But it needs work, and after I move... and have the money, lol, I think I'll be making some fun swaps. I don't want a stock truck that never gets used, in fact as much as I love stock, I love playing around. Candy Apple red isn't stock. My interior won't be stock. Nothing really will I suppose, ironic to start from a almost complete stock 600 huh? But like I said, it was as cheap as a cab and a blessing I couldn't pass up. And even if stock, even if I completely restored it, not that I'd ever sell it, but they aren't worth nearly as much as something customized. Maybe a F-100, but I've never seen a F-600 go for more than $10,000 in the best condition, a condition that would bring $40,000 on a F-100.
Yeah I know, the Big Rig guys are going to kill me, lol. But for daily driving, a F-600 just isn't practical, and if I had an F-100, I'd want it bigger. Just can't please some people, lol.
Thoughts, opinions, complaints?
So my truck is out of the snow, but looks like I won't be able to get it till June, which I'm not exactly happy about but hey what you going to do? My driver doesn't seem to have an open weekend till June, and neither does the guy I'm buying it from. Leaving me to twittle my thumbs.
I've been brainstorming quite a bit because thats what you do when you really want to work and have been delayed four months... after look for about a year,lol.
My truck is a pretty decent F-600. I've never owned a big truck, to be honest I've never had a use for it. I never moved more than a '92 S-10 could carry... with a 4-banger. Even as a blacksmith I simply don't have the need to move 20,000#s, I don't even have a need to move 1000# on my heaviest day. Unless I get into bronze casting and accidentally completely fill it, I'll never need to move anything any where near what this truck can move. Sure, I can hear the thought "might someday", but the question then is; are the downsides to a truck so large really worth the "might someday" use? If it never gets driven except for once a year, why bother? I'd rather have a daily driver.
So yeah, a F-600 could be a daily driver, not the most effective one, but it could work. But the more difficulties I have, the less I'll use it. Heck I hardly take my Mustang out just cause I don't have an electric garage door opener right now (trust me its a pain on a busy street to park, turn it off and then go close the garage and get back, same when getting it back in)
My original plan before finding this truck was to get just a cab or something and then put it on a modern 4x4 frame. Having a 4x4 has made a difference in my life, I could use a 4x4. I saw the deal on the one I've bought and I couldn't pass it up, mainly because I've been hard pressed to find a cab at that price around here, let alone the sized fenders I would need for the tires I wanted.
So then I planned on shortening it up and putting a custom bed on it, making it look like a normal truck but with a bed that fits the size. I would use a flat bed as much as I would be moving 20,000#s and if it was really that critical I could always get a trailer. I'd rather have a standard bed, the wheel wells is one of the things I fell in love with, a flat bed to me isn't the same, its a flatbed instead of a '56 in my head. They also make a difference in that this is my business truck, and as an artist my truck says a lot about me and what I can do. A beat up truck can cost me a sale, a cherried truck can get me four extra ones.
But then I also have the problem that I need new tires on the rears, I don't even know if I have widow makers yet and if I do, then I'll need 6 new wheels. And to be honest I like duallys, but when I picture a truck, I picture 40" tired on a LOW 4x4 (basicly the same stance as a F-600). Either way I'm looking at a couple thousand just for the tires, and with duallys I'll have six, not four. (the fronts are "new" but at least a couple years old). And truthfully, for that money, I'd like spiffier wheels (granite I like the ones on it, but there are others I like more), but with the duallys I'm greatly limited and I've yet to see an after market wheel for a dually that I honestly liked. So if I have to change the spindles...
Plus, I still don't know how I feel about a 2 speed rear. Again keep in mind most of the time I'll be hauling NOTHING but myself.
I suppose what I could do is swap it over to a newer chassis and leave the original untouched, if I ever change my mind I'll always have the option of going back... course that means I'll also have a big honk'n chassis in my yard, guess we'll see if I can get some land when I move.
I'd like to keep a Y-Block, even though I'm an EFI fan and thats whats going in my car later this year, but I was thinking a 368 (or whatever, but large) with an automatic trans, they sound so... cool and unique. Again, in my car I waited for a manual, but when it comes to driving a big honk'n truck, having an automatic would be helpful, plus it would clean up the cab (I still have a leaver in there I have no idea what does yet, I'm assuming an engine break? I thought it was for the rear but I've learned differently today). Course I'm just spit-balling here.
It would be helpful for me to be able to take it on the freeway, though thats not my main use by any means, I just don't want to be limited. And I'll be truthful, I don't know what I think about 53 year old breaks either.
Cause truthfully when I stop to think about it, I always wanted the low profile 4x4, always, and thats what I would be building if I didn't have a driving F-600. But it needs work, and after I move... and have the money, lol, I think I'll be making some fun swaps. I don't want a stock truck that never gets used, in fact as much as I love stock, I love playing around. Candy Apple red isn't stock. My interior won't be stock. Nothing really will I suppose, ironic to start from a almost complete stock 600 huh? But like I said, it was as cheap as a cab and a blessing I couldn't pass up. And even if stock, even if I completely restored it, not that I'd ever sell it, but they aren't worth nearly as much as something customized. Maybe a F-100, but I've never seen a F-600 go for more than $10,000 in the best condition, a condition that would bring $40,000 on a F-100.
Yeah I know, the Big Rig guys are going to kill me, lol. But for daily driving, a F-600 just isn't practical, and if I had an F-100, I'd want it bigger. Just can't please some people, lol.
Thoughts, opinions, complaints?
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 377
Likes: 2
From: Ashland, KY
dont know what to tell ya stephen, sounds like your stuck between a rock and a f600. i do love duellys tho, and the 2 speed rearends, never had one tho. i think you should keep the f600 and just figure out the best possible solutions to suit you so you can drive it often. and i really like your idea on building your own bed for it.. do it!! on a good note tho... no one will probably want to drive it once you tell them what you have to do to shift gears lol.
