I've owned this truck a while, and finally decided to ask about some things that have come up.

one is from my wife, whom just recently gave birth to our second son (6mos ago, truck sat since then and I started to drive it again) wants "needs" to know, is the in cab tank safe?
next door neighbor said it was as bad as a pinto, although he is an absolute ******* on most things, he sometimes gets a spark of random (and very temporary) genius.

My clutch pedal pops when I push the pedal down, and the clutch whistles squeaks and makes a kind of whooshing sound when driving.

another problem is when I have to engage the granny gear, it fights me in going into gear, and the same thing with reverse, i find myself bouncing the shifter in the reverse lockout gate till it grants me the right to passage.

I've never EVER paid attention to the mileage, and I'm planning a trip to Wisconsin to get my bro and bring him back here, and I'd like a more precise average of the 390's, I'm hearing around 9mpg highway.

I will be doing a all around tuneup and I have a 1.75 true dual setup going through a burnt out cherry bomb on either side, exiting loudly in front of the rear tires.

any help and ideas will be appreciated.

 

i was wondering the same thing about the cab tank.

 

I met a fellow a couple of years ago who's a personal injury attorney in Washington state. Over multiple beers he told me several really interesting and entertaining stories of various legal battles.

He has successfully sued several auto manufacturers (BMW and Ford come to mind) over vehicles involved in accidents with exposed gas caps. The cap gets torn off in the accident, spilling gasoline which ignites and causes very disfiguring burns.

 

oh.......that's a nice way to leave this earth.

 

As far as the in cab fuel tank is concerned the word safe is a relative term, it's obviously not the safest design but equating it to the Pintos fuel tank "issue" is a bit of a stretch, i personally have no problem with the fuel tank being behind the seat but that's just me, if you have concerns about it and just want peace of mind than i would remove it.

 

Pinto's tanks were in the rear of the viehicle and ruptured on rear end impact. The in cab tank on your F series is not going to do that as you have the bed and the rest of the frame behind it. Not so sure about a side impact though. As to exposed gas caps tearing off in a collision, I doubt whether the flimsy gas cap door on a modern car or truck isnt going to do the same in an impact. All that being said, a 1970's era truck is not going to be nearly as safe in a collision as a modern one. BTW, sounds like you may need a new pressure plate, your clutch is not fully disengaging? Maybe throwout bearing too, aww heck, prolly needs clutch disc too lol

 

I was in fear of that, but it DOES disengage, and engages, just makes a lot of noise, the clutch pedal is what pops.
I was told it's the rod that pushes the release bearing fork in and out.

I have decided to leave it alone until it's actually a problem.

 

The behind the seat tank is far safer than the millions of General Motors pick-ups with the saddle tank mounted between the bed sheetmetal and the frame.

Who was the Einstein on that one?

As for 1st and Reverse, you have to be pretty much at a complete stop to engage those gears, they are not synchronized like 2-3-4.

The clutch pedal pops as you first push down or near the bottom?

Any rattling or squealing could be from the throwout and input shaft bushing wearing out, hard to say over the internet.

Josh

 

Pedal pops as I get closer to the floor yes, at the end of it's movement.

I was wondering if it was the bearing or not, it works for now, i'll leqave it be until I have a reason to dig into that.

when I try to go into Reverse or 1st I AM at a complete stop.
just fights me almost every time.