I am really taking a liking to my new truck It is going to be a work-in-progress (currently my second big hobby - my first one is, and will always be ham radio). That having been said, it feels really good driving around in this thing all day! I have lumbar support on my back, comfy seats, a stable ride, navigation with turn-by-turn directions (when I want it), a fantastic amount of power to handle anything I'll throw at it, and enough room for all of my college buddies on a backpacking trip. Not to mention my ham radio... or any other accessory I have in there. Now, if only I could sync my work phone to the bluetooth... My personal phone is and thats really nice. My work phone gets more of a workout though.

Once my cap goes on I'll have enough storage space for any amount of gear/luggage/crap I can toss in there and still have it under cover. Then when I need to I can toss an air mattress in there and use it as a camper. Seeing as harvest will be hitting early I hope the cap comes here quick - I could be "moving in" sooner than I expect

My ultimate road machine will keep getting better!

 

Congrats on the truck! What are ya going to college for? If you havent owned a diesel before, youll soon get addicted to the power

 

Already done with school. College buddies are always going to be college buddies I'm in the ag world now - specialist for precision farming technology (green and yellow side of the fence). I've been doing a lot of field runs for data management support. Everyone is getting ready for harvest and trying to get their ducks back in a row. The past two days I've been on the road for about 5-6 hours. Once harvest hits I may not touch the office for a while.

I had a work truck that was a diesel - 05 F350 CC DRW, hauled cars with a 2-car gooseneck. I've never had a daily driver diesel though, and the work truck wasn't anything fancy. It had bucket seats in the front and adjustable petals, that was about it as for "upgrades/options".

I may end up doing some minor off-road additions/modifications. All-terrain tires are definitely coming down the line next. I don't think I will ever lift this one. At that point I might as well get me a Jeep for a trail rig/project vehicle and a nice trailer. For trips up in the mountains or bad (by central ohio standards) winter driving the Super Duty should handle it just fine.

Just a quick note on fuel mileage too - I finished the day yesterday with 1/4 tank and 16.5mpg on the lie-o-meter. I re-set the mileage when I filled up the last time and haven't touched it since. I am curious how close it will be. The last tank I re-set it by accident punching buttons at some point well in to the tank. I ended up with 15.8 hand calculated and the meter showed in the low 16's.

 

lol thats awesome. The reason why i asked is because i only got a year life for fire science. Then im done. I know what you mean about central oh snow lol. I put duratrac wranglers on my rig and love how they handle in the snow. Their good in the mud to for a less aggressive mud tire. What kinda A/Ts you getting?

 

Hi Steve.

Where are you in Ohio?

You being a HAM you surely must go to the Hamvention in Dayton when May comes along.

 

It's cool to see other Hams on here... you'll love the power as well. I can't help but look for the next BIG thing! Seriously, you'll NEVER want to pull with a gasser after that! I have a Ham buddy in OH as well... too bad he's so far away. But you're doing great mileage-wise for a 6.4L... my dad has yet to get hit 15mpg's as far as the lie-o-meter goes.

I've always wanted to go to Dayton at least once... I think once would be enough. I don't care much for big crowds/conventions/riots... I'd still like to go just so I can say I did. Anyways, congrats on the new truck!

KI4ODJ

 

FB Gentlemen. How about pictures of the mobile stations?

-73 de John N5THV

 

You gotta go. Except last year I have been there just about 20 years straight

 

Here's my radio setup... it's an old Uniden CB and an Icom IC-208H Dual-bander. Right now, I've only got an antenna for 2m, but that's all I use... the selection of 440mhz repeaters suck where I'm at anyways.



Here's a picture with the antennas in it (I don't have a good picture of them)... I've got an old Antenna Specialists 2m antenna (in the middle) and the old "Big Momma" CB antenna (on the back...remember those?). The third (on the front) is a Maxrad wide band antenna for the radio (the stock antenna broke so dad put this one instead... I don't really like the antenna on the cowl anyways).

 

Here is a direct link to my blog post on my install: Mobile Install – 2010 Ford Super Duty 6.4L KC8QVO There are about 30-35 pictures in there along with my install description. There is still some work to be done. Check out the last few posts for more www.kc8qvo.com. I will update it as time goes by with what I do.



Here is an inside shot of the truck. The FT-857D I installed is in front of the console lid. I also have the audio routed to the truck's sound system. I changed it since I took this picture to come out the 6 pin data port on the back of the rig (constant level audio). However, this route has some RFI. I need to get in the truck and work on some grounding and see if that takes care of it. HF is quiet though.

Check QRZ for some pictures of my old mobile station and my base station.

As for Hamvention - I have been going every year since 2001 and I will get to every one I can possibly get to as long as I can. If you are a ham and have never been to hamvention you need to go, at least once. It is a great experience - at least I think so. Last year (2009) I bought maybe $10 worth of stuff - you don't have to go to spend $$, just go and enjoy it for the event that it is! I spent a bit more this year - bought me a K2 (there are several posts on the build process, scroll down the main page at www.kc8qvo.com and you'll find them) and a few odds and ends.

 

For the earlier qustion of what A/T tires I was going to get - I had Bridgestone Dueller Revo's on my last truck and I really liked them. They changed the design a bit and I can't get the exact size that the truck has so I may look around. There are options out there.