Am I the only one?
 

You know, I'm new to the Chicagoland area. I've been here a month now and haven't seen any other trucks like my Flareside. I will admit the area is nice and so far, the people are great. I've been too long gone and it's good to be home.

What year is your flareside? I have a 1977 F100 flareside that is restored to original condition. I haven't seen any others like mine around, at least not in a LONG time.

92 Flareside
 

Mine is a white 92 flareside. I used to see them in phoenix all the time. But, here in this Chicagoland area, Mine seems to be the only one.

My brother has a white 92 Flareside. His is white with blue along the bottom. It has about 200,000 miles on it and it's in need of some body work. I used to have a candyapple red 94 Flareside.

There are several people I work with who would love to have my flareside. It has 119,000 miles, white with black and chrome trim. Blue interior. While driving here, the further east I came, the less and less I saw of them. Which is why I asked if I was the only one............It is good to here that there are others, even though I don't see them..cc

ok
 

There are several people I work with who would love to have my flareside. It has 119,000 miles, white with black and chrome trim. Blue interior. While driving here, the further east I came, the less and less I saw of them. Which is why I asked if I was the only one............It is good to here that there are others, even though I don't see them..cc

Your Flareside sounds like it is almost identical to my brothers' truck. His has a blue interior and has the chrome grille and bumpers. I'm sure yours' is in much better condition than my brothers'. My brothers' truck has some rust on it. The rear bumper brackets got so rusty that the bumper fell off the truck! I agree, Flareside trucks are hard to find around here. When I had my 94, I used to see alot of them. That was 7 years ago-the older they get, the harder to find they will be.

The advantage to getting it in phoenix is that it doesn't snow there and you don't have to worry about rust. However, now that I'm in Illinois, I figure that I'll be having to watch for it. My curiosity right now is centered on how to weight the rear end to keep it from sliding and that LITTLE rear does slide on slick roads. I really don't have too much of a problem with it except if I have to hard stop for those ID10Ts that like to come to a sudden stop in front you so they can turn. I see a lot of that here. But, I don't stress it....

I saw one.......
 

I was out for a walk this morning and looked out at Illinois 53 and there it was.. A sparkling blue 94 flareside.......I'm not the only one..........ha ha ha ha:-wow The guy driving it wasn't too bad either.........;)

As far as weighting down your trucks' rearend for winter driving, I would suggest that you buy 3 or 4 75 pound sandbags and put them in the back of the bed. That should help alot on those slick winter roads. I used to have a rusty old 76 F100 that I drove in the winter, and I would just shovel the bed full of snow. That worked pretty good, but your truck is probably too nice for that. Since your truck is from AZ and has no rust on it, it'll be a bit of a challenge to keep it that way with these brutal Chicago winters. Just keep it waxed up real good. The first places rust will start is on the bottom of the doors, the cab corners, and the lower front fenders. That is where my brothers' truck rusted out. It also helps to spray WD-40 along the lower body panels, this helps to keep the road salt from sticking to the truck. I've found that the best solution to the rust problem is not to drive a good vehicle in the winter months. I bought an old car to drive in the winter months so I don't have to drive my trucks. They stay in the garage and aren't exposed to the bad weather.

Since your truck is from AZ it is likely that it is not undercoated. If that is the case I would get 4 or 5 cans of rubberized under coating and spray the holy heck out of the bottom of the truck. Frame, inside fenders, under floors and bed, in all corners and nooks and crannies. Just a little advice to survive Illinois winters. The sand bag trick for winter driving is a good way to increase traction and is cheap. You may want to take several 2x4's and make a box around the wheel wells to center the sand bags and keep them from slamming around in the back of the truck.

T. Roberts
UFD Local 1147

I've already bought the wood. Dad made the same suggestion to keep it all from sliding around. I really don't have anywhere to store the truck to keep it out of the winter elements but, have definately decided to buy a beater to spare the truck any humiliation. I do keep her waxed real good. Almost have her looking like she'd been dipped in glass. I've never heard of the WD-40. That won't hurt the wax or paint will it? Or worse, put permanent streaks in white paint? I do so appreciate the advice. Keep it coming. One more questy. I have a truck bed cover on the truck. Black leather. Should that be taken off for the winter? It does ok in Phoenix but, I'm having my boubts if I get a bunch of snow piled up on it. I don't want weight stress on the support rails.
Carol

That's a good idea to buy a beater to drive in the winter. That will definetly help to keep your truck in good shape. I decided to do that 3 years ago when I had a frame-up restoration done on my 78 F150 which used to be my daily driver. I have way too much money invested in the 78 to let anything happen to it, so I bought an old Buick LeSabre, and have been using that in the winter ever since. That's good you keep a nice coat of wax on your truck. I thought my 95 F150 was the cleanest 90s Ford in IL because,it too, shines like glass. Sounds like your 92 is as clean as my 95! As far as the WD-40, that will not hurt the paint or wax on your truck. It will collect dirt over time, though. Another idea would be to leave a coating of wax on the lower body panels during the winter months. When I first bought my 95, I did that because I had nowhere to keep the truck and it was exposed to the elements. One advantage that you have with your truck being a Flareside is that the majority of the bed is made of fiberglass, and that can never rust. As far as your bed cover, you might want to take that off during the winter, because the snow will pile up on it in the middle making it sag between the rails and that could cause the cover to stretch. I had a bed cover on my 94 Flareside, and I had that happen. I'm glad that some of my ideas have been helpful to you. I know from experience how hard it can be to keep a nice truck looking nice when it's exposed to winter weather. John

John, Thank you. -Carol