Hello everyone my name is Scott, or Scotty, or Scooter, or whatever you wanna call me along those lines. I'm from Northern California and I'm a 32 year old General Contractor / Office Legal Assistant. Long story I won't get into it, but in short the Economy sucks!! Anyway. When I was 17 years old I was at my dad's house during the summer hanging out, my parents are divorced, that's a long story too cause he's not my real dad. Anyway. His wife worked for a heavy hauling equipment company. They were short staffed one saturday afternoon and my dad was working at his job and they needed a driver to pilot a rig from chico california to the california coast, can't remember where now. So I was sitting on the couch watching college football and my step mom called me and asked if I wanted to make some money to drive a truck? I'm 17, HELL YES!!! So I got in this Ford F350, manual transmission, crew cab long bed truck. LOVED IT THE MOMENT I SAT IN IT!

So I tell you that story because I've wanted one ever since. I've since owned a bunch of chevy's dodges, and even owned a 2006 Ford F350 Diesel Lariat. I liked that but it just didn't have the solid feel as the one in the story. Well I went out last weekend and finially got my hands on one.

My family and I are talking about getting a travel trailer. Well I have two daughters, 3 and 5 and we need room. So the one's we're looking at just couldn't be towed by my Chevy 1500 silverado. Plus I needed more room for my girls. It was just an extended cab. So I looked around and found this 1994 Ford F-350 crew cab, 4wd, automatic, long bed, xlt, dual tanks, and a 7.5 liter gas engine. Well, I said to myself, ok then. Well the problem is I'm recovering from a business failure so my credit sucks so I just left it to fait. I said that if I could trade my truck straight across for this one then I'll do it. I have no money at present time, and no credit so why not. What's the worst that could happen, they say no? So I went for it.

Well now I'm the owner of the truck that I have wanted since I was 17 years old.

Now it's, of course, not in great condition. There are a few issues with it and I have some concerns. I'm uploading pictures right now to show everyone the truck, but when I do that I'll address my issues. After that I'm going to address the build plans that I have for it. This is going to be a long process and it's going to take a long time to get it done, but that's ok cause I'm sure that I'm going to have this for pretty much the rest of my life now.

So everyone stay tuned and when I can get the pictures up I'll do that. I hope to meet everyone and I look forward to the help and the conversations that I can have with everyone.

Hello to all and it's nice to be here.

Welcome aboard

Sounds like fate to me!
Welcome aboard, got a 95 250, ex cab, wanting to swap in a 460 my self.
What kinda plans you got for your truck?

Welcome! Sounds like an awesome truck.

What part of NorCal are you from?

yeah welcome

Well thanks for all the warm welcomes. It's nice to be here.

To answer a couple of questions, I'm from Sacramento, California. And I'll list out what I'm thinking about for my truck as of right now. I'm sure things will change over time but I do have some plans in my head.

Right now I'm gonna share the pics of what it is now with you. Also going to use pictures to show some concerns as well ask seek some help with those concerns. Hopefully I can learn a lot from you guys as well as find things out for you in my ventures!

On to the pics.

So here we are in the driveway at my house. There are a couple things I've done already, but I'll get to that.

Beginning pictures.










It used to have a 5th wheel hitch in the back. These brackets will be removed eventually.


The interior is blue, not very fond of it. That's gonna change.

Rear door panel.


Front door panel.




Overall the interior is pretty clean. No damage really to speak of other than the dash. Here that is.






That's really the only damage to speak of for the interior. The headliner has some cigarett burns in it, but meh.

The engine looks pretty clean, well they cleaned it, but it's not bad looking. Looks like a motor!






The front grill is not too terrible. It's old, the chrome is wearing and there are some bubbles, if you will, on the top of it. But that will all be addressed.

very nice, welcome to the fun..

Great lookin' truck! Oh and hello neighbor! I'm over in Davis

This is the side mirror. I don't like this at all. It sits way to far back on the door and I litterally have to turn my head to look at it. I don't like that feeling. I feel like I'm taking my eyes off the front and that doesn't make me feel comfortable at all. Those will be changed. Not even sure if they're the stock mirrors but I don't see any evidence that there were any others on there.



Here are the rims currently on the truck.
Front


Rear


and the tires are bald. That's a not so safe feeling with my daughters in the truck daily at this point until my car gets operational again.
This is the best one.


So that's pretty much the introduction. Now I'll go on with the concerns and things that I'm going to deal with and questions I have.

So the day I bought the truck the dealer, hole in the wall place, said the battery was pretty corroded and the wires were not in good shape. Should've taken a picture of those but trust me it was horrible. So the second day I got up and the truck wouldn't even start. So that was the first thing I had to address was the battery. Ended up the battery was so corroded that the positive terminal was not even touching the cable. So I got out the box of Audio wire and some connectors and went to work. Bought myself a new battery from Les Schwab and did the rest myself.

For the positive I used some 4ga power wire I had sitting around and some terminals. One line goes from the battery all the way down to the starter. It was corroded pretty far so I said, "just replace the whole line!" Next 4ga goes from the battery to the starter silinoid, I think that's what that is! The ground wire is basically the same thing with black wire instead of red to its specific places the stock were attached at.


Then there's the silinoid. There's the 4 ga I already mentioned. Then you'll see an 8ga run from the silinoid to the starter which I replaced as well.


So that was my first purchase on the truck. That issue was addressed.

My next concern is this. When I got under the truck to run the power wires to the starter I noticed this.

Now it's not leaking all the time cause I have no marks in my driveway yet. However, I did take it to my mechanic yesterday that I used to take my other truck to, and he said there was minimal radiator fluid in it. That it must be leaking somewhere but not in the motor. SO, does that mean that's what this is, and because it's not running is why there are not leaks in the driveway? Anyone got any insight on this?

Also along with that, I have this noise comming from the front of the truck. When the motor is running, especially when it's cold, there's a noise that's almost like a ringing, or like a light metal to metal tinging sound. My first thought was water pump, but I'm not a mechanic so I don't know really what I'm listening for or that I even know what I'm talking about. Anyone have thoughts on this as well?

Next concern is the leak marks on the side where the oil filter is. I've circled the hose that I think it's coming from. But as you can see in the picture it's kind of all over the place down there. Not sure what this is or why or what it could be leaking. But it is a concern of mine. Thoughts?

Well the picture of the two steel hoses coming from in front of the radiator are not coolant lines, so I wouldn't expect your mechanic to find coolant there. Those are the lines running up to the transmission cooler. You can see that one will trace straight back to the side of your trans and the other will run to a secondary trans cooling chamber in your radiator. If your mechanic can't see that then I'm not sure I'd trust his work anymore.

As for the oil leak-- the picture is very close up and the circled hose is really dark so it's hard to make out the hose in the picture.

Welcome to FTF!

As for the last pic, I wanna say that looks like power steering lines, but I'm not very familiar with how those lines run on these truck, and would have to see it in person to be sure.

Next is the front, I think it's the transfer case for the 4wd, someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Again there are alot of leak spots down there. Or am I just being paranoid?


I'm planning to eventually replace this with a black and chrome decorative cover. Not sure when though. This one and the rear one as well.

My next issue is the tires being bald. I went down to Les Schwab, you're gonna hear me say that alot on here hope it's not offensive. So I went down and got a price on some new rubber. OUCH!! It's too much for me right now. But I don't like the rims on the truck already, and I have to address the tire issue. Well come to find out the 16.5" rim is becoming a thing of the past. Well then that kind of sealed it for me. I don't want to have to worry about if I can find tires in the future or not so I'm getting new wheels. Hopped on Craigslist and found some rims and tires for a really good deal. Went and picked them up today. Now the tires aren't new, and well they really are only about 25% left on the tread but it'll get me through a couple more weeks until I'm in my car again, which is my daily driver anyway. Here is a picture of the truck when I started to put em on!


Got the front wheel off and the new one on and had a problem!!! DAMN IT! The lug nuts are 7/8" nuts which fits into the new rims, but the socket to tighten them doesn't. The lugnuts are exposed on the old rims but the new ones have a deep hole that hides the lug nuts. So after another trip to Les Schwab, I ended up with some new lug nuts, that they won't get till tomorrow, and they're gonna throw my rims on for free. So I'll get pics with them on the truck tomorrow, but here is one with the front one sitting in front of the old one. You can see the before and after shot basically.


The rims are 16" Gear Double Pumps, on a 35x12.5x16 tire. I can't wait to get them on. I already had it on and it fits with plenty of clearence. so I'm not terribly worried there. I'll update more on this tomorrow.

Next, this is a kind of big concern for me and I'm hoping that it's nothing. Like I said the old owner had a 5th wheel hitch in the back. Left the rails for it which are coming out like I said before. However this is the big concern. Look behind the wheel and shock at the frame and tell me that's not concerning. Or I don't know anything and it's just nothing.




As you can see this is both sides with this big steel plate on it. It's directly under those tracks in the middle of the wheel well. I've looked at the frame, because it's exposed on the bottom behind the wheel, and there are no cracks or cuts or anything. My only hope is that they put those on there to add support for the 5th wheel hitch. Thoughts on this!!

I think that's pretty much it on the concerns. There is a little slip in the transmission that I'm going to have looked at next week. My first little project besides the battery was the power window motors for both passenger side doors. Got those in and working and we're back to gold on that part.

Had it inspected and everything seems to check out with the exception of some dash bulbs, the tires (addressed already), front breaks (I ordered today), and the concern about the radiator thing. So overall it's a pretty good truck.

Shows signs of age like the dash for starters. I'm looking right now for a replacement but I'm also considering taking it out and seeing if I can vinyl over it. Remove the old stuff and replace it is what I really mean. The driver side trim panel that goes down the pillar and over the door is cracked and broken at the dash and is hitting the dash when the truck bouces, which is pretty much ALL THE TIME!!!!! So I need to find replacement parts for some things.

Head lights are all foggy and need to be replaced, grill is going to get replaced, tailights are looking brittle and old and need to be replaced, the interior dome light looks nasty yellow and needs to be addressed somehow. The driver side interior window sill is missing and needs replaced. And the headliner. The steering wheel is pretty warn too, as are the seats. They seem to have no cushion left.

But here is my plan for the most part.

Repaint the exterior: Black
Redo the interior: Grey and Dark Grey/Charcoal
Re pad and re upholster the seats: Grey and Dark Grey/Charcoal
New carpet
New headliner.
New steering wheel.
Tint all windows.
Possible automatic rear sliding window, not sure on this yet.
New door handles. (faded and old looking)
New wing window handles. (faded and old looking)
New side mirrors. (would like to stay as stock as possible on these.)
New front grill, chrome
New tailgate.
New chrome tailgate cover with FORD emblems.
Chromed out F350 Emblems to replace the sides.
New Nerf Bars, Chrome
Air Intake system
Dual 4" exhaust in the rear.
Performance module, although i don't know much about them, I had one in my 06 F350 and it made a huge difference in my gas mileage on my diesel.
4" lift kit, I'd like a fabtech lift but I can't seem to find it for my truck.
Dual steering stabilizer.
New shocks
Spray in bedliner
New Bumper with fog light holes, stock.
New Fog lights, don't have them now.
New rims when all is done, 20's on 36"s or something along those lines. Looking at the Pro Comp Xtream Alloys 8188 Black 20x9. I like the looks of these with the black truck.
Transfer and differential case covers, black and chrome.
Change out all parts under the truck, track bar, stabalizer bar, etc.
Stainless steel brake lines.
New starter
Proabably going to have to either get a new tranny or rebuild mine at somepont.
Might even have to address the motor at somepoint too. We'll see.

Then there's the audio system. That's what I'm into, that's what I'm doing to my civic, daily driver, and that's what I'm going to do to this as well. Not going to get as crazy in this as I did in my civic, but it's gonna be nice. Here's what I'm looking at right now. My idea's anyway.

Headunit: Pioneer Premier DEH-P880PRS
DVD Player: Pioneer SDV-P7 Single disc unit, might fab a spot in the cubby in the front dash for this, not sure yet.
Speakers: Front - Pioneer TS-A702C Components 6 3/4". These will go in the doors and tweets in the pillars, I'll have to make pods for them.
Speakers: Rear - Pioneer TS-A702C Components 6 3/4". The mids will go in the stock spaces, and the tweets will go up in the pillars maybe. Or I'll fab a panel to house both in the stock space.
Front Speaker Amplifier: Pioneer GMD9500F 4 channel amp bridged
Rear Speaker Amplifier: Pioneer GMD9500F 4 channel amp bridged
Sub: Pioneer TS-SW3001S2. Shallow mount sub. I'm going to build a center console box in the rear seat that will rais up the center console even with the front, partially so my kids can reach the new cup holders I'll put in there. Now they have nothing they can reach.
Sub Amplifier: Pioneer GM-D8500M. Mono 800 Watt amp.
Rear Monitor: Pioneer AD-RM8000G Roof Monitor Drop down with a Pioneer AVD-W8000 8" Monitor.
Alarm: Zenesis ZN502 Automatic Start and Alarm.

So at the moment that's really the plan. Now it's gonna take me forever to get all this done, years I'm sure, but that's what I'm going for. We'll see, I'm sure some things will change over time.

So there it is. I'll update as I get things done, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions along the way! Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Ooops double post sorry!

Yeah that's a pretty good point on the mechanic. I was thinking of taking it over to 4 wheel parts and have them do all the oils and stuff. They offer a service for 150.00 that does a lot! I can do it, but time is an issue right now and really right now I'm looking to get diagnosises of problems so I know what to address and learn how to do myself. That's part of the fun in owning these things.

The radiator thing bothers me cause if it is leaking where is it leaking and if it's not leaking out it must be leaking in right? BADDDDD!!

countryboytn said:

Welcome to FTF!

As for the last pic, I wanna say that looks like power steering lines, but I'm not very familiar with how those lines run on these truck, and would have to see it in person to be sure.

Click to expand...

Tyler you're exactly right. Much easier to see the details in the pic on my computer rather than my iPhone screen That is the low pressure power steering hose that runs down to a coil of steel hose for cooling the power steering fluid. That's that leaky hose next to the oil filter-- PS fluid.

As for the picture of the "transfer case" as you called it. That is actually your front differential. It houses the gears that take the power from the transfer case and distribute it to the front wheels. The transfer case is bolted to that back of your transmission and when you engage it into 4wd, it will divide the power going to the rear driveshaft and spin up the front driveshaft, in turn spinning up the gears in your front differential (the picture of the black housing with leaked oil on it), in turn spinning your axle shafts and then putting power to your front wheels (after you lock the hubs). The oil dripping down your diff cover is most likely PS fluid dripping from that leaky line-- the leaky line is located right above that location.

countryboytn said:

...if it's not leaking out it must be leaking in right? BADDDDD!!

Click to expand...

Nah I don't think that'd be possible. Those are pressurized lines (relatively low pressure, but still pressurized) so they would be leaking OUT. The reason you may not be getting a puddle in the driveway is because the pressure is created by the spinning torque converter in your transmission, acting as a fluid pump. When you turn the truck off, those lines should lose pressure fairly quickly, and if it's just a pinhole leak then the tensile strength of the rubber can probably close it back up before it gets a chance to drip too much. That rubber portion of the hose should be fairly short (it is on my truck), just used as a connector to connect two steel lines. I'd replace the rubber hose with ATF rated hose (yes there is a special hose meant to be used specifically for trans fluid), and then put some nice fresh hose clamps on it. I bet that fixes it.

Forgot to say where I was going to put amps. I'm going to build a wall on the back wall of the cab behind the back seat. Plan is to glue, somehow, a piece of carpeted or sueded, depending on what I do with the cab, MDF and mount them to that. Might do some lighting behind the amps like I'm doing in the civic, if I wanna get crazy but not sure yet.

Also in thinking, depending on the box size for the sub, I may switch to the Pioneer Champion Series Pro TS-SW3002S2 12" sub. This is just a regular sized sub, not a shallow mount. The specs are .5cuft to 1.0cuft. I may add a second Pioneer GM-D8500M Mono 600 Watt amp to run both sides of the sub. It's a dual voice coil sub. This will give me 1200 total watts of power for the sub, and the normal power handling is 1000, max 3500. So I should be fine. But again I need to figure this stuff out and I'll address that when it's time.

Damn I did it again!

That's awesome man. See I'm learning stuff already. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I'll get on that stuff right away and report back. Thanks!