79 250 Upgrades

[Beach66Bum]

I was told once to never measure a vehicle because you will be shocked at what you will find. Every vehicle will have "Tolerances" that are considered acceptable! If you go and measure a brand new truck, you will have different readings from side to side, the worst contender is Chevy, hence the very old saying, "Typical Chevy lean" You can fix this by adding shims, etc. It is much more of an issue with the lowered truck scene where it really becomes noticeable because of the closeness of the tires to the fender wells.

 

[taxreliever]

I was told once to never measure a vehicle because you will be shocked at what you will find. Every vehicle will have "Tolerances" that are considered acceptable! If you go and measure a brand new truck, you will have different readings from side to side, the worst contender is Chevy, hence the very old saying, "Typical Chevy lean" You can fix this by adding shims, etc. It is much more of an issue with the lowered truck scene where it really becomes noticeable because of the closeness of the tires to the fender wells.

I'm glad you posted this....thanks...makes me feel a little better, but understand now about the tolerances and such...I mean it is a rolling machine and a truck at that.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Tolerances should be within 1/2''...I stand by what I said, the torque action is what causes the sag....watch a loaded tractor take off from a stop.

 

[taxreliever]

Hope it's ok to post these....if not, I can delete them, but I'm not marketing anything :

But this is the oil I'm using:

Yes.......my mechanic spent the day on my property doing some maintenance on our vehicles (I know I'm spoiled, but I'm learning a lot from him) and today we did the engine flush on the F250 and put the new filter and synthetic oil in it!

 

[taxreliever]

You can get a smaller diameter housing and filter but looks in the pic that you need to have it low profile for hood clearance?

We looked today and there was plenty of clearance with the hood, so we're looking at ideas of bringing up the air cleaner. I'll post it as a new thread and see what others have to say.

 

[taxreliever]

I would take a look at the lower front portion of the engine, just above the oil pan. Leak could be the front main bearing seal, the oil pan, the spot where the dipstick tube fits into the oil pan(since that is a metal to metal seal), the fuel pump mounting, or a power steering pump leak. Those are hard to trace, since the fan tends to blow the oil backwards along the engine.

The dipstick tube to the pan is solid and no leaking, but I still want to address the bracket at some point.

 

[taxreliever]

Like Mark suggested, I crawled up on top of the engine and took a picture of the back end of the top here....not sure if it's what he was referring to, but it was all dry nonetheless:

NO OIL LEAKS!!!! YAY....We cleaner her up a little and the oil that was leaking up front dripping down the frame rails was coming from the filter....not sure why that was....could it be that it wasn't on tight enough....or it sat so long that the rubber seals cracked and seeped? No matter....I have my new oil and filter in and there are no leaks anywhere from the engine.

The other leak was in fact gear oil and we're still looking into that. The mechanic tightened up the tcase and tranny pan bolts a little and he said a few were loose but the rest seemed to be pretty good. So we're going to clean it up a little again, then let it run and see where we might find any other leaks if any....glad it was something simple on the oil.

 

[taxreliever]

Excited about these coming....I ended up going with the long add a leaf as I was told (by the company themselves) and from what I could research on some off road sites, that the long leafs (as opposed to the short leafs) give a better ride and the short leafs are more for load capacity.

The custom ubolt sets cost me $56.99 and the add a leaf set (for both sides) cost me $73.41 and $42.04 to ship. I'm psyched....can't wait to post the repair pics and the final product.

 

[fatherdoug]

Good deal. Glad to hear, Ken!

 

[taxreliever]

BEFORE:








AFTER:

 

[taxreliever]

 

[taxreliever]

You fellas probably can't tell, but I'm having a blast!

I have so many plans......braided hoses, wire covers, polished intake, polished headers, etc, etc, etc, etc.....I'm nervous about price and will have to make a priority list cause wifey gave me a budget (or a limit)!

 

[bucks77ford]

Dang it Ken, You are getting my fired up to work on my 77 again. It's been in storage for the past year and I haven't even seen it except fro some pics my brother sent me when he washed it.

 

[DNFXDLI]

You fellas probably can't tell, but I'm having a blast!

I have so many plans......braided hoses, wire covers, polished intake, polished headers, etc, etc, etc, etc.....I'm nervous about price and will have to make a priority list cause wifey gave me a budget (or a limit)!

Budgets and limits are merely a suggestion...and I've found it's best to play dumb when the bills come in and plead ignorance

 

[Beach66Bum]

awesome Ken!! had to smile at this definitely tell you're happy
great that the items of concern are turning out to be simple repairs/adjustments

 

[smokey]

You just gotta love the simple easy fixes.

 

[taxreliever]

Dang it Ken, You are getting my fired up to work on my 77 again. It's been in storage for the past year and I haven't even seen it except fro some pics my brother sent me when he washed it.

Awesome....I was wondering what's happening with that rig!

Budgets and limits are merely a suggestion...and I've found it's best to play dumb when the bills come in and plead ignorance

Can't let the wifey read this, but some super advice Duncan....thanks!

awesome Ken!! had to smile at this definitely tell you're happy
great that the items of concern are turning out to be simple repairs/adjustments

Very happy, yes, thanks! Both rigs have completely different stories and completely different approaches to working on em.....79, fun upgrades.....77, fun to clean wax win car shows pictures. WHICH I THINK IS GREAT cause they'll be owned by two different people.

The thing my wife and I were concerned about was if the trucks were similar, how the brothers would react, but with both having different looks and different approaches to maintenance and upgrades, they should be fine.

You just gotta love the simple easy fixes.

Yes sir! They're super highs compared to the super lows when the mechanic comes back and says, we need a new tranny or the motor is gone!

 

[Ranger429]

The custom ubolt sets cost me $56.99 and the add a leaf set (for both sides) cost me $73.41 and $42.04 to ship. I'm psyched....can't wait to post the repair pics and the final product.

Please post some after pics with the AAL added. I'm looking to level out the front of mine so I'm curious to see how much these raise your front end.

BEFORE:

Common problem with a MSD dizzy, my old 250 had the same problem.

 

[taxreliever]

Please post some after pics with the AAL added. I'm looking to level out the front of mine so I'm curious to see how much these raise your front end.



Common problem with a MSD dizzy, my old 250 had the same problem.

Absolutely.....will post the pics....as mentioned before, one side is down 1.25" and the other side is down .75" and the company guaranteed a lift of 1.5-3", so PERFECT!

I ordered everything Monday, so it should be here today or tomorrow coming from Utah and depending on my mechanic's schedule, should be any day after that! CANNOT WAIT!

A local auto parts store sold a kit to lift the air cleaner 3 different sizes: 3/8" 1/2" and 3/4" and we only raised it 1/2" and still had 3-4" to play with for hood clearance....not sure why they didn't address that.....this was probably the most troubling to me...it just looked WRONG and I couldn't stand it anymore, but my mechanic hooked me up with that kit (only $10).

 

[taxreliever]

Just purchased this week:

-3/8, 1/2, 3/4 chrome wire looms to clean up the wires in the F250. It's going to be Christmas each day I get a package in!

-Amsoil Synthetic ATF

-Motorcraft transmission filter and gasket kit

-Universal Chrome 24" radiator hose kit with Chrome Caps