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First off, this forum has been the most knowledgeable and informative specific to 6th gen Ford trucks.This is my first post, and I would like to share my extremely abridged build of one my favorite trucks.
Here it is, the day it was delivered:
What was left of the interior:
The mighty 6.6L 351M400, which ran:
Rear view showing how damaged the bed is from rust and poorly installed body lift:
As you can tell, the truck needed a lot of work but I felt was a solid base for a project. The first issue wasn't presented by the truck itself, but were I had it delivered to. I was working on an Active Duty National Guard post which does not allow vehicles that are not inspected or registered. I found this odd since regular Active Duty posts have shops that you can work on and store vehicles.
The U-bolts had fallen off and the springs were broken and collapsed:
The right side wasn't much better:
You can see that the weight of the truck compressing the springs are the only thing holding them together:
This wasn't the first thing I addressed though. The 1990's graphics had to go:
They took most the paint off the doors, but that's okay with me. Once peeled, I could focus on the springs. I picked up a set from an '89 F-250 from a junkyard:
Then I cleaned up the rear of the frame for paint:
I decided to do the shackle flip that I had read about on this very forum.
I inverted a set of drop hangars intended to lower a leaf spring truck, this allowed for the use of a single 3'' lift block instead of stacking blocks as the previous owner had.
Here is the finished product. I removed the anti-wrap bars because they misaligned the axle to the alignment pins on the springs:
I kept the anti-wrap bars and their brackets if I needed to reinstall them. Now to the front suspension. I decided to replace all of the major components "while I was in there." Although not photographed, I removed 2'' thick anti-wrap bars and the two shortest leaves from the front springs. Here is the front axle after paint, new U-bolts, and the knuckles removed:
I had to remove the left side knuckle because of the use of cheap hardware during the installation of a 4'' spacer for the steering linkage. The bolts broke off in this solid block of steel, so some hammering and torching was required to separate the two. I initially thought I could find another knuckle in the junkyard rather than attempt to drill out the grade 8 bolts from the knuckle. I quickly found out otherwise, and that Ford only used this type of steering set up for 1978-1979. Let the drilling begin. Two days later with the help of friend, his Dad's drill press, and a fortune spent on drill bits I had a usable steering knuckle.
It felt good to have repaired the only steering knuckle in the known universe:
This called for new rotors and calipers:
I had to use the aftermarket draglink and and steering link from the knuckle in order to make the steering work properly. A four wheel drive shop in the area helped me cross-reference the tie rod ends that thread into the draglink, which were a TRW part number, were ordered as Duralast parts, and came out of the box with Moog branding:
All new steering linkage:
I figured a full rebuild of the rear brakes should be in order. Ford specific Dana rear axles require a specific socket to remove the lock nuts for the bearings. That took a bit of time to source, but I was able to purchase it and remove the axle shafts:
Then to see what lurked inside the hubs:
They received the same treatment as the front brakes:
Here it is, the day it was delivered:
What was left of the interior:
The mighty 6.6L 351M400, which ran:
Rear view showing how damaged the bed is from rust and poorly installed body lift:
As you can tell, the truck needed a lot of work but I felt was a solid base for a project. The first issue wasn't presented by the truck itself, but were I had it delivered to. I was working on an Active Duty National Guard post which does not allow vehicles that are not inspected or registered. I found this odd since regular Active Duty posts have shops that you can work on and store vehicles.
The U-bolts had fallen off and the springs were broken and collapsed:
The right side wasn't much better:
You can see that the weight of the truck compressing the springs are the only thing holding them together:
This wasn't the first thing I addressed though. The 1990's graphics had to go:
They took most the paint off the doors, but that's okay with me. Once peeled, I could focus on the springs. I picked up a set from an '89 F-250 from a junkyard:
Then I cleaned up the rear of the frame for paint:
I decided to do the shackle flip that I had read about on this very forum.
I inverted a set of drop hangars intended to lower a leaf spring truck, this allowed for the use of a single 3'' lift block instead of stacking blocks as the previous owner had.
Here is the finished product. I removed the anti-wrap bars because they misaligned the axle to the alignment pins on the springs:
I kept the anti-wrap bars and their brackets if I needed to reinstall them. Now to the front suspension. I decided to replace all of the major components "while I was in there." Although not photographed, I removed 2'' thick anti-wrap bars and the two shortest leaves from the front springs. Here is the front axle after paint, new U-bolts, and the knuckles removed:
I had to remove the left side knuckle because of the use of cheap hardware during the installation of a 4'' spacer for the steering linkage. The bolts broke off in this solid block of steel, so some hammering and torching was required to separate the two. I initially thought I could find another knuckle in the junkyard rather than attempt to drill out the grade 8 bolts from the knuckle. I quickly found out otherwise, and that Ford only used this type of steering set up for 1978-1979. Let the drilling begin. Two days later with the help of friend, his Dad's drill press, and a fortune spent on drill bits I had a usable steering knuckle.
It felt good to have repaired the only steering knuckle in the known universe:
This called for new rotors and calipers:
I had to use the aftermarket draglink and and steering link from the knuckle in order to make the steering work properly. A four wheel drive shop in the area helped me cross-reference the tie rod ends that thread into the draglink, which were a TRW part number, were ordered as Duralast parts, and came out of the box with Moog branding:
All new steering linkage:
I figured a full rebuild of the rear brakes should be in order. Ford specific Dana rear axles require a specific socket to remove the lock nuts for the bearings. That took a bit of time to source, but I was able to purchase it and remove the axle shafts:
Then to see what lurked inside the hubs:
They received the same treatment as the front brakes:
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Great work!! Thank You for your service!!!!
