84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

69.5CUDA said:
ill give you the 1 item you might have missed...

so when the tow driver showed up for the wagon he pulls out an orange extension cord...to my supprise he had actualy added connectors to it for the winch for the sole reason that he could go the full length of the trailer get in the car and control the winch while steering and working the brakes...being an orange extension cord means 1 cheep 2 tougher than the OE cable 3 availible anywhere...he had 50 feet of cable

the HF "wireless" is hit n miss some work up to 20 feet out most work under 5feet
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That's a good idea for a truck with a winch as well.....you can stand WAY back, or hop in and drive while controlling the winch. And the cheap and easy to replace is the best part. The 12K warn I got...it's used...has a remote, but the wiring it a bit frazzeled. Might look into doing this.
 
Been friggin cold up here the last week or so, seeing -28*C or colder in the mornings. Just serviced the truck about 1000km's ago, but My mind set on my engine oil was still thinking I was down on the coast where we were lucky to have one or two days in the -15 to -20*C the entire winter. So I was running the rotella 15W40, and the last 3 days it has been getting colder every night, this morning it was -28*C at my truck, and it was plugged in all night and the grid heaters still came on and were running! But the oil pressure has been taking longer and longer to build up...5-10 sec with little or no oil pressure.....Scary stuff!

So today I went down and bought a pail of Rotella T-6 5W40 synthetic engine oil, and from my research it seems that this is a pretty good oil for the cold areas. Drained out the old conventional oil and filled it with the synthetic. We will see what the motor does when I fire it up tomorrow. ;)

Hope Doc doesn't chastise me about a bad decision though.....;) :shifty:
 
I run the T-6 in my truck and he hasn't given me any lip about it.. :bwuhaha:The Powerstroke on the hand, he told me every way that it was a mistake.
 
bobistheoilguy.com

Synthetics are definitely better than regular oil for startup viscosity according to the rabbit hole I posted above. Synthetics are also way better at finding ways to escape your motor. If you've got a leak, synthetic will let you know.
 
I sell a lot of T-6 and try to sell more of it, actually. The only time I don't recommend synthetic is in the HEUI Powerjokes. They're so fargin' tweaky about oil specifically because of the injection system. First thing the dealership does when a rough-running HEUI shows up is drop the oil and pour in Motorcraft 15W-40. That clears up about 90% of the 7.3s, and makes the 6.0s run well enough to determine it's time for an inline-six swap. :D
 
Dude, you kidding? You said it all with "timeless classic". Comedy Central used to play it on a loop in the nineties.. probably because they didn't have to censor it. I was a latchkey kid. Every day I'd watch Monty Python, and whatever movie they had on.

"It's an eighty-eight magnum.. It shoots through schools." Comedy gold, there.
 
After a couple of months of running with just the electric fans, and the cold cold weather we have been having, I decided to put the fan and shroud back on with my winter fronts.

What I had been noticing is that the temps fluctuate a lot more with no fan running, and it would run from hot to cold depending on air flow and engine load.....never once over heated even when I let it idle for several hours in the -30*C weather....actually was barely keeping warm. With the OEM fan and shroud the temps are rock steady, and I figured having the fan blow warm air around under the hood to warm the other systems can't hurt in -20 to -30*C weather...;)
 
Put a Kat's 1155 magnetic heater on my oil pan the other day....works really well combined with the coolant block heater. Motor is nice and toasty when I fire it up now in the freezing weather. Should put another on my tranny as well......;)

Also received my Podman Products, 4 pod dash unit. Got one for Patches, and another for Sno-Ball. ;) Really happy with them.



They are an almost exact reproduction of the original Banks units....that have been out of production for over 15 years or so. They have to correct grain, mounting points and from what I understand the plastic material they are made from is even the same.
 
i want to see that mounted up.....i WISH there was something like that for the "early" 72-75? dash..IE the flat face one not the angle corner unit
 
69.5CUDA said:
i want to see that mounted up.....i WISH there was something like that for the "early" 72-75? dash..IE the flat face one not the angle corner unit
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Probably be spring before I can get the pod installed, and the new gauges wired up.....one of the draw backs of northern arctic winter weather and no shop....;)
 
were in the 20s here with 22mph wind ..toss in the windchill and were in the teens......having a shop with a massive heater is nice but when you dont have enuf insulation to hold it in..you may as well be burning money
 
69.5CUDA said:
were in the 20s here with 22mph wind ..toss in the windchill and were in the teens......having a shop with a massive heater is nice but when you dont have enuf insulation to hold it in..you may as well be burning money
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True that.....;)
 
Since we have been having some warmer weather, Last night I decided I would install my winch bumper.

Here it is when I just slid it into place.





There is about 9" between the grille and the front of the bumper. Which was not a good number for me.....my 12K warn winch needs at least 11". :( Plus I did not like the look of all that open space between the front of the truck and the bumper.
 
Then there was the mounting points....only one hole lined up. The guy who made the bumper for me said he had built one of these for a 1st gen so the mounts would be ready to go.....well they didn't work.



I thought perhaps earlier, pre-89 bumper brackets might work, so I grabbed a spare set and tried those....nope no worky either.

So after staring at the bumper for some time I finally came to a decision.



I decided I was not going to be able to make it work with my winch, so I may as well modify it to just be a bush bumper.
 
Looking at things and measuring lots I figured if I took 2" off the mounts I would end up with 3 bolt holes lining up....still need to drill for the last 2 on each side.



Then using that 2" measurement I measured from the grill, and from the lower portion of my PS IC and made the marks for what needed to be trimmed.

 
After a bunch of cutting, grinding and massaging I got it all lined up the way I wanted it.





Think it turned out pretty good. Sucks that I can't have my winch mounted in there....but would rather have a strong front bumper just in case I make contact with a deer or other animal. ;)

 
Cows, you can still mount a winch there.. My '86 was previously owned by a welder (although looking at the snot below the license plate makes me wonder) who made mine.. it's a pushbar that wraps up around the bumper, and has the mount on top of it.. IMG_0201.JPGIMG_1315.JPG

As a bonus, the shitty Chinese fog lights are semi protected. It's made out of aluminum. While most folks (myself included) don't have the equipment to weld aluminum, it could be made out of steel for way cheaper and easier. The best part about it is the ball hitch. It allows me to hook up to anybody's trailer, and pull big stuff up it. The worst part about it is that it weighs every bit of 100 pounds with the Ramsey on it.. The difference is noticeable in "handling" if I take it off. The steel version would be close to twice that. But, your heavy nosed diesel may not notice another chunk of steel up there. If you want, I can get you basic dimensions and better photos to work off of. In fact, you could probably use a little less material to make one out of steel.. Or just buy yer welding buddy a case of... What do you guys drink up there, Moosehead?
 
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