79 F150 build up with tractor tires

[creepyjon]

Well things are starting to come together on my mud truck, so I'll share a couple quick picks. Stats are 79 f150, 6 inch skyjacker lift kit, dana 44 front, 9in rear, heavily built 302, 11.2/16 tractor tires about 35.75 inches tall. Here's what it looked like when I drug it home:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT0676.jpg

Since then, I've cut off both bumpers, fabed up a new rear bumper. Put in a 4 point safety harness. Put in a remote double oil filter mount, and oil cooler. Put in a hi output water pump, and 200 amp alternator. Plus tons of other stuff I can't remeber!

Tons of front ground clearance!
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1117.jpg

New tires, they look so much cooler in person!

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1119.jpg

New heavy duty rear bumper out of 3 inch 1/4 c channel:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1121.jpg

Rear mounted gas tank mocked up:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1122.jpg

My garage is a mess, I'm a messy person when I work! :nod: More progress pics next weekend. Going to get a exo cage put on next!

[limegreentj]

its cool, even though im not a mud truck kinda guy

[mxracer513]

Let's see it in action!

[.J u s t i n]

My dad had a F100, cant remember what year it was but it looked very similar to that body style so I assume it was in the 70's. I saw pics of it back in the day and it was a bad ass little truck that he would drag race on the weekends. Unfortunately now it's sitting in my grandparents driving looking like a complete beater. I thought about restoring it but I already have one project on my heads.

Yours looks good though, I agree lets see some action as well.

[creepyjon]

Come on out to opening night at yankee lake, it's may 15th. It will be ready by then come hell or high water! Hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll be able to drive it out of the garage and get some better pics.

[RalphDogg]

there was a samurai at the zookimelt a few years ago with tractor tires on it. i hear it wheeled very well but i didn't get a chance to see it in person.

[joshs1ofakindxj]

im not a ford guy but I like where youre going. bout how much do those tires run?

[creepyjon]

I've got about 1000 in the tires, and lots and lots of time. They are discontinued by goodyear, and there are only a handfull left. So getting them requires a lot of phone calls and patience. That part really sucks because they are a really nice tire. Once everyone sees how much mud they sling, they are goint to be bugging me to find them a set.

Also I started making the through the hood headers today, should have them finished and painted this weekend.

[creepyjon]

more progress today, and learned a lesson. Bondo in it's hardened form is very very flameable!!! :overkill: Oh well here's some quick shots:

This is a 10 gallon tank that will be hooked up to a electric sump pump, and then run to my washer nozzles
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1152.jpg

Started mocking up the radiator, and finished bolting down the gas tank

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1153.jpg

Cut holes in hood for upright headers, poorly.... :013:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1155.jpg

The things on the end are small header mufflers, 3.5 inch diameter.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1156.jpg

This is my oil cooler and remote filter all plumbed up

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1157.jpg

[trailblaze]

wow man... thats a nice set up. i'd love to see that in action. take video!!

[YZEATER]

VERY NICE. finally get to see a nice built truck for use at yankee lake.

[mxracer513]

Come on out to opening night at yankee lake, it's may 15th. It will be ready by then come hell or high water! Hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll be able to drive it out of the garage and get some better pics.

See you there!

[creepyjon]

not too much progress this week, I spent most of my time fixing little stuff. Here's a few new pics:

Radiator is finished mounted, and the fan is mounted up too. The fan is from a mark 7 lincoln, it's 18 inches and moves something like 5000 cfm!
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1190.jpg
close up of top mount, and duct tape solution to soften up where it might rub the front rail
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1193.jpg

My washer fluid pump :080:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1191.jpg

Under the hood, it's got a new billet distributor, ford 9mm racing plug wires, and this cool ammo can. The ammo can will eventually hold all my solenoids and relays to keep them clean.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1194.jpg

next week I plan on finishing up the wiring, so there may not be any pictures of that, but we will see.

[mxracer513]

That ammo can is a great idea to keep the electric components dry!

[creepyjon]

I've spent a lot of time trying to get the exo cage started on this truck, here's the progress so far. It's REALLY uneven in some spots, this bending and welding pipe crap is way harder than it looks! :s-minigun:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1345.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1346.jpg

I have one more cross bar on the back to finish, two windshield cross bars to do, fender guards in the front, and gusseting. Also letting my buddy who works as a welder fix up some of my bad welds. This weekend we should get the replacement transfer case in, and hopefully finish up the final things to start it up again. I need this truck out of the garage so I have room to work on it.

[limegreentj]

did you say welding pipe? for an exo cage???? :044:

[creepyjon]

some of it is hot roll tube, but I ran out and had to use pipe. BUT home depot has the good stuff, it's atsm rated structural stuff. Hey I'm just trying to prevent what happened last year. I smashed into a tree and had mangled the door and side of my truck bad. I had to tie the door shut with a seat belt. If I was rock crawling I would build a different cage out of better stuff ya know.

I know I'm a hack sometimes, hey it's all good. My buddy just looked at it and said it's the best hillbilly home made roll bar he's ever seen. So I guess it's better than I thought.

[xeccllc]

man that looks awesome.. why did you put the pipes in the bed straight up with a horizontal bar instead of angled like a roll bar??

[creepyjon]

It's getting hillbilly deluxe rear seating, LOL! :wt:

I have 2 sports car seats that will be rear facing at the end of the bed so people can ride along and get muddy. My buddy wanted a roll bar to protect the seats, so I built the cage around his idea.

[Tripower389]

Hey,

ON the ammo can (this is after the point) the coating that is used on those things depending on year can be very toxic. Next time you mount one of those use a drill and a bolt along with some cutting oil to keep dust down. It looks like you got some good burn marks on that thing. I hope you didnt in-hale that stuff.

- Jason

[gonecheenin]

I want them tires

I am officially on the hunt for a used set :096:

[80glasscj]

I want them tires

I am officially on the hunt for a used set :096:

i got a used set of ag tires they are 31x15.50x15 can`t figure out what i`m gonna do with them. i know they are not the same as the ones in his truck.

[limegreentj]

honestly if you are gonna put seats in the back of your truck PLEASE make sure you use tube...i'd hate to see something happen and the people in the back get crushed

[creepyjon]

Toxic paint on the ammo can, oh crap didn't know that one.....:102:

Believe me this thing is very reinforced. The bed has 1/4 wall angle iron around the top, with a 1 1/2 c channel going across it that the radiator is mounted too. The top of the bed ties into the roll cage on both sides, and I plan on welding it to the front cage as well. Then it has 4 down bars that are bolted to the floor of the bed, and one of them goes through the frame with a 5 inch bolt. The bed itself was reinforced with thick plywood, since it has a few rust holes. The hoop itself was overkill, the bed has about a couple hundred pounds of steel reinforcements on it that I mounted everything up to. You can grab the side of the bed and shake it all day, and it won't deflect even 1/4 of an inch. How many trucks with rotted beds and no tailgates can you do that too? The seats will have belts, and there will be padding on the bar. If I didn't honestly feel it was safe to the point of overkill, I wouldn't do it. :002:

Besides it's 900 million times safer than what everyone else that runs in the mud up there does. Most of them don't even have seat belts in the back, sometimes they don't even have seats!

Good luck finding used tractor tires, my best advice is to check out the roger's ohio machinery auction. They have lots of tractor stuff there. It's next tuesday or the first tuesday of every month.

[gonecheenin]

i got a used set of ag tires they are 31x15.50x15 can`t figure out what i`m gonna do with them. i know they are not the same as the ones in his truck.

Thanks, but those would be a little small

I need a minimum of 35" & since I can't come up with any skinny swampers for a good deal, I'm gonna try this route

[gonecheenin]

Besides it's 900 million times safer than what everyone else that runs in the mud up there does. Most of them don't even have seat belts in the back, sometimes they don't even have seats!

Truth right there!

But you'd definitely want to feel you did everything you could should something happen & someone get hurt.

[cityslicker]

See you there!

me n my buddy are going up for opening night too... see you on the teeter totter

[creepyjon]

More progress, but I've still got a ton of more work to do yet! My buddy finally showed up to help wrestle the transfer case back in. I still have to have a new rear shaft made yet though. I'm closer to getting the engine running, despite making a stupid mistake. Apparently the threaded inlet port on a carter afb is metric threads not npt. When I tried to screw in my new adapter I cracked the carb housing, grrr!!!!! :093: Oh well, I got a new 4150 double pumper for it ready to go on, so I guess it was a good mistake in the end. The cage is mostly finished, just a few more welds to clean up. Also I put in new cross bars that really helped with the stablity of it:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1355.jpg

Also I've been working like crazy trying to wire everything up, here's a shot of my ammo box, that now looks like a rats nest:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1358.jpg

The pass door had a crack in the thick bondo, so I decided to whack it out. 2 hours later and 5 pounds of bondo removed I found the door skin. I'm regreting taking out the bondo, cause now the door looks like hell. I have never seen anyone lay bondo 1/2 thick, and I though I was a hack sometimes! Since I messed up the door, I decided it was time to spray paint my cool skull I had made up on the truck. It's not perfect, but I'm using spray cans, not an airbrush. Oh well it looks bad ass!
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1360.jpg

[Xplodedin]

Any pics of the full truck at this stage

[creepyjon]

I have to get it out of the tent garage to get a good shot of it, hopefully it will be running this week. I still have to plumb my rear radiator, that is holding me up some right now.

[xeccllc]

nice!

[creepyjon]

It's ALIVE!!!:077: I was finally able to move the truck out of the garage under it's own power. I'm burning the midnight oil but will have it ready to run by opening night of yankee lake! So yeah update time.

I installed some pcv shower liner where the radiator used to be to keep the mud out:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1553.jpg

I also finished and painted the cage today:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1550.jpg

Here's another shot:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1552.jpg

It's got a spool in the rear end now as well! To do list includes installing front chromo axles, install off road lights, finish snorkel set up, and a few minor little things. Also on the list is decking and wiring up my trailer, and putting a hitch on my van to tow the whole mess with. It's going to be close, but I'll make it.

[gilly95]

heck with the van put a hitch on your hearse.... that will defently turn some heads..

[creepyjon]

That IS in the long term game plan. The problem is the whole reason GM deserves to go bankrupt. Somebody at gm thought it was a good idea to put the undersized th200r4 transmission in a full size car with a v8 when it's really fit for a 6cyl midsize trans. Then the conversion company added 2000lbs of extra weight to a weak trans. Well it shouldn't be hard to guess the results. 78k original miles and it's slipping and pops in and out of overdrive when it wants....:085:

I'm going to swap it out with a turbo 350 bop trans, they fit but the rear mount is about 6 inches off. You can just put a short piece of channel with two holes drilled in it, and it will bolt to the trans mount and the crossmember. I've done it before and it worked great.

[xeccllc]

hey man the ford is lookin good..

[creepyjon]

It's officially on the trailer, ok time to get it dirty!!! The van is really not liking the load, so I will have to put in some air shocks to help out, but otherwise everything should be ok. The trailer brakes work, the lights all finally work, and it's got fresh tires on it.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1596.jpg

[tjblair]

Looks good, but you need to strap it down by the axels not the frame. The suspension bouncing will loosen your straps.

[Deadman 94 xj]

Very cool. Those tires are nuts. I've never been a mud guy because I hate cleaning the shit off of everything but a dedicated mud rig would be fun. Post up some pics of it in action, and video if you can.

[creepyjon]

Looks good, but you need to strap it down by the axels not the frame. The suspension bouncing will loosen your straps.


THANK YOU very much I was not sure which way to strap it, I can redo it before I head out. This is my first time doing this so I'm certainly not an expert. I do know I had to load way far back on the trailer to keep my van from dragging on the ground.

[tjblair]

I can't see the whole trailor so it's hard to tell, but I would probably move it up some. To far back and it may sway, at least I think that's how it works. I would also put a strap on the rear axel.

[limegreentj]

definitely put a strap on the rear axle, it'll only help it

[tjblair]

Looking at the pic again I would ancor your strap closer to the truck on the side of the trailor. I would say the shorter the better. Whatever you do lock it down tight. You don't want to lose your rig.

[Wrecker]

You must have a strap on the back to be legal. I would always recommend 4 point for anchoring. Nothing less. That means 4 straps or chains. 1 for each corner.

[aman-fred]

Try turning the truck around. That will allow you to move the truck further forward which will allow a longer rear strap(s). I have read that you want the straps at between 45 and 60* and crossed in a X. Just make sure the rear gets strapped. You don't want your truck to meet your van. Though van-ups are sweet.

Just my .02

Sweet truck though:D

[creepyjon]

I have straps for the back too, you just can't see them from this angle. I don't want to turn it around, that would put too much weight behind the rear axles and make it tow really bad. Crossing the straps isn't a bad idea either. I want to unstrap it and try to center it a little better. I was just happy the van can move it around, I was worried about having enough traction go get it going on my gravel driveway.

[YZEATER]

lets see the tow rig.

the load is over the axles. that's a long trailer. so it has to be back that far. as long as there is some tonque weight you'll be fine.

[creepyjon]

Nope can't see my ghetto special $500 dollar pos van. It's rusty, got mismatched tires, smells bad, and the windshield is held down with duct tape, lol! It runs, and gets my crap where it needs to go so I don't care. Considering it's about 3 inches lower than it was before loading the trailer I hopefully should be ok on tounge weight. Yes it really is a stupid long trailer, the deck is about 21 feet plus the tounge. I'm doing a dry run up and down the mountin I live on tomorrow before I head out to the lake with it to see how it tows.

[Krod]

Truck looks sick but the trailer looks like you just finished carving it! LOL



Awesome.

[gonecheenin]

Looks good, but you need to strap it down by the axels not the frame. The suspension bouncing will loosen your straps.


Thats been an arguement forever

Everyone straps differently, but professional car movers do it by the frame.

I just do the frame, But I also pull the suspension down dang near to the bump stops.


Decision arrived here back by discussion in the day was do both if your worried about it.

[creepyjon]

well just got back from gassing the truck up, that was an adventure. I waited almost 30 minutes at the stupid getgo to get a pump I can drive through for my trailer, grrr!!! But the van can handle the load well enough. I was able to climb my little mountain of about a 12% grade at about 35mph, so that's good enough. The temp stayed in the middle, so I'm good there as well. Not bad for a duct tape mobile! I did decide to do as suggested above and strap the axles on one side and the body on another, it stayed put pretty good. Thanks for all the advice guys, see ya at yankee lake friday, and at wellsville saturday.

[creepyjon]

well that didn't take long, got it stuck and manged to break it all on it's first trip. The stuck only took about 5 minutes, pulled up to an innocent looking hole about 30 feet long, single truck wide. Well it was over 4 feet deep, doh! :042: Couldn't even see the tops of my tires, and they were not even close to touching the ground. When we opened the doors mud started flowing in, gotta love it!

The list of broken stuff is tedious. First issue I need advice on is I have an engine noise. It sounds bad, like a tick, but it's only coming out of the exhaust. I used the old screwdriver to the engine listening device, and did not hear anything out of the ordinary. When I restrict the exhaust by holding a hub cap over the right stack, the noise goes away?? I'm thinking maybe it's a burnt exhaust valve, but I'm not sure how worried I should be about it. The engine is not lacking any power at this time, but does shoot more fire out of the right stack then the left. Oh yeah it shoots fire, fire, fire!!! :074:

Other problem is my battery isolator isn't working, and I was running off my battery all night, that is until it quit. ;) I don't really need the isolator till I add a second battery, which I'm waiting for a winch before I do that. So just have to bypass that. I also have to find a better way to seal off the engine bay, it was covered in mud, bad!!! Of course that could have something to do with being nose down and buried up to the door sills. I'm happy to report my ammo box kept all my electrical connections and relays perfectly dry.

The biggest problem is my trailer, again!!! It's bowing considerably with the weight of the truck on it. Maybe about 1-1 1/2 inches deflection on the 14 foot front half of the trailer. Also at low speed tight turns the rear wheels are deflecting inwards at least one inch maybe more. The front axles are dam near bottomed out. I'm afraid I really need a bigger trailer. But the problem is my van can barely handle this one, so that means I have to get a 3/4 ton van or truck to tow a heavier trailer. Should I say screw it and keep going till something breaks, or put van and trailer up for sale pronto and upgrade?

The best part of the whole night, some guy asked me if I had a 460 under the hood. Should have seen the look on his face when I said, nope just a 302! :042:

[limegreentj]

i would say its an exhaust valve also. how the hell did you break all this stuff and you just finished building it?

[creepyjon]

most issues are due to not having enough time to test it, just trying to get the bugs worked out at this point. Oh and my heavy foot doesn't help! I'm just not sure how long I can run it on a burnt valve, and if it's really going to be an issue. Right now, money is an issue. Oh and I forgot to mention the starter is acting up as well, due to the hole I buried it in.

[always broke]

Do you really want to chance it having the trailer give out on you when you're on the highway? Then you'd be really screwed, plus I'd expect some fines when the man shows up. I'd just hang it up a little longer until you can save up some more coin for a real trailer.

[creepyjon]

well I got a great new trailer to tow it with, and took it up to yankee lake last night. I broke it, again....:085:

The clutch is toast, I barely loaded it onto the trailer. I think it was rather stupid to put a regular automotive clutch on an engine with this much power. Of course hindsight is always 20/20 ya know. I didn't know it was this strong, since I didn't build the motor, I was just guessing how much it makes. So I'm going to pull it and put a racing clutch in, and play with the clutch pedal some too. It's not coming back up like it should and I'm sure that was another factor in the clutch going bad. It needs a better return spring I think. I was still able to engage the clutch, I just had to push the pedal the rest of the way up. It was a pain, but it was working sorta.

Of course the highlight I guess is they were running the video cam when I went through the pits. If your computer had smellovision you could smell the clutch smoking as I did it. :042:

Quick pic of the new hauler. It barely fits, but it's built stupid heavy strong. It's got tires rated at 3k each, and some mega heavy axles under it. The stupid looking pole at the front is so I know when to stop, this thing will drive over the whole trailer and into the van without stopping.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q62/CreepyJon/PICT1753.jpg

[YZEATER]

mobile home axles are what you got. lets see the tow rig.

[creepyjon]

haha nope can't see the pos van that I paid $500 bucks for, it's too embarrassing to be posted on the interwebs..... :042: Two words describe it, duct tape, yep it requires duct tape to hold it together.

However before my next trip I will be picking up a 1 ton extended ford van off a friend. It's got a fresh engine, and has the heavy duty suspension since it used to be a 17 passenger van. Best part is it's only $800 bucks, sweet! ;)

[toocheaptosmoke]

Come on man, duct tape only makes it better. :D

[Mack]

So yeah. This truck is now on craigslist..., or at least it was the other day. No tractor tires though...

[2002wranglerX]

lets see the tow rig.

the load is over the axles. that's a long trailer. so it has to be back that far. as long as there is some tonque weight you'll be fine.

exactly what i was thinking

[tanz45]

These yours?

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/pts/1514671454.html