The Sooper Camper F350

[Sooper Camper]

Filter looks like it belongs in there, what brand is it and where did you get it? We're using one that's about twice the size of yours, it's for a big truck and the only place we could stash it so it doesn't hang too far down was between the transfer case and the fuel tank - 7" of space there, filter is 6" in diameter, fit like a glove

I got it from Summit, its just a cheapo universal unit. Now that I have it mounted and such, gonna buy a couple replacement elements and throw one in the tool box.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1507

The "shelf" you see is where the second battery was. I eliminated that wiring, and have personally never felt the need for the added complexity of a dual battery setup. I think I will mount a Viair compressor there. Yorks are cool, but they are quite large and pretty heavy. I want to keep as little hanging off the engine as possible, make it simple to work on. I tend to prefer electric compressor's too because you don't have to have you (loud) engine running to get a little air.

The brackets were pretty weird, it's a massive 3 piece setup that weighs a ton. I've seen the car ones in the Lincoln's, and they looked similar to the factory bracket I had, but they are really hard to find nowadays. This setup came out of a 70's stake bed, at least thats what the yard guy thought, anything recognizable from the truck was gone including the cab, the truck was setup for hydroboost (also rare for a Ford) and the engine was just sitting in a pile of other engines. Caught my eye, couldn't believe what I was seeing or that they only charged $50 for everything including the pump (made $25 back on the core charge for the new pump lol). I should have pulled the crank and water pump pulleys though, had to space the brackets out to line up with my pulleys. I do like that the pump is up high now, makes it very easy to check the fluid, top it up, get to the oil filter and fuel pump on the block.

We'll see about the cooler, going to take some time to get used to working around it and not snagging my knuckles on it. But you are right, the older trucks used to mount a small cooler like that right on the engine accessories in the air flow path of the fan. I've even seen never GMs were they are in a similar position.

 

[underdrive]

Oh I hear ya on the York size and weight, but if you use your truck to power air tools fairly often and you have more than one big air tank the engine would be running anyways to supply power to the suitable-for-the-job electric compressor. For us the York made more sense, for you it sounds like electric would work better.

Shame you couldn't get the hydroboost out of that truck as well, IMHO pre-Superduty light-duty Ford trucks never really had all that impressive brakes for their GVW. We know one person who built himself a regular-cab stepside race truck on a 1-ton chassis just so he can get the big brakes. Then he hydroboosted that thing and 4-wheel ABS-ed it too - hoo lee fuq that thing could stop!

Our PS cooler is in front of the radiator. But with a maxed-out Saginaw pump and a hydroboost, in twisty mountain roads while towing a trailer it needs all the cold air it can get. And with a big oilburner running at 220F all the time cold air is not exactly easy to get under the hood. It's actually a transmission cooler off a GM truck. And it's reasonably well protected by a deer-tenderizing device. Still like your setup tho, simple and practical.

 

[Bojak]

Truck is soo cool. One of my top 10 on this site. Considering there are some 80k rigs on here that are 4wd, show's (Imop) more is not always better.

 

[Sooper Camper]

Shame you couldn't get the hydroboost out of that truck as well, IMHO pre-Superduty light-duty Ford trucks never really had all that impressive brakes for their GVW. We know one person who built himself a regular-cab stepside race truck on a 1-ton chassis just so he can get the big brakes. Then he hydroboosted that thing and 4-wheel ABS-ed it too - hoo lee fuq that thing could stop!

I've always felt the same about Fords and braking, but then I replumbed the entire brake lines, ditched the factory combi valve that limits the rear brakes, added stainless lines and added a knob style proportioning valve with a 10 psi residual valve on the rear circuit. This thing stops on a dime now, so long as you have a man's leg... the hardest part is not locking the 13" drums up right away; the front rotors are a little over 12" if i recall and have massive calipers. That was one of the main reasons I really wanted to find an F350 to build, since they come with the biggest of everything from the get go.

I carry a small 18v battery powered impact and nut driver on longer road trips, with a couple batteries. I've never had air tools on a wheeling rig, or in my garage for that matter, so I've never gotten accustomed to the luxury. I've given some thought to mounting a big CO2 tank in the truck box though, air tools are really nice to have in a pinch.

Truck is soo cool. One of my top 10 on this site. Considering there are some 80k rigs on here that are 4wd, show's (Imop) more is not always better.

THANKS! Thats a huge compliment for something that isn't even half way done!

 

[prestonpreuss]

this thing is awesome. I have a 1977 f150 and have been trying to think of ways to improve the suspension. and what you have done is exactly what i had in mind. could you tell me about those parts? and did you find weld on mounts or make your own?

 

[Sooper Camper]

this thing is awesome. I have a 1977 f150 and have been trying to think of ways to improve the suspension. and what you have done is exactly what i had in mind. could you tell me about those parts? and did you find weld on mounts or make your own?

Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it. Makes the leaking hulk of rusty steel in my driveway seem worth it! I fabricated pretty much everything (not much if you really look close lol). The hoops were part of a builder kit that my company sells for Jeeps, the coilovers are some one-offs that Fox did for someone who changed his mind about what he wanted after they were made and I got the benefit of the hookup on them. They are a 2.5" x 10" travel piggy back coil-over, the rears are a 2.5" x 8" shock on a simple piece of box tubing booger welded to the frame. I sell these parts to everyone from racers to kids building their first ride in high school, so this stuff comes as second nature, and I inevitably have to talk customers through a lot of tuning and setup over the phone. I've learned from a lot of my own and others mistakes over the years. This isn't my first build either, which helps..I just turned 30 but I've been doing this kind of stuff since I was 15 and started driving a Jeep XJ with my learners permit. First thing I did was pull the 4-LO lever and proceed to get stuck as often as possible!

Old van that blew up from being dumb:

Old 1 ton Bronco shortly before it got rolled and scrapped being dumb:

My new goal now is to not kill rigs and be dumb, because I have realized time is the most valuable thing, and building a rig that gets scrapped is just throwing away time. Lesson learned! Feel free to pick my brain, you don't need to do much to make these trucks work very well offroad...just can't be afraid of momentum.

and just because this is downright hilarious and fits with the 2wd theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq2jY1trxqg

 

[Sooper Camper]

minor update.
pulled the rear drums off, for what looks to be the first time in at least this decade...

cylinders were leaking, looks like the hub seals had a minor leak too, and the e-brakes would frequently stick on and drag. I always tell myself "I hate drums, you should do discs" but can't seem to give up the emergency brake, and considering I rebuild EVERYthing in the rear drums for ~$80, can't really complain.

i'm pretty stoked on this little piece. there was an OE kick panel vent made for these trucks on the driver's side:

but not passenger side. There was a hole in the kick on the passenger, which is where the AC box drew its air from (and a great place for rats to nest, leaves to fall and rust out the cab etc). I picked up a second unit (my truck had none originally, just block off plates) enlarged the hole a tad and got the unit to fit on the right side. One of my favorite things about old iron...flip the vent windows towards you and open up the nut chillers...who needs AC!

 

[amgvr4]

Once upon a time in a land far far away I was riding in a friends El camino that had those. I froze my butt off for two hours before I figured out that I could just close the vent by my feet!

 

[Sooper Camper]

HAHAHA

I had an old Plymouth Duster in high school, I once hit a buck fifteen on the freeway and one blew open and threw leaves all around the cabin! I stopped driving that car fast after that, scared the crap outta me!

 

[Sooper Camper]

more progress on the cheap truck...got a little longer set of shocks for the rear, some new shackles and hangers, and cleaned up a bunch of rust and grime that had accumulated back there over the years.

gained about 1" of wheel travel by flipping the shackle and running a longer fully boxed race shackle. The hangers are a Dorman replacement hanger for an 80s F150, the shackles are a universal/older F150 Synergy Race shackle (soon to be disco'd, get them while they're hot!). The longer shocks let me drop the mount down off the axle for a ~15* degree improvement in shock angle and I was also able to move the rod about 1.5" closer to the wheel. All these little things add up to big improvements in shock performance too....ideal shock placement is always straight up and down at the wheel...anything else is just balancing the compromises of "how much crap do you want to cut out of the way and how much intrusion do you want into the vehicle". Ride height, to me, looks largely unchanged...Maybe 1-1.5" taller in the back.

I also painted my trailer hitch and put it back on, just need to run some wires and I'm ready to plug in a trailer and do some real hauling. First project will be to see how much of my present yard can fit into the bed and a small utility trailer when we redo our landscaping to change to something a little more "earth and water friendly".

I personally don't like the complexity of air bags, and adding in over loads to the spring pack doesn't always have the best riding benefits, so I settled on trying out some of the famous TIMBREN AEON rubber springs. from what I gather, it is basically a bumpstop from a dump truck, but they are rated to add 3000 lbs of capacity. From my preliminary speed bump test last night, they are very stiff and should fit the bill perfectly. I'm going to swap some shorter, softer bumps in for most of the time, but nice to know that these can be swapped out in 2 beers time with a floor jack and socket wrench. All my fasteners are either 1/2", 7/16" or 5/8" in back now too, so 3 wrench/socket combos covers EVERY single important bolt behind the cab.

gratuitous driveway shot

 

[pappawheely]

Looking good!

 

[east_tn_81]

That truck is looking so good

 

[amgvr4]

Have you noticed any more axle wrap with the shackle flip? I get a little when starting in 2nd (which I do 90% of the time) but only if I give it too much go pedal right away. Looks good as always! Your motto should be "Mod smarter not harder"!

 

[Sooper Camper]

I haven't noticed much more axle wrap yet, the datum line on the leaf spring (big factor in anti squat behavior) only moved about 1.5" down. It probably will hop a little more, but hopefully I can tune that out with the shocks. I didn't do it for lift, mainly to smooth out the spring rate. In the normal position the shackle creates a falling rate, now it creates a rising rate; my biggest complaint was that the rear used to slam hard on bottom out...seems to be better now but thats only over speed bump tests.

I have to mod smarter, my wife gave me a tiny budget for this and I am really slow at doing stuff. If I made it complicated, it'd take forever!

 

[Sooper Camper]

So, not much to update at the moment. I scored a complete short block and heads from a 1970 Lincoln...they are D0VE castings...so much higher compression and better flow than the smog era stuff. Got it all stripped down to take to the machine shop last weekend, then my Mini Cooper S ate a piston ring or valve while cruising on the freeway...so truck is on the back burner for a couple months!

Ironic that as soon as I went to rebuild the leaky truck engine, the Mini engine which had a clean bill of health let go without warning. 2 engine rebuilds in one year...O BOY!