1977 F150

[amgvr4]

Hey sooper camper, what did those king shocks cost you?

Welcome to the forum, your truck looks great and 2wd is more than enough for 90% of what you need around here. I have a 4x4 but I only engage the front axle if I have to and as soon as I don't need it any more its back to 4x2. Like someone else said earlier a good set of AT or MT tires are the #1 thing that will improve your off road traction. Once I got the 37s on my truck it will now go places in 4x2 it would never have dreamed of going in 4x4 with the Toyo A/Ts it had before.

As for shocks a good set of Kings or Foxs will set you back about $220 per corner. It sounds like a lot but considering Bilsteine 5100s are about $85 a corner and are not serviceable it only takes a few years of replacing decent shocks to equal the same investment of a great set of fully rebuild-able and tune-able shocks you can keep for the life of the truck. I bit the bullet and and went with 2.5 front and 2.0 rear Fox shocks and am very happy I did.

 

[prestonpreuss]

Your single center bar, so you have that perpendicular to the frame or bolted to a crossmember? The reoccurring theme here sounds like shocks and tires. Being a diesel I get strange stuff for free. Like torque arms and commercial sized batteries.

 

[98dango]

Center on a cross member. I'll see if I can dig up pictures.

I just gave up turning wrench on big trucks 2 months ago shoulders could not handle it any more.

 

[98dango]

There is your basic design

 

[prestonpreuss]

Alright thanks, that should help with some axle wrap. I'm only 20 so I should have some time left

 

[98dango]

Ya I have been at it for 20 years at this point and the oil field has destroyed my body

 

[dwh]

an ARB is nice, but a nice posi unit is simpler and half the price.

This.

Since it's 2WD, you can put some decently rough tread back tires and they don't have to be the same size as the fronts, so whatever is the biggest that you can fit. Better of course, to have all tires the same, but not required. Big gnarly back tires will get you further than any other mod.

New "heavy duty" shocks would probably be enough unless you are going to really work them to death with hard off-roading.

Get a shell for the bed - your camping stuff will be safe and secure, and in a pinch (storm) you can sleep in it. You don't have to drill the bed, you can use C clamps to hold it if need be.



The "Old School" camper special setup:

 

[Sooper Camper]

I only paid $300 for the Kings at a swap meet about 5-6 years ago. If you shop around, deals can be had, there is always someone looking to turn their parts into a little green baggy or rent for the end of the month, if you know what I mean. $30 bucks in seals and fresh shock oil and they were good as new. the funny thing about buying nice shocks...these are at least the third vehicle they've been on that I know of.

the shackle style wrap bars work ok for crawlers, but for what you are doing I would recommend a 2 link. Autofab makes one of these kits as well, fairly easy to copy. might be what you're talking about with torque arms? they force the leafs to work more like a traditional 4 link...and they help control sway at the same time, so you might find that you don't need a sway bar. a front sway bar rigged up on disconnects will help with street manners.

hate to say it, but weight is your enemy...so all that free diesel stuff might not work out the best. the lighter your truck is, the lest you will have to haul up hills and through sand/muck. a camper shell is a GREAT way to get a little weight spread evenly over the back end and keep your gear cleaner.

 

[prestonpreuss]

some photos of the engine work

 

[prestonpreuss]

Cant say no to 1000CCA

 

[prestonpreuss]

The girls together

 

[Metcalf]

The old C-channel frame isn't going to hold up to too much shock. The frame and mounts will just start bending/flexing. Fox has a nice IFP shock out now that is running about $115. They are a 2" shock with a true floating piston to keep the oil and gas separate. You can take them apart for valving and they can be rebuilt. They also come in a stem mount version which could work in the stock mounts.

Axle wrap. I would get some nice springs made by a good company....national, deaver, atlas, etc. If your having some wrap issues I would consider converting the rear suspension to spring under axle at the same time. You can get a little more arch built into the springs to make up for the height change.

 

[east_tn_81]

Beautiful truck. I so glad you didn't take out that amazing 300 I6. I am a blue oval guy and that is by far my favorite engine. I have been searching for sometime now looking for my next truck with that setup. Sorry I didn't offer any helpful info, I just had to say what a nice truck.

 

[dwh]

Cant say no to 1000CCA

That hold-down made of a double box wrench? Neat trick. I like.

 

[Sooper Camper]

i bet that offy, header and 4bbl combo really woke that thing up!