Project: Doitall Dodge

[gahi]

It'll be sweet, but lots of figuring. So in a rear pull the aluminum hawse plug and tube would need to handle the force of the pull? I guess every bend needs to be able to handle this force also, thus the need for the heavy wall tubing. I'd be tempted to use snatch block type pulleys at every bend and use tubing just to protect it. Are you going to center the thimble in the front? If so those will be some sharp angles.

[Metcalf]

It'll be sweet, but lots of figuring. So in a rear pull the aluminum hawse plug and tube would need to handle the force of the pull? I guess every bend needs to be able to handle this force also, thus the need for the heavy wall tubing. I'd be tempted to use snatch block type pulleys at every bend and use tubing just to protect it. Are you going to center the thimble in the front? If so those will be some sharp angles.

Yes, the safety thimble will be trying to go down the throat of the aluminum hawse. The safety thimble is flat on the back however, and the aluminum hawse will also have a flat mating surface. I will be running the winch line tube through the front most crossmember on the frame as well as an additional 2x3 box tubing crossmember just under the front bumper. The tube will pass through two 1/8"-3/16" surfaces at the factory crossmember then two 3/16-1/4" surfaces at the new crossmember. All 4 of these pass through locations will be welded. I am going to add a v-band clamb junction just behind the front crossmember I think. This will let me remove the winch line tube if needed. I may make my own v-band connections so that there is an interlocking step to take more side loads...then just buy the clamps.

The force on the bends is angular....or not the full pull force.....it will only be a percentage of the pull strength. I am still going to do everything I can to minimize all the bends I can. What bends I do have will be a large 5-6" CLR.

The hawse in front will NOT be centered. My big old diesel is in the way I don't see too many drawbacks to having a slightly offset pulling point. Most times when you get pulled out by someone they are not hooking to the centerline of the vehicle.

I do need to get the hawse out far enough that I can pull 90 degrees to the side, that might be interesting as my bumper and recovery points only stick out like 2-3" beyond the grille.

[gahi]

I was just curious about centering the front and the extra bends that would be needed, but I agree, not needed. So do you figure about 25 ft of line will be used up running around under the truck?

[Metcalf]

I was just curious about centering the front and the extra bends that would be needed, but I agree, not needed. So do you figure about 25 ft of line will be used up running around under the truck?

Yup, something like that.

I will be adding some length to the synthetic line when I buy it. I also had a thought about using 25' or so of different colored line on the last part of the drum. The change in color would be a good simple visual indicator for when your getting close to the end of the winch line capacity without having to look in the winch box in the bed or risking trying to pull with too many wraps on the drum....

[Metcalf]

We are getting out of town for the 4th weekend, we are going to be putting about 1500-2000 miles on the truck so I figured I needed to do a few things....

I checked all the fluids.....

Engine oil was good

Transmission was maybe 1/4 quart low. Filled with 5-30 synthetic. The new PTO fill plate works great as does the upper left bolt level check. It took less than 5 minutes.

Transfer case was good

Rear diff as a little low (?) Didn't see any leaks though. Added limited slip additive and topped it up with gear lube.

I was going to swap in some new ampco 18 kingpin bushings but they didn't show up. I did check both kingpins for slop. The passenger side was tight, I greased it anyways. The drivers side with the pre-load adjuster got a washer replacement with a MUCH thicker washer. I had had a few problems dimpling the washer when it was pre-loaded.

Brakes and wheel bearings in the front where good.

I also decided to play magyver a little bit.....



I decided to add some balancing beads to the tires. I got $.53 worth of 1/4" ID clear tubing, a new nozzle off a gear lube bottle, and a used bottle from some household cleaner.



Add the beads to the bottle and screw everything together. The hose goes over the valve stem WITHOUT the valve core. I took the weight off the tire with a jack and pulled the core to let the air out.



I tried a LOT of different techniques to get the dang little beads in the tire. What worked best for me was to gently tap on the valve stem with the tire pressure gauge while the bottle was taped to the hub. I was able to add 8oz. of beads in about 30 minutes. I just put some music on and stared at the rocker panel area trying to figure out my new exhaust system as I taped on it........

The truck is heavy enough that I didn't really notice that the tires where unbalanced before. I might have gotten a little vibes at certain speeds but I didn't really think that the beads where going to do much. I was wrong. The beads made a huge difference in the vibrations in the truck! It just seems that much calmer now, kinda like the difference between the old tires and new tires again. I will see how they do at some much higher interstate speeds, but so far so good!

[Metcalf]

We made it back from the north. A lot of the drive looked like this so it wasn't too bad!



The truck did really well overall for a 300K+ mileage beater. The total trip was 1721.775 miles. I used 84.477 gallons of fuel. AVERAGE mileage for the trip was 20.381! This included driving around town back and forth to friends and family for a week also. Best tank was 23.9 driving back from moab to home last night at about 55-65mph in 5th except for the big hills ( ie almost coasting ).

Overall I just gave up on trying to go faster than 70mph. The best speed seemed to be about 68mph according to the GPS.

I'm proud of that old truck!

That said.....I had visions of a 3rd gen version of my truck. Some notes on improvements I need to make.

-I need new seats. I got the blessing from the better half on that. I'm still a little up in the air about what to do, but I am thinking the wide version of the PRP daily driver.

-I need to fix the cruise control and/or make a manual throttle of some kind.

-Better suspension would be nice. What is the Deaver spring phone number again?

-The new vent window gaskets suck. They whistle no matter what you do.

-The spare tire location in the bed worked great. Minimal impact on visibility ( none ), and didn't get in the way when sleeping too much. The misses does say it smells like a tire

-I need to repair the A/C. I'm pretty sure it needs a recharge, but when I was looking over the truck last week I found a rub spot on one of the hoses. I need to get that replaced and charge the system. The truck uses an R12 system, so that will be fun.

Driving back alone ( the misses is flying home next week! ) to Durango stopping only for fuel is not advised. I feel like a zombie.

[trasko]

-The spare tire location in the bed worked great. Minimal impact on visibility ( none ), and didn't get in the way when sleeping too much. The misses does say it smells like a tire

Thanks for the report. I'm loving my '91 Ford -- I wouldn't want anything newer. I just spent 15 minutes looking for what your spare-tire solution is. Can you point me to it? I've been planning on doing the same thing and just yesterday finally got a 5th wheel. I've been imagining making something to store it on end in front of the driver's side wheel-well in the bed. Also plan to store some fuel in a similar fashion.

[Metcalf]

I will try and get a pic at lunch. I totally forgot to get one.

The tire is standing up against the drivers side bed rail ahead of the wheel well. It is also slightly tilted over to clear the camper shell ( Its a true 37-38" tall tire ). It doesn't block the rear view mirror or the passenger side windows of the camper shell.

[trasko]

I will try and get a pic at lunch. I totally forgot to get one.

The tire is standing up against the drivers side bed rail ahead of the wheel well. It is also slightly tilted over to clear the camper shell ( Its a true 37-38" tall tire ). It doesn't block the rear view mirror or the passenger side windows of the camper shell.

Great, that's what I am thinking. I've seen some good ones made with steel flat-bar bent to fit.

[Metcalf]

I just used a large ratchet strap to hold it in for the last trip.

I think I will be building a 'saddle' style mount that will bolt to the bed floor to take any load OFF the bed rails.