New to forum/ My F-350

Alaskan1Ton

Observer
Hey all. Ive been into Off-road for sometime now. I've owned many different rigs from fullsize to a Samurai. My latest rig is a 96 F-350 1 Ton, 460 motor, E40OD trans. I have always been into hardcore wheeling, but now that Im older and have 4 sons I want to do more exploration wheeling. I live in Alaska which sounds nice and it is but I envy you guys that can go to the desert and canyons and explore for hundreds of miles on a rig that can just run 35" tires. Here in Alaska alot of trails are pretty hardcore with deep mud so I feel you need to have a big tired rig to get around. My truck currently has 8" of lift and in the summer I run a 40" tire, winter a 35" tire. I need some ideas for my regular cab truck to make it more camper friendly to support 3-4 day trips. I know I "should" get a Suburban but I've already got a nice 1 ton vehicle with strong axles(10.25 rear end, Dana 60 front) to work with. ANy pics of reg cab long bed pickups that are expedition rigs would be greatly appreciated.
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
Welcome to ExPo... There are quite a few people here with adventurized regular cab trucks. "Regcabguy" runs a Dodge with a camper, "Larry" has an awesome Chev, etc etc. I'm sure a few of them will add their thoughts to your thread. I currently have a 99 Dodge reg cab, but am looking for the crewcab version of your truck to drop a Cummins in. Post a few pics of your rig in the Ak back woods! You know we want to see 'em! What part of Ak are you from?
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Sounds like a nice truck. I service about 100 firepumps/generators that use the Ford 460 as a prime mover. It's allways been a super reliable engine. And easy/cheap to diagnose and repair. I think I have two 460 heads sitting on the floor of my storage garage as we speak, I have no idea who put them there.?


I'd trade a few of my trails for the average snow covered dirt road in Alaska any day, and twice on Sunday. A normal day up there is an adventure.
 

Alaskan1Ton

Observer
yeah Alaska is nice but I get tired of it. Seems like 90% of the wheeling up here involves deep mud and water. Somedays I want to just crawl up a dry canyon for mile and miles, stay dry, keep the truck from becoming completely mired up to its axles in endless mud and just find a nice dry campsite for my wife and kids. You just CANNOT keep a truck in decent shape up here if you plan on going off road. Now Im not saying im a sally and cant scratch my truck up a bit but it just seems that any truck you see up here that you actually take offroad has major body damage because trails are tight and the mud bogs have logs all through them under the surface that just bash the crap out of your rig. Thats why ALL my previous trucks were in bad shape and I didnt mind bashing the crap out of them. My current truck is in great shape and it would be a shame to bash it all up. Anyway, thanks for the responses. I love the truck so far except the 460 MPG sucks bad. Id like a camper shell that my kids can sleep in to stay away from the bears and the mosquitos. ONLY problem with my single cab is the lack of space and I cant take my whole family out. Problem with a crew cab is the wheelbase, up here a crew cab would just be hung up everywhere, even my single cab long wheelbase is pushing the limit.
 

Alaskan1Ton

Observer
guess Ill include a few pics of my other rigs that I have built, I miss my green Suburban the most...AKA THE HULK. I built all these myself.

100_2974.jpg


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Alaskan1Ton

Observer
anyway, sorry to spam the thread but I thought you guys might like some pics, I have about 1,000 more. Like I said, I miss the Green Suburban the most, I built it from frame up, at the end it had 1 ton running gear, chromoly axle shafts in front, CTM U joints, 5.13 gears, Detroit locker in rear, ARB locker in front, 42" Swampers, 350 TBI motor, TH400 trans. Only downfall was the sheer weight and size of it, but it held ALL my family and all my gear. Thanks for looking.
 

strider3700

Adventurer
pics don't work for me. I hear you on the wheelbase issue. I've got a 97(last of the 96's) longbox crewcab f350 with the 5.8L in it. It's turning radius is a little under 1 football field and you'd think it's bent in half it drags it's belly so often on little hills. It does however keep two baby seats, the dog, my wife, myself and space for 1 more person nice and dry inside it. Oh and the mileage on the 5.8 also sucks.
 

Alaskan1Ton

Observer
I hear ya on the mileage.....try driving my 460 around..gulp, gulp. I do however have all the power I need and with almost 400 ft lbs of torque she will pull stumps especially in 4 LOW. ALot of guys up here will take a crew cab truck, remove the bed, cut the frame, move the axle up and build a small 3-4 ft flat bed on the rear. This way they have all the room in the cab they need but shorten the wheelbase up considerably to around 120". It seems to be pretty awesome and useful. IF I had a crew cab truck I just might find the sack to do this myself.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Mileage is overrated anyways.

I've seen so many people turn in a perfectly good, and often, superior truck for a brand new truck that puts them $30,000+ into the red. That's a whole lot of fuel.
 

Alaskan1Ton

Observer
Buliwyf, I hear ya on that. Whenever I get pissed looking at my empty fuel tank and I swear I just filled up I think about making payments on a new truck PLUS the fuel for the new truck, PLUS the expensive full coverage insurance. I guess the only expense my truck is costing me is the gas it needs, so its not that bad.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Exactly, and that truck keeps getting you home. The new trucks have alot of bugs in them that the older trucks don't.

Sparkplugs that come out when you want them to stay in. Sparkplugs that stay in when you want them to come out. Reaching injectors and the rear plugs. Timing chain tensioners, oil pumps, cam phasers, oh my.
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
Exactly, and that truck keeps getting you home. The new trucks have alot of bugs in them that the older trucks don't.

Sparkplugs that come out when you want them to stay in. Sparkplugs that stay in when you want them to come out. Reaching injectors and the rear plugs. Timing chain tensioners, oil pumps, cam phasers, oh my.

Sounds like the '08 is giving you or your mechanic a bit of grief!

I think the 92-97 F350 is about as solid a platform as you can get for a fullsize domestic. They are a great combination of comfort and convenience, with serviceability thrown in for good measure. As soon as I can unload the 99 Dodge 1500 I bought to use for a month, I will be picking up an F350 and looking for a 12v Cummins to fix the fuel economy issue... But I rant...

Alaskan 1ton... Work on fixin your photos. We want to see 'em!
 

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