redthies
Renaissance Redneck
As some of you may know, i suffer from "vehicular A.D.D." I tend to buy, fix up, and sell a few rigs. I used to average about 6 months in a truck before i would look for something else. I have a short list of "regret selling that" trucks. This '97 is a replacement/homage for two of those.
I bought a '96 F350 reg cab with 7.3 PSD and ZF5 brand new. Sold it a year later after the company stopped paying vehicle allowance. I should have just made more money! I also sold my '92 F350 crew with 7.5 and E4OD after a six month long road trip through the southwest and Mexico left me short on cash. I have a pics of the white '92, but none of the '96 on a computer.
The new ride is a one owner '97 F350 crew with 7.3 PSD and E4OD. It is a XLT that is reasonably clean, but I do have a list of things to do. The original owner was a contractor (like me), but he did a lot of concrete work and used the truck like a truck should be. It had a big rack on it at on point that actually broke up the front of the box a bit. That is all welded up and painted now. He also had the glowplug relay go out on him, and not being all that mech-savvy, he took some guys advice about how well ether works... great if you want to blow a hole in your airbox! I am now looking for a new intake set-up. I think I will home brew a BHAF rig.
I have also bought a big slide in camper in place of the off-road trailer we had. That called for airbags. Firestones are now installed. The truck had camper bars already. Bonus!
All in, it is a good starting point. I plan to do a Sky Offroad shackle reversal kit and re-bush the entire front end, a complete new carpet kit (or vinyl if I can find a factory quality one), some lights, and a set of new load range E 315/75 R16s. I am looking at Toyo MTs, Hankook MTs and Firestone MTs. There are almost no E tires in 315 that will get me to my winter job up the muddy/snowy logging roads.
Now, for some pics:
I bought a '96 F350 reg cab with 7.3 PSD and ZF5 brand new. Sold it a year later after the company stopped paying vehicle allowance. I should have just made more money! I also sold my '92 F350 crew with 7.5 and E4OD after a six month long road trip through the southwest and Mexico left me short on cash. I have a pics of the white '92, but none of the '96 on a computer.
The new ride is a one owner '97 F350 crew with 7.3 PSD and E4OD. It is a XLT that is reasonably clean, but I do have a list of things to do. The original owner was a contractor (like me), but he did a lot of concrete work and used the truck like a truck should be. It had a big rack on it at on point that actually broke up the front of the box a bit. That is all welded up and painted now. He also had the glowplug relay go out on him, and not being all that mech-savvy, he took some guys advice about how well ether works... great if you want to blow a hole in your airbox! I am now looking for a new intake set-up. I think I will home brew a BHAF rig.
I have also bought a big slide in camper in place of the off-road trailer we had. That called for airbags. Firestones are now installed. The truck had camper bars already. Bonus!
All in, it is a good starting point. I plan to do a Sky Offroad shackle reversal kit and re-bush the entire front end, a complete new carpet kit (or vinyl if I can find a factory quality one), some lights, and a set of new load range E 315/75 R16s. I am looking at Toyo MTs, Hankook MTs and Firestone MTs. There are almost no E tires in 315 that will get me to my winter job up the muddy/snowy logging roads.
Now, for some pics:
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. It will be easier to do in this rig, than in our tent trailer! There is still a bed in the dinette, so you don't have to open the tent part. That is just a nice bonus "dog house" when we are set up for more than a quick night. The ferry pic is "The Sloot of Surrey" on the way back from Gibsons. It took a while to find time to post pics as I have been working seven days a week. Today I was "grounded" by the wife, so aside from ExPo I have Konig Pilsners from Germany, three dogs on the couch, and Deliverance on the TV.
