amgvr4
Adventurer
The Retrofit Source carries all of the above.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/full-headlights.html
They are not cheap, however unlike LED light bars they can be used on the street legally without blinding oncoming traffic.
OBS F250 slow adventure build
- Thread starter amgvr4
- Start date
The Retrofit Source carries all of the above.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/full-headlights.html
They are not cheap, however unlike LED light bars they can be used on the street legally without blinding oncoming traffic.
amgvr4
Adventurer
A few more updates as the countdown to roadtrip continues. I have been looking for a canopy for the last several months and I never anticipated how difficult it would be to find one for these old square bed trucks. They are few and far between and the ones I found were almost all for 8' beds. I even considered just using a newer canopy that did not fit well just for the trip then selling it after. I really needed a dry/secure place to put all our gear since there is bound to be plenty of snow/rain on the way back. Just when I was about to give up I ran across a white Snugtop on Craigslist that was the correct length and for the correct truck. I haggled the bone yard down to $120 for it and made the 60 mile trek down to Buckley to pick it up. Turns out it is in pretty good shape but did not come with any keys at all. On the way back home I swung by a Snugtop dealer in Lynnwood and picked up a new rear latch with keys and some proper bulb seal for the bottom of the canopy for better weather sealing. I also need to replace the weather seal for the back hatch and get a new latch for the front slider window. Overall it turned out to be a great deal and with a little bit of maintenance it will be a real nice addition to the old truck. I will probably leave it on throughout the winter and then take it off for summertime use. You can never have too many options when it comes to a do it all rig!
I also put the side steps back on for the trip as it will help the wife and kids getting in and out and we don't plan on any real wheeling when we are back in Colorado so they wont be in the way at all. My next big fab projects are going to be sliders and a front bumper/winch. I need both pretty bad to keep the old battleship in one piece for next years adventures. Here are some pictures I took today, the headlights are hard to get good pictures of, but they look a lot better in person than I thought they would. I was prepared to hate the projectors but having them blacked out helps a lot, plus being able to see at night makes it all worth it!
Canopy and side steps
Lights on the front
I also put the side steps back on for the trip as it will help the wife and kids getting in and out and we don't plan on any real wheeling when we are back in Colorado so they wont be in the way at all. My next big fab projects are going to be sliders and a front bumper/winch. I need both pretty bad to keep the old battleship in one piece for next years adventures. Here are some pictures I took today, the headlights are hard to get good pictures of, but they look a lot better in person than I thought they would. I was prepared to hate the projectors but having them blacked out helps a lot, plus being able to see at night makes it all worth it!
Canopy and side steps
Lights on the front
underdrive
jackwagon
Actually them would be the LEDs that are currently too rich for our budget - even though prices have gone down some since they were first released, it will be a long time before we can drop $1200 on just headlights, be they as awesome as they may.
Regardless, you seem to be having way too much fun with that truck of yours... Nevermind that's exactly what you built it for
In your situation I'd actually do sliders before a winch setup - you get wife/kiddy steps back fulltime with the benefit of added side protection. The winch use should hopefully be intermittent, and thus would make more sense to be put on he back burner for the time being.
amgvr4
Adventurer
Yeah the rectangular lights are LED but the 7" round ones are bi-xenon projectors. I have about $450 into mine and it was not that hard to do. Considering the other options it was the best bang for the buck for sure.
Sliders are definitely first on the list and they should be a bit easier as well. I am still waiting for a smoking deal to pop up on a warn m12000 on Craigslist, after I have a winch I can build the bumper around it.
Sliders are definitely first on the list and they should be a bit easier as well. I am still waiting for a smoking deal to pop up on a warn m12000 on Craigslist, after I have a winch I can build the bumper around it.
underdrive
jackwagon
Yeah you may be waiting for a while on that Warn, then again tis the season for X-mas miracles. JK, hope you do get a nice deal on one. Personally I'm more of a Ramsey/Pierce fan, but any worm-drive winch can get somewhat interesting to package in relatively confined spaces.
I saw the 7" are projectors, but when I started to add the drivers and igniters and this and that and the price went up into the JW Speaker LEDs realm... and I got THE look from my partner in mischief and that was the end of that Actually we've been noticing more and more city buses with projectors and some even have LEDs now, so those may be a source of cheap upgraded lighting... once we figure out where they get deposited when they're done serving their terms.
I saw the 7" are projectors, but when I started to add the drivers and igniters and this and that and the price went up into the JW Speaker LEDs realm... and I got THE look from my partner in mischief and that was the end of that
Actually we've been noticing more and more city buses with projectors and some even have LEDs now, so those may be a source of cheap upgraded lighting... once we figure out where they get deposited when they're done serving their terms.mtm_motors
Observer
Love seeing this thing getting used! I'm sure your bumper and slider solutions will be great as always, looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
norcal*PWRstroke
Adventurer
I love that you use your rig so much!! your truck cap looks to be in pretty good shape and a perfect fit!
amgvr4
Adventurer
Christmas Colorado Road Trip
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Over the last couple months I had been gearing up for a road trip to Colorado with the family to see my grandparents. I was born there and moved out here to Washington in 1990 when my dad got a job that required his relocation. We usually made at least one road trip back each year when I was growing up so you could say road tripping is in my blood! It is close to 1500 miles one way and during the summer takes about 23 hrs of driving to make the trip. I hate staying in motels so as an adult I have always just driven straight through without an overnight stop. This is the first winter trip I have made though so I knew it would take some extra time with snow and pass conditions hard to predict more than a few days out. Our plan was to make it to my wife's aunt's house in Livingston MT and stay the night there to give the kids a rest and help with the slower travel speed. Livingston is almost exactly half way between our house and my grandparents in Colorado Springs so it seemed like a good idea at the time.
We left our house at 7:00am on Friday the 18th and headed to Everett to drop off keys and instructions for our house sitters. Normally this is a 15 min drive but there was an accident and a bad traffic back up so we didn't make it to Everett until 8:00am. At that point we had to decide what pass to take, hwy2 looked to be more open but I-90 is lower and should be a little safer. DOT cameras showed it was clear and traffic was moving well. Once we got there though things had changed! We were not much past North Bend when everything came to a halt.
We spent a total of three hours sitting on the pass waiting for DOT to clear cars that had slid off and blocked traffic. Could have been worse though, there was a 8hr delay heading into the Seattle area! After that conditions were not too bad until we got to Spokane, from then on is was snowing heavily and I was averaging about 45 mph in pretty bad visibility.
By the time we rolled through Livingston it was 4am and we just decided to keep going without a stop. The truck was doing great and I was feeling fine so we soldiered on. At around 7am I took a 45min cat nap at a truck stop and then we were on the road again. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and we got to see some really pretty country with lots of elk, deer, and antelope along the way. Our last fuel stop was in Casper so we took a little site trip to see the bowling alley that my great grandpa used to own. It is El Mark-O Lanes and there is even an O'Connell st (our last name) that is named after him right next to it!
Finally we made it to my grandparents at 9pm on Saturday. Other than stops for fuel and to eat it was almost constant driving for 30+ hours! I was really impressed with how the truck did on the drive as it is a old full size diesel, stick shift, lifted, and on MT tires. It did not burn any oil and all the preparations before hand paid off. The head lights were lifesavers and combined with the 9" driving lights I had a solid half mile of visibility that covered from edge of the median to the edge of ditch on the passenger side. Spotting deer was super easy and the lights were so bright they actually scared a few off the road long before we got to them. I did have some drive line vibrations above 70 mph though so I had a local drive shaft shop rebuild my rear drive line after we got into town. The center bearing was shot and the u-joints were on the way out as well. This was the view from my grandparents house the next morning
They have an amazing view of Pikes Peak that I never get tired of!
I will add more on the trip in the next post.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Over the last couple months I had been gearing up for a road trip to Colorado with the family to see my grandparents. I was born there and moved out here to Washington in 1990 when my dad got a job that required his relocation. We usually made at least one road trip back each year when I was growing up so you could say road tripping is in my blood! It is close to 1500 miles one way and during the summer takes about 23 hrs of driving to make the trip. I hate staying in motels so as an adult I have always just driven straight through without an overnight stop. This is the first winter trip I have made though so I knew it would take some extra time with snow and pass conditions hard to predict more than a few days out. Our plan was to make it to my wife's aunt's house in Livingston MT and stay the night there to give the kids a rest and help with the slower travel speed. Livingston is almost exactly half way between our house and my grandparents in Colorado Springs so it seemed like a good idea at the time.
We left our house at 7:00am on Friday the 18th and headed to Everett to drop off keys and instructions for our house sitters. Normally this is a 15 min drive but there was an accident and a bad traffic back up so we didn't make it to Everett until 8:00am. At that point we had to decide what pass to take, hwy2 looked to be more open but I-90 is lower and should be a little safer. DOT cameras showed it was clear and traffic was moving well. Once we got there though things had changed! We were not much past North Bend when everything came to a halt.
We spent a total of three hours sitting on the pass waiting for DOT to clear cars that had slid off and blocked traffic. Could have been worse though, there was a 8hr delay heading into the Seattle area! After that conditions were not too bad until we got to Spokane, from then on is was snowing heavily and I was averaging about 45 mph in pretty bad visibility.
By the time we rolled through Livingston it was 4am and we just decided to keep going without a stop. The truck was doing great and I was feeling fine so we soldiered on. At around 7am I took a 45min cat nap at a truck stop and then we were on the road again. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and we got to see some really pretty country with lots of elk, deer, and antelope along the way. Our last fuel stop was in Casper so we took a little site trip to see the bowling alley that my great grandpa used to own. It is El Mark-O Lanes and there is even an O'Connell st (our last name) that is named after him right next to it!
Finally we made it to my grandparents at 9pm on Saturday. Other than stops for fuel and to eat it was almost constant driving for 30+ hours! I was really impressed with how the truck did on the drive as it is a old full size diesel, stick shift, lifted, and on MT tires. It did not burn any oil and all the preparations before hand paid off. The head lights were lifesavers and combined with the 9" driving lights I had a solid half mile of visibility that covered from edge of the median to the edge of ditch on the passenger side. Spotting deer was super easy and the lights were so bright they actually scared a few off the road long before we got to them. I did have some drive line vibrations above 70 mph though so I had a local drive shaft shop rebuild my rear drive line after we got into town. The center bearing was shot and the u-joints were on the way out as well. This was the view from my grandparents house the next morning
They have an amazing view of Pikes Peak that I never get tired of!
I will add more on the trip in the next post.
amgvr4
Adventurer
Part 2
On the 22nd we headed up to Breckenridge where we planned to stay through the 26th. The drive was beautiful as always and road conditions were fine all the way to town. The next morning we woke up to 10" of fresh powder to play in!
The kids had a blast and we made a pretty nice sledding hill out of the pile made by the snow plow right out in front of the cabin. They also made a snow cave that all three kids could fit in!
I have so many fond memories from my childhood doing these exact same things and it was cool to see my kids get to experience them now too. After a great Christmas we headed back to the Springs to hang out with my other grandparents for a week. We took the kids to Palmer park to climb around on the rocks and they loved it. If it wasn't for their hands getting cold they would stay out doors climbing all day!
We also went to Garden of the Gods for some more red rock action
Two days before we were going to leave I noticed that the drivers front caliper was leaking so I picked up some fresh ones from NAPA and slapped them on. I had replaced the pads and rotors last year when I swapped the D60 in so they were fine. It's a good thing I brought a huge rolling toolbox with just about everything I could think in it. We didn't have any major mechanical issues, but it made the few small things I had to do a breeze. It was freezing though, I think it was around 9* when I was replacing the calipers!
On the way home things went much better, with the rebuilt drive shaft I was able to cruise at 75-80 mph now an the road conditions were great. We ended up stopping in Livingston this time and making a detour up to Whitefish to see my wife's cousin as well. Here is what we got to enjoy before heading out from Livingston
We made it back home at 5:30am Sunday morning and crashed in our beds! It was a great trip but we were exhausted for sure. As it turns out we brought the snow home with us as well! This was Sunday afternoon as we were resting from the long trip
On the 22nd we headed up to Breckenridge where we planned to stay through the 26th. The drive was beautiful as always and road conditions were fine all the way to town. The next morning we woke up to 10" of fresh powder to play in!
The kids had a blast and we made a pretty nice sledding hill out of the pile made by the snow plow right out in front of the cabin. They also made a snow cave that all three kids could fit in!
I have so many fond memories from my childhood doing these exact same things and it was cool to see my kids get to experience them now too. After a great Christmas we headed back to the Springs to hang out with my other grandparents for a week. We took the kids to Palmer park to climb around on the rocks and they loved it. If it wasn't for their hands getting cold they would stay out doors climbing all day!
We also went to Garden of the Gods for some more red rock action
Two days before we were going to leave I noticed that the drivers front caliper was leaking so I picked up some fresh ones from NAPA and slapped them on. I had replaced the pads and rotors last year when I swapped the D60 in so they were fine. It's a good thing I brought a huge rolling toolbox with just about everything I could think in it. We didn't have any major mechanical issues, but it made the few small things I had to do a breeze. It was freezing though, I think it was around 9* when I was replacing the calipers!
On the way home things went much better, with the rebuilt drive shaft I was able to cruise at 75-80 mph now an the road conditions were great. We ended up stopping in Livingston this time and making a detour up to Whitefish to see my wife's cousin as well. Here is what we got to enjoy before heading out from Livingston
We made it back home at 5:30am Sunday morning and crashed in our beds! It was a great trip but we were exhausted for sure. As it turns out we brought the snow home with us as well! This was Sunday afternoon as we were resting from the long trip
amgvr4
Adventurer
Truck related
I forgot to post up some of the things I did to the truck before we headed out. I wanted to wire up the driving lights separate from the head lights so I could use the brights without them on. Previously I had taken the lazy route and just used the high beams to activate the relay so I didn't have to add a switch inside the cab. I ended up getting a Daystar rubber firewall boot to run my wires though from the cab to the engine compartment for a clean and leak free install. I only have the wire for the driving light running thought it now, but I need to re-route my CB cable and a few other wires though it now that I have more time. I used an illuminated switch and mounted it next to the head light switch since that is an easily replaceable part if I end up going with an SPOD for accessories later on.
I also added some LED strip lights to the canopy so I could see what I was getting into on the trip. I just used the double stick tape that came on the strip and it was strong enough for the short duration I needed but I will have to come up with a better solution for the long term. I did not want to deal with tying into the trucks wiring so I just use a 9V battery to power the lights. It works really well and is super easy to install and deal with for a temporary setup.
Off
On
It made a big difference and I was glad that I did this at the last minute. Digging around in the back of the truck on the side of the road with a flash light would have sucked!
Here it is all loaded up and ready to rock
I also did a full coolant flush and replaced all the hoses at the same time. When I got the truck two years ago I noticed that all of the hoses had significant wear on them from rubbing on various chassis parts. I band-aided it by adding protective layers in the compromised areas and crossed my fingers. With the new hoses I preemptively wrapped them with silicone self sealing tape to prevent any damage in the future. I also made a new bracket to keep the heater hose off the alternator as the old one had cracked long before my time.
The old bracket
The new
New bracket and hoses all taped up
There are a few things that I did not get to before the trip that I wanted to and they would have been nice to have. First off I need to come up with a sway bar solution for the front. It would make the truck much more manageable on the long freeway drives that we plan in the future. I didn't have a hard time with it, but I didn't let my wife drive at all during the freeway portions of the trip because it would have been unnerving for her with the amount of body roll on the mountain passes. I have not decided on how I want to approach this as there is not much room in front of the axle on the frame and I do not want it mounted to the axle like a factory F350 bar is as it will get destroyed offroad. It will also need to be easily dis-connectable for the trails. I have a few ideas but I will have to play around to get it to work.
I also need to replace the steering box and steering shaft to get rid of the slop in the wheel. Once again it is not really that bad for the type of truck it is, but I know it can be much better and it will really help on these kind of trips. The plan is to get a Red Head box and this shaft
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004A64HW2...TF8&colid=18XFHWM75GLHB&coliid=I1MY9LARYV608O
I also wanted to but did not get a keyless entry installed before we left. That will definitely help getting everyone in and out of the big truck a little easier.
I forgot to post up some of the things I did to the truck before we headed out. I wanted to wire up the driving lights separate from the head lights so I could use the brights without them on. Previously I had taken the lazy route and just used the high beams to activate the relay so I didn't have to add a switch inside the cab. I ended up getting a Daystar rubber firewall boot to run my wires though from the cab to the engine compartment for a clean and leak free install. I only have the wire for the driving light running thought it now, but I need to re-route my CB cable and a few other wires though it now that I have more time. I used an illuminated switch and mounted it next to the head light switch since that is an easily replaceable part if I end up going with an SPOD for accessories later on.
I also added some LED strip lights to the canopy so I could see what I was getting into on the trip. I just used the double stick tape that came on the strip and it was strong enough for the short duration I needed but I will have to come up with a better solution for the long term. I did not want to deal with tying into the trucks wiring so I just use a 9V battery to power the lights. It works really well and is super easy to install and deal with for a temporary setup.
Off
On
It made a big difference and I was glad that I did this at the last minute. Digging around in the back of the truck on the side of the road with a flash light would have sucked!
Here it is all loaded up and ready to rock
I also did a full coolant flush and replaced all the hoses at the same time. When I got the truck two years ago I noticed that all of the hoses had significant wear on them from rubbing on various chassis parts. I band-aided it by adding protective layers in the compromised areas and crossed my fingers. With the new hoses I preemptively wrapped them with silicone self sealing tape to prevent any damage in the future. I also made a new bracket to keep the heater hose off the alternator as the old one had cracked long before my time.
The old bracket
The new
New bracket and hoses all taped up
There are a few things that I did not get to before the trip that I wanted to and they would have been nice to have. First off I need to come up with a sway bar solution for the front. It would make the truck much more manageable on the long freeway drives that we plan in the future. I didn't have a hard time with it, but I didn't let my wife drive at all during the freeway portions of the trip because it would have been unnerving for her with the amount of body roll on the mountain passes. I have not decided on how I want to approach this as there is not much room in front of the axle on the frame and I do not want it mounted to the axle like a factory F350 bar is as it will get destroyed offroad. It will also need to be easily dis-connectable for the trails. I have a few ideas but I will have to play around to get it to work.
I also need to replace the steering box and steering shaft to get rid of the slop in the wheel. Once again it is not really that bad for the type of truck it is, but I know it can be much better and it will really help on these kind of trips. The plan is to get a Red Head box and this shaft
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004A64HW2...TF8&colid=18XFHWM75GLHB&coliid=I1MY9LARYV608O
I also wanted to but did not get a keyless entry installed before we left. That will definitely help getting everyone in and out of the big truck a little easier.
Nosferatu49534
Observer
Glad you had such an amazing trip. Those are some beautiful pictures. my dad built me a snow fort just like that when I was your kids age as well. So much fun. I'm not normally a huge ford fan but your body style and lifted is still a favorite. especially when clean and done right like you've done. I think anyone can appreciate something if there's that much love put into it. Keep up the great work, and pictures.
my dad built me a snow fort just like that when I was your kids age as well. So much fun. I'm not normally a huge ford fan but your body style and lifted is still a favorite. especially when clean and done right like you've done. I think anyone can appreciate something if there's that much love put into it. Keep up the great work, and pictures.
amgvr4
Adventurer
Glad you had such an amazing trip. Those are some beautiful pictures.
Thank you! I grew up a die hard Chevy fan, but over the years I have come to appreciate different cars and trucks for their unique attributes. The 10 year old me would never in a million years believe I would be driving and loving a Ford truck as much as I do!
