1971 F 250 4X4 is Back Home
- Thread starter mkitchen
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mkitchen
Explorer
Good to hear from you G.
I would love to do a trip together. Since my garage is in the back, I don't think I am in too much of the public eye when working. As Lance said, I am going to wait till it cools down a bit before I tackle the back of the truck. Just too hot to enjoy the work. Been driving Reuben more since the cab is done and I am looking forward to getting out on an over-nighter soon. Mo is going to a gal's campout in September and I might take off at the same time and do some back country in and around the San Francisco peaks.
Mikey
I would love to do a trip together. Since my garage is in the back, I don't think I am in too much of the public eye when working. As Lance said, I am going to wait till it cools down a bit before I tackle the back of the truck. Just too hot to enjoy the work. Been driving Reuben more since the cab is done and I am looking forward to getting out on an over-nighter soon. Mo is going to a gal's campout in September and I might take off at the same time and do some back country in and around the San Francisco peaks.
Mikey
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NOIBN
Observer
Truck looks great Mike!!
I can really appreciate what you have done there as I installed a bunch of Dynamat, Home Depot Dynamat, aluminum bubble wrap in the quarters, door and roof and new window run channel and belt moldings in the third and what should be the fourth door. It all made a nice difference, but the biggest difference came when I replaced the door to body seal on the third door. Wow, what a difference. I wonder if I could have just done that and called it good?? It did make our 2100mi journey this summer much nicer though. You will really love travelling in your rig now.
The seat and carpet look fantastic!! Now that you have it all quieted down, let's get it out on the trail and actually camp this time
I can really appreciate what you have done there as I installed a bunch of Dynamat, Home Depot Dynamat, aluminum bubble wrap in the quarters, door and roof and new window run channel and belt moldings in the third and what should be the fourth door. It all made a nice difference, but the biggest difference came when I replaced the door to body seal on the third door. Wow, what a difference. I wonder if I could have just done that and called it good?? It did make our 2100mi journey this summer much nicer though. You will really love travelling in your rig now.
The seat and carpet look fantastic!! Now that you have it all quieted down, let's get it out on the trail and actually camp this time
mkitchen
Explorer
How about some headlights?
I am working on getting Reuben ready for the Old Iron Run that is coming up next February and I want to get some better lighting set up. Right now the truck is stock on the outside and I kind of want to keep it that way. The original lighting though, is pretty weak. I thought I would put out some feelers to see what you folks suggested for up-grades. I would like to put some after market market lights in where the original 6012 headlights are and not have to mount any additional lights (I like the stock "old fish truck" look of the truck).
I don't do a whole lot of off-roading in the dark but there are those times when you don't make it out or get to where you are going to camp before dark. That is certainly true in the shorter days of winter. I also like to get up to the snow country and play around a bit too. So I guess that I am looking for something that would work ok on the road without blinding other motorists and provide me a bit better lighting with the high beams on. If I had to, I could mount some small lights on the bumper but they would have to be small. Also, would up graded lights require heavier wiring and how much power would they pull. I believe I heard that LED's have a low power pull? Right now I am running the original 60 amp alternater.
I am also thinking of putting a small light in the back that I can run off of a separate switch that would be used as a more powerful backup light as well as an ocassional late camp set-up light. Mind you now, I am just a bear of little brain when it comes to electrical use.
Mikey
I am working on getting Reuben ready for the Old Iron Run that is coming up next February and I want to get some better lighting set up. Right now the truck is stock on the outside and I kind of want to keep it that way. The original lighting though, is pretty weak. I thought I would put out some feelers to see what you folks suggested for up-grades. I would like to put some after market market lights in where the original 6012 headlights are and not have to mount any additional lights (I like the stock "old fish truck" look of the truck).
I don't do a whole lot of off-roading in the dark but there are those times when you don't make it out or get to where you are going to camp before dark. That is certainly true in the shorter days of winter. I also like to get up to the snow country and play around a bit too. So I guess that I am looking for something that would work ok on the road without blinding other motorists and provide me a bit better lighting with the high beams on. If I had to, I could mount some small lights on the bumper but they would have to be small. Also, would up graded lights require heavier wiring and how much power would they pull. I believe I heard that LED's have a low power pull? Right now I am running the original 60 amp alternater.
I am also thinking of putting a small light in the back that I can run off of a separate switch that would be used as a more powerful backup light as well as an ocassional late camp set-up light. Mind you now, I am just a bear of little brain when it comes to electrical use.
Mikey
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zoomad75
K5 Camper guy
Here's a great idea to keep the stock look but upgrade the lights. Swap out the regular sealed beam bulbs for a set of conversion h4 housings. To take full advantage of the H4's you need to need to upgrade the stock wiring with a relay kit. Put simply, the load of the lights on a stock 60's to 80's domestic truck has a ton of resistance to get from the battery to the lights. Put a voltmeter on at the headlamp socket with the engine running and I bet you might have 12.5 at most when the alternator is putting out 14v +. A relay kit will use the stock wiring as only the switch input to the relay where the load is from the battery to the relay and then the lights. I built my own harness for my 75 K5 a few years back, but kits are out there that make it more of a plug and play deal.
This kit from painless is similar to what I put on but all the connections needed is just the high current power from the battery source for high and low beams and 2 ground circuits to the relays. You take the old harness and plug one of the headlamp connectors into the new harness. Hook up the new headlamp pigtails to the H4 bulbs and secure the wiring. Done.
Here's the kit: http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/largeview.php?SearchField=30815
The difference is amazing. When I did mine, the low beams were brighter than high beams were without relays. Brights with relays was just over the top as they throw light WAY down the road.
This kit from painless is similar to what I put on but all the connections needed is just the high current power from the battery source for high and low beams and 2 ground circuits to the relays. You take the old harness and plug one of the headlamp connectors into the new harness. Hook up the new headlamp pigtails to the H4 bulbs and secure the wiring. Done.
Here's the kit: http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/largeview.php?SearchField=30815
The difference is amazing. When I did mine, the low beams were brighter than high beams were without relays. Brights with relays was just over the top as they throw light WAY down the road.
mkitchen
Explorer
Hate to show my ignorance;
I am good on the harness but now for a dumb question; what is and how do I get H4 housings and do they take the spot of the original sealed beams? Is this something I could get from somewhere such as Sierra Expeditions? I am planning on going to their open house on November 11. But the conversion sounds like just the thing that I am looking for.
Mikey
I am good on the harness but now for a dumb question; what is and how do I get H4 housings and do they take the spot of the original sealed beams? Is this something I could get from somewhere such as Sierra Expeditions? I am planning on going to their open house on November 11. But the conversion sounds like just the thing that I am looking for.
Mikey
http://www.rallylights.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=354
Yes these replace the old sealedbeam. These housing take an h4 bulb as well. Much better optics and a better bulb. I have the rectangle hella h-4 conversions in my 89 Ramcharger. Way better then even the plain halogens.
The ford is 7" headlights?:
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=739
Yes these replace the old sealedbeam. These housing take an h4 bulb as well. Much better optics and a better bulb. I have the rectangle hella h-4 conversions in my 89 Ramcharger. Way better then even the plain halogens.
The ford is 7" headlights?:
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=739
mkitchen
Explorer
OK, I got it figured out.
Thanks you guys, I am ordering the H4 conversion and I will get the setup from Painless wiring as well. That should do me just fine. Now I need to look for a light for the rear that I can use for backing up and for setting up the occaisional late night camp. Again, thanks for the help. I will post up when I get the lights done.
Mikey
Thanks you guys, I am ordering the H4 conversion and I will get the setup from Painless wiring as well. That should do me just fine. Now I need to look for a light for the rear that I can use for backing up and for setting up the occaisional late night camp. Again, thanks for the help. I will post up when I get the lights done.
Mikey
mkitchen
Explorer
Took longer than I thought.
This graveyard shift is killing me. It seems that I never have any energy, just work, sleep or sit around in a daze. I did finally get the headlights changed out. A friend in our local 4X4 club put Delta conversions in his CJ 7 and was happy with them, so I ordered a set of H4's and the relays for the upgrade. It was a bit more work than I had thought. Of course the original wiring was old and brittle so it all had to be replaced and new wires run. Then wiring in the relays and fuses and keeping everything nice and neat looking brought out some creativity in me.
All in all, I'm happy with the outcome. cleaned up some wiring and now have some nice headlights. below is a couple of pictures with the old headlights.
Here is a shot with the old low beams
Here is a shot of the old high beams, not too much different.
Now with the H4 low beam. This picture was taken with Rueben a bit further back from the garage.
And the H4 high beams.
Still lots of other projects to get done but another step closer. I still need to get to work on the storage box build in the shell. I am hoping to get that done before the next Old Iron Run in February. If not then, then at least by the time the next Expo hits.
Mikey
This graveyard shift is killing me. It seems that I never have any energy, just work, sleep or sit around in a daze. I did finally get the headlights changed out. A friend in our local 4X4 club put Delta conversions in his CJ 7 and was happy with them, so I ordered a set of H4's and the relays for the upgrade. It was a bit more work than I had thought. Of course the original wiring was old and brittle so it all had to be replaced and new wires run. Then wiring in the relays and fuses and keeping everything nice and neat looking brought out some creativity in me.
All in all, I'm happy with the outcome. cleaned up some wiring and now have some nice headlights. below is a couple of pictures with the old headlights.
Here is a shot with the old low beams
Here is a shot of the old high beams, not too much different.
Now with the H4 low beam. This picture was taken with Rueben a bit further back from the garage.
And the H4 high beams.
Still lots of other projects to get done but another step closer. I still need to get to work on the storage box build in the shell. I am hoping to get that done before the next Old Iron Run in February. If not then, then at least by the time the next Expo hits.
Mikey
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
looks like a worthy upgrade and one I really should consider
I hear ya on the shift change, I am now in the PACU (surgical recovery room) from 1030a-11pm and I am NOT a morning person. So where as I used to have a couple of hours each afternoon to do thing I now got NO time for anything but sleep & work.
But at least we have the Old Iron run to look forward to
I hear ya on the shift change, I am now in the PACU (surgical recovery room) from 1030a-11pm and I am NOT a morning person. So where as I used to have a couple of hours each afternoon to do thing I now got NO time for anything but sleep & work.
But at least we have the Old Iron run to look forward to
NorthernWoodsman
Adventurer/tinkerer
Does the Optimus Prime material give your truck the ability to transform? :ylsmoke:
