Big'N-2001 F350 7.3

[tookstar154]

Been an observer/contributor on here for a while now. Have had a few different threads, but I figure I should probably start a proper build thread to help myself document what I've done.

The truck is a 2001 F350 7.3 Lariat 4x4. I bought it from my dad 3 years ago now, and we've had it in our family since 2003 or 2004 when we bought it from our family friends. We bought it with 40k ish miles on it, and the truck now has 267xxx miles on it. Since I've had it as my personal truck I've put quite a bit of money and time into it to try to make it as bulletproof and reliable to take me anywhere I want to go, mainly on the west coast/Baja.

What I've done so far since I've bought the truck from my dad are as follows:

-Line-x roof, rocker panels, bed
-Hanson Heavy Duty front bumper painted with Steel-It/Line-X
-Warn M12 Winch, Masterpull synthetic winch line, 2x Baja Designs HID Lights, and 2x Baja Designs Squadron Pro Fog Lights
-Fab-Fours rear bumper-Painted with Steel-It and then the "steps" sprayed with Line-X
-Fox 2.0 shocks w/adjustable remote reservoirs
-Complete front end rebuild-tie rods, ball joints, unit bearings, new power steering pump, Red Head steering gearbox.
-New idler pulleys, belt tensioner, water pump, fan clutch, thermostat/thermostat housing
-230 Amp Leese-Neville High-Output alternator
-Nations Denso Starter
-Pioneer Head unit/DVD player/backup camera
-Pro Comp 17x9' wheels-35x12.5x17 Falken Wildpeak AT3W currently on the truck
-3M window tinting
-Rugged Radios 60 watt race radio
-Baja Designs S2 "Chase" lights on rear of camper shell
-Alpine Type S speakers
-dual-battery system wired to charge off of truck when running, stored behind rear seat in custom battery hold down tray
-Ford/Donaldson severe-duty air filter/intake assembly
-ARB Dual compressor w/ U-joint mounting kit/air tank & Vixen Quad train horn
-Replaced leather seats with cloth
-updated rear bench seat with 60/40 folding bench seat from 2008 F350
-vinyl flooring from Rock-Auto

I'm sure there are some things I've forgotton, but I'll post as I do some more things. Feel free to ask questions, I'm not on here all the time, but I'll respond the best I can. Cheers!

-Tucker

The day we got the camper that is still on it currently. Paid $800 for it. Needs some love, still to this day but has been holding steady since we put it on.

Quick stop for some tacos after a day of pre-running San Felipe, getting ready for the 2018 Baja 1000.


Post-taco dinner. I believe this was also November 2018, pre-running for the 1000.


Pops hanging out off of Hwy 5 in Baja, waiting for me to come in from pre-running. San Felipe 2019


Kennedy Meadows, Spring 2020


Lakebed shot from King of Motos 2020


Mid-way through bumper install/winch wiring.


Kennedy Meadows, Spring 2020


I've got more photos, but they won't upload for some reason. Any tips? I'm going to go through and take some more photos this weekend of what I've done on the interior/battery system along with my race radio and a few other things.

 

[BajaSurfRig]

@tookstar154 digging the F350 7.3 and Callen combo!!

Any out of the ordinary maintenance you have had to do on the truck or any failures?

 

[RPhil]

How do you like those shocks? I am in the market for an upgrade and am considering options.

 

[tookstar154]

@tookstar154 digging the F350 7.3 and Callen combo!!

Any out of the ordinary maintenance you have had to do on the truck or any failures?

Thanks! Appreciate it. Nothing out of the ordinary. Glow plug module/relay had an issue a month or so ago, so I got a new one and has seemed to fix it thus far.

I put a new water pump/fan clutch in the truck 45k miles or so ago, first one since stock suprisingly. But, I had a weird issue where my fan clutch actually split in two. I had a weird wobble in my water pump since, so I had my water pump/fan clutch/thermostat replaced recently, should be good now.

Only other issue my dad had to get repaired years ago was a cracked exhaust manifold due to a chip making the truck run too hot.

Besides that, the truck has done us really really well. Love this chassis/7.3 combo. They are slow and heavy, but they tend to get me from point A-B pretty well.

 

[tookstar154]

How do you like those shocks? I am in the market for an upgrade and am considering options.

I like them a lot. They helped out a ton with comfort on both the road and the dirt. I ordered them through Accutune Offroad down in Carson, CA and they valved them, happy with them. I wanted to get the 2.5's, but I didn't have the coin at the time to get them. These trucks are heavy, I blew through the oil in about 25k, the 2.5's will last longer if you can afford them. The ability to adjust them definitely helped when carrying a load.

 

[tookstar154]

Custom battery hold-down tray/shelf I built with my uncle a few years ago. Utilized otherwise dead-space behind the rear passenger seats to house two Group 65 AGM Odyssey batteries. Wired through an Isolator with a switch on the dash allowing me to jump the truck off of the rear batteries if needed.



Some custom adjustable sway-bar links my uncle and I made also. Basically DOM tapped/milled to shape/spec, with a heim joint on either end allowing adjustability.


Just a shot from inside the cab. Pioneer head unit, ARB compressor switch/12V battery moniter, Rugged Radios 60 Watt race radio for when we're at the races.


One side of my behind-seat storage. Bottle jack, air hose, bag of air tools, 1/2" Milwaukee impact.


Little bit better over-view of the storage. All EMS/first aid supplies on the shelf behind the seat. Plus my XP-10 battery jump-box whatever you want to call it. Says it will jump a 7L diesel. Haven't needed to jump my truck with it yet, but it did jump a 6.0 that had died on my street a month or so ago. Pretty impressive for a small package.


Shot of the 2.0's valved by Accutune. The "wet frame" is from some Fluid-Film I sprayed on to try out a month or so ago. So far, pretty impressed with it. Some dirt/sand sticks to it, but for the most part seems to wash off with water, but the film stays on the frame. I'll probably only use it on places that I see surface rust though, rather than the whole frame. It gets everywhere, and can be messy.


Compressor hookup out of the rear bumper. I also finished running my front bumper out this weekend, but the photo won't upload for some reason. Rubber cap on it is a 1" "chair leg" protector that I got in a pack of 4 from Wal-Mart. Keeps all the dirt/elements out of the quick connect.


Shot of the 2.5 gallon air tank that came with the U-Joint compressor install kit. Had to re-route a hose that was rubbing this weekend, but it turned out well, I'm happy with the performance of it so far.


A couple shots of the compressor/compressor mount. You can see my battery cables running on the side of the truck as well, running to the batteries behind the seat. The U-Joint bracket for the compressor worked perfectly. I used two existing holes on the bottom of the frame, and only had to drill one. Used all the hardware that came with the kit. Once I figured out where to put it, it made installing the compressor really easy.