F-350 idi Crew Cab build--Wooly Mammoth

M

Magnetixx

Member
Hello All!

I have been lurking about on here for a little while now gathering ideas and now it's time for me to speak up.

Up until 7 months ago I did most of my adventuring on an HD ironhead chopper, the only problem is you can't fit a baby seat on one. Enter my new set of wheels!proper pickup.jpg

What we have here folks is a 92 f350, crew cab, long bed, 4x4 with the stalwart IDI engine. The Ol' lady and I share a dream (now becoming realized) of taking our little girl far and wide to camp, ski, surf, etc and refuse to be confined to where normal people go. I've built a nice pair of Jeeps in the past and work as a mechanic so I insisted on 4x4. Also, having a girlfriend who is from the mountains made this bit of criteria a given. I also wanted diesel for longevity's sake and fuel economy- we want to go far out with this thing so not blowing the whole load at the pump is obvious. We also want a pop-top, mostly because they just seem to add an air of fun and self-sufficiency in addition to useable space.

Of course we wanted a sportsmobile at first until we saw the price tag. We considered a diesel E series van or even ambulance w a U Joint 4x4 conversion, also staggeringly expensive. Westys don't really have the power or off-road prowess that we seek, even a syncro (and there's that damn money thing again!).

So if THEY don't make it, I will!

I netted this old hulk for $2100. It was sold with "needs trans", but what it really needed was a PSOM unit from the junkyard. I replaced a leaky rad hose and bought but haven't yet installed a new steering box. I'm in it now for less than $2500 and it seems strong.

Here's the plan:
Make completely sound mechanically.
Replace rusty bed with robust utility/service bed to gain storage and a firm foundation to build a pop-top camper.
Get or make an awning
Get a stove and install a sink w running water
Double house battery setup
Larger tires and rear locker

And do it all on the cheap.

For some food for thought imagine this mated with the camper bits of a westychase truck.jpeg

More to come. I hope to make fairly rapid progress on this for a colorado trip in june. Stay tuned folks!
 
M

Magnetixx

Member
Pappawheely, I'd be lying if I said your rig hasn't influenced me. I used to be involved in the desert racing scene and always drooled over those big chase trucks. Now it's time for my own!
 
M

Magnetixx

Member
Well yesterday's post wasn't totally accurate. I accomplished a bit but wanted to start with the stock truck. Saturday morning I got this bed!
File_001.jpgFile_002.jpgFile_006.jpg

Found this tall knapheide service body on Craigslist for 1200 bux and convinced the seller to install it for another 250. A fair chunk of change but nothing compared to new, which you can't even find for these old guys anyway. I think it really beefed up the appearance and the added usefulness is immense. Not to mention, the old bed was rusted through and with this setup I can just throw an orange cone out and turn on the flashers and not have to look for parking in San Francisco! Anyone in the Sacramento area in need of trailer work: I recommend D2 Trailers in Galt. Top notch!

It was a 200 mile round trip to get the bed which was a good little test on the truck. By the time I got through a lot of traffic the OD OFF light was flashing and it was shifting pretty hard. My junkyard speedo is still workin so I thought "oh great here we go," but when I plugged in my little Bosch OBD1 reader it said trans got too hot (code 56 for e4od trucks). Well that makes sense but it's got a big, though poorly setup, cooler up front. What gives? Time to look into that. Anyone recommend a good trans cooler? I think B&M makes one with an integrated fan.

Hopefully taking the truck to tahoe this weekend. After I cleared the code I put another hundred miles on it and it didn't miss a beat. Next I have to replace the steering box. Parallel parking in the city is damn near impossible!
 
pappawheely

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
With a truck this big it's no longer parking, it's docking. I like your cone idea. Get a magnetic sign with an official looking logo on it for the door.
 
M

Magnetixx

Member
Ideas

Well unfortunately the Ol Lady vetoed taking the truck to the mountains last weekend, citing the fact that the truck hasn't had enough miles on it yet to be sure of its reliability, especially in the snow with a baby. Something about reenacting the Donner party crossing, etc.

This fired up my urge to proceed. I've replaced the glow plugs with motorcraft and while the "wait to start" light doesn't do anything the old idi sings to life pretty easily. Still, I'm considering installing a momentary switch for the glow plug relay (while leaving the existing system intact) in order to be sure when we do venture into the snow. It doesn't get too cold around here so I don't want to make a bet based on a false reading.

This sunday I hope to replace the steering box and am considering adding in a filter to the return side. Need to check hose size but I've got a fuel filter with anti-drainback valve that I may want to use. Anyone know a good filter for this application? I'd generally like to improve or upgrade anything I have to fix.

I've been brainstorming my pop top idea incessantly. It seems every time I settle on a design I come across something new. At first I thought to find a top from a westy van but after doing some research i came to realize i would be spending a lot of time conforming to the curved shape design of the vw roof. There are aftermarket tops out there but definitely not cheap and they seem to all be based around being mounted on a van. Then i thought "where can i get a truck bed sized piece of fiberglass with weatherstripping and a hinge and a latch?" Of course! those tonneau cover things that lock up the contents of your bed and sorta "clean-up" the look (whatever that is).

Found a bunch on Craigslist for a few hundred bucks but then came across thisscissor_hinge.jpg

The ARE brand cover called the LSX series has a scissor hinge just like a westy! Now these are not so common on the classifieds but a call to the local ARE dealer said I could be out the door new for around $900. Thats a bit much but not insane to attain a big design criteria. Haven't got a price quote for just the hinges yet. That may be the best: just get the hinges and put them on a used cover.

This will allow me to build a steel framework off the utility bed the top of which will be built to match the dimensions of the tonneau cover's weather seal (already very similar to bed dimension). Then I just need to get or make the tent bit to fill it in.

Am I crazy?
tonneau1.jpg
Different from the ARE but shows some good space. Just imagine with the tent cloth... Planning to go to the dealer on Monday and get more info.

Stay tuned!
 
B

borison

Adventurer
You might be crazy, but I considered this exact same use in your proposed configuration, so we'll see if we're both crazy. Looking forward to your build. Good luck.
 
M

Magnetixx

Member
new dimensions

Ok so I got off work a bit early today and headed down to a local truck accessory place I have been talking with. It just so happens they have a stash of used stuff and were quite helpful when I told my idea.

I made a deal on a VERY lightly used LEER 700 tonneau cover and a pair of windows taken out of a longbed shell. The cover has a good headliner, a beefy rubber seal where it pivots, rubber weather strip all the way around and a nice latch/lock assembly. it also uses a scissor type hinge like a westy and is lifted by gas struts. when i got to check it out in person its clear that it will be plenty big for a bed. nice piece. the windows have sliding openings with screens. one of the screens is a bit gakked-up but I'm not too worried about that. Guy said he'd let it all go for $500 so I'm gonna pick it up on Monday.

so now with a few measurements I'll be able to finalize my design. I've now got the three dimensions I need: length x width of bed, height of windows, dimensions of cover sealing surface.

I think the tonneau cover is the best pop top idea because the mounting hardware is basically modular; its just a rail on each side with everything ready to go, you just need parallel rails of a certain width, which is easy cuz im building the whole apparatus from scratch. also, the hardware mounts to the cover itself as a few tidy bolts. I figure I can tap into these to mount pieces to secure the tent part. Upon seeing the cover up close it became clear that this will work!

Sorry no pictures just yet, still in the planning stage. Next I've got to set a date to use my brother's shop for a day of robust fabrication. Updates to come.
 
M

Magnetixx

Member
Well its been a work trip, family visiting, moving my own family into a new house and building an addition there but I finally got to take the mammoth off road. Being a sage woman, the Ol Lady suggested I go camp with my brother instead of going to visit her mom so we went to lake Pillsbury in Northern Cal east of Ukiah for a weekend of camping, shooting and wheeling. With one exception, the woolly mammoth performed flawlessly.View attachment 342507View attachment 342508View attachment 342509View attachment 342510

On the way back home we blew out a tire getting on the freeway which confirmed two things: these tires need replacement and I need to incorporate a swing out carrier for the spare into my camper design. After putting a lot of freeway miles and maybe 100 dirt miles on them, the sidewalls were cracked out like a rick james bender. Upon close inspection I realized theyre from 2005! So after a few calls I'm planning to grab a set of 315/75r16 BFG TA KO2s from 4wheel parts (on sale $205 a piece). these will certainly beef things up and won't likely fit into the stock spare area which was insanely rusted and a real PITA to remove the spare from anyway. with a lot of tools and 2 guys it took almost an hour to get that damn bracketry to cooperate. I now plan to make the door of the camper a swing out carrier using heim joints for hinges.

I'm liking the utility bed more and more. we could segregate all the camping gear and be able to leave the truck without worrying about anyone pinching stuff out of the bed. On the trip it looked like we were packing nothing as everything was neatly stowed in the sealed, locking containers of the bed. the middle compartments' fold-down doors also serve as perfect cooktops or tables for laying out ammo, etc. a great investment!

I'm not crazy about the auto trans, though. immediately after putting on the spare which is just a bit different in size from the other tires he OD OFF light started flashing and the trans began its erratic shifting as it had when the speedo went out. this is the third time this has happened now when there isn't really anything wrong. really starting to want to find donor pieces for a 5 speed conversion now.

got a garage now... poptop soon
 
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