F-350 idi Crew Cab build--Wooly Mammoth

[underdrive]

The big transmission cooler can often be found in V10 gas-powered trucks as well, not just the 6.0 diesels - should give you some more options for locating one. Also IIRC one of the big aftermarket manufacturers sells the exact same thing sans the Ford-proprietary mounting brackets as an universal cooler. Big fat stacked-plate thing rated for some ridiculous weight your truck should never attempt to pull, it can be found on ebay and amazon quite reasonable from time to time.

 

[Magnetixx]

Thanks for keeping my slushbox in mind all!

Flushed out the trans, cooler, filter, etc and to my great joy found no metal or unusual bits in the trans pan and also found the fluid to be in generally good condition. This supports my idea that the code 56 hot trans fault the truck keeps showing is wiring related. Read up on it a little and there seems to have been a rash of faults associated with the solenoid control connector on the pass side of the trans. I inspected it and was saddened to find it in good shape. next i need to find the pins on the pcm and connector and check for continuity or short. if thats good i may be looking at opening up the trans again to replace the solenoid pack or at least the damn thermister within. automatics suck!

its unfortunately looking like my camper will be nowhere near done before our trip to colorado, so we'll probably be camping normally. just not enough time with work and kid, etc. oh well, i plan to have this rig for a long time and will finish it up soon. just want to make sure there aren't any roadworthiness bugs that might crop up. which reminds me, i need to wire in my glow plug relay controller bypass button. im very suspicious about that controller.

also added a lil craftsman tool box to eliminate my performance cardboard box. got it for 10 bux from a wacky bum dude and it really brings together my whole baja chase truck idea. i'll try to get a pic of that amazing setup tomorrow.

peace!

 

[Magnetixx]

It took a while but now its back!

Well it's been quite some time since I've posted about the Woolly Mammoth, but now I'm back an determined to be more regular here. Life was quite busy there for a while but progress has been made including moving the family out of San Francisco to lovely and spacious Reno NV. Finally, a real garage!!!!

I last left off preparing to take the rig to Colorado. It was an amazing trip but not without a slice of humble pie being eaten. Turns out my optimism about the E40D trans was quite unfounded. It decided to blow the front pump on the way out of Zion Nat'l Park. We nursed the truck to Loa, Utah which is damn near as far from anything as you can get but they had a competent garage where a very happy shop owner was fattening himself on tourist RVs and the like, including ourselves. We were pretty much out of options. I had been pouring in ATF as fast as it would come out and our next destination, MOAB, was more than 100 miles across some very forbidding desert, so Loa it was. We had a rebuilt trans, I spec'd the "tow n go" build, ordered up and the owner's nephew took us to the next town so we could leave the truck and rent a car. We made it to CO then headed back 10 days later, grabbed the truck and carried on. Heck for the price of it all we could have gone to Europe for a month! Anyway now it's got a ************ trans in it.
Remote Camping outside Ely, NV. Lookin a bit goofy with the camper frame but it was a nice shade wherever we went. Mammoth running well...

Cooking in a light rain outside Zion. The trans had lost about 5 qts of ATF. Great campsite though.
The utility bed rules!

Camping at 10,000 ft. I had bought 17 qts of ATF at a town before this. the non turbo diesel was STRUGGLING up the mountain. It is a dog at altitude (luckily I fixed that later...), and it was pouring ATF as we rolled in to camp. Awesome camp by a stream but cold. Luckily it was all down hill to Loa from there.

Always wanted to check this place out. Gonna come back when there's something to see!

The run back to CA was a bit of a whirlwind. Didn't get too many truck photos- too busy taking 'em of my daughter, she started to walk on this trip!

More to come...

 

[Magnetixx]

Made a bit of progress...

Once we got back I was determined to keep that damn trans alive. After all, it cost more than the truck! I therefore wanted to keep the fluid cool at all costs so I made a mount and fan setup for the cooler.
The fans are from a Ducati 1098 motorcycle that I got from work. Plenty of airflow from those fans.

Mocked up. The mount with cooler and fans is pretty substantial. A bit of peace of mind there, still need to get a temp gauge though. I've just been switching it on at the beginning of any climb or even in traffic.