F350 Fummins, overlander live aboard

[Bobs boot camping]

Ok, so here's what iv'e got. 88' Ford F350 crew cab single rear wheel 4wd Diesel. It wasnt running when i got it so, i got it cheep. Its running now and has been for about a year. The joy of the IDI diesels. I picked up a 96 5.9 cummins complete, i mean everything, turbo, ac, power steering, vac pump, alternator, fan, everything. I am building a heavy duty 47re with a manual valve body(not my first choice, but i have it) and a 271 tcase. Im going to replace the Sterling rear axle with a corp 14blt and build the snot out of the front axle. 2 inch body lift (to help clear the motor bits) and ditch the bed for a custom flat bed. One weekend project right? right... The total lift is going to be about 6 inches on 37" toyo load E tires. Here are some of the goodies i plan to mount.

on board compressor
Honda 6010 rv generator
double set 6v (siries to 12v) batteries
Solar panel array
50 Gal on board water.
146 gal onboard fuel
Endo Exo roll cage 2" 120 DOM tubing.
Custom air ride driver seat with full harness.
Removable Lance slide in camper
Full side boxes
Bumper crane
Onboard mig welder.
ATX bead lock rims
Full 2mtr radio set
snorkel kit
Detroit rear locker
ARB front locker
Alloy axle shafts
Air lift air bags with landing pads.
Custom lift springs

Might try rockwell axles someday on 46" military tires.

Wish me luck

 

[Bobs boot camping]

Quick update, I am doing a few upgrades on the cummins. Killer dowel pin, fuel plate, head studs, 3k spring kit and 60 lb exhaust springs. Pulled the head off the other day and sending it out to the shop to do a quick valve job and some porting. For 98k on the motor, you can still see the hash marks of the hone in the block.

 

[_Nick_]

If you're doing the 60lb valve springs (do intake too while you're there!) you might as well just install the full 4kGSK no? You don't have to go all the way up to 4k to enjoy the benefits (it fuels a bit harder down low, as compared to a 3k). If you've got the head off, you also may want to consider O-ringing the block. More cost up front, but if you ever decide you want lots of power you'll already be set...

 

[Bobs boot camping]

yeah, its at the shop to fire ring the block. I will probably roll in a set a bearings and piston rings while i have it torn apart. I was looking hard a the 4k kit. i might still go that way. I went with the #10 fuel plate from BD. Dan Kizmann up at BD helped me set up the kit. I am a little hesitant to go with the 60lb intake springs because i dont want to increase the seat pressure unless i have a reason. I dont want to prematurely wear the cam. I know that seem silly if i already have the exhaust springs. Im still kicking it around. My goal is mild hp and fuel economy gain but still keep the legendary longevity.

 

[pappawheely]

Sounds like an awesome build!

 

[AFBronco235]

Gotta love OBS Fords. Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

 

[TooTall'sTruck]

Gotta love OBS Fords. Looking forward to seeing how this develops.

He is a "bricknose" 87-91; OBS = 92-97...just sayin for those that search OBS like it was crack!!

I wonder if you will need to worry about total loaded weight on such a high lift and tall tire. You sound like the rolling weight will be in excess of 10,000 pounds, no?

I have similar set up being built on my 1992 SCLB and my 1986 ECLB service truck, I would deffinatly advise to use flux cored wire in a tiny suitcase MIG welder, mine is a Lincoln and will run off of a 12ga extension cord on a 15 amp breaker at my house, if...if I keep my beads short, around an inch long max welding 1/4 or 5/16 steel....035 flux core wire. I worked for CAT dealer and we rarely used the shielding gas when welding on the equipment, the gas was always being blown away in the wind associated with field welding and the dirt inherent with welding used machinery was troublesome. We used more heat and flux cored wire to weld track guards and various dirty steel, I assume your welder would be for repairs and less meant for fabrication from scratch?

What is your plan for the rear crane? My Matco cherry picker is easily un-bolted and is currently 80% set up to mount on the back of my service truck and be able to be swapped to the front of my trailer or back to a rolling engine lift. Still need to attatch the straps to hold the top of the tower to the lumber rack, you might be able to see the channel on the tounge of the trailer, I remove the hitch coupler and pin in the base the crane tower is bolted to. All in all it can be broke down and loaded pretty easily. I am building a tube to lock the heigth, rather than use the bottle jack to lift the load, a simple chain fall will be used instead of the bottle jack. My main goal is to be able to lift a Kenworth cylinder head on dump or log trucks (class 8). With no rotate it might not be anywhere near what you desire.


I will have to update my thread now...just realized that I am about 4 or 5 vehicles behind on my thread!!

Looks great and can't wait to see progress!

 

[Bobs boot camping]

My plan for the bumper crane is along the line of the Mule bumper crane. For what i'm thinking, picking up big tires, engine blocks, axles, diesel heads and whatever catches my fancy. I use my lincoln hd325 for most of my welding. I like using shield gas but dirty steel is definitely better with flux (and thats usually what you find in the dirt). The generator is about 150 lbs, the welder is only about 40lbs. I figure swaping the stock bed to a flat bed is a wash as far as weight. I dont plan on running full fuel loads unless i need to. I plan on 2 separate options for the camping. I have a standard shell on it now. I plan on using that for most day to day and put it on top of the work boxes, with some custome mods. I want to be able to put a slide in camper in as well so that means that the bed height can only come up as high as the top of the frame rails. This means that the hoop over the tires will have to be spaced so i dont get any rubbing. This means that i also have to give it a lift so i can fit my 37" tires. I plan on replacing the Sterling axle and going with a wide track single wheel corp 14blt. Id rather go with a dana 80 but its a price thing. Also lockers for 14blts is an easy install. I plan on putting the compressor, generator and welder under the tail end of the bed, i might be extending the end of the bed out a foot or 2 to accommodate. In the LONG run i would like the truck to be the tow rig for a goose neck with a lance on it. I figure with an air ride bag system, a big helwig sway bar and some solid toyo load E tires i think it will be stable enough.

 

[Bobs boot camping]

So, pulled the head on the mystery motor. Its a 96' 5.9 12 valve out of a dodge 3/4 ton. The cylinders still had the honing hash marks, good sign. Gonna pull the pistons and re ring and roll in a new set of bearings. A quick stone hone to knock the glaze off the cylinder walls and put her back together. Does anyone have a good link for converting the dodge alt to a externaly regulated?

 

[thethePete]

Why wouldn't you just eliminate the Ford external regulator and use the internal one on the Dodge alt? Seems like a much simpler solution...

 

[mp_tx]

This is my dream. Dropping in a refreshed 96ish 12V Cummins into my 1991 F350. Keep up the good work and I will be following your build closely and taking notes.