OBS F250 slow adventure build
- Thread starter amgvr4
- Start date
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
Check your line? Get a running start and jump it!
amgvr4
Adventurer
Spoken like a true desert man! I finally got a chance to unbolt the passenger side upper link from the radius arm to see how much it helped the truck flex. Turns out it makes a bit difference! I can definitely feel the truck move more freely but it is still perfectly drive-able on the street. I am back to seeing if I can add a sway bar to the front in the hopes that I can adjust the springs back to dual rate and only need to disconnect the pass side link for the trails. I am lazy when it comes to making adjustments back and forth and would prefer to have the truck super easy to convert from DD street setup to flexy trail awesomeness.
I also have started working on the bed rail system that I will mount my tent platform to and attach some tie down points as well. I plan on using some of these
http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Ratch...ed-L-Track/Round-Airline-Track-2-inch-Piece_2
I want to mount them in several places around the bed so I can actually strap things down appropriately for once. I cant believe that a truck from the era of when trucks were only for work, not just status symbols of weak men who need to over compensate for a lack of manliness, has no factory tie down points. Soon that problem will be remedied. Other than that I love the truck and think that it is the perfect combo of tire size, lift, and capacity for 99% of everything I ever wanted out of my adventure truck.
amgvr4
Adventurer
Here is the link that I disconnected to get the front axle to move more freely. I left the axle side together and just let the link float free. It didn't hit anything or cause any issues even fully articulating the truck on a ramp.
I put the bolt back into the bracket and tightened it so that it does not get lost. The suspension moves so much more freely like this and is even smoother over bumps straight on than before. I have driven it like this for the last few days and it has only added a little bit to the body roll but it is very drive-able on the street as well. I will put it back for DD usage just to reduce the torque that is being applied to the drivers side and help the bushings last longer. The amount of flex and capability this thing has now is amazing to me. I went through a really steep 4' deep muddy ditch the other day and it was no problem. I didn't even drag the back bumper, though it was the closest I have gotten yet. I hope to make some more progress on the bed rails this week end.
I put the bolt back into the bracket and tightened it so that it does not get lost. The suspension moves so much more freely like this and is even smoother over bumps straight on than before. I have driven it like this for the last few days and it has only added a little bit to the body roll but it is very drive-able on the street as well. I will put it back for DD usage just to reduce the torque that is being applied to the drivers side and help the bushings last longer. The amount of flex and capability this thing has now is amazing to me. I went through a really steep 4' deep muddy ditch the other day and it was no problem. I didn't even drag the back bumper, though it was the closest I have gotten yet. I hope to make some more progress on the bed rails this week end.
amgvr4
Adventurer
I had a chance test the towing ability of he truck this weekend. One of my little brothers has been looking for a first vehicle for a bit now and we came across a nice little 1990 ranger 4x4. It was listed as not running and needed to be towed so we rented a trailer and headed down to Gig Harbor to look at it. I had originally tried to get a tow dolly but even with a 7" drop hitch my truck was too tall for one. The trailers were only $10 more and even though it was still a bit too high it was workable. Looks like I'm going to have to get a super drop hitch for this thing! It is only lifted 4" but with the bumper up so high it is about the same as a truck with closer to 10" of lift.
The little ranger looked pretty clean and started up fine, probably just needs a tune up and some love and it should be good to go. I'm pretty excited to get my brother into four wheeling. It will be fun to help him fix it up and get it running over the next week or two. Eventually we will probably lift it a little and add some 31" tires so he can have some more fun in the mountains.
My girls went with us, They love adventures of any kind!
The DangerRanger
The tuck did well, but it could use some stage 1.5 injectors and a 1cm turbine housing to wake it up a little for towing. Some of the longer hills were a little hard to maintain 60 on, but it was pretty easy to cruise at 70 most of the time. The lift didn't have any advers handling effect pulling the ranger, and the suspension was actually pretty comfy with the extra weight. So far so good on my do-everything rig!
The little ranger looked pretty clean and started up fine, probably just needs a tune up and some love and it should be good to go. I'm pretty excited to get my brother into four wheeling. It will be fun to help him fix it up and get it running over the next week or two. Eventually we will probably lift it a little and add some 31" tires so he can have some more fun in the mountains.
My girls went with us, They love adventures of any kind!
The DangerRanger
The tuck did well, but it could use some stage 1.5 injectors and a 1cm turbine housing to wake it up a little for towing. Some of the longer hills were a little hard to maintain 60 on, but it was pretty easy to cruise at 70 most of the time. The lift didn't have any advers handling effect pulling the ranger, and the suspension was actually pretty comfy with the extra weight. So far so good on my do-everything rig!
amgvr4
Adventurer
I had some bad luck this week, I got t-boned at lunch on Tuesday. The good news is that the other truck got it far worse than mine. The Chevy luv that hit me was driven by a crackpot with a suspended license and no insurance since 2009. His truck was wasted!
At first it looked like he barely touched my truck and I thought I dodged a bullet, but the more I looked at it the more little things I found that need to be fixed. The drivers door and fender will need to be replaced, but I think the rocker panel and A-pillar are still pretty straight. Most of the force was absorbed by the tire and axle, so this was a true test for my fab skills and all the brackets I made. The passenger side TRE and drivers upper ball joint were bent pretty good, but the truck was still drivable enough to get me home. The next day I replaced both ball joints on the drivers side and picked up a TRE, but since I am running the tie rod on the top of the knuckle I needed a 7* reamer to clearance the mounting hole for my drag link. I picked up a reamer that should have worked but it was slightly off so I will need to run the bent one for a little longer until the correct tool shows up.
This ordeal has highlighted the catch-22 that running non standard parts on a daily driver poses. It sucks to not be able to walk into a parts store and buy off the shelf parts in an emergency. The good news is once I have the reamer I can buy an extra TRE and ream it to keep as a spare incase I bend one again. All the links and DOM tube are still straight and true and I am 99% sure all the brackets except for the axle side track bar mount are fine as well. The track bar mount looks like it tweaked a little so I will hit it with a torch, bend it back, then add a gusset to strengthen it. Another amazing feat of toughness is the tire which took the brunt of the hit and only has a bit of a scuff mark and some scratches on the sidewall. I guess Goodyear means it when they say Dura-wall sidewalls!
Overall the truck is fine considering how bad it could have been and no one was hurt in the accident. Now I have to find a door and fender in the correct color so I can get it back to looking like it should. I would rather drive it with the battle scars than miss matched body parts, and I really don't want to paint it considering it will just get trashed in the mountains. I am a bit frustrated though since this takes time and money away from the other items that I need to address on the truck. Going to pick up my little brothers Ranger highlighted the need to rebuild my turbo/upgrade the compressor wheel and up pipes. The turbo doesn't start making boost until 2100-2200 rpms and it wouldn't maintain it on hills when towing. Enough whining, here are some pictures of my trusty wounded steed.
Right after the accident
The bent TRE
The bent upper ball joint
New joints installed
At first it looked like he barely touched my truck and I thought I dodged a bullet, but the more I looked at it the more little things I found that need to be fixed. The drivers door and fender will need to be replaced, but I think the rocker panel and A-pillar are still pretty straight. Most of the force was absorbed by the tire and axle, so this was a true test for my fab skills and all the brackets I made. The passenger side TRE and drivers upper ball joint were bent pretty good, but the truck was still drivable enough to get me home. The next day I replaced both ball joints on the drivers side and picked up a TRE, but since I am running the tie rod on the top of the knuckle I needed a 7* reamer to clearance the mounting hole for my drag link. I picked up a reamer that should have worked but it was slightly off so I will need to run the bent one for a little longer until the correct tool shows up.
This ordeal has highlighted the catch-22 that running non standard parts on a daily driver poses. It sucks to not be able to walk into a parts store and buy off the shelf parts in an emergency. The good news is once I have the reamer I can buy an extra TRE and ream it to keep as a spare incase I bend one again. All the links and DOM tube are still straight and true and I am 99% sure all the brackets except for the axle side track bar mount are fine as well. The track bar mount looks like it tweaked a little so I will hit it with a torch, bend it back, then add a gusset to strengthen it. Another amazing feat of toughness is the tire which took the brunt of the hit and only has a bit of a scuff mark and some scratches on the sidewall. I guess Goodyear means it when they say Dura-wall sidewalls!
Overall the truck is fine considering how bad it could have been and no one was hurt in the accident. Now I have to find a door and fender in the correct color so I can get it back to looking like it should. I would rather drive it with the battle scars than miss matched body parts, and I really don't want to paint it considering it will just get trashed in the mountains. I am a bit frustrated though since this takes time and money away from the other items that I need to address on the truck. Going to pick up my little brothers Ranger highlighted the need to rebuild my turbo/upgrade the compressor wheel and up pipes. The turbo doesn't start making boost until 2100-2200 rpms and it wouldn't maintain it on hills when towing. Enough whining, here are some pictures of my trusty wounded steed.
Right after the accident
The bent TRE
The bent upper ball joint
New joints installed
TooTall'sTruck
Observer
Darn Tweakers!! It is good that you are ok (assuming you are) and it is always funny to see how little damage is recieved by the real trucks. If it was a new 6.4L crew cab you would be out $10,000 in a heart beat. Of course if you would have had cab sliders on the truck you would have probably shot that lil Luv well under the truck!! A friend totaled his crew cab like yours from mowing down a ditch full of scotch broom sideways at 55 mph...now he has slider/step up tubes on his new trucks within the first week.
Love your truck and have been meaning to offer you a parking spot if you ever want to head west a little bit, I have a friend with 170 acres near Salt Creek or Joyce, WA that lets me camp and 4x4 and shoot there anytime I want. Private dry camping and a 400 yard shooting range is very very fun!! We can shoot out to 980 yards there too if desired. Great for kiddos to run free there also without concern. My boy is 3 1/2 and really into "camp camp' and picking mushrooms so my offer stands to recieve your family and truck mainly...you could come too I suppose!! I am in Port Angeles.
Love your truck and have been meaning to offer you a parking spot if you ever want to head west a little bit, I have a friend with 170 acres near Salt Creek or Joyce, WA that lets me camp and 4x4 and shoot there anytime I want. Private dry camping and a 400 yard shooting range is very very fun!! We can shoot out to 980 yards there too if desired. Great for kiddos to run free there also without concern. My boy is 3 1/2 and really into "camp camp' and picking mushrooms so my offer stands to recieve your family and truck mainly...you could come too I suppose!! I am in Port Angeles.
amgvr4
Adventurer
Sounds like the perfect combo of fun! We will defininetly need to coordinate a camping adventure out there this summer. I have never gotten a chance to explore over on that side of the sound so it would be fun to find some new areas to go. The first thing I was thinking after he hit me was, "why didn't I build my rock sliders already!" If I had some good sliders on it probably would have saved the body from damage and might have also blunted the hit the axle and steering took. It's a little late now though!
seanpistol
Explorer
Luckily insurance will pay you the $100/hr labor if you are the DIY type. Could be a good payday after it's fixed! I've experienced this with a snowmobile claim recently...
amgvr4
Adventurer
I have gotten all the important parts fixed and back to functional. The only stuff left is the fender, door, and whatever else might have gotten damaged behind them. Overall it was not that bad considering the force and type of impact. The two worst items were the upper ball joint and the tie rod end. Since the guy that hit me is a scum bag I have not filed an insurance claim. There is no reason to fix or replace the car of a guy that isn't even supposed to be on the road and I would rather not take the risk of my truck being labeled a total loss. It doesn't take much anymore to total something this old and I don't want to have to deal with finding another clean crew cab short bed especially since the damage was so easily fixed. So far it has only cost me $200 and most of that was the special reamer for the TRE.
chaos616
Adventurer
That sucks, but i am impressed with the damage on that little pickup vs your truck. Even that rocker panel looks perfect sans a little paint maybe. Glad the suspension held up too, gives me some hope for mine holding up offroad or maybe even in a slow speed accident!
Glad you or your family didn't get hurt.
Cheers,
Glad you or your family didn't get hurt.
Cheers,
amgvr4
Adventurer
Thanks man! I am pretty happy with the suspensions ability to withstand damage. When I first finished it I was driving around super cautious and a little bit afraid it might fall apart on me even though I am confident in my work and have a good idea of what I am doing. There was always that little seed of doubt 'did I really build it strong enough'? Now I know for sure that it is solid and should be good for everything I plan to do with the truck.
amgvr4
Adventurer
I headed up to Mt. Pilchuck with the kids today to do some wheeling and had my 8 year old son take some video for me. I figured out I need lockers something fierce! The truck did really well, but several of the chutes had large prominent rocks at the top that kept me from making it all the way. I think it would have been fine if it wasn't wet out, I will go back later when it dries out to see if I have any better luck. I really need to find some medium difficulty trails to go explore and have some more fun on.
The first little offshoot was really rutted with a deep puddle and sharp bank. The truck handled it no problem. This is the first time that I have scraped the transfer case skid plate, albeit just barely
This is the first chute and where the video starts. The truck motored up no problem until the very last part. There was a two foot tall smooth rock on the passenger side that I just couldn't get any grip on. Lockers probably would have rendered it a non issue
This chute was right next to the other one and had a double ledge that was the exact spacing of my wheel base. I didn't feel comfortable enough bouncing up it so I through in the towel at the very top
A little flex from a fun off camber section
The Kids at a lookout
My videographer. He was so proud of his new job!
The video
The first little offshoot was really rutted with a deep puddle and sharp bank. The truck handled it no problem. This is the first time that I have scraped the transfer case skid plate, albeit just barely
This is the first chute and where the video starts. The truck motored up no problem until the very last part. There was a two foot tall smooth rock on the passenger side that I just couldn't get any grip on. Lockers probably would have rendered it a non issue
This chute was right next to the other one and had a double ledge that was the exact spacing of my wheel base. I didn't feel comfortable enough bouncing up it so I through in the towel at the very top
A little flex from a fun off camber section
The Kids at a lookout
My videographer. He was so proud of his new job!
The video
underdrive
jackwagon
Good job on killing that ************'s truck!!! Shame you took some damage in the process, but glad to see that didn't stop you from getting her back on the road and out there enjoying the outdoors again!
Yes, lockers would have been nice for your last trip. But hey, upgrades are best picked out after figuring out the current limitations of your vehicle, and you seem to be doing a mighty fine job in that (and having a good time in the process).
Yes, lockers would have been nice for your last trip. But hey, upgrades are best picked out after figuring out the current limitations of your vehicle, and you seem to be doing a mighty fine job in that (and having a good time in the process).
