Project "Autonomous" F-350

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
I got to some out of the way places in Tonopah. I'm so happy with the go anywhere nature of my truck.

Mikes_Race_Photo_MRP_9365.jpg

You have to go find the good spots.

Mikes_Race_Photo_MRP_2101.jpg
 

Seabass

Idiot
Boy, I sure hate to see you take that beast apart to build your U-haul conversion. But I bet the U-haul will be every bit as cool.
 

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
Boy, I sure hate to see you take that beast apart to build your U-haul conversion. But I bet the U-haul will be every bit as cool.

Actually, I will have 2 trucks when I'm done. I ran the numbers on selling the truck and buying a donor but it doesn't work out. I would love to pick up a diesel, manual trans, 4x4 but those are going for a ton of money and not easy to find out west.
 

Seabass

Idiot
Actually, I will have 2 trucks when I'm done. I ran the numbers on selling the truck and buying a donor but it doesn't work out. I would love to pick up a diesel, manual trans, 4x4 but those are going for a ton of money and not easy to find out west.

Shoot, Pappa- they ain't easy to find here in the east either. Ford ain't made one of these trucks in twenty years. Seems like I remember reading in your thread that you were gonna make the crew cab a two wheel drive run-around truck. You have excellent tastes, I'm confident you'll do something slick.
 

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
Finally accumulated all the bits for the 'HobieDeck' experiment, but it will probably be December before I can get around to it.

/I always seem to finish the shade projects in the Winter.

hobiedeck001.jpg



But I think I need to get some 600D or 1000D fabric instead, to do it properly. That batch of fabric in the pic is 1.9oz ripstop. Slowly looking around for a metal geartrain old sewing machine too. My cheap consumer model won't take much use with the heavy material and webbing.

Let me know what I can do to help.
 

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
I picked up a set of alcoas for the F250. They just so happened to have a nice set of BFG's on them. I put them on the F350 to see what they looked like. Kind of like a linebacker on high heels after having the 37's. I sure do like the torque!

MRP_5593.jpg

MRP_5597.jpg
 

Chorky

Observer
Actually, I will have 2 trucks when I'm done. I ran the numbers on selling the truck and buying a donor but it doesn't work out. I would love to pick up a diesel, manual trans, 4x4 but those are going for a ton of money and not easy to find out west.

Not sure what area of the 'west' you're in, but in my area (Washington) there's actually quite a bit. Might be over your budget though... They hold their value really well...
 

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
Not sure what area of the 'west' you're in, but in my area (Washington) there's actually quite a bit. Might be over your budget though... They hold their value really well...

Exactly. If I buy a "donor" for 15K, it's not really a donor anymore. It's hard to find a good drivetrain in something that is cheap enough to be a donor truck. I'm in AZ and the shop is in SoCal. The wrecking yards around the shop are mills. They bring stuff in, sell what they can and then crush/recycle. Nothing sits for long so it's not easy finding anything that's not 10 years old or newer.
 

Bojak

Adventurer
Hey pappa, I could use some information. Way back on page 1 of your thread you talk about centramatic wheel balancers. I have a new rig, with new lift and new wheels and tires. I get a nasty shake around 80 mph. I know going faster than that in a lifted truck should be avoided. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, do you think the centramatic balancers can cure this? In general i don't want to go faster than that, but i do want the ability to if i need or want to. Here in metro Atlanta 80 is the average hwy speed so if you don't want to get run over, you better speed up. Any feed back is appreciated, and thanks -
 

Bojak

Adventurer
It's a 4" Rancho lift. I've experienced this in other vehicles that had off-road tires on them some lifted some not. There's a speed (varies) that is a wobble speed. From 65-70 you feel it build and around 70 it's rough. On other vehicles if you had the stones to push past it would go away. Like say 80/85mph. Was curious what this phenomenon is and if the centramatics could help or fix it.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

Seabass

Idiot
I've noticed that bigger tires, and especially tires in the "mud tread" category are never smooth above 60mph- give or take a few mph. It doesn't seem to matter what brand tire, or what shop mounts and balances the tires. I tend to never drive faster than 70mph for any real length of time, so I've just learned to live with it. But it sucks when you're trying to cruise around 80 because you're in a hurry and you can't sip your coffee without getting it all over your shirt.
 
It's a 4" Rancho lift. I've experienced this in other vehicles that had off-road tires on them some lifted some not. There's a speed (varies) that is a wobble speed. From 65-70 you feel it build and around 70 it's rough. On other vehicles if you had the stones to push past it would go away. Like say 80/85mph. Was curious what this phenomenon is and if the centramatics could help or fix it.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

What you are describing sounds like what is known as Death Wobble. That is completely different that tire balance vibration. Death Wobble is akin to a loose wheel on the front of a bicycle. Most Death Wobble causes are from loose or worn steering components even poor caster alignment. Most rather than finding the root cause, will use steering stabilizers sometimes even multiple stabilizers to control it. Stabilizers are just a bandaid for the problem in my opinion.
 

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