Chronicles of Project Hank

[tubolove]

Started the reconstruction of Hank and wanted to give back and share some information since I have taken so much info from here. More updates to follow.

Hank:

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[FormerMarine1981]

[tubolove]

So who can tell me the best place to get a shop manual for a bumpside?

[tubolove]

Well I have had the Hank for about seven years now. Bought it in AZ and drove it home to FL at the time. Now we are in Anderson SC where it has sat in storage for four years. Well we have brought Hank home and started the build.

Hank is a rust free 1970 F250 2wd regular cab long bed truck. It has a 390, c6, dana60 for a drivetrain with 107k miles. Still runs awesome aside from a leaky exhaust manifold. Originally a camper special, Hank has front disc brakes, tranny cooler, oil cooler, front and rear sway bars, and some funky spring overload system in the rear. Dealer add on air no longer works but no matter. It's time to upgrade.

So here is the plan. Sport truck looks fused with tow rig capabilities. Air suspension all the way around. Not slammed but lowered. Use lowering I-beams for an F-350 with airbags in front and a four link with airbags in the rear with 22" big rig dually wheels with performance low profile tires. I dont care for dually fenders so the rear will be narrowed to allow the dual rear wheels to tuck under the bed sides. The axle will also be moved to the very rear of the bed to give it that "tow rig" look. The drive train has yet to have been determined but I do love a turbo diesel.

Here is a rough photoshop of what I'm looking at doing.

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[tubolove]

First thing we did was strip all those darn awful factory trim pieces, moldings and mirrors from the outside of Hank. The we went to work gutting the interior. Headliner, A/C unit, seat, rubber floor covering, gas tank, dash pad, and various interior trim pieces were removed.

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Turns out Hank was not as rust free as I thought. The underside of the floor boards was pristine sheetmetal with no rust through but the top of both sides is heavily corroded. The drivers side was worse as a good rap with a screwdriver went through the metal in some places but the passenger side seems solid.

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[tubolove]

So I picked up the front clip from a 1978 F-350 cab and chassis truck. Pretty rusty and greasy so I pressure washed it until almost all the loose rust and grease was gone. Brought it home and set it up on jack stands. Time for some measurements and dissassembly. Of note the tie rod ends are above the spindle arms where on my F-250 they bolt on below. Also the radius arms are a much beefier and made of steel. I-beams are the same length but the king pins are bigger diameter at 1&1/16". Springs and spring pockets are taller and beefier than my 250.

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[tubolove]

So, hubs, caliper mounting brackets, dust sheilds, spindles, caliper brackets, radius arms, and shock mounts are back from bead blasting. Pretty amazing how new they look, almost like they are pained silver.

Hubs, caliper mounting brackets, and dust sheilds are off to the powder coater.

Spindles waiting on kingpin rebuild kit to come with the drop I beams.

All new Wagner brake parts and Timken bearings, races, and seals are here.

What a NIGHTMARE trying to get two calipers that were built from a core that wasn't absolute ***** and pitted to high heaven. Finally got two that are presentable and they and the Caliper brackets will be disasembled next week and sent to the powder coater for a coat of Ford Racing blue used on the late model Cobra Mustang valve covers. Should look hot!!

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[tubolove]

So the drop I beams from AIM or Chassis Tech or Airbagit whatever name they are using this week came in. The pieces look surprisingly good considering the horrible reputation that they have. They are the only people that make F-350 drop beams so I didn't have much choice. So the beams look satisfactory but the tie rod end relocators are completely wrong. I knew it was going to be an issue when they guy taking my order just blew me off with " I'm not sure how they address the tie rods being on top of the spindle but the engineers back there have all that figured out.... Trust me". So after multiple emails and phone calls it was determined that you can't drop a tie rod that bolts in through the top of the spindle and a radius arm c notch is the way to go. I'll have to see when it is mocked up. I like the idea of having my tie rods attached directly to the spindle but am concerned about the angle all the steering linkages will be at.

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[tubolove]

So after a little brainstorming last night I came up with a humdinger of a solution to my steering issue. What if I bought the tierod end relocators from DJM and just used Hank's original steering system. It bolts in from the bottom and if I am using the drop down bracket it doesn't matter which way the tie rod went into the spindle originally. It just bolts onto it using the hole that the tie rod went into.

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[tubolove]

So how does everyone on here feel about the OEM radius arm bushings from this era truck? The reason I ask is because the frame mount and the metal that the bushing sits on were worn through and I will have to rebuild both the mount on the frame and radius arm as well so why not update the set up if there is any advantage to it. I was just looking at my '09 F250 SuperDuty 4x4 and there is a bushing in the radius arm that looks like a leaf spring bushing. I was curious if changing from the standard radius arm set up to a heim joint or Johnny joint or even a late model style radius arm bushing might be better to minimize wandering when driving down the road?

[elgemcdlf]

While I can not see all of it your drops for the tie rod ends need something that keeps them from turning. If not you will be steering before the spindle starts to move. Ears that ran upward around each side of the original location would do it.

[tubolove]

That's a great idea. That photo is just one I found on a google search and not my actual piece I have yet to order them. Now that the spindles are back from the machine shop with fresh bronze kingpin bushings I can mock it up and see if these are even necessary. The F-350 spindle steering arm already drops down where the F-250 spindle goes up. The problem is that if the arm IS in the right place height wise the taper for the tie rod end goes the opposite direction from the 250 spindle.

[tubolove]

So here is the mock up of the F-350 spindle on the 3" drop I-beam. The tie rods attach throught the top of the spindle, but if you look at the pic they are in perfect alignment with the hole in the radius arm.......IF......the tie rod came up from the bottom of the spindle. So that means no tie rod drop down bracket like the one in the previous post.

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Unfortunately the tie rod on the F-350 bolts in through the top of the spindle. The good news is the tie rods from my F-250 bolt in through the bottom and will work perfectly.......if I can figure out how to reverse the taper on hole the steering arm for the tie rod. I am going to talk to the machine shop and see if they can macine an insert and have it pressed into the spindle.

[sands]

That looks all some. Looks like you just about got it. waiting to see the all the blue parts.

[tubolove]

Don't get too excited just yet! Only the calipers and valve cover my friend!