North Idaho Driver

[popeyes71]

Oh yeah, love the new bumper! Much better than the vintage tube bumpers. Taking off that heavy old bumper probably raised the rear of the truck up an 1".

[Idaho Chris]

Just a nice looking truck!

Thanks Paul!

Oh yeah, love the new bumper! Much better than the vintage tube bumpers. Taking off that heavy old bumper probably raised the rear of the truck up an 1".

I got the bumper from Dennis Carpenter, but it came in a box with "LMC" printed on the side. Clearly it is one of the Chinese sourced bumpers. I will definitely have to keep it polished since I know the chrome is probably thin.

You are right about the weight difference. I would guess the old bumper and hitch weighed close to 175 pounds while the new bumper was at least 100 pounds lighter!

Time to stop stalling and get to work cleaning up the engine wiring. Also, the original headlights and wiring make for a pretty dim beam. I may install headlight relays and H4 lamps soon since the days are getting shorter here in North Idaho at the rate of 3 1/2 minutes a day!

[jzjames]

That’s a nice dog

[Idaho Chris]

That’s a nice dog

Yeah, he's a great dog. His name is Comet. He is a 2 1/2 year old Golden Retriever. His two favorite things to do are riding in the bed of the truck, and anything to do with water.

[Idaho Chris]

I haven't done anything this week to the truck since I've had guests in town for the Labor Day weekend. But, I have been finding an excuse to drive the truck somewhere at least every day. It sure doesn't hurt that everyone wants to go for a ride!



OK, maybe one more photo; my gal, my dog, and my truck. What more could a guy want? Life is good! (sounds like that could the opening line of a Country Western song )

[jzjames]

Well congratulations, it’s a great truck. I’m sure people will compliment on it wherever you go.
(and it’s a 300 - Six)

[DuckRyder]

Looks like a great Ford day...

[popeyes71]

Good to see you and the family are really enjoying the truck! It’s always good to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

[Idaho Chris]

I've been on the road for most of the week, but got back in town last night. My girl got me some truck bling for my birthday! New front marker emblems and a new steering wheel and horn ring.

F250 Emblems:



Installed:



The old wheel was seriously cracked and deteriorated to the point I could not clean it sufficiently. Every time I drove the truck I literally came away with black hands from the wheel no matter what I scrubbed it with. No such problem with the new wheel!



Cleaning up the engine bay wiring is still on the list.

[DuckRyder]

Man you are really getting that thing in shape, it looks great!

Happy Birthday! Those are good presents!

[JoshT]

I'm not normally a fan of green, but that truck looks good. The misses and the pup aren't bad either.

I can understand the surprise/disappointment of ordering from DC and having LMC on the box. I know a lot of people think little of LMC's parts, but that bumper looks good to me. I'm thinking about getting the version with auxiliary back up lights when I get one.

On a 2wd street oriented truck I think the sport bumpers look good. On a work oriented or 4wd truck I think I prefer the step bumper style. I'll be installing a receiver hitch to handle towing and I still prefer the step bumper.

Bit of an odd request, but could you take some measurements of that rear bumper for me? Wandering how tall the bumper is from top to bottom, and how far it drops down below the frame rail.

My 68 has a tube bumpers (on both ends) similar to what yours had, will be even more so once I install a trailer hitch. Like you I want ditch the tube bumpers, but that'll have to wait until I get rid the body lift and am also able to ditch the front tube bumper. Unfortunately before either of those (or much of anything else) can happen my truck has to have full exhaust. Want to have new exhaust built to leave clearance for step bumper so it won't have to be reworked when the time comes.

[Idaho Chris]

Man you are really getting that thing in shape, it looks great!

Happy Birthday! Those are good presents!

Thanks Robert! Couldn't ask for a better girl or better birthday presents! I'm planning on replacing the differential covers and inspecting the gears next week. I also have to replace the right front knuckle wiper gasket as I have a messy slow leak. Not looking forward to that job. I'm not really sure what is involved. I may post up a question for guidance in the suspension/steering forum.

I'm not normally a fan of green, but that truck looks good. The misses and the pup aren't bad either.

...On a 2wd street oriented truck I think the sport bumpers look good. On a work oriented or 4wd truck I think I prefer the step bumper style. I'll be installing a receiver hitch to handle towing and I still prefer the step bumper.

Bit of an odd request, but could you take some measurements of that rear bumper for me? Wondering how tall the bumper is from top to bottom, and how far it drops down below the frame rail....

Thanks for the complements Josh. I agree with your observation on bumper type depending on style/role of the rig. I am now happy that I went with the step bumper. I too will install a ball for towing, but since I will only tow infrequently I will remove the ball when not needed.

As for the bumper dimensions; the chrome bumper itself is 7 1/4" top to bottom. If you include the black center piece where the ball is mounted, it hangs a little over an inch lower. The dimension from the top of the chrome to the bottom of the black receiver center section is 8 3/8".

The distance from the lower black center section to the bottom of the frame rail is 4". There is some adjustment that can be accomplished with the mounting brackets. The bumper could be raised 1/2 to 3/4". I could not mount my bumper higher because of my bowed tailgate. The bumper could be lowered a bit as well if desired.

I hope that answers your questions. Don't hesitate to ask for more measurements if you need them. Good luck with your project!

[JoshT]

Yep, I think that'll do it. I appreciate it!

[Idaho Chris]

Yesterday I finally got the new wiper seal kit installed on the right front knuckle. I sourced the parts from 4wheelparts.com. For this task I decided to hire my local lube shop mechanic to do the job. I hate dealing with smelly gear lube. While he was at it we drained and replaced the gear fluid in the tranny, the transfer case and differentials at both ends. From the looks of the drained gear oil, the fluid change was long overdue...

Photo of the leaking knuckle:



New parts installed:



Here's a shot of the inside of the rear Dana 60. Looks pretty good for 50 years old.



While the covers were off I took the opportunity to get rid of the PO's chrome covers and go back to stock. I really have never understood why guys want to put chrome covers on their differentials, but to each his own I guess. I bought the new covers from Broncograveyard.com and painted them with a couple coats of low gloss engine enamel.

Old:



Now:



While the truck was in the air I noticed that the transfer case mounts were shot where they attach to the frame. One more task added to the list. I should have the parts in a week or so.

[jzjames]

Enjoying watching your fixes and clean-ups.
I’m going to copy one of them and change my gas line and vacuum line from over the top of the valve cover of the inline-6 to around the sides of it.