84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

Now to the install.....

I had to figure out brackets and how I was going to mount them, since they did not come with brackets, nor would they have worked due to fact that the bars were being used on the opposite sides. ;)

So after thinking and pondering this, and looking at how others have mounted steps and bars, I decided to use a bunch of 2" angle iron.

I cut 12 pieces or 2" angle at 8" long and welded 2 pieces of them together to make the brackets from the body to the steps.



Drilled 6 holes in each bracket and used some self tapping screws to hold them in place.



And once in place I screwed 2 more from the front side through the pinch weld seam at the bottom of the rockers, into the bracket....very stable and secure now!

 
Once the brackets were in place I had to mount more angle iron to the steps themselves. Had to mount them with clamps and then drill holes to line up with the holes in the brackets on the steps. I also added an extra bolt through the top of the step mounting brackets.



Coat of brush on Tremclad and then mounting the angle iron brackets.



The idea was that the flat brackets off the body, and then the angle iron on the brackets, would give me a nice flat surface to get the steps positioned easily. Just clamp them in place once everything looked right, and then drill holes to mount them permanently.
 
Once I was actually able to hold them up in place I found that the front section of the step bar tubing was to long, so started by cutting off 4".



I eventually had to cut off another 2" and then grind the front edge flat to clear the mud flaps.



Clamped in place.....



Drilled and bolted in....

 
And all done....





I like how the rear section (actually front section...;) ) of the step bars follow the body line of the cab!



A bit of flex in the steps...but I think it's because of the thickness of the long angle iron piece on steps...seems to have a bit of rotational flex....the body to step brackets don't move at all.

Over all Very happy with how it turned out!
 
if you can..rune 2 back straps per side up to the frame..it will kill the roll flex...thats how they do em on ambulances
 
Well I have been having some weird diff issues for a while now, been getting worse over the last few months. Felt as though the power loc unit in the rear D70 was not working right, or was failing...which it shouldn't because I had it all rebuilt when I had the diffs re-geared back in Nov/2014.

But it also kind of felt like it could be coming from the front end. Since we have a 1000 mile trip planned in the crewcab in a couple weeks I wanted to check the front bearings and seals to make sure they were all good. I figured in two years since the big front end rebuild that this would be a simple check, toss some new grease in a few places and be done with it....well things seldom go as planned.[redface]

Here's the pass side....



Front bearing.....



you can see the inner seal was cooked right out!



Lot of water had made it in.



The drivers side was a lot better...no rustiness, but still a lot of dark contaminated grease.
 
It was about 6pm yesterday evening and luckily the parts store just up the road from me was open until 7pm. Was just planning on doing the rear seal, but the old Timken bearings and cups were looking worse for wear, so figured I'd grab all new ones. I had forgotten that I did not replace them when i re-did the front end before.





Unfortunately they did not carry timken bearings...SKF, and made in China/Japan...But I couldn't be picky right now.



So worked on it until 11:30pm last night, cleaning, and replacing everything. Took it around the block before coming in. It was when I was in the shower that I realized i did not set the end play on the front bearing properly. I grabbed my FSM and checked...sure enough I was going to have to re-do it in the morning.

So according to the FSm you need to tighten the hub bearing to 50ft/lbs to seat them. Then back off and rotate the rotor/hub assembly when tighten to 31-39 ft/lbs. Once tight then you back off the nut 135*-150*....I did a 90* then reset and did a 45*. Worked out almost perfect!
 
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And here's something I have been doing since converting the Crew to 4wd....



Helps keep water and debris from working there way in around the bolts. Even my diff guy loved it and was going to start doing it to every axle he worked on, or built. ;)
 
So once the front end was back together I decided to go have a visit with my diff guy. I explained what had been happening, and right way he says it's clutch chatter from my powerloc. I mentioned that I kind of figured that might be what my problem was, and just a few weeks ago i had switched to synthetic fluid with an additive, He asked if it had been getting worse...Yes it had!

This guy is a rare individual...he's as OCD and passionate about diffs, like we are about our 1st gen's. And he knows his stuff! There are very few people I would trust to work on any of my vehicles, or stuff...he is one of the few.

Anyway he explains how the synthetic fluid really isn't as good as they say, but does have it's applications, but most everyday driving is not the right place for it, and that a ton of his diff work is from OE manufacturers putting synthetic in their diffs...and they plumb wear out right as the warranty ends. Well he tells me to go get some Lucas 85W140, and Motocraft diff additive (1.5 needed) and this will solve my issues. He says any other additive will just cause issues....and if you do want to run synthetic then you need to add at least 2x's or even 3x's the additive.



Will find out tomorrow after I drive to work.
 
OMG that Motorcraft additive is the worst smelling stuff in the universe. We use it in some telehandlers we service and I keep it back in the furthest corner of the department.
 
74DartSport said:
OMG that Motorcraft additive is the worst smelling stuff in the universe. We use it in some telehandlers we service and I keep it back in the furthest corner of the department.
Click to expand...

Yup sure does smell, but after a few days the chatter was gone. Have not had any issue since the service, so I'm pretty happy!
 
So last Friday I headed on a 500+ mile trip (one way) to Prince George BC for my Brother in-laws wedding. Tossed some old tire tubes filled with sand in the back for traction, and Loaded up Ol' Patches with the family and gear and headed on up.



Couple traveling pics....





Truck did great, didn't burn a drop of oil, and had no issues....other then a bit of water that had snuck into the e-brake cables.
Once the temperature dropped they froze up! So some hot water poured on the cables freed them up, and just had to remember not to use them...which was very hard since it's a habit to put them on every time I stop. ;)

Got back last night....and had traveled about 1100miles. Truck averaged about 21mpg!
 
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Rolled over my oil change interval when I was traveling, so today was service time, and clean up the 'Ol beast from it's winter travels....especially since it was going to be about 16*c (68*F) and clear and sunny! :D
So I changed my oil, with a WIX oil filter, and tossed in a fresh G2 5/16 fram fuel filter. While removing the air box to turbo tube to give me some room to do the oil filter, I noticed something wasn't right.





Luckily I had a spare one in my parts horde....;)

I also rotated my 5 tires, and flushed my brake fluid. Was a good productive day!
 
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