Project Mayhem - A Build Thread

[GLTHFJ60]

Oh yeah, the fancy expensive DC power alt "the last alternator you'll ever buy" shit the bed when a bearing failed, and they dont/can't service that alternator frame anymore, so that's fun. Pulley walked back into body of the alt causing intermittent charging. Original alt was in the tool box as a spare, so it went on.

Few random pics from the truck putting in work this year.

 

[Grendel]

No updates other than I put tires on it this year. Goodyear g622s in the rear for some extra traction.


Haven't done it yet, may get it done next year, we will see. I'm contemplating pulling the cab off, engine out, and changing the whole front frame clip instead of just slapping the brackets on. If I had a 2005+ f550 chassis in the right config I'd just swap everything over.

There are F550 chassis out there. Then again, converting an earlier one doesn't seem that hard

 

[GLTHFJ60]

There are F550 chassis out there. Then again, converting an earlier one doesn't seem that hard

Agree. The issue making me consider a frame clip vs just putting the brackets on are some extra bracing/gussets that the 05+ 450/550 frame has up front to stiffen up for the different load points with the coil suspension. Adding those to a 04- frame would be a pita with the engine in.

 

[Grendel]

Agree. The issue making me consider a frame clip vs just putting the brackets on are some extra bracing/gussets that the 05+ 450/550 frame has up front to stiffen up for the different load points with the coil suspension. Adding those to a 04- frame would be a pita with the engine in.

Yeah, I have just the 2004 Chassis right now.

Might make Ford people sad, but I have plans for a Chevy engine, trans and t-case in it, using Ford mounts.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Put a new tune on the truck to get an exhaust brake feature. Used Warren Diesel again, and am very happy. Read about the experience here. Shortly story, I'm very impressed.

Talk to me about exhaust brakes

I made the mistake of driving my buddy's late model cummins ram 3500. I drove it for a quick jaunt unloaded, but on some decent hills, and holy shit does that factory exhaust brake work. Makes me want one for my 6.0/ZF6 F550. From reading the literature, it seems to be a simple as buying...

irate4x4.com

Smoked the front brakes real bad on a relatively long steep grade coming back from a trip in VA at 26k gross, before I put the exhaust brake tune on. Haven't replaced the front brakes since I owned the truck, and figured this was a good excuse. Got some fancy z36 powerstop rotor/pad kit from rockauto and put them on today. Hopefully they last a good long time, especially now with the tune.

Bonus, these old rotors will make great grinder or vise stands for someone.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

New brakes and exhaust brake tune are awesome. Coming down real steep grades, the kind with multiple truck embankments for trucks with failed brakes, I felt super confident in my rig at 26k gross. 3rd gear @ 50mph @ 3000rpm down the grade, and I barely had to use the brakes at all. Love it.


Oem radiator started leaking pretty good. Oem replacements cost $450, and IPR upgraded ones cost a bit less, so mayhem got a 36mm core welded aluminum radiator. Drop in replacement which is very nice.

 

[Mattafact]

Where did you get the radiator?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Ficmrepair.com

 

[Grendel]

Converted my rear axle from the weird 8 lug pattern to 10x225 by swapping 05+ hubs onto my axle. Everything bolts together, no modifications needed. New wheel bearings, rotors, pads and fluid, right at 230k miles.

This is really good news.

 

[Grendel]

What did you with the old 8 lug stuff?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Threw it out.

 

[Grendel]

Threw it out.

Dang, son.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Build threads aren't always glamorous, lol.

Fuel tank selector valve went out. Symptom, stuck on one tank, unable to switch, fuel level gauge always stays the same regardless of switch position. Thought it was the switch, changed that, no fix. Pinned out the valve plug, voltage changes appropriately when the switch is flipped, so the valve must be the culprit.

Fuck me running is this a bitch to change. The assholes at Ford have these retaining clips in the line connectors that always break when you try to pull them out. Bitch of it is when you try to pull the broken shit out with needle nose, they break again, inside of the line connector, so you have to shove a pick/small flat head screwdriver in to spin the clip retainer remanent around to where you can get to it with the needle nose.

Rant over. Pics to follow, along with the part number for the replacement clips.

 

[Grendel]

Funny, I just yanked one out.

All came out fine.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Ferd doing ferd things over the past year. Had a problem headed up to Pittsburgh earlier this year where the truck died at a stop light after fueling up. Troubleshot and found that after shutoff, the icp sensor was reading 4500psi (max) while the engine was off. Found a chafed wire in the harness above the glow plug controller, spaced it off with a blue rag and kept on. Other than that she's been reliable, but the damn front tank sending unit still doesn't work.

Picked this up in Pittsburgh for a song.

Picked this up in SC for a buddy (pictured). Have you ever seen a Toyota trailblazer?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I've been working on my shop to get ready for a 2 post lift install and have been putting off all work on the ferd till that's complete. The 2 post lift's first project will be to pull the cab so I can put my coil front clip in. However, the trusty ol ferd had other plans. A coolant leak has developed over the past year and it's too bad to ignore.

I had hoped it was the wster pump, but alas, no, it's the dumb donut thing between the timing cover and the intake manifold.

Tore it down yesterday, id'd the leak and got the parts on order. After reading some forums I'm gonna try to do this without pulling the whole intake manifold, but not sure there's enough room.

There's a way to bypass coolant flow through the manifold, so maybe I'll pull it off and see if I can do that with my full flow coolant filter.

At least it doesn't take too long to tear down to this point.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Took apart more and can't decide if the coolant leak was the donut thing or the top portion of the oil cooler, so I'm replacing the cooler gasket and eliminating the donut.

Chopped the rear egr cooler mount point off the intake to enable me to remove the intake without removing the turbo. Way, way easier this way.

Decided on doing a coolant reroute like the guys used to do with odawg ported intake manifolds, but didn't like the freeze plug method of capping the oil cooler coolant return in the front cover. Searched around then remembered I had a lathe, so I picked up some hydraulic o-rings and made a block off plug out of some 6061 round bar. This will be held in place with rtv and the intake manifold pressing down on top of it, but the o-rings should make the seal.

Since the coolant jacket is now useless in the intake manifold, I cut it off. Doing this should provide much more access to stuff in the valley once it's all back together.

Oh yeah, bpd billet water pump too.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Shaved down the donut gasket to be a hold down for my coolant reroute plug. Used a little rtv around the o-rings and the flange, then the intake+shaved donut will hold the plug in place.

Stuck the intake in and completed my coolant reroute to the ds. Coolant hose wrapped with anti abrasion, then wrapped with a 2500* sleeve to protect it.

Then just bolting on all the shit I had to take off to get to the dang coolant leak.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Looks like this is all wrapped up for now. Moved the coolant filter to the ds fender well, plumbed it to the coolant reroute hose then with a tee into the heater core return line.

Deleted the pcv from the intake to keep it a little cleaner, then ran a road draft tube down to the frame.

Also finally hooked up the boost gauge I installed like 5 years ago with a drilled and tapped hole in the bottom back of the red intake elbow so the line is hidden and clean.

Surprisingly, there are no leaks yet. That's a win. Feels good to drive the truck again. Engine bay is way way cleaner than it was before, I'm a fan.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Oh yeah, pic of the pcv delete plug I turned up. Just an aluminum plug held in with a hose clamp no o-rings or other sealant.

 

[ridered3]

Looking good and amazing what you can do when you have the know-how and tooling too.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Nearly 800 miles round trip towing my motel around. Cooling system is rock solid so far. No leaks, no lost coolant, which is a massive relief, and the first time in years I haven't had to top up coolant in the middle of a trip.

Did have one hiccup though. The fan clutch harness decided to commit suicide by fan on the highway. Never had that happen before. When it happened, it pulled out the coolant temp sensor plug, which caused me to pull over. Fortunately the engine side harness was unscathed:

Drove for another half hour or an hour on flat ground and temps were fine, slightly higher than usual. Hit 239* once. Found a ford dealer with a fan clutch in stock, and got it swapped out at a gas station. No problems after that, and a solid 9mpg the whole time. Just wish the fan clutch didn't cost $500 from ford.

 

[ridered3]

Nearly 800 miles round trip towing my motel around. Cooling system is rock solid so far. No leaks, no lost coolant, which is a massive relief, and the first time in years I haven't had to top up coolant in the middle of a trip.

Did have one hiccup though. The fan clutch harness decided to commit suicide by fan on the highway. Never had that happen before. When it happened, it pulled out the coolant temp sensor plug, which caused me to pull over. Fortunately the engine side harness was unscathed:

Drove for another half hour or an hour on flat ground and temps were fine, slightly higher than usual. Hit 239* once. Found a ford dealer with a fan clutch in stock, and got it swapped out at a gas station. No problems after that, and a solid 9mpg the whole time. Just wish the fan clutch didn't cost $500 from ford.

Good update and glad to see you getting some more use out of the motel.