Hard wired a factory amplifer (my truck doesn't have the factory subwoofer wiring).

 

I finally got around to measuring the inside of the bed. It came out to 4ft and 5 1/2 inches.

 

Looked at it and wept... looked at my intake and wept

 

Watched it in the mirror as I drove away to work in the Saturn. Ordered the parts for the transmission repair. My BIL has a shop in Houston and he has offered to help me fix this thing. Yeah I will be throwing sweat equity in here, but I will have plenty of help from someone that knows what he is doing...

Been talking with folks in the 4x4 club. This is my first coil spring truck with a winch, and been looking at options for getting the nose of my truck back in the air. I do not believe the OE springs in the Quicklifts will do the trick. I pulled the winch off to check, and for sure, it is the weight pre loading the springs causing the problem. I got a set of Coil Sumo Springs, which are basically over glorified coil spring boosters to help firm up the spring rate. I wish I could find someone that could tell me for sure, what coil springs I could lay my hands on that would compensate for the extra weight as I would do it in a hot second...

Got the parts and tools for the installation of the AirRAID intake tube organized, ready to tackle that as well.

Heading out to Advance tonight to grab the following items not already on hand for the work planned on the truck...

#1. Mercon V tranny fluid. Lots of it.
#2. Brake Fluid. I need to double check my owners manual, I think I need DOT3. How much? I figure 2 quarts should get it done.
#3. Power steering fluid. Again, I am guessing, need to check the capacities, but 2 quarts should be good.
#4. Gear oil, and cover gaskets for both diffs.
#5. Transmission drain plug kit. Going to have my BIL weld the female thread part into the pan. I don't want ANY possibility of a leak.
#6. Need to double check my manuals, but fluid for the T-case.
#7. Coolant. The Motocraft Gold stuff. Guess I need to go to Ford for that...
#8. Belt and hoses.
#9. Fuel filter.
#10. This is the one I shudder about... Spark plugs... Ugh.

The motivating factor for the BIL helping me out with the truck? I tend to shuttle her Dad around a lot, and he hates my Saturn...

 

Dbhost, have you considered calling someone like SAW or king to build you a set of coils specifically for your application? May take some saving up to do but that should end all problems of it....

 

Who is SAW? And I would radically prefer swapping in a proper coil spring replacement with a spring rate sufficient to handle the added weight...

I just had a dumb thought. Rancho recommended going back with the OEM springs, which as I stated before I believe to be a poor idea due to the added weight over the nose of the truck. I have seen more than a few of these trucks with leveling kits and say heavy duty replacement bumpers with the nose sagging a bit... Add the weight of a winch on top of that and you can see where the problem is...

Will the coils for say the payload package equipped trucks fit the Quicklift? Would the spring rate be firm enough to stop the sag without feeling like I am driving a rock?

I am looking specifically at the Moog #81120 to possibly fix this problem... Just wondering if I am thinking stupid or something...

 

From bed rail to bed rail mine is 5 foot 3 inches. Cool. Thanks man!

 

Added a tailgate assist which lowers tailgate slowly, works great. Installed 4 Bull Ring retractable tie downs into stake pockets.

 

Looked at it with disgust. This is the relationship that my truck and I have >

 

Gave it a good cleaning, as the roads are junk, and I don't get too many opportunities to let it drip all day at work.

I then proceeded to plasti-dip the wheels in flat black. First time using the stuff. Turned out better than expected.

Still had to peel the tires in this picture.


Edit. -20degrees Celsius (+1 F) makes for some cool wheels when your exhaust exits in front of it...

 

Went out and showed another member from this site some trails.

 

Replaced the headlamps in the freezing cold. Headlamp went out less than 24 hours after I had the fog lamps replaced.

 

Power washed it underneath to remove salt. Parked in the garage to hibernate again until we get another 7+ inches of snow.

 

My rear badge was looking like garbage so I took it off. I was planning to strip it down and paint it to match the rest of my badges. After spending about an hour on it and getting nowhere as far as removing the rest of the paint I gave up. I started searching for a new badge and came across this for less then a new badge costs. We'll see how long it lasts but I think it's neat.

Reese Logo Light Part Number 86094
Drive Lights

Brake Lights