Sounds like those tires are just getting broken in.

I'm not saying my tires are old, but I did notice the date code was written in Roman numerals.

 

I'm sure I could have got another decade or two out of them but I figured since I am replacing old bits to be sure I might as well do them too.

 

I made the mistake of looking at my date codes on the 80 F350 DRW, they were about the same range as yours, maybe a bit older. 16.5" rims. What a hassle. Six Robblees could only find 4 used rims, so 2 new and then tires. Did get a nice score on tires though. Discount tried to get me the closeout Dynapro that were on sale but could only find 4. The manager sold me the new 235/85-16 AT2 RF11's at the closeout price. They are quite a bit taller than the stock set up. That should help with cruising RPM with the C6 & 4.10 gears. Still dont have any miles on them since shortly after having them mounted my rear main seal leak turned into more of a downpour. Rebuilt engine is waiting its turn on my rather long to-do list.

 

I dropped both gas tanks, cleaned them out, new sending units. Now I finally have two working tanks and hopefully a somewhat accurate fuel gauge. Of course in the process I nicked the nylon line to the rear tank, so I will be splicing a repair in there today. Never stops.

Looking at the bright side though, hopefully this puts an end to running out of gas. This is my daily driver, and with just running the front tank on a fuel gauge that is either totally for or below E, I've taken to carrying a fuel can in the bed...

 

Not today but yesterday.
I been using the truck to / from work last 4 days as wife's car would not crank after back from the dealer the day before, and she can't drive stick so left her the Durango.
Well a 1/4 mole from the house the motor side Zbar pivot broke again and had to "float gears" to get it home and rolled into the house garage.
After being up at 3am for work and it being 97*+ out and wanting to go to a car show the next day and knowing I had a new pivot I figured I would fit it.
Easier said than done. Trash had to be done first and look into why the wife's car would not crank and get it fixed if I could.

Son moved the car out of my garage, jump staring it that I did not know of at the time.
Used the garden tractor to move the truck from house to my garage. Pulled the broken part out was not hard just hot & dirty.
You know what happens when you buy a "spare part" you can never find it when needed so my son went to welding the broken part again for the 3rd time.

Wile he did that I took the right outside mirror off to tighten the pivot because every time closed the door it adjusted.
Got it back on went to adjust it and the pivot broke off the mount! At that point I had enough of the BS!
Went out to start the car now sitting in the yard to move to house garage and battery will not turn it over either!
Would not start with a jump start. Had to clean the battery connections, fill with water and then jump start.

I was done for the day. Son had to get a new battery for the wife's car. it was 5+ years old and go and pick up dinner.
Still pissed at the truck so did not get out to garage to look again for the new part or order a new mirror, maybe tomorrow?
Dave ----

ps you cant get the motor side pivot for a 300 six motor as it is NA

 

Replaced the emblem on the grill today. The original got hit by a rock about 20 years ago. The resulting chip was barely noticeable, but apparently it let in some water over the years. The outer shell finally fell off last week:



Apparently the grill is a major structural element, judging by the number of screws holding it in place. Try as I might, I could not quite snake my hand in there with the grill installed.

I also lubed the hood latch, door hinges, door latches, and tailgate. Time to relax in my easy chair after such a strenuous day…

 

Since there have not been any posts in awhile --- Nothing, not a damned thing. Need to pull the heater core so I can take that along with the radiator to get cleaned and tested. Dont need any cooling issues the rebuild engine. I am about caught up on things that were taking time from working on the truck. Some procrastination on my part, some more important things to do around the house & yard. Hope to have the thing running by the end of the year.

 

After two years of running two different 4160 Holley carbs experimenting I put my Summit 600 cfm carb back on the other day. Since it overall ran the best and got better MPG on average. That carb always ran great except for a lean spot in the transfer slot area I could never tune out. Turns out enlarging the Idle Fuel Restrictor jets from .046" to .049" made the difference in the world. I also have new rear brakes to put on this weekend.

 

Been a long time myself...

Made the move to Missouri. Just got my truck registered which involves safety inspections out here. Meaning I had to find the right inspector. Like there is pretty much nothing I would be able to do to legitimately pass safety inspection.

Dan has been moved to company truck status with my woodworking side hustle, so now it's a nice tax deduction when I have to fix things.

Aside from that, I did manage to get the front passenger brake rotor replaced. What was left of it.









Then later one put him to work transporting and unloading my new table saw

 

Hope you also replaced the other rotor.
Was this before or after the safety check?
If before why will it not pass?
Dave ----

 

Yeah it was before the inspection. No amount of money slipped across the counter would get a guy to pass that. Least what I carry one me.

Other rotor is next up but really needed to get it on the road. Driver side is still good on pads and the rotor is fairly decent.

Steering slop would fail me for sure. Very few old trucks out here. I moved to the Rust Belt so not a lot of cars before 2000 out here.

 

Ok got it
For you and others please get the steering and other brake fixed.
Would hate to see you, someone else or the truck hurt.
Dave ----

 

Have to look into one of those Redhead steering boxes I think to take the slop out of the steering. It doesn't wander really and easy to keep it in the lane, just have quite a bit of play in the steering wheel.

Brakes are great now. Still want to get the other front rotor and everything changed since I have the parts and match. Rear drums are about 2 years old.

Being out where you are one of maybe 5 bullnose trucks makes you think a lot more about keeping it from getting wrecked.

 

This past weekend, in preparation of my daughter assuming ownership as her first vehicle, Willie (81 F100) got a round of maintenance and repairs. The wheel bearings were replaced on the p/s front since there hasn't been a grease cap on there since I bought it last year. BTW, the Dorman replacement is awful. The part that is supposed to press in to the rotor is tapered and spits itself back out. I need to go harvest some used ones from the yards. Also diagnosed and fixed the non-functioning blinkers and flashers and replaced the rear taillight harness. P/O HACKED it for trailer lights and then bypassed it with 26ga. phone wire tapped to the front lights when none of it would work. Replaced the turn signal cam since the lever wouldn't reset or stay engaged.

 

Dont over look Blue Top boxes I have one in my truck and it helped a lot.
It was also cheaper and in stock over the Red Head box
Dave ----