1971 f250 DESERT truck- 10/24 race prep

[westco]

What are you planning for bedsides?...... do you know if glass sides have the "bump" for our trucks?....I was thinking of dismantling my bed and hanging my sides.

[1971ford]

Is that your mothers car.....everythings leaning against

Sounds like ya made a good haul.....race truck is changing rapidly

yeah i was careful when leaning things against it

Looks like you found some goodies....I bought myself a pair of new 3.0" Fox c/o's 14" travel for the 69....I was freaking giddy as a school girl.... wait wut?

What are you planning for bedsides?...... do you know if glass sides have the "bump" for our trucks?....I was thinking of dismantling my bed and hanging my sides.

Nice, those will do the trick.

autofab makes shortbed bedsides for bumpsides. same as a stock bedside as far as looks go.

[rattlecan]

Not sure how you get away with leaning parts against the wifes car...I would be fertilizer in a heart beat!
good work on that frame! that is gonna be one fun truck!

[Ranchero50]

Not sure how you get away with leaning parts against the wifes car...I would be fertilizer in a heart beat!
good work on that frame! that is gonna be one fun truck!

Mothers tend to be more forgiving

[1971ford]

Today's progress

-Removed chevy 64" leaf springs/hangers
-punched out the frame rivets that were still flush with the frame from when i moved the hanger (front hanger goes back in original spot now). Bolted hanger up with grade 8's (need 1 size bigger of a bolt, and washers. So not final just yet)
-Cleaned/painted the National f100 packs and bolted them to the front hanger, then to the rearend with new u-bolts
-mocked the rear hanger/shackle up but they need to come forward more, hanger/shackle binds before it droops at all. But i know i won't have as much travel as i did with the 64's. Hoping it rides better though!!
-Trimmed front fenders once again. Now the wheels can be turned a little in either direction at full bump. If i turn full lock at full bump the fender may get ripped apart but if im at full lock/bump i think the truck is going to be on its roof anyways. I'd have to trip the fender to the point where it just would look ridiculous if i wanted full clearance. I wish i trimmed steel fenders instead of the fiberglass fenders, because now the cool original lip is totally gone, oh well.
-trimmed the cab for tire clearance at full bump
-added the 2 engine cage/cab cage support tubes on the passenger side behind the dash going through the floor
-drilled beam mount holes out
-cut 4" of frame off the very rear to be in SWB stock specs


It's hard to tell with no bedsides but im pretty sure the truck sits a tad lower than it did with the 64's, and there is not a single pound of weight in the bed, not even a bedcage. My 6'10" dad say on the rear crossmember and it barely sagged so maybe it won'y sag too much when i put 700 more pounds on top of them. Or maybe I'll need to shove more leaf's in there...




Cut the bedsides down 16". They need some body work...


Never got around to taking a picture of the radius arm pivots until now.


Looks evil

[67mann]

Looks good Ryan
1 Question Do the neighbors still wave at ya
Lots of vehicles in that 1 pic

[killakobra]

My parents are always freaking out about my truck stash and parts piles but the neighbors love it. i had one stop and tell me they liked to watch the progress.

[1971ford]

yeah there's my dad's tahoe, mom's camry, my race truck and my highboy, my brothers two bronco prerunner projects.

[67mann]

Nice work Ryan...really rolling along with your metal Fab and welding skilz

[jp2005]

Man you are going to town on this truck. Wish I had the time you did, keep up

[FreakysFords]

Great work as always! It's gonna be a whole new race!

[dolinick]

LOL at your fatcat!

[1971ford]

Thanks guys!
That cat is NOT fat, it's FURRY

Photographer just sent me motivation!!! This made my day...


Big thanks to Kathy Durrett with CougarFreak Photo for these photos!

[1971ford]

Started breakin' stuff out to mount on the truck, here's some of it, coming back out the boxes.


Lets see, dual hi/lo stock horns, Hella horn, and air horns. They'll here me coming from miles


I should of taken a picture of the bedcage before i threw stuff on it but it's almost done. I'll call it the anti-frame-twister 3000. Everything is getting mounted in new places. Fuel cell is raised flush to bottom of the frame (beat the heck out of the skid plate when it was sitting a foot below the frame). Battery sits on a little platform juts in front of the fuel cell. Rear spare hangs out of the bed and i'll be rapping a bumper around it. Top spare will rest on some tubes with either a strap or large "wing nut" (more like handlebars).
I'm going to make that big open area in the front of the bed area a big tray that we can strap a big bag too that holds all spare parts and tools.

[Kevin69f100]

That's an awesome truck, bet she's a blast to drive. The bed cage looks great too.