Project Little Green Turd

[wizkid00104]

Ranger has been running good. Going to be replacing front wheel bearings after the new year. I am getting a lot of noise and I believe they are the culprit.

In other news, tree fell on the house Christmas Eve. Came home from Christmas dinner to this...


Here is a shot from the roof:


All I could think of was Clark Griswald trimming the tree in his front yard and telling his neighbor where to put it....

With a $1000 deductible on the house, I needed to get creative. That is good wedding and/or truck part money. With the help of my buddy's family, we got the tree off the house and cut up. Chained my quad to a tree and used the winch to pull the tree off. I was amazed the 2500 lb winch could pull that off....

In the process of winch the tree off, we smashed the downspout, bent the hell out of the last 4 ft of gutter, and chipped off some small pieces of shingle. The insurance adjuster gave me the name of a guy to call for an estimate. He wanted $850 to fix the above. NOPE.

Saturday, my dad came down and with his and my neighbors help, we patched the roof with sealer until the summer when the shingles are more flexible and I can replace the damaged ones. Then we cut the damaged gutter off and spliced in a new piece with parts from Lowes. Much thinner aluminum, but they matched up pretty well. Just took some patience to blend them together. They we installed a new vinyl downspout. This all took about 5 hours (because we work slow together) and cast just over $100. I am pleased with the results:



Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!

 

[wizkid00104]

Replaced drivers side wheel bearings on Friday. I thought the god awful drone in the truck was the tires but I was wrong. I put new rotors on in July which worked great, but the drivers side outer bearing race came loose and actually ground a huge lip in the rotor. This caused quite a bit of play in the rotation which I think ultimately ruined the inner bearing.

Lucky for me, Advance Auto replaced the the rotor under warranty without any issues. So in the end, it was a $12 repair that took about 3 hours from beginning to end.

 

[wizkid00104]

Minor update.... I ordered a few new items.

1. New wiring connector for my alternator. My battery light has been turning on and off due to the stator wire connector being loose. $12 on ebay.

2. New resistor pack for the blower motor. I got my heat working really well and have finally gotten fed up with only have low and turbo prop for my fan settings. $15 on RockAuto.

3. New headlights. Just stock ones because my adjusters have stripped and seized on my factory lights and they need re-aimed bad. I am getting sick of not being able to see in the dark, particularly on rainy nights. $36 on ebay.

I have a set of Silverstar bulbs that I am going to put back in for the time being. I think I am going to give Superbrightleds LED headlight kit a try in the near future. $100 isn't too bad.

After these fixes are complete, I am going to make a block plate for the EGR and replace my O2 sensor. Truck just rolled 210,000 so I figured its time for a change.

Other than that, F250 is due for inspection pretty soon and there shouldn't be any issues there. Tires are low, but should still pass. And the ATV needs a new drive belt. 3000 miles of trail and pushing snow have really worn it down.

 

[wizkid00104]

As always, nothing goes as planned....

1. Received the new harness for the alternator. Going to splice it in this week.

2. Received the new blower control circuit. The old one was seized to the connector. I was able to get it off (in many small pieces) after a lot of fighting, but I had to order a replacement pigtail for it. The blades broke off in the connector. That is on its way.







3. I received one of my 2 headlights. The packing slip called for left and right, but they only shipped me right. The are sending that out today (hopefully). I was happy that the housing came with bulbs already installed. Nothing wrong with having a 3rd spare set....

4. My transfer case indicators were flashing. The wires were rubbing on the t-case and broke the insulation. I am going to fix those when I do the rest of the wiring repairs.

I should have the turd back on the road in a few days. Its really hinging on the blower harness, the truck will run but I have no heat.... .

 

[wizkid00104]

I got the blower motor harness in yesterday so I spent some time in the garage soldering.

Wire colors on the new harness did not match mine, so I just had to be careful when making my connections. Soldered, heat shrinked, and good to go. All 4 fan speeds work well.



Next was the alternator. I bought a replacement harness, but after further inspection, I only needed the stator connector. Mine cracked ever so slightly and would no longer stay tight on the alternator. When the stator plug is disconnected, the battery light turns on. When the connector is lose, the battery light fades on an off, usually to the rev of the engine and bumps in the road.



The connector in questions is C153 on the following schematic. The kit I ordered included C153 and C154.

Here is a nice explanation of ford 3G alternators if anyone needs it: http://www.oldengine.org/unfaq/3ag/3ag.htm

Finally, I fixed up my transfer case indicator wires. I had crimped them on when I converted the T-case from electrical to mechanical. After all this time, insulation rubbed off causing a short and the lights would turn on and off. If anyone needs the conversion wire colors to hook up dash lights, let me know.

My other new headlight fixture will be in today, so I will probably work on those tonight.

 

[wizkid00104]

Did my headlight swap last night. I can actually see in the dark now.... big improvement!

Before:




New vs old:


Installed:




Lit:




Went out in the frigid cold to aim them. I am pretty happy with it. May make some adjustments later when I switch to an LED set.

All done:




Drove to work today and all my repairs held up well. I am thinking this summer I am going to give these a try...

Here is the link to the kit: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kits/led-headlight-kit-9007-led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kit/2114/4804/

I think for $100, its worth a try.

And on a completely un related note, while I was underneath the Ranger, I checked out my bed liner undercoat, and it is holding up very well to the lovely winter salt and brine. The bar and chain oil also seems to be doing its job

 

[036speed]

I need to look into lighting options for my OBS. Dang tinted windshield haha

 

[wizkid00104]

That's an interesting problem to have lol. Is that even legal in Ohio?

 

[036speed]

No way. Cant go less than 50 on the fronts and cant go under the AISI line on the windshield. I have my whole windshield done and 5 on every other window.

 

[wizkid00104]

Well then... just don't point it out to the fuzz lol.

The kit I am planning on using should work in your OBS... they are the same bulb. Here is another brand I've hear really good reviews on from FTE. They offer and even brighter LED kit. 3200LM low beam and 3600LM high beam. Looks like the Super Bright LEDs kit is 3000LM max.

https://www.lifetimeledlights.com/products?search_api_views_fulltext=9007

 

[036speed]

That's why I need a stock looking light. HIDs will make me stick out too much.

 

[wizkid00104]

Can you just un-tint the windshield? Doesn't that stuff just pull off?

 

[036speed]

Can you just un-tint the windshield? Doesn't that stuff just pull off?

That's not happening. Do you know how long it took me to find a tint shop to even do what I wanted?

I just don't drive at night. All good.

 

[wizkid00104]

Lmao. I didn't realize you were on the one who put it on. I thought it came that way...

So let me throw a fun idea out there... Put (2) of these on the front of the truck... https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/specialty-high-power-led-spot-lights/11-ir-high-powered-led-spot-light-18w/1607/3704/

Mount a camera in the grill and a flip up monitor in the dash....

And presto!!!!! Night Vision Dually

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Lmao. I didn't realize you were on the one who put it on. I thought it came that way...



So let me throw a fun idea out there... Put (2) of these on the front of the truck... https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/specialty-high-power-led-spot-lights/11-ir-high-powered-led-spot-light-18w/1607/3704/

Mount a camera in the grill and a flip up monitor in the dash....



And presto!!!!! Night Vision Dually

That would be ****in awesome!


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