Betsy the Farm Truck (1 Viewer)

[jynx]

Called CU yesterday and they confirmed the shipment went out. USPS gets a fail for not tracking packages. Either way as I suspected the diff cover showed up today still showing that it still hasn't left Cali....

Anyway, this thing is beefy.

Just gotta decide if I want to throw a lunchbox in while I am at it. Lucky for me the Heep crowd likes these axles so I can get some pretty snazzy goodies for it.

 

[sk8salomon]

dayum, i wish i could weld like that!

 

[jynx]

dayum, i wish i could weld like that!

No joke. It is a well built piece for sure.

 

[siuling337]

Thanks for sharing~!

 

[jynx]

I picked up a new starter for Betsy on Monday. I have to try and get this hot starting issue sorted out. Being stranded twice in one day is not a fun time. The battery seems fine, it cold started after sitting for almost a month on Saturday, but stopped less than a mile down the road and it was like it had been gutted. Got a jump and she fired right up, then happened again at the bank shortly after... drove down to the farm where she sat for several hours while we worked and she fired up on the first hit.... I don't know WTF is up with her but I have to get this sorted. I need to be able to drive her to run errands without fear of being stranded.

Going to swap the starter out and then drive down to one of the parts guys and let them test the battery and see what they say. Last piece will be a new starter solenoid and wiring from A to B to C.

I also picked up a cheap head unit and have some speakers in the cabinet that I plan to try to get installed to help pass the time and drowned out the drone of the exhaust and tires in my uninsulated cab with a giant hole in the floor.

 

[sk8salomon]

my old Bronco would go thru starter solenoids from time to time. I always kept a screw driver handy to jump across the terminals.

 

[jynx]

Well I got the new starter on this afternoon. I wish everything on new trucks was that easy, 3 bolts, off, new one on, tighten 3 bolts, done! I also decided to go ahead and install a new solenoid while I was at it.

I think I got the problem whooped.

Starter hiding behind the exhaust downpipe.

New solenoid.

And went ahead and put a little paint on the new diff cover. Flat black and ultra flat OD green. Who says a farm truck can't have a little style.

Gotta go for a test drive to check out the starter and make sure I got that lick'd and then onto the next thing in line.

 

[jynx]

Well I took her out for a ride and when I got home, shut her off and gave it a few minutes and then tried her and she fired right up. I do think I will look for some heat wrap or at fabbing up some kind of heat shield to help cut down on the heat transfer onto the new starter.

Next project I think will be getting that radio and new speakers in the doors to help cancel out the drone of the exhaust and tires.

I also have a small air tank that I was thinking of mounting in the bed, mostly because it needs to not be in the floor of the garage anymore. I also need to finish wiring up my trailer plug and brake controller so I can drag junk home with her.

 

[jynx]

I got in on a 4x4labs GB a few weeks ago and got 3 of his cargo basket kits. The plan was 2 for the 80 and one for my 3rd gen, but after working on one of them last light and playing around this morning, I think I am going to mount one in the back of betsy for fuel can storage.

Last night I got it to here.

And this morning I test fit the cans

I am going to mount the basket in the front corner of the bed on the drivers side. Also thinking about mounting an air tank in that corner as well.

 

[FJCRAWLER]

You're going to hate losing the bed space one day .

 

[jynx]

You're going to hate losing the bed space one day .

I'm trying to minimize that. I plan to mount them parallel with the bed side in the space ahead of the wheelwell. I sat the rack in earlier today and if I set the mount up correctly the outside of the cargo carrier should sit just slightly outboard of the tub of the wheelwell, so shouldn't intrude into the bed too much. If the air tank is going to eat into the bed space I will just mount it under the bed where the spare would be.

 

[jynx]

The ol' girl got street duty for now while the cruiser is serving DD duty during the snowpocalypse, but I snagged this this morning and thought it was kinda cool.

Not sure there will be any barn work going on this weekend since it will either be 50* and raining or 20* and snowing....

 

[jynx]

Well 2 weeks ago the old girl laid down on me. The way it has been heat-sinking starters I figured it was either a fried starter or cooked the solenoid. I intended to swap it out yesterday but apparently different folks use different threads on their solenoids, so I had to go by the parts store to pick up some nuts....

So today we went down and swapped out the solenoid and she fired right up. I picked up a bed full of mulch on the way home to spread around the yard. And when we got that out, we loaded her up with junk and wood to carry back down to the farm...

At this rate I have to get some kind of heat shielding on the exhaust and I'm gonna throw an extra solenoid in the glove box.

 

[jynx]

Been running her hard the last couple weeks. A bad Master, slave or firewall flex is not letting the clutch fully disengage so shifting has been getting progressively worse, but she made it out with the last load of junk from our move that needs to go to the dump. Went out this morning to see about moving her and the starter would only spin but didn't seem to be engaging the flywheel, so figure I need to swap on the new starter I have in on the shelf, so go to try and start her and got nothing nada, zilch. So I tried to jump her and nothing. Acting the same as it did last time the solenoid fried, so I will see about getting a couple of them tomorrow. Need to get her back to the farm since she is taking up space in the already small lot at our apartment. Hopefully I get her fired back up tomorrow afternoon.

 

[jynx]

Well the ole girl is DOA....

I'm not getting power to anything. Trying to sort it out but it is a pain since she is currently sitting behind our apt loaded down with junk. I'm may have to phone a friend and see about having it hauled down to the farm so it can have my stuff around to fiddle with her. At this point her fate is in the balance. I'm think it have a grounding issue, but finding it in the mess of hacked up wiring is going to be a real pain. If she stays I'm thinking a painless basic harness is going to be in here future.

 

[Elbert]

remote solenoid away from heat soak.

 

[jynx]

So I ran to the barn and grabbed my multimeter and went back out this afternoon and started chasing the voltage. After a couple rounds I found what I thought was a likely culprit. Seemed too simple, but I ran to the parts store and grabbed a new one. Got back and swapped it on and she not only crancked, but cranked better then she has since we've owned her. Are you guys ready to see the sumbitch that has been causing ALL the hard starting issues.....

The effin positive cable from the battery to the solenoid!!! She cranks better than most new cars now. Apparently the old cable was shot.

Who knew. Never would have suspected that, but I'm glad I found it before I re-wired the whole d@mn truck only to find it still wouldn't crank.

 

[jason in tn]

Glad you found the problem and that it was an easy fix, sucks something that simple can be such a headache.

 

[jynx]

Betsy got a little love today. She's been getting pushed and pulled around the last few months because she wouldn't start again. I picked up a new battery at Rural King 2 weeks ago after changing the solenoid and deciding the old one was trash and didn't have enough left to turn it over even when jumped. Well threw the new battery in this afternoon and she whirled to life. Erin came out to find me doing donuts in the back yard... So now I'm gonna file for an antique tag, keep a battery tender on her and use her for garbage duties and co-op runs on Saturdays.

Very pleased with today's work.

 

[jynx]

Spent a couple hours this morning trying to get her all the same color after having been multiple colors for all the years we've owned her. Little 300 grit and then some ruatoleum army green. Why you might ask, because I had half a dozen cans left from painting the sami so it was free.

Old girl sucked it up too. I'm 5 cans in and still lack a little on the drivers side and the roof but overall I think it will work. Gotta get some black to trim the bottom out and touch up the grill, but overall pleased.