True but the front wheels are the ones that run off the drive motors, the rear are just chain driven. I figured better to have the extra grip...and potential "shock" to the system if one set of tires grab harder then the other. Plus I have another set of chains for the rear tires if I want to put them on....



I agree....but the cost of the snow blowers is what kills it for me. Cheaper to use Sno-ball to push the snow, then the machine to move and pile it.

 

Well I've been thinking about the problem of my charging voltage jumping all over the place and I think I have it figured out. Today since it wasn't raining I popped the hood and started the truck up. I put my Tripplett meter on the battery and I started wiggling the plug to the Voltage Regulator on the firewall. I could make the voltage jump all over the place between about 14.5 volts to 19.5 volts. I took off the plug and I found it was damaged with the plastic of the center ignition terminal deformed. I trimmed away the deformed plastic and I ran a wire brush into the plug hole a bit to clean it some then I squeezed it down with pliers. I put it back together and the voltage read 14.5 so I called it good and went for a drive. It seems to be steady for the time being. I'll put a new plug on order.

I wanted to find one of the Variable voltage VR's which have the number C8313 and have a screw adjustment on the back but I can't find one on Amazon or locally. All the others are on Fleabay or are priced way higher.

If the plug fixes the issue I still have a newer VR for a spare. The one I have on there now is one I bought 12 years ago but has few miles on it. Probably the original was OK and it was the plug problem all along.

The plug connections on these trucks seem to be a constant problem.

Edwin

 

That was a sexy scene, for a kids movie I mean...

Hauled a load of hay with the rebuilt tranny. Me likey. Low stall and a shift kit is good. Highest tranny temp was 160*F with ambient at about 45*. All is good.

 

Today I swapped the bed from the black parts truck to the '92 D250.

A cherry picker seemed to work really well to pick up the bed, but it could use a slightly longer arm insert to increase the reach. Another 6-8 inches would've made the job go a lot faster...



I was happy with how easy it was to move, it actually rolled around much easier than when loaded with an engine.



People who buy welders should be subjected to an I.Q. test!

This was a previous owner's attempt to fabricate a ball hitch mount in the bed.... :tsk:



That mess took about 2 hours to remove without damaging the frame, brake lines, wiring, fuel tank, etc. - but I was able to remove everything except some leftover steel plate welded along the length of one of the crossmembers.



When you use a 1/2 ton bed on a 3/4 or 1-ton you need to remove these little spacers for clearance, there are 2 on each side. The heavier trucks have a slightly taller frame in these areas. A Sawzall made pretty quick work of them...




Bed swap is complete! Next come the doors and fenders!

 

cool! another multi colored truck on the site! wish my bed was that rust free...even with the dents.

 

 

Should be plenty of rust-free parts trucks out there in Utah!
Swapping parts is way cheaper / less time consuming than doing body work!

 

as someone from the heart of the rust belt...I'd rather have to fix a dent then rust!Unless that dent is a lot worse than it shows in the pics, I would think there is enough room to get at the dent from behind and work at least most of it.

 

It won't be that hard to fix. Just pull it out and a couple buckets of Bondo.

 

That hitch was better than mine. Mine had 4 L brackets welded downhill with 6013. 3 of the 4 brackets I knocked off with 2 whacks of a 2lb hammer.

 

I thought the pivot point should be a bit further forward for stability.

 

Yeah, that is not what I wanted to hear. I want to use as little bondo as possible. It doesn't seem to ever last very well long term and just doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. There is already a small dent on one of the back top corners of the bed that looks to have been bondoed about 20 years ago that is peeling off. I guess I'll look for a bed or whole truck with good body for cheap. I obviously don't need the motor so maybe I can find something with no motor or a blown motor that has a good body.

You would be surprised at how rusty some of the vehicles from northern Utah are from people not taking care of them with the salt used on the roads up there in the winter. Then here in southern Utah toyota tacoma from the 80's with 2XX,XXX miles on it are always for sale for $7,000 plus. It is like people think they are made of gold! I say not so, especially since most of them are in as bad or worse cosmetic condition than my truck.

 

Didn't old time body men beat out fenders and such then coat them with lead instead of Bondo? I don't know if the lead would last any longer but I would think that it would stick better. Probably cost a lot more to do it that way though. Could you form a sheet of galvanized steel and weld it in place of the bent portion?

 

Took the rear driveshaft out to change the center u-joint as its never been done and I have been hearing a dinging clunking sounds when accelerating. Found the getrag yoke nut had come off instead and that was what was making the noise. Cleaned the threads and put it back on with some loctite and a 4' breaker bar.

Removed the u-joint anyways and cleaned and relubed all the needles and put it all back together. Found one broken roller bearing so replaced it with a good one from a old joint.

Good to go for another 100k!