Project Super Duty

[Blown F-150]

Had to run back to St. Louis and changed the 100hp perf tune to the 65hp Tow tune, just to see if any differences could be noticed. With the shifts being held a bit higher from the tow tune, I think any MPG improvement was negated. it did work really well for City driving, I'm still very impressed with the off-the line difference of the Atlas tunes. There was a WOT power drop that was noticeable, kinda surprised since it is only really a "35hp" difference.

It was an absolute storm for the last 60 miles on the way back, so the truck got really good MPG's @ 45mph

Bilstein 5100's ordered for the front and I have some Archoil coming to try with the next oil change.

The drive back, gotta love open fields in the winter...

[Blown F-150]

Hey RR, I just did an oil change yesterday with 5W40 full Synthetic again and added Archoil 9100. I only drove it home from the dealer, so I doubt it had that much time to circulate, but seems to have improved the start up already by a bit.

-5C (21*F). Obviously ignore the long crank as I have still been trying to sort that out. But anyway at half the price, I am all for the Archoil vs. Rev-X.

http://youtu.be/eyyTd0JfaTQ

[Blown F-150]

Looks like I am going to need some additional hardware before I can install the shocks. My bolt on shock spacers for the front end lift are wore out. I am guessing that they weren't tightened up properly when installed and have now ob-longed the holes and messed up the threads on the bolts.

Too bad, I was looking forward to getting them in this weekend.

[Too Stroked]

Bummerville. How hard will those parts be to get?

[Blown F-150]

Bummerville. How hard will those parts be to get?

I was lucky and actually able to find the extensions on Ebay for $20. So they are ordered and should be here by the time I get back from LA next week.

I'm going to run to the dealer tomorrow to get some new lower mount bolts, so everything going on is all shiny and new. It's the proper way to do it anyway.

 

[Blown F-150]

I got back from LA last night and my Extensions had arrived and the Dealer called to let me know that the nuts and bolts came in.

So I decided to tackle the shocks this morning. I headed out the dealer and picked up the hardware, turns out I had to buy 4 bolts instead of two at $10 a pop Anyway, I figured I would use them instead of the bolts supplied with the extensions. I am very glad I pre-soaked all the rusty nuts an bolts last week, cause they were a bear to get out.

All said and done it took almost 4 hours and should have been an hour tops. The shocks that came off were shot and full of air, so I am glad it's done. Now everything is tight and the front end is nice and quite like it should be. Noticeable improvement in ride quality.

Before (yes I had pulled the bottom bolt by this point)


You can see a bit of wear on the bolt and the extension that was causing it to flop around


Side by Side


After

[Kitzy]

Damn.  Looks pretty simple.  Rust is a killer.  Makes everything take longer than it should.  At least its done now.

[Too Stroked]

Looks a ton better. And I'm sure the ride and handling is dramatically improved too. Was that old shock clunking at all?

[Blown F-150]

Damn.  Looks pretty simple.  Rust is a killer.  Makes everything take longer than it should.  At least its done now.

Lack of the right tools (had to go buy a 13/16" wrench for some reason) and the fact that the extension block didn't line up right, which meant I had to drill them made things take a bit longer than expected.

Glad I got it done, It's already snowed a couple of inches and the temp has dropped from 43*F to low 20's.

[Blown F-150]

Looks a ton better. And I'm sure the ride and handling is dramatically improved too. Was that old shock clunking at all?

it does ride different, we took it out to the movies and I found a few pot holes. The ride is much smoother and quiet like it should be.

I think the there was a clunk in the shock on the passenger side, it moves an easy inch without any dampening at all. The bottom of the extension was also sloppy, so I am sure some of the noise was coming from that too.

I can't wait to get the rears done, hopefully in a couple of months.

[Blown F-150]

Just a quick note, I did another trip to St. Louis and back.

The new shocks up front made a big difference in ride quality. I can't wait to get the rears done too, but have to do some measuring to see if there is a lift in the rear or not, anything more than an inch will require different shocks.

The weather was a bit warmer today, I think it was in the high 40's. I am really starting to believe in the FICM tunes. For the whole trip which was roughly 85% highway my scangauge II reports 19.6Mpg's for the trip which is the highest I think I have ever seen! There was a bit of a south wind helping things out today, but still impressive in my eyes.

Looking forward to it warming up so I can get back on it to tie up some loose ends I want to deal with.

[Blown F-150]

Thanks to Dave, I was able to figure out which rear shocks I needed (Length wise). 5100's are now on order, hopefully I can get them on next weekend. 

[GreyMichFX4]

Glad I could help.

[Blown F-150]

The rear shocks showed up while I was in Miami this week. I figured today was a good day to get them on. Much, much easier than the front. All the hardware was in really nice shape and came apart easy after I hit everything with PB Blaster yesterday.

While I had the shocks off, I figured it would be a good opportunity to clean up the rear-end and give it a hit with some fresh paint. I just hit the rough stuff with a wire brush, hit it with brake cleaner, taped off all the hard-lines and then hit it with some paint. I didn't really use "paint", but used rattle can box spray liner. I prefer this to the rubberized undercoating as it is thinner and doesn't cause issues with fasteners, etc.

I think that I will be keeping an eye out for a rear diff cover, something pretty budget, but that would look nicer than factory. I am open to any suggestions.

On to the proof...err pics.

Before


I think they needed to be changed


After

[Too Stroked]

That looks a ton better! Keep an eye on the rear diff cover. We've actually had 3 or 4 rust to the point where they leak. The cast aluminum ones increase the gear lube capacity and dissipate heat better. They also come with both fill and drain screws.