GallopingFord
I'm Cam - Mr. Indecisive
Well, I know many of you know and I type about it frequently - I got myself into another build... it's a terrible sickness and I've learned to just embrace it.
I'll start from the beginning as there is a little back story to this project. Back in 1996 my dad brought home a Bright Red 1996 F-series HD... I thought it was the coolest damn thing ever. The diesel engine sounded awesome, and the overall look of the truck was just badass. Keep in mind I was 5 years old, but the image of that truck has always stuck with me. Along with this experience, my father had a Franklin Mint 1:24 scale of a 1996 F-150 in his office that I would always play with. He still has this model and two years ago my GF found a mint condition one that I added to my diecast collection.
Since high school I looked for the perfect OBS (older-body-style / Pre 96 3/4 ton and Pre 97 1/2 ton) Ford. It was next to impossible to find what I was looking for. My simple check list was a F250 or F350 4X4 Regular Cab with 8' bed and a 7.3L PowerStroke. I looked off and on. I would fall out of the search and get distracted with other projects and then I'd search again.
Then something happened.
I was working sales at our Ford store on a Saturday in August and I took a phone call from a guy who was interested in a 2005 F250 that I had in-stock. He was about 3-4 hours away and this was at 11AM. I answered his questions and he said he would be on the way. I was looking out the window and low and behold I see the truck I would soon own - a 1996 Bright Red F250 4x4 PowerStroke. I was ecstatic. Simply put, the deal worked out and we sold him a truck and took in the '96 F250. I drove it home to show my GF and she didn't hesitate to tell me that it was too much of a coincidence to ignore. I was 50/50 on buying it since I really didn't need another money pit but she convinced me that it was here to stay.
Let the pictures do the rest of the talking though.
Right after I took it in on trade before I drove home.
The next week I cleaned the exterior a tad bit.
She's not a low mileage queen by any means...
I sold the toolbox the previous owner and also pulled the drop in bedliner. You can see the driver side cab corner is rotted. I plan to take care of this soon.
Equipped with the Ford Murder-Red Interior. Looks decent but the truck is a XL with no power windows, locks, or mirrors and I'll be upfitting all of that along with the Ford Opal Grey interior.
Like any old vehicle, a lot of maintenance was performed. It needed new rear leaf shackles, a full fluid flush and an alternator.
Unfortunately the previous owner hauled a good deal of mulch and a lot of it got trapped under the drop in bed liner which caused rotting too. Upsetting since I didn't see it earlier but can be fixed.
Giving her all she's got.
All cleaned up and replaced two of the clearance light bulbs.
Replaced the worn out steering box with a 'RedHead' steering box.
This truck was 100% stock, nothing except for a trailer brake controller and a Reese receiver. It was time to pull the insanely restrictive OBS 7.3 exhaust. I installed a 3" downpipe to a 4" exhaust made by Diamond Eye.
Torched the downpipe in half since it is wedged in there tight.
Look how flat this thing is. It's unreal.
Here's a view of seeing up to the turbo outlet. It's incredibly narrow and with help, I used a portapower to push the firewall up and create clearance.
Then it came time to address the rest of the suspension. I wanted to lift the truck a bit and improve the ride. Normal lift kits for these trucks reduce ride quality for the most part and I didn't want that. As tempted as I was to clearance 37"-38" tires... it just wouldn't work for me. Plus the F250 of this era has a Twin-Traction Beam axle that acts like a IFS. This would have to go since they just aren't great for what I was looking for. I opted on a year correct F350 Dana 60 solid front axle.
I did a lot of research on these trucks and saw there are kits known as "Reverse Shackle Kits" which would allow the use of Super Duty leaf springs in the front of the truck with the Dana 60. This is where it gets fun.
My GF got me the RSK as a Hannukah gift and I pieced together a variety of other pieces such as Bilstein shocks valved properly for this setup, drop pitman arm, drop trackbar bracket, adjustible track arm, new front and rear SD leafs along with a 4.5" block for the rear. Oh yeah - I also sourced a F350 Dana 60.
Unlike the build of the Bullitt where I did 99.9% of the work, I don't have as much free time as I used to and enlisted help of a local fab shop to install the RSK with the axle swap since it required a good amount of welding. Plus they have access for misc hardware and from what I've seen in their work I trust the product will be completed well.
I visited their shop today to take a look at truck. I'll post pictures of it's current progress.
Sorry for such a length first post, but I hope everyone enjoys it!
I'll start from the beginning as there is a little back story to this project. Back in 1996 my dad brought home a Bright Red 1996 F-series HD... I thought it was the coolest damn thing ever. The diesel engine sounded awesome, and the overall look of the truck was just badass. Keep in mind I was 5 years old, but the image of that truck has always stuck with me. Along with this experience, my father had a Franklin Mint 1:24 scale of a 1996 F-150 in his office that I would always play with. He still has this model and two years ago my GF found a mint condition one that I added to my diecast collection.
Since high school I looked for the perfect OBS (older-body-style / Pre 96 3/4 ton and Pre 97 1/2 ton) Ford. It was next to impossible to find what I was looking for. My simple check list was a F250 or F350 4X4 Regular Cab with 8' bed and a 7.3L PowerStroke. I looked off and on. I would fall out of the search and get distracted with other projects and then I'd search again.
Then something happened.
I was working sales at our Ford store on a Saturday in August and I took a phone call from a guy who was interested in a 2005 F250 that I had in-stock. He was about 3-4 hours away and this was at 11AM. I answered his questions and he said he would be on the way. I was looking out the window and low and behold I see the truck I would soon own - a 1996 Bright Red F250 4x4 PowerStroke. I was ecstatic. Simply put, the deal worked out and we sold him a truck and took in the '96 F250. I drove it home to show my GF and she didn't hesitate to tell me that it was too much of a coincidence to ignore. I was 50/50 on buying it since I really didn't need another money pit but she convinced me that it was here to stay.
Let the pictures do the rest of the talking though.
Right after I took it in on trade before I drove home.
The next week I cleaned the exterior a tad bit.
She's not a low mileage queen by any means...
I sold the toolbox the previous owner and also pulled the drop in bedliner. You can see the driver side cab corner is rotted. I plan to take care of this soon.
Equipped with the Ford Murder-Red Interior. Looks decent but the truck is a XL with no power windows, locks, or mirrors and I'll be upfitting all of that along with the Ford Opal Grey interior.
Like any old vehicle, a lot of maintenance was performed. It needed new rear leaf shackles, a full fluid flush and an alternator.
Unfortunately the previous owner hauled a good deal of mulch and a lot of it got trapped under the drop in bed liner which caused rotting too. Upsetting since I didn't see it earlier but can be fixed.
Giving her all she's got.
All cleaned up and replaced two of the clearance light bulbs.
Replaced the worn out steering box with a 'RedHead' steering box.
This truck was 100% stock, nothing except for a trailer brake controller and a Reese receiver. It was time to pull the insanely restrictive OBS 7.3 exhaust. I installed a 3" downpipe to a 4" exhaust made by Diamond Eye.
Torched the downpipe in half since it is wedged in there tight.
Look how flat this thing is. It's unreal.
Here's a view of seeing up to the turbo outlet. It's incredibly narrow and with help, I used a portapower to push the firewall up and create clearance.
Then it came time to address the rest of the suspension. I wanted to lift the truck a bit and improve the ride. Normal lift kits for these trucks reduce ride quality for the most part and I didn't want that. As tempted as I was to clearance 37"-38" tires... it just wouldn't work for me. Plus the F250 of this era has a Twin-Traction Beam axle that acts like a IFS. This would have to go since they just aren't great for what I was looking for. I opted on a year correct F350 Dana 60 solid front axle.
I did a lot of research on these trucks and saw there are kits known as "Reverse Shackle Kits" which would allow the use of Super Duty leaf springs in the front of the truck with the Dana 60. This is where it gets fun.
My GF got me the RSK as a Hannukah gift and I pieced together a variety of other pieces such as Bilstein shocks valved properly for this setup, drop pitman arm, drop trackbar bracket, adjustible track arm, new front and rear SD leafs along with a 4.5" block for the rear. Oh yeah - I also sourced a F350 Dana 60.
Unlike the build of the Bullitt where I did 99.9% of the work, I don't have as much free time as I used to and enlisted help of a local fab shop to install the RSK with the axle swap since it required a good amount of welding. Plus they have access for misc hardware and from what I've seen in their work I trust the product will be completed well.
I visited their shop today to take a look at truck. I'll post pictures of it's current progress.
Sorry for such a length first post, but I hope everyone enjoys it!
