F150 tow rig

[Sandman]

So, my latest toy, project, whatever you want to call it. A 1989 Ford F150 XLT 2wd

Back story is basically I needed something to tow my Skyline with, as I wasn't interested in putting a towbar on my Maloo. My goal was under $10k, old enough to be put on club reg, interesting (no late model diesels), but EFI so it would be reliable and easy and have a decent sized tray for race weekends. Always had a love for F trucks and it really was the only thing that ticked all the boxes for me. I picked it up in March just before Vic went into lockdown for $7000 which I think was a decent price for what it is. Has a EFI 302 Windsor, C6 and 9" 400 something ks on the clock and a bench seat. Drives pretty well and drove it half an hour home the day I got it.

So the plan for this is basically a very practical car to tow with as well as moving stuff too big for my Maloo, so since purchasing I've just been slowly working though refreshing the car to get it to RWC state and be ready to tow. So far I've completed the following:

Removed twin tank LPG system (wasn't working and too far gone to fix cheap)
Shocks, Balljoints, and bushes all round
Front calipers have been blasted, painted with new seals put through them.
Fixed the RH rear indicator and brake light which required re wiring.

Before I start using it I still need to finish off the following few items but I'm hoping to have it on the road within the next month

Pre roady
Steering box rebuild (leaks a ton)
Fluid change
Trans gasket/filter
Headlight globe replace (Phillips extreme +)

Post roady
Tie down points in tray
Electric trailer brake controller
Re-run trailer wiring (has been chopped off at some point)
Headunit with reversing camera - JVC KW-M745DBT unit, currently 3D printing a mount for it then just need to order a camera for it.

Its not an overly exciting project but I'm still pretty happy with it.

Old and crusty

Updated

Calipers blasted and painted, forgot to take a before photo. The seals I think were the original from 1989....

One of the gas tanks removed, surprisingly managed to sell them both to people wanting to make smokers.

 

[whiskeytango]

Pretty sick rig just to tow cars around! Paint looks awesome. .
HQ is wicked, I was never the biggest fan of them but that is just mint.
Also lawn=pawn

 

[Sandman]

Cheers mate, has been resprayed at some point in the last 5 or so years. Hasn't been on the road in that time either. For a bit of context too, previously with my old job I used to have access to various vehicles I could borrow when I needed to tow with, but no longer have that gig. I hired a Hilux through Budget to go to Winton at the start of the year and that was an expensive balls up of an experience so purchasing something was the only real option for me. First world problems at their finest.

 

[Deuce]

Cheers mate, has been resprayed at some point in the last 5 or so years. Hasn't been on the road in that time either. For a bit of context too, previously with my old job I used to have access to various vehicles I could borrow when I needed to tow with, but no longer have that gig. I hired a Hilux through Budget to go to Winton at the start of the year and that was an expensive balls up of an experience so purchasing something was the only real option for me. First world problems at their finest.

Lol. Very much 1st world problem.

Truck does look good. A mate of mine has similar year and same size Dodge truck.
Such cool vehicles.

 

[someguy360]

Aw man this is gonna be an awesome thread. I too have a love for old F trucks, I ended up with a Navara but i was looking at one similar to that when I was shopping around however it was the last of the carb models. I needed to be able to travel across states economically and reliably so that was really the only reason I ended up going diesel.

Can't wait to see the progress with this thing.

 

[Sandman]

I do intend on doing the occasional interstate trip with this (Talem Bend etc.) but as this will not be my daily and only used a couple of times a month at best I could deal with not buying a diesel for the purpose. Its a factory twin tank truck too with around 200L worth of tanks on board which I'd say will be needed when I'm towing with it haha.

 

[afstruct]

Nice, !! back in about 2006 - 2008 a work mate ( more into his bikes) had 3 vechices a , about 1970 moto guzzi S750 , a late 70s Ducati 900 darmah and a six cylinder ford F100 = his only 3 = so there was always one of them in the car park.
Wish he'd told me when he was eventually getting rid of the F100 = would have been a cool base for something nice !!!

 

[Sandman]

Went to do my rear end bushes today only to find my jack stands aren't high enough to reach anything at ride height so had to go find some bigger ones. Never had a tall car before clearly.

 

[Deuce]

Went to do my rear end bushes today only to find my jack stands aren't high enough to reach anything at ride height so had to go find some bigger ones. Never had a tall car before clearly.

That's funny.
You didn't have a strong steel box you could stack them on or anything? Pavers?
If you only have the little 3ton car axle stands you would probably be smart to upsize anyway.

What bushes were you doing? On my last truck I changed a leaf spring Bush with a bottle jack between the spring and the chassis. Didn't have to jack the truck up but kept them free for working on.

 

[Sandman]

Nothing I would be comfortable holding it up with. Having a set of taller stands will come in handy anyway when I go to paint the underside of the other cars anyway. Just doing the rear shackle and eye bushes but should be easiest to have the rear up on stands to take all the load off the springs. So now it'll get done on my next day off with good weather.