[IdahoF350]

So today I went by a yard and struck a deal on a complete but lightly damaged frame for $cheap$ and all the peripherals I needed to complete the OE donor parts set, except for the reaward brackets for the overload springs. I can buy the rear brackets from Ford for $60 for the pair, but I do t think they'll do me any good, because I've decided to order the PMF 3.5" Lift Rear Shackle Flip bracket. Paired with a 2" F-250 block, instead of the 3-3/4" F-350 block, I'll have 5.5" to go with the 6" coils that the extra weight of the 7.3 vs a 6.0 should make 5.5" coils.

I'm getting excited to do this swap. Once the suspension is done, I'm going to add a 6.0 transmission cooler, just because the bigger tires are going to create more heat in the transmission. Once the original small E99 cooler is out of the loop I'm going to repurpose it as a power steering cooler. Then it's on to cosmetics.

 

[harry6.0]

Older trucks with good mods like your doing are worth more in my book than any of the newer heavily emission controlled over complicated trucks. Simplicity and function are king.

Harry

 

[IdahoF350]

Right!

I have pretty big plans for this truck. The cosmetic portion will take the truck from it's poorly aged 1998 appearance to a customized 2007 appearance. I'm planning on minimalistic chrome, not a fully murdered out look (I owned that look with a Mustang back in 2002), but hot rod black (low/semi-gloss) and sprayed bedliner accents on the rocker panels. Eventually I want to upgrade the interior to an '05-07 dash, '08+ door panels, and King Ranch/Cabellas model seats, with a black rubber floor mat, weird right, but super practical.

The plan has gotten to look a lot like the following: The transmission will get an overhaul to handle my power goal of 400hp/800tq. I'll do a billet flex plate and a billet converter while I'm in there and I should be good for a LONG time after that. The engine is going to get a new 17° HPOP and rear oil crossover, 200/80 hybrid injectors, 3" intakes, and all the other little upgrades to late-'99 spec including bellowed up pipes for a GTP38R upgrade, pushrods and valve springs. I'll be doing a rear fuel feed lines, and I'll upgrade the fuel system a bit to insure the injectors stay healthy, probably just parallel stock pumps and larger lines, maybe a sumped tank, possible a larger tank too.

About the only other things I'm considering are possibly upgrading to better suspension components down the road like a 4-link and coil overs in the front and maybe some rear traction aid.

If I can keep things in check, I've finally got a truck that should go any distance I choose to.

 

[IdahoF350]

So finally got around to taking pictures of the air intake:

This is the Donaldson B085011, a cross reference to the 6637, only I know it's a Donaldson and I'm very happy that my source for them is $31 including tax. I don't expect I'll need one for 50k+ miles, but $31 is cheap at that point.

And I have added to the parts pile for the axle swap. Lined up these Toyo Open Country M/T 35x12.50-18 tires with about 40% remaining. The price was super right, and I'll have something to toss on the truck as soon as the axle swap and lift are on the truck.



And finally, the other day the truck turned 150,000 miles. Not too shabby for a truck that was built and sold in the month of August 1998.




Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

I'm in Idaho right now on an unplanned trip to see a family member. Long story, I'll spare everyone the details. Anyway,I brought the truck, knowing it would be better suited to all the rural dirt roads up here.

Getting here we averaged over 19mpg, driving straight through, with only two hour long meal breaks, two half hour fuel stops, and a couple 10 minute breaks to get out and stretch. We totaled 1120 miles yesterday and were on the road a total of 22 hours including stops.

First big trip in the truck and surprising how comfortable it is for 16 years old, just need to get some of the little details fixed and this truck is a long term keeper.




Sent by my right thumb!

 

[harry6.0]

Stay safe, and don't drive when too tired. I would need a few jugs of coffee to pull that off nowadays. If you end up near us, give me a ring.

Harry

 

[neeltburn]

Looking good man!

 

[IdahoF350]

Got home Monday night, filled the truck today, 2,636.7 miles on 146.695 gallons of fuel for 17.974 miles per gallon. I'm calling it 18mpg, not too shabby for a 16 year old truck that, in my opinion, still has a lot of room for improvement. This trip covered a lot of grades, 75mph interstates, and chugging around in hay fields moving barbed wire fences.

Be interesting to see how it does on 35" tires and lifted.


Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

It seems I'm not happy to stay still. Back in August, I entered into a new project as a consultant in an active role in an automotive related project. So three times a week I drop 175 miles on the trucks odometer. It was four days the week before I departed to Idaho, two days last week after getting back. Then Saturday, I was off to Southern California's Inland Empire putting a quick 250 miles on the truck. Then, before I was home from the IE, I was on the phone with a buddy planning a spur of the moment round trip to Las Vegas to pick up a car he wanted to buy, so yesterday and today stuffed another 580 miles on the odometer and tomorrow it's back to work. By the end of this week, I'll have managed to put almost 5,000 miles on this truck in 25 days.

About that trip to the IE; I picked up all the little odds and ends pieces I needed for the axle swap on a couple sections of frame for the front and rear. The coil spring buckets, radius arm brackets, the bump stop cups and bump stops, brackets for the '05+ rear staggered shocks, overload spring brackets, basically all the stuff I needed. The donor truck was also a long bed and an FX4 package, so I also ended up with transfer case and fuel tank skid plates, which isn't the end of the bonus parts. The fuel tank and filler neck (fantastic because my E99 won't accept a high doped pump nozzle at a truck stop) and tank straps ended up part of the deal along with a pair of clean-ish radius arms that I won't have to do any rust removal from before painting, as well as a similarly clean factory Ford receiver hitch. All in all a very productive trip, and thanks to Loren from Diesel Tech in Orange County CA who treated me beyond fair and was awesome to deal with.

And why the spur of the moment trip to Vegas for a car? It's hard to pass up a great deal on a 650hp street car that will be a daily driver..


Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

Halloween Friday project. Sitting in the garage is a newer fuel tank from a 6.0 donor, the Harpoon Mod has been done, not as easy as it sounded on Guzzle's page, but I got the cutter up in there and managed to find an angle I could operate it. The tank came with the sender, an update of the earlier 7.3 design, without the mixer. I have a nice selection of O-rings on hand and I'll rebuild the connectors on my stock hoses to limit air passing them under vacuum from the suction of the pump. I'll be swapping the later tank into the truck to replace the original tank. While I'm at it, I have a later 6.0 filler neck I'm installing, which will make it nice to fill.

Wednesday, I installed a factory Ford Class 5 receiver hitch. The truck had a Draw-Tite on it, but I didn't like it, and it wasn't as robust as the factory Ford part. I still have to do a little work on the trailer plug wiring, it's got issues with corrosion in the 7-pin plug, so I'll tweak things to my liking and go from there. I have to make a bracket for it, and I really need a 7-pin in the bed, so I may just tackle that too.

If I have any time left, I've still got rivets to remove from frame brackets,so I'm staying busy.


Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

So the fuel system mods I planned for now are done. It's now an Early '99 with the Harpoon and Hutch mods, and a bunch of 2005 updates.

2005 tank is physically the same as E99.

2005 heat shield is a little different, covers more area up top.

2005 fuel filler neck will accept a high speed fuel nozzle at a truck stop, the E99 would not.

2005 fuel cap is different than the E99 cap, it is a threaded style cap, as opposed to the E99's push in and 1/4 twist to lock design.

2005 fuel level sender is the same resistance ( empty and full ohms) range as the E99, the electrical connector and the wiring color codes are the same, although the pigtail is a few inches shorter, but not an issue. The fuel line connection is identical as well, 3/8 feed and 5/16 return.

2005 Skid plate bolts up using existing holes. Best to get the bolts and clip nuts from the donor truck, getting regular hardware nuts and bolts in there would be a pain in the rear.

I know that some of you have had your 7.3s for so long that some of this is ancient history and or seemingly trivial. Having come from a 2005 6.0L back to this E99 7.3, there are a lot of subtle differences that I miss from the '05 like the fuel filler. Now I can fill at a truck stop and not have an issue with the larger nozzles.

As far as any difference in running, as claimed by some who promote the Hutch Mod and even sell kits to do it, I'm going to say the injection system seems a tad bit less noisy at idle, but a subtle difference at best. I haven't really driven it yet to notice any running differences, and I don't expect much of anything.




Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

It takes time to do things on a budget, I have to keep telling myself that. Every now and then, it gets to be frustrating. But I'm keeping my eye on the prize and slowly working towards the goal of getting the axle swap done. I'm only short a few small odds and ends to get it done, so I should be able to start the conversion soon, probably right after the first of the new year.

Back in September before I took my wife up to Idaho to see her dad, I came across a set of take off plastic '08-10 factory steps. They were better than the original steps, and they didn't cost me anything but a little time to clean them up and bolt them on. They served their purpose, but I can't say they were what I wanted or that I even liked them. Well, they aren't on the truck any longer.

A couple days ago I was working on a buddy's car and truck wrapping up a bunch of odds and ends that needed to be fixed. We'd talked about what I'm doing with my truck and the direction I'm taking it and the parts I plan to use. Next thing I know there is a set of nice used N-Fab wheel to wheel bed access steps in the bed of my truck.

So I had a little time and I put them on the truck today. Pretty happy with them.




Sent by my right thumb!

 

[TMCCOY]

Looks good, keep the updates coming...one of the more interesting threads.

 

[TMCCOY]

And....I have an un-tuned 7.3

It's on the longer term list, catching up on maintenance items. :damnit

 

[harry6.0]

If I ever replace the stock 03' factory steps on my truck, that is the style-type I would put on, looks great, and will look even better when the transformation is completed.

Harry

 

[IdahoF350]

Living with the N-Fab steps for about a month now, I'm not as impressed with them. The steps are fine for getting in the truck, getting out, they're not. The step section is too small and too far forward, but getting in, left foot on the step, swing the right foot up and in and you're good to hop up into the seat. But the exit is challenging, because even at 6'2", my left leg isn't long enough to reach forward to the step and reverse the process without putting my weight on my right foot to pivot myself around to put the left foot not the step. The foot step needs to be 2x-3x as long to be able to open the door, hang your left foot out and down onto the step and easily get out.

Now, the rear step for the bed is another point, it's small and awkward to stand on to get I to the tool box. Also, the tube is unsupported past the rear mount on the cab and it does flex a bit under the weight of a big guy. So I can't say that I'd recommend these, in fact I wouldn't recommend them. I have recently seen several wheel to wheel sets that are 6" oval steps with a more OEM size and style step area.

These will not be the last steps on this truck. In fact, I can guarantee that these won't be the last set of steps I run. I would trade these for a set of stock chrome steps off an '05-'07 like the ones I had on my white truck, ad I may try and make that trade happen soon. The final set of steps will be a set of AMP Research Powerboards because I've wanted a set since 2006 when I had the white truck.


Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

I'd love to post some pictures from my phone, but this lousy Autoguide.com app is a joke and crashes every time it tries to access images.

So today I picked up my wheels and had the tires mounted, and Saturday afternoon I'll finally begin my axle swap.

Like I said, I'd love to post the wheels, but...


Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

Oh, and an update on the N-fab steps, I've gotten used to them. They still aren't like a my normal step, and once in a while I catch myself about to fall on my face from a misstep. On the other hand, my wife HATES them. Wants to know when I'm putting the stock ones back on, I'm not, don't have them anymore. They aren't coming off until I have a set of AMP Research steps to put in their place.


Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

Hey, I got them to post!


Sent by my right thumb!

 

[IdahoF350]

Keep running into snags on the axle swap, but I'm slowly ironing out all the details to make it happen. Bolts that are too big or too short, stupid stuff that I have been able to check by having the frame section here that I pulled the brackets off of. Then comparing the '05 frame ad brackets to the E99 frame, there are definite differences. You wouldn't think it would be so much difference based on all the swap threads where guys have done 99-04 trucks, but the E99 appears to have more than a few quirks beyond it's E99 unique engine and suspension/axle/brake differences.

Tossed the 18" wheels with 35s on the rear for a quick test of odometer and speedometer accuracy. An 85.2 mile trip registered 78.9 miles, so it's a 7.98% error, the truck was previously reprogrammed for the 285/75-16 tires, or it would be closer to 10%. They wheels look good on the truck though, just need to get rid of the gold...



Cleaned the axle with Purple Power and a pressure washer, and it came out relatively free of any grease or grime, and then used Muratic Acid (swimming pool acid) in a spray bottle to tackle the rust. Turned out nice, and I painted I'd semi-gloss black afterwards.


Sent by my right thumb!