Arizona Tow Pigging Daily Driver

Installed some tweed seat covers. They look decent. I’m not crazy impressed with the install of the backrest portion. The bottom fits nice but when I fold the backrest forwards it untucks the seat cover and I have to tuck it back in. But for cheap ish seat covers they will do. Interior is starting to look decent at first glance.
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Alright forum let’s see what you think… the PO did some janky shit with installing the hitch receiver in conjunction with the dump bed hinge. Here is where the rear most hole should be for the receiver
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But instead, it is more towards the front of the vehicle and they put the bolt up through where the side rail of the frame and crossmember intersect. The problem with this is it’s right next to that rivet that rivets the crossmember and side rail together and the nut was sitting lopsided on top of that rivet head. I don’t really want to just move it to where it should have been because it looks like they cut out the vertical section of the frame right next to there the hole should be.
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My first inclination is that the rivet isn’t really needed if there is a bolt sticking up through there holding the crossmember to the rail. So I could just cut the head of that rivet off and install it where it was… or weld a brace where the PO cut that section of frame out and move the receiver to where it’s intended to be. What would yall do?
 
I’d cut the rivet. If anything shifts it may be a pain to get the bolt in, but that’s the nature of old stuff like this.
 
Claytone said:
I’d cut the rivet. If anything shifts it may be a pain to get the bolt in, but that’s the nature of old stuff like this.
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The shank of the rivet will probably stay in there. I tried knocking it up through the bottom since that head is already cut and it didn’t want to come out which I’m actually happy about.

I’m thinking a metal cutting blade on a multi tool may be the only thing I can fit in there to cut the rivet head flush unless anyone has any other ideas. I’ve never used a multi tool for steel though. I could drill the rivet out but I’d rather keep the shank in there
 
Your hitch is going to more than likely be 1/4" mild steel. I would add steel to it so you can drill the hole inboard enough to clear the rivet. And if you want to get ocd you can also add a bolt rearwards on the clear section.

If welding averse do as claytone says and remove the rivet. Its a ford,not a space ship. The first time you flex one out and see the frame deflect by an honest foot you'll realize that they aren't very picky
 
Rickyd said:
Your hitch is going to more than likely be 1/4" mild steel. I would add steel to it so you can drill the hole inboard enough to clear the rivet. And if you want to get ocd you can also add a bolt rearwards on the clear section.

If welding averse do as claytone says and remove the rivet. Its a ford,not a space ship. The first time you flex one out and see the frame deflect by an honest foot you'll realize that they aren't very picky
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Add steel where? I don’t mind welding. I just want to do whatever is the simplest solution.

I guess I could just redrill the hole inboard of that rivet through both the hitch and the frame and be good to go.
 
Rickyd said:
That is what i mean. Adding to the hitch flange as necessary.washers to spread out the load for the warm fuzzy feeling if you want
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Sweet. Honestly that seems like the least effort. Like you said it’s not a rocket ship and I don’t feel the need to get as OCD on this thing as I am on my Jeep. Just need it to work.
 
Ordered new rear drum parts. Went with all centric stuff.
Drums
Shoes
Cylinders
Hardware kit
Adjusters
Flex line.

Symptoms are that I’m feeling a vibration on braking in my seat. Not the steering wheel at all. I also experience an intermittent braking pull to the left and it seems like it pulls right when driving. I jacked up the rear and spun the tires, then pressed the brake pedal and released it and the brakes were still sticking quite a bit. So I know the shoes aren’t releasing very well. Inspected the drums and they are definitely fairly etched and the liner is peeling off the shoes so I decided to just replace it all. The shoe wear is also fairly uneven.
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I also poured some AT 205 in the motor to see if I can resolve the oil pan leak without changing the gasket. From what I hear it is not fun on these trucks. I’ve only driven it a couple of times since but it seems like the leak has already slowed. I’ll report back on the results.
 
The truck was still a little wandery on the freeway yesterday. It’s an old truck with twin I beam so I know it’s not going to drive like a Mercedes but I at least would like to not feel like I am ping ponging between lanes. I think more caster would help. I’m at 3* caster and I bet 5-6* would feel awesome. I just don’t know if we can get that with the adjuster sleeves since they also impact camber.

The steering box also seems to be a large culprit. It’s difficult to make small corrections because there is so much slop in the box. You have to move the wheel all the way past the slop before it changes the wheel direction which is why it feels Iike so much effort. So I tightened the box up with the adjustment bolt yesterday. I know it will shorten the life of the box, but I’d rather have good free steering for the next year and replace it with a blue top when it dies than have shitty steering forever. Tightening the box worked fantastic. Now corrections feel manageable with small wheel movements. The wheel also stays more centered on crowned roads now.
 
tworley said:
I should give that a try. The oil pan on my F150 has been leaking for a year or so now. To change the gasket I've got to drop the front diff :rolleyes:
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Give it a try! Changing the gaskets on these things seems like so much work for the reward. Shop labor for changing the oil pan and rms gasket was like $1900. Just shows how involved it is
 
starkey480 said:
The truck was still a little wandery on the freeway yesterday. It’s an old truck with twin I beam so I know it’s not going to drive like a Mercedes but I at least would like to not feel like I am ping ponging between lanes. I think more caster would help. I’m at 3* caster and I bet 5-6* would feel awesome. I just don’t know if we can get that with the adjuster sleeves since they also impact camber.

The steering box also seems to be a large culprit. It’s difficult to make small corrections because there is so much slop in the box. You have to move the wheel all the way past the slop before it changes the wheel direction which is why it feels Iike so much effort. So I tightened the box up with the adjustment bolt yesterday. I know it will shorten the life of the box, but I’d rather have good free steering for the next year and replace it with a blue top when it dies than have shitty steering forever. Tightening the box worked fantastic. Now corrections feel manageable with small wheel movements. The wheel also stays more centered on crowned roads now.
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You can get eccentric bushings with more offset up to a point. Hopefully you aren't already at the limit. Aligning those trucks isn't hard if you know how to do it.basically there are two caster settings for each bushing when you set camber correctly. Spin it til the camber is right and then read caster. Need more caster? Put in a bushing with more offset and repeat.

There used to be charts for which one to use for a given amount of change.going to a ford truck center might be your best bet.

Just don't get the two piece ones to help out your alignment guy.they are a pain.
 
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