New Member Saying Hi and Thank you!

[Rodknock]

I recently purchased a 1986 XLT Lariat, long bed, extended cab with 460 and T19. It has low miles and is nearly free of rust. I have been working all around the truck to get it ready to drive cross country to upstate New York and tow a 10,000 pound boat back here to Colorado.
Simple things like the clutch pedal interlock switch problem and the mysteriously missing hazard light flasher would have been infinitely more difficult for me to diagnose without the diagrams and drawings on this site. Thank you for providing such a fine resource!
Tim, Aspen, Colorado, USA

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome, Tim!  Glad you joined.  

Aspen?  Last time I was in Aspen I was driving a relatively-new '72 F250 w/a 390/C6 and a 9 1/2' camper on it.  And I filled up at a Conoco seemingly built back under an overhang of rock.  On the radio John Denver was singing Jet Plane.  It has been a while since I've been to Aspen.

Would you like to be on our map?  You can see it at Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu.

As for the truck, I hope you get everything fixed before you go and have a chance to do some shakedown runs with it.  Things tend to come out of the woodwork on longer trips.

And I hope your boat trailer has good brakes!  A 10,000 lb boat is a serious load for that truck.  I know 'cause I had close to that behind Big Blue last Saturday and certainly could tell it, although it handled it fine.

Have you thought about air springs for the truck?  With the tongue weight of the trailer & E350 van the rear of Big Blue was down quite a bit so I aired up the Firestone air springs to 60 psi and that leveled it out nicely.

Anyway, show us some pics?  And glad the site is helping.

[grumpin]

Welcome!

[Rodknock]

I started having fuel system problems after I picked up the trailer in St Louis. I had to make up a temporary system with an electric pump and a lot of hose - I ran the supply side into the filler necks of the tanks and sometimes when they ran down or there was a problem and I wanted to get out of a hazardous spot, I put it straight into my gas can. In New York, where I picked up the boat, I replaced the power steering system. I could not get rid of the scream of the slipping belts with the old system, so it was time. It was much better on the way back to Western Colorado. I waited for sunset to do the big climb out of Denver. The ups and downs were all done in second gear. I am glad I had a 4 speed. The granny gear always got me rolling (and once in a while over a curb). Vail Pass, too!
The 460 used 2+ gallons of motor oil and almost $1500 of gasoline but it did the job beautifully and still starts and runs like new. 9 days on the road, hard.

[81-F150-Explorer]

That is impressive.

My F-150's front end would be off the ground.


Welcome to the forum.

[Gary Lewis]

Wow!  That's a BOAT!  

Sounds like you had an adventure, but you worked through it.  Well done!  

[85lebaront2]

Beautiful truck and boat! 460s love gas, pass everything but a gas station. Darth always got 10 mpg, empty or loaded, 8 pulling a 10K 5th wheel, With the change to EFI and an E4OD, he's gotten 12.5 on a long highway run.

[BigBrother-84]

Rodknock wrote

I have been working all around the truck to get it ready to drive cross country to upstate New York and tow a 10,000 pound boat back here to Colorado.

Wow!  What a boat trip!


Welcome aboard Tim!