1969 F250 4x4 Highboy 7/9 rubicon

[Ranchero50]

Ryan, did you ever get a tach to work in your truck? I figured out how to hook up an industrial prox sensor to drive an aftermarket tach.

[1971ford]

Negative, no tach, haven't had a desire for one. It would be cool to have, but wouldn't be useful enough to justify installing one just yet. Sounds like you've got an interesting way to set one up though!

[1971ford]

Another Rubicon trip in the books. Wheeled in to Spider Lake, camped, then wheeled to Buck Island, and back out Loon Lake. Picked up a dirt biker that was laying on the rocks with a broken foot and dirtbike near Buck Island, and wheeled him out and half way to Lake tahoe. Quite a trip. I lost a front tire but seems it was simply debris in the bead. I also lost my alternator but that seems to be a lack of power to turn the alternator "on". Truck was apparently toed out over an inch, and i hadn't realized till i got home and my front tires are now bald. Buying two new tires tomorrow so i'll have 4 95% tires on the truck... hopefully that's not too much traction for the dana 44. Then a little alternator wiring investigation, and prep for next weekends trip.


"oops"
Chicken Line is not where i had thought it seems. Dropped the truck onto the front axle.







Buddy Jeff whom i wheeled in with, made it up Soup Bowl in his Dodge.

[popeyes71]

Awesome pictures, thanks for sharing!

[7123dent]

Hey I like the how your truck sits is it a 4" lift on top of the stock highboy height? I was just going to go another 2" on top of the factory height I have a 72 highboy.

[1971ford]

Here's the sad update of the ol girl. On it's last wheeling trip (one year ago) i was mislead on trail direction while wheeling the Rubicon (and too foolish myself to double check intoxicated co-driver's thoughts) and got caught up in a tight squeeze. Got her bound up and the torque converter ate 110% of the power to turn the wheels. Being very limited on possible ways out of the situation I crunched the driver side cab B pillar. The one part of the truck i cared about. I was pissed to say the least. The whole driver side rear cab is pushed out of alignment. I thought $3k into an automatic with a $800 torque converter would get the job done. NOPE.


Long story short I then got pulled over by an extremely upset officer whom which sent me to REF the truck. It failed of course (i used the original 1/2 ton title. No go with a 3/4 ton engine).
Well the truck has been sitting for quite some time now. It got side yarded when it failed REF for the cummins swap.
I started it up and moved to the driveway several months ago to pull the dana 44 out to sell to a buddy who needed it. I then pulled the t-case, exhaust, cut the rock sliders off and scrapped them, scrapped the traction bar, yanked the front crossmember, etc. It's sat like this for several months. The paint is wasted, driver side cab crunched, parts yanked, etc.

Last week i decided to start throwing some links at it and start getting the dana 60 under it. Not sure when she'll ever be back in her prime but i just want to drive the thing again.

[popeyes71]

Glad to see you back at it Ryan! Missed seeing your posts on your truck and prerunner! That linked Dana 60 is going to look as good as the rest of the truck when your finished. I was bummed to hear about the issue with the disgruntled cop busting you on the Cummins you had in the truck but I still think its the way to do the truck, one day I'll get mine done. Keep us updated on the progress!

[fordguy_78]

Why not 3 link? I ended up regretting doing radius arms and cut it all off and redid it with 3 link and now it drives so much better

[fordpickupman]

Bummer on smashing the cab, that sucks.

I like the links and am jealous of the D60 (though I've never had a problem with the HP44 in my '71 F250). Those must be RuffStuff ends?

Keep us updated more often...I'm selfish and like to see what you are up to with this ol' girl. Its fun to watch you spend money when I can't......

[fordguy_78]

I'm going to guess those are ruffstuff because he works there

[fordpickupman]

Shoot, I didn't get that flyer.

Ryan, did you fix your cab corner yet?

What do you have to do to get it licensed again? F250 vin? I've heard lots of horror stories over the years about CA vehicle registration. It's ridiculous.

[1971ford]

Hey guys, long time no post.

As for the radius arm setup.
1- Upper link fitment. Tucking the axle up into the chassis for enough bump travel while getting a traditional upper link around either the cummins down pipe or the cummins starter would be a real hoot if even possible while retaining decent geometry.
2- I have owned and ran for many moons an identical dual radius arm setup vehicle before. Daily drove it and wheeled it. Drove great on the street with both uppers in. Drove great offroad with one upper pulled. On this truck i plan to run an air shock in place of the driver side upper. If that does not work i'll do a pinned solid upper. I'm not worried.

Welded the axle to the truck, put a battery in it and fired it up. Fired instantly after sitting for a very long time. Drove it into the garage 2 weeks ago and tore it down.

2 weeks later all re-fabricated and back together. Brake/lamp inspection tomorrow at noon then off to DMV to have a title made for the truck based off the chassis VIN this time. Then the CHP will have to blue tag the body as a body swap. Pink slip will say diesel. Everything will be very legitimate this time around. Had to pull the 14 bolt and put in a stock dana 60 to get the parking brake back for the inspection. Also had to fix a lot of wiring. Everything works now. headlights, hi beams, hi beam indicator, turn signals, turn signal indicators, reverse lights, horn, taillights, license plate light, etc. Should pass inspection. Should also be driving this thing on the street this weekend. Planning to take it snow wheeling to the Rubicon on Sunday. THen in a few weeks i'm using it to tow my race truck 1400 miles to and from a huge offroad race in Johnson Valley.


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[hfdco4]

Those are very impressive welds there. Great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[popeyes71]

Looks great Ryan! Your truck has taking such a transformation from where you started! I'm glad to hear your getting things all squared away so that you will be able to start driving it again and enjoying it again. Are you headed out to the King of Hammers?

[1971ford]

i should be at KOH with the highboy towing the race truck