northern expedition build

[Carson]

hey every one, names Ryan and i live in Barrie Ontario Canada. bin lurking on the site for a bit now and thought it would be time to post up my build im starting.

the truck
1986 ford f-350, 6.9l idi n/a diesel, 0-60 in 4 city blocks but it will pull your house down! and its also very reliable and all mechanical so will still run after a nuclear attack lol. its got a bulletproof c6 auto and bw 1345 t-case. would like to upgrade to a 5 speed stick one day for increased reliability and overdrive but for now it does the job just fine. would like to upgrade the axles with arb air lockers and chromoly shafts. dont plan on beating it to hard, i have a purpose built jeep for that but the extra piece of mind knowing that i wont be stranded in the bush due to a broken axle shaft will be nice.

plans for the truck are camper top, outfitted with all the goodies like water tank, battery's with a solar panel onto to keep charged and some storage underneath for tools/ supply's etc. plan on some kinda roof rack on the truck for carrying fuel, water etc and a rack on the camper top for carrying a small flat bottom hunt boat. front and rear tube bumpers with a hydraulic winch and spare tire carrier which will double as a cooking table when opened. going to level the truck out and install the bush wacker cut-out flares to accommodate either 40" good year mtr's or 38" Michelin xml's.

plan on using this truck for exploring all the abandon fire roads and trails up north, and seeking out some remote fishing areas. hope to make the truck self sustained for 2 weeks or more off in the bush with out having to head back to town. me and a friend whos building up a first gen dodge wanna take a few weeks off come summer time and do a big northern Ontario tour.

no pics yet but stay tuned!

 

[Rot Box]

Welcome! Good to see another IDI on the board--they're a lot of fun aren't they :bike_rider:

 

[Darwin]

Without a turbo, I would think the old NA diesel is going to have a hard time with 40 " tires. It already takes 4 city blocks to get up to speed, the fourty's probably won't help much. You might want to look into a turbo first.

 

[Hyde]

Yes, turbo will be a huge help! Gotta love an ol IDI though, mines stone cold reliable and Im not always nice to it :elkgrin:

 

[Bushcoat]

Welcome! Best thing about Barrie ON is Princess auto and the flea market. I made multiple trips down there while I was living in North bay. Awaiting your pics!

 

[Carson]

axles have 4:88 gears so it dosent have any problems getting down the road. my friends idi 7.3 with 38's and 355 gearing with a zf5 pulls great, and also gets way better fuel millage since its not screaming down the hiway. if push comes to shove one day it will just get a 12v cummins and that will settle all the power issues lol. did some work on the truck this weekend. got the new cab and box ready to so on, just gotta get the old cab off and it will be a new truck again.

 

[Rot Box]

if push comes to shove one day it will just get a 12v cummins and that will settle all the power issues lol.

:littlefriend: Them's fightin words...

 

[Carson]

well got some work done this weekend. dident take many pics. but got the old cab off the truck and the new on on. also got the flat deck off it and just waiting to get a new rear cross member then the box can go on. its funny because the new cab is the same 2 tone as the old one, just reversed lol

old cab coming off

old cab off

and the new %95 rust free cab on

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

i see the problem, the cab was on crooked!

 

[kfgk14]

Sounds like a great build! You might wanna re-gear down to 456 if you're gonna spend much time on the highway though...even with the big tires.

 

[Carson]

yea in the future maybe, the truck will still be my dd for this summer anyway so wont be doing to maybe long haul trips, maybe a few hours or so.

 

[AlwaysExplr87]

Looking forward to reading about this. I just acquired a 1980 f350 DRW 2wd with a 351M from a friend at work for free and have been planning to do a similar build. I'm currently trying to get the 351 unseized and gathering the parts for a 4wd swap. What size tire are you currently running? Do you have any lift? That new cab looks like its an 87-97.

 

[Carson]

yep u guessed it, the new cabs off a 95 f-150 but im still keeping the 86 front clip. i like the look of the 80-86 f-series. in the pics its got 35's on it, just running the factory 4" block and stock springs out back, and the front pack is a heavy duty one that levels out the truck. i would like to swap in a stock set of 351w front f350 leafs and then run a small leveling block in the front. these old diesels ride great with the gas springs up front. when all done i would like to dd it with the 37" good year mtr's off and h1 hummer seeing as the white spoke rims are 16.5. and when goin on adventures either 38" xmls or xl's or 40" new style mtr's but thoes tires arnt getting any cheaper lol

 

[bftank]

please do not run a block in the front:Wow1:. these are very unstable, tend to loosen up over time and let the axles come loose possibly hurting your truck, you or someone else if it happens at speed. bus loads of nuns and orphans will thank you.

a shackle reversal is a much better solution for leveling out the front of your truck.:bike_rider:

 

[Carson]

ive had 3 trucks that ive put a 1" block in the front have a friend with the same and never has an issue. its no different than the "mini" spring pack you get to level out leaf spring trucks. i work at an international truck dealership, most dump trucks run a 3"-4" block in the front. on something with real soft springs you can get some twisting but with the diesels not so much. my buddys truck has been wheel hard for the last 5 years and 0 issues. i dont like the shackle reversals they make for these trucks, to much stuff hangen low, if i do any changes up front ill be putting coil buckets in and running radius arms:smiley_drive:
a 1" block isent gonna do any harm, now if i said a 4" block was goin in i would probably slap myself lol