mfpdm

It looks to me that someone swapped it. At least that is what the load sensing valve is telling me. Quick search came up with this: Compatible with Models: Coronet: 1963 - 1976 (Rear) Dakota: 1988 - 1996 (Front) Dart: 1966 - 1971 (Rear) Diplomat: 1974 - 1989 (Rear) Fifth Avenue: 1980 - 1989 (Rear) Imperial: 1977 - 1989 (Rear) New Yorker: 1963 - 1989 (Rear) Also found another site that said it was in the rear of Dakota's in the same timeframe as listed above. :cheers:

Well, I'm going to give it a shot, but I have a feeling that I'll end up buying another column. :shake: I really don't like to take any chances on things that deal with steering or brakes. :thumbsup:

Another benfit, well at least I think I remember it this way, it was designed to help fire suppression. If you notice that plastic clips hold it up, the idea is that they will melt allowing the mat to fall and smother the flames of an engine fire. I have a cowl hood so, I don't think I'll get any benefit from it. :D :cheers:

Yep, another RRO happy costumer. :( I got their drop brackets. Can't tell you how they handle yet as the build is still in the garage, however I can tell you what a PITA they were. The design is good and welds look nice, it's the poor quality control that makes them suck. The brace is more for keeping the bracket from pushing or pulling. The self tapping bolts are ok because they are not for holding strength but shearing strenght. I replaced all the attaching hardware with grade 8 stuff. All in all I would go with RE's drop brackets if I did it again. The brace isn't totally necessary. You can check out page 7 and 8 on my build for my install. Get rid of the spring setup. What a joke from a Offroad company. :shake: :cheers:

Wow, that sucks. I agree with cutting it out and replacing from a donor. And even though it will be a lot of work, I'd pull that nice dash out just to make sure I didn't melt anything or catch it on fire. Would hate to see that on such a nice build. :cheers:

So who designed this darn thing? What a PITA. I bought a tilt steering column to replace the one that came from my donor, which was the cause of the wreck it was in. Anyhow, I pulled horn button(which I should have done at the JY) only to find no nut holding the wheel on, instead they drilled a hole and put a cotter pin in the threaded shaft. So now I'm looking at repairing the tilt knuckle on the original one. I've seen plenty of write ups, but some of them only tighten two of the four bolts that come loose on the tilt knuckle, while others take the whole thing apart and get all four. So, how many have done this and what are your thoughts or what did you do? Tips, tricks, etc.. :thumbsup: :cheers:

I'm assuming that since it list all the years that this would be the newer style gasket which is much better than the older one. :thumbsup: :cheers:

Nope. The 5spd behind a 4 banger wouldn't last anyhow behind the 4.0 Not unless it has been swapped with an AX-15. Even then the bellhousing would still need to be changed for one from behind a 4.0 :cheers:

If only you would have made that offer before I paid to have it painted. And yeah, I don't buy it :cheers:

Well, there is a couple of things that would hint to the year. If it has the all cap COMANCHE badge, most likely it's an 86. Some people change to these so it's not 100%. If it has the X or XLS under the badge, than I would say it probably was an 86. If it has any of the pioneer or sport truck decals, it's not an 86.( I don't think anyone would go to the trouble of putting these on an 86) If it has the olympic decals, it's an 88. Only year offered and again I don't think anyone would go to the trouble of putting those on. 86's were all LWB so that doen't help here but if it was a SWB you know what it's not. 86 header firewall is different unless it's a real late production 86. If the owners manual is in the glove box, that may give you a hint. Just a couple of clues off the top of my head. There's more out there but most of them just eliminate years, not indentify the exact year. :cheers:

Yeap, I as well have thought about this and figure, why re-invent the wheel, carrier. Figure when I get to that point in the build, I'd just use one out of an older ford or chevy. Basically find one that will fit without to much modding. :cheers:

I'm glad I found mine on Craigslist for $160. If I hadn't, I probably would not have one. I'm glad that I did and it's good to know of the hitting issue prior to me putting the Redline struts on. It didn't dawn on me that those were limiting straps. I thought they were grounding wires. :nuts: :cheers:

Well I think they look horrid in your truck. Let me save you and take them from you. j/k :D I like the style however the color with the rest of your interior kinda clashes IMHO. I know how pictures can distort the color sometimes so how do you think the color is? And if you get them redone, what color would you go with? Still lovin the build. Will be definately using it as a reference with mine when I go that route. :thumbsup: :cheers:

Well that brings up another problem. It lost 5th quite some time ago so it's a 4spd anyhow. At least until I get brave enough to pull it apart. I'm thinking that it may be just like the T-5's 5th problem where the clip breaks and allows the gear to slip. It won't even shift into 5th when parked, which I believe would eliminate the syncro. :dunno: Yep it has the serpentine belt so I hope I can put all of the 86 accessories on the 88. Especially the AC, even though it doesn't work at the moment. :D I'll probably need to swap the TB and injector from the 86 to the 88 as I kind of jacked up the 88's trying to get it off. :doh: Thanks for the inputs. I'm not totally sure I'll do the swap as the 88 had a low end tap. Was going to rebuild it one day. Sad thing is, the 86's still sounds and runs good. I may bite the bullet and pull the head but I at least wanted to make sure I have a backup plan. Backup plan to the backup plan is to offer it up for sale as is with a spare motor and other parts. :cheers:

That's pretty much what I was thinking but didn't know 100% seeing how they changed things in the engine compartment in 87 to fit the 4.0. I was hoping the 86 would hold out till the 88 was back on the road. :headpop:

Well checking the oil today in the 86 was depressing. I found the white foam under the cap. :fs1: Oil has a faint smell of gas so I'm thinking it has a bad head gasket or a crack some place. Anyhow, I have the 2.5 that came out of the 88. I'm thinking, if the 86's 2.5 goes, swapping in the 88's. Plan will be pulling the 2.5 with 5spd out and putting the 2.5 with 4spd in. Is this a direct swap or are there differences between the two ie wiring, sensors, or what not? :cheers:

One day I may get around to fixing some of these. :redX: I went through all of them just plugging them into the Mild build to try and find one good one. :shake: Oh and thats not all of them. I have another 3 sets plus the set in the 86. :D :cheers:

So glad to hear she is ok. There is no worst feeling than when your child is hurt and you can't do nothing about it. It's not only cat bites that are nasty but scratches are about the same. Even though cats wash, their feet and mouth harbour some nasty germs. :ack:

Like this :wrench: j/k :cheers: I wonder if Advance will give the military discount on top of the corporate thing? Probably not I guess. I really like the fact that they give 10% for active or retired military. :thumbsup:

Drove one awhile back when in Norway. It was a bus setup. Handled good and rode alright. Even in slipper conditions. Spent about 18 hours straight in it driving around Oslo picking up drunk squids.

:shake: I'm looking through my FSM and it doesn't have the push rod lenght.(or I just didn't find it) It tells me the rockers get torq'd to 19 ft lbs and to make sure everything gets put back the way it came out. Well, how important would that be on a rebuilt motor that had the block and head redone with a valve job? Rockers and pushrods are in the right order but I had an accident with the lifters so needless to say, they are not in the same order as they came out. :cheers:

As was mentioned above, this may not be the best for the floor. For that, I would recommend normal foam carpet padding from Lowes or HD- the kind that goes under house carpet. I never thought to use this on the back wall of the cab, however. It would be great for there. Yep agree about not laying it on the floor. Maybe on the tranny tunnel, but not on the pans. And yes, I think it will help on the back wall. :cheers:

Yeah, I'm trying to be cheap again but I know it would be better now than later. Will the springs need any adjustments due to new rockers, pushrods, and lifters or am I good there? :cheers:

So I'm slowly putting my engine back together and while I was pulling the rocker arms off the head I bent a couple of bridges. I guess they were over torq'd by the same place that put the bearing caps on backwards. :shake: So I'm going to replace them and figured I'd replace the rockers and pivot bearings as well. Do I need to replace the push rods and if so, do I need to replace the lifters? The head had a valve job done so I'm good on that side. :cheers:

I googled it for kicks, holy crap this seems to be a popular thing for physics. Liked this concept. :cheers: