Help me build this truck correctly for specific purpose

[Rust Buster]

I'm normally on the 67-72 page, but now I need the help of this group. I'm in a mountain community in northern VA on private dirt/gravel roads. We are responsible for maintaining the roads, and up until two years ago it was painstakingly done with a tractor without a cab. There's about 5 miles of very steep roads to plow. Two years ago, we bought an 88 Chevy V30 1 ton dually dump truck with an old fisher plow. The truck has a freshly rebuilt TBI 350 with a 4spd manual tranny. I'm the designated mechanic mainly because I have a shop with lift to work on it. We bought the truck and plow for $3000. We also purchased a Fisher Poly Spreader for the dump.

So here's where I need help. The truck runs but needs work and I've been authorized $3500 to make it bullet proof for the upcoming plow season. The rebuilt engine is pretty strong. The truck is registered as a farm truck, will never see paved roads and does not need to pass any emissions. My goal is dependability, torque, and greatly improved cooling, as this was a problem last year. We actually had the stock manifolds glowing cherry red after plowing one stretch...

I've been stockpiling parts and I'm starting to tear into her next week leaving plenty of time before the snow flies. Last year I replaced the starter, steering pump, steering gear box, and hydroboost system.
So far I have bought:

TBI Rebuild Kit
Long tube headers
Flex-a-lite fan
Aluminum radiator
TBI wiring harness
Valve cover gaskets
Water Pump
O2 sensor
Fuel pump
Fuel filter
Iginition coil
Distributor
Front leaf springs (current ones are shot)

Still have to buy:
All new sensors
High Amp alternator
Univerasal Wiring harness (someone in the past had some fun with creative wiring, so I want to start over from scratch)

What am I missing and where should I invest the rest of the money (roughly $1000)? What can I strip off the engine emissions-wise without messing up the computer?

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. This thing needs to be rock solid and I don't care if it looks like something out of the Road Warrior.
Sorry for the long post!

[donut]

Size of the blade? How many front leafs? Is the blade an old Speedcast? Only ask because I know the 8' on my old 3/4 ton was heavy, and I would imagine, for a dually, it would be a 9'-6" or 10'.

Even for the 8' blade on the 3/4, 1 extra leaf on the front made a world of difference.
So did good 10 ply snow tires and 80# of air.

Personally I'd also service the transfercase, check the front drive shaft, front axle, check/clean the lock outs.
Make sure the heater works good.

I wouldn't remove a ton of stuff now, get through the plow season first, then evaluate in the spring. Do you have a budget if you blow a hydraulic line at 2 am? Blow a ram?
If not, tuck away the grand for repairs.

[Rust Buster]

The plow is a 9' older speedcast with the pure hydraulic pump. The front leafs are three and I had them arch a 4th add a leaf to add some beef. The current ones are so reversed arched that it is crazy. The heater sucks, so I will definitely be looking into that and probably replacing the heater core. I've already plowed two seasons with it and have had some issues (melted the clutch slave cylinder hose due to an exhaust donut leak), brake lines blowing out (plowed one 12" storm with no brakes whatsoever), some overheating issues and electrical shorts at the starter. The endeavor will be to do a major overhaul and try to avoid those issues this winter. Additional money is not an issue, it's just the time effort to fix when something happens and of course with the truck down, our only backup is the tractor.

Originally Posted by donut

Size of the blade? How many front leafs? Is the blade an old Speedcast? Only ask because I know the 8' on my old 3/4 ton was heavy, and I would imagine, for a dually, it would be a 9'-6" or 10'.

Even for the 8' blade on the 3/4, 1 extra leaf on the front made a world of difference.
So did good 10 ply snow tires and 80# of air.

Personally I'd also service the transfercase, check the front drive shaft, front axle, check/clean the lock outs.
Make sure the heater works good.

I wouldn't remove a ton of stuff now, get through the plow season first, then evaluate in the spring. Do you have a budget if you blow a hydraulic line at 2 am? Blow a ram?
If not, tuck away the grand for repairs.

[donut]

Originally Posted by Rust Buster

The plow is a 9' older speedcast with the pure hydraulic pump. The front leafs are three and I had them arch a 4th add a leaf to add some beef. The current ones are so reversed arched that it is crazy. The heater sucks, so I will definitely be looking into that and probably replacing the heater core. I've already plowed two seasons with it and have had some issues (melted the clutch slave cylinder hose due to an exhaust donut leak), brake lines blowing out (plowed one 12" storm with no brakes whatsoever), some overheating issues and electrical shorts at the starter. The endeavor will be to do a major overhaul and try to avoid those issues this winter. Additional money is not an issue, it's just the time effort to fix when something happens and of course with the truck down, our only backup is the tractor.

Sounds like your not in really that bad a shape. How's the salt situation? Do you have a lot of rust? I ask because if there's any corrosion issues, I don't bother with the old wheel cylinders. If it's bad enough I'm replacing lines, then the wheel cylinders shouldn't be that bad. I think for the k-20 they were like 15.00 a piece. A rusty bleeder screw isn't worth the effort sometimes. In my case, I had to inspect the rear shoes anyway.

Got to get supper, more than likely be back.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by donut

Sounds like your not in really that bad a shape. How's the salt situation? Do you have a lot of rust? I ask because if there's any corrosion issues, I don't bother with the old wheel cylinders. If it's bad enough I'm replacing lines, then the wheel cylinders shouldn't be that bad. I think for the k-20 they were like 15.00 a piece. A rusty bleeder screw isn't worth the effort sometimes. In my case, I had to inspect the rear shoes anyway.

Got to get supper, more than likely be back.

Ye, , I'll be replacing the wheel cylinders, as there isn't much left of the bleeder screw anyway. Surprisingly, especially for coming from Pennsylvania, the truck is pretty much in great shape. Last year I welding replacement floors and rockers but everything else is good and the frame is near mint. The underside of the dump bed is another story. We don't salt our roads, so where it lives now it won't get corroded bad. We just spread fine gravel. I still don't know how I am going to get to the new bleeder screw once I replace the cylinders...there is no clearance behind the bleeders.

[bojak]

That truck is awesome. New headlights & relay kit will make night work / early morning work mo better plus they are cheap and easy for the level of improvement. Plugs and wires. Stay away from Bosch o2 sensor, they can throw code. maybe even a heated 3 way o2 if you are doing headers. Double nut your exhaust bolts at collectors. Good battery. Copy of Waylon Jennings greatest hits. Should be good.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by bojak

That truck is awesome. New headlights & relay kit will make night work / early morning work mo better plus they are cheap and easy for the level of improvement. Plugs and wires. Stay away from Bosch o2 sensor, they can throw code. maybe even a heated 3 way o2 if you are doing headers. Double nut your exhaust bolts at collectors. Good battery. Copy of Waylon Jennings greatest hits. Should be good.

Good call on the lights. The wiring was so messed up that I had to bypass the truck headlights and only use the plow lights, which was sufficient but not ideal. I have bought 4 high output auxiliary lights that I plan on mounting front and rear for additional lighting. I did buy a heated O2 sensor after lessons learned from converting my old 72 K20 to TBI a few years ago. I think I got a Bosch though...LOVE WAYLON!

[donut]

Bojak, I thought about headlight and relay upgrades also. But with a plow on the truck, the stock headlights get by-passed and kicked up to an auxiliary headlight system (Though some work lights pointed rearward could help if you do a lot of backing up.) If you click on my profile pic, my plowgear is on the '73 and you can get an idea of the set-up.

I would imagine with an '88, he has a "minute-mount" system, where the entire plow gear can be dropped. The old style was a major pain to remove, and rarely ever did.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by donut

Bojak, I thought about headlight and relay upgrades also. But with a plow on the truck, the stock headlights get by-passed and kicked up to an auxiliary headlight system (Though some work lights pointed rearward could help if you do a lot of backing up.) If you click on my profile pic, my plowgear is on the '73 and you can get an idea of the set-up.

I would imagine with an '88, he has a "minute-mount" system, where the entire plow gear can be dropped. The old style was a major pain to remove, and rarely ever did.

Ha ha, I read and replied to the previous post before reading this one and you're spot on. It is not a Minute-Mount, but I wish it was. Getting the plow frame on the truck in the first place (obvious from pic, but the truck did not come with plow attached) was a pain in the ass and sent me to the emergency room on Valentines day 2013 for staples in my head. The plow frame wouldn't go over the truck frame and I got a BFH and started wailing on it to get in place. Well the metal started building up some energy and when it gave way and sprung back, it knocked me on my ass and head into my welding table behind me. Not how my wife wanted to spend our first Valentine's Day together, but it's a good story now.

[Rust Buster]

And maybe you guys can help me out with two gremlins as well.

The entire power steering system has been replaced (Hydroboost).
For the life of me, I can't seem to get all the air out. It still whines and has a lumpy "catch" to it when you steer with what I consider to be too much effort. Any ideas? I've followed the procedure to bleed it over and over to no avail.

Also, I need to replace the rear wheel cylinders and brake lines. The brake bleeder on the back of the drums is about 1/2" behind the leaf springs. I can't see any way to bleed them without taking off the leaf springs. Please tell me there is a better way!

[willett]

What about putting a Detroit in the back?

[monte0185]

TO help with the starter situation you can always wire in a ford solenoid to keep all the small wires from overheating due to manifold heat soak. I always run one. Maybe an auxilary electric fan to keep the cooling system cool since the clutch fan wont be operating at higher rpm's. Just a couple thoughts.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by monte0185

TO help with the starter situation you can always wire in a ford solenoid to keep all the small wires from overheating due to manifold heat soak. I always run one. Maybe an auxilary electric fan to keep the cooling system cool since the clutch fan wont be operating at higher rpm's. Just a couple thoughts.

I did away with the clutch fan (was three blades only) by buying the six bladed flex-a-lite. Hoping that and the aluminum radiator with big tubes makes a difference. Is there a tech write-up on the Ford solenoid? I am intrigued.

[monte0185]

Originally Posted by Rust Buster

I did away with the clutch fan (was three blades only) by buying the six bladed flex-a-lite. Hoping that and the aluminum radiator with big tubes makes a difference. Is there a tech write-up on the Ford solenoid? I am intrigued.

I know there is one somewhere but I dont have it handy. Basically you take off your power wire from the battery and run it to the right side of the solenoid. then run a power wire from the battery to the left side of the solenoid. Remove all wires from your starter except the main battery wire and make a small jumper to connect the main power on the starter to where the purple wire previously was connected. Usually the small terminal to the right. Now take all your connection that were on the starter and connect all of them except the purple wire to the left post on the solenoid where you connected your battery earlier then connect the purple wire to the left small post on the ford solenoid. Here is a pick of mine. cant see it real well but i can take a better pic if necessary.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by monte0185

I know there is one somewhere but I dont have it handy. Basically you take off your power wire from the battery and run it to the right side of the solenoid. then run a power wire from the battery to the left side of the solenoid. Remove all wires from your starter except the main battery wire and make a small jumper to connect the main power on the starter to where the purple wire previously was connected. Usually the small terminal to the right. Now take all your connection that were on the starter and connect all of them except the purple wire to the left post on the solenoid where you connected your battery earlier then connect the purple wire to the left small post on the ford solenoid. Here is a pick of mine. cant see it real well but i can take a better pic if necessary.

Awesome, thank you! I can see this fixing all sorts of problems and making it much easier to access things. I googled it as well and there is loads of info out there. Not sure how I feel about having a Ferd part in my bowtie, but this will be an exception.

[monte0185]

Technically its not made by ford just used by ford mainly. LOL I look at is as a john deere part on my chevy!!! LOL

[donut]

That's what I was pondering, getting to the bleeder screws on a cab and chassis truck. Maybe someone will chime in with some thoughts. I was thinking loonngg wrench, if possible.

Anyway, other random thoughts. Speedcast plow, 100% hydraulic. 4 front leafs were enough for my 8' blade, in fact nose dropped less than an inch. Factory for me was 2 leafs. I added 2. When I moved south, (blade stayed north) 4th leaf was pulled. 3 on a 3/4 was very do-able. For you 4 may be perfect.

Hydraulic oil, DON'T run the blue stuff. Got the warning from the dealership when an old timer asked the kid there if he was trying to burn down my truck before I left the dooryard. Kid had recommended the blue stuff to me, I always used ATF. I also pulled the belt off the hydraulic pump in the summer. Saves on wear and tear. (besides, try to find a new pump....)

Future reference. You should be able to drop the push beam that ties the left and right together. (2 bolts. 3/4" dia. maybe?) Bolt up the sides, but leave loose. Then the push bar can go underneath. Inspect your bolt holes. If they're hogged out, patch them up.

Yes, I'm a little scatterbrained. I went through my truck with the same intention. I'm concentrating on the plow because that's the reason for the truck (and a lot of smarter folks can advise on the truck.) Oh, moved south 1 year after I redid the plow, and all this was about 5 years ago. Truck was sold. I learned a lot by doing it and the fact it was the factory plow gear from '73. (had the paperwork) The truck had plowed it's entire life. After I re did it all, welded up and painted the blade and the headgear, blew a seal on a side ram, first storm. grr

[86c20]

to bleed the wheels cly on a one ton is ez. un bolt the backing plats and pull them forword some with the shoes on and springs on bleed and bolt back up dont that on the 4 that i have to work on and never have had any bs with that ever.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by 86c20

to bleed the wheels cly on a one ton is ez. un bolt the backing plats and pull them forword some with the shoes on and springs on bleed and bolt back up dont that on the 4 that i have to work on and never have had any bs with that ever.

You Sir, if this works, are my new hero. I never thought of this and can't wait to try it out.
Thanks!

[old blue 86]

Here is some good electrical info to look thru.
should have the ford solenoid info.
http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical-tech.shtml

[special-K]

Gotta have that heat working right. I wonder if the radiator was gunked up causing poor flow. The same could be true for the heater core.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by special-K

Gotta have that heat working right. I wonder if the radiator was gunked up causing poor flow. The same could be true for the heater core.

Heater core has to be on my list, especially to make sure it has good defrost. I'm going to have to pull it before I order a new one since the pics and part numbers online contradict each other for A/C and non A/C.

[86c20]

it works just fine. like i said i do four of them one 85 k30 one 88 v30 and two 95 g30hd.
and a few others on the side and it works great. was told about it that way form a old timer that worked for gm way back

[franken]

You might (reverse) flush the radiator and heater core before removing.
Flex fans grenade and try to kill you. I'd get an 8 blade clutch fan from the scrapyard with aluminum blades (some had flexible steel blades).
Do you have a fan shroud? The fan should be about half in, half out of the shroud.
Oil cooler.
An AAW wiring harness will probably be easier to make work.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by franken

You might (reverse) flush the radiator and heater core before removing.
Flex fans grenade and try to kill you. I'd get an 8 blade clutch fan from the scrapyard with aluminum blades (some had flexible steel blades).
Do you have a fan shroud? The fan should be about half in, half out of the shroud.
Oil cooler.
An AAW wiring harness will probably be easier to make work.

I have heard some stories about the flex fans, so I guess we'll see. I figure anything is better than the three bladed one that was there. There is a shroud and I will check the clearances, thanks for the heads up.
Still torn on replacing the wiring harness or just redoing with what is there. I have a very good wiring diagram for the truck.