4 link, ORI's, narrowed D60w/only 2.5" lift, 5"+WB stretch, 2" floor lower, P/S....,

[nvrstuk]

Back to tuning and putting fenders back on, patching heater fresh air vent holes in the kick panel, couple wires and then mounting or zip tying the Term X ECU somewhere ... more tunes, more tunes.

I have a dyno reserved in 2 weeks. Hope I"m ready. He will also tweak the tuning for what I want.

Course doing this on MAY DAY slows me down a little but everyone needs a break right?? First time I've ridden in May before. Awesome, unexpected day of TimberSledding

Notice the CampRobber in several of the pics. We had a good time feeding them. Haven't had that happen up sledding for 15 yrs I'm guessing. Always fun! ( I gave them enough crackers to last them till the snow melts.) ha

 

[.94 OR]

Nice job on the "retreat".
Our snow is not worth driving to down here.

 

[Speedrdr]

Oh, my! All I’m gonna say is I’m glad that you got to do some sledding and I’ve got warm weather so the shop is at a good temp for working on my Bronco.

Randy

 

[nvrstuk]

I know, right Randy!!! I had to keep the heat on every day I'm out there, although today it was 58F!! WoooooHoooo lol

 

[nvrstuk]

Well, the last few starts it's running so rich it reminds me of driving over Cinnamon Pass in CO with the wife, kids, tent trailer, with the Holley rejetted and barely making it over 12,400ft with black smoke puffing out the back (actually much worse today but hey... lol)

So I got another tune and the temp ECT sensor is acting like when cold it's not adding "much" extra fuel but when it's hot it's dumping fuel in like it's 40deg below.

Few tune and sensor adjustments by Scott, I make a jumper with clamps big enough to clamp over the base of the coolant sensor in case it wasn't grounding properly (thru the pipe dope-which I have never had an issue with) and it was running pretty dang good... till the temp started climbing and climbing. Never been above 195 when idling even in 113deg temps since my attempt at running a RD radiator..., but now, what the heck??? My wide band was reading 13.7 or so- the opposite of lean!

Whipped out the infared and WHOA, look at these numbers on the pic below. Imagine middle pic with the bottom of the pic being the PS frt fender and the top of the pic being the DS frt fender. Right side of the pic being the front of the engine. The #1plug/cyl which is bottom right, is appr 330deg F and #2 & #3 right next door are both over 700deg F!!! You can see that on the top row, far left would be #8 and I cleaned it already.
Something aint right.

Shut it down after writing the temps down and thought about it. I think I was actually still talking on the phone to Tim about 4 links and anti-wraps but if a cylinder isn't firing then unburnt fuel is going out the pipe and being read and interpreted by the ECU as needing less fuel. So less fuel is allowed thru the injector and I am pretty sure that's where the HIGH header temps were coming from.

Anyway, ALL the plugs got pulled, the ones in the 400deg or lower cylinders were all sooty, including the anode. The other plugs were all sooty also but the ends of the anode were sporting a bit of shine so those must have been firing. Never had 8 sooty plugs before. Oily, some tan, some dark brown, or whatever but never in 50+ yrs of wrenching have I had every cyl black & sooty & dry.

So, new plugs should help. So I call and there's NO PLUGS in town! Guess I"m done tuning today!

Be here Saturday, hopefully Scott can shoot me another tune or two on Sunday.

How dissapointing as it was running so much better even with a couple plugs not firing well which is really odd as I didn't detect a miss but it wasn't under load which makes it so much easier to detect.- at least that's the symptoms. Know more tomorrow.

Did get some misc stuff checked off the list although most of it was irrigation, mowing, etc.

 

[ssray]

Going to try pulling a trailer, yes. Arctic Fox as it is a true 4 season trlr.

Looks like you are getting close to 90 degrees in that picture but it could be deceiving. Mostly straight tongue on the trailer? Can you clear the tongue with the ramps to load/unload the Bronco without un hooking the trailer? Almost looks like it in that pic.

 

[nvrstuk]

The only thing that would keep me from making 90° are the weight distribution bar brackets that hang off the tongue. I'm about 87 deg on the turn!

The truck itself turns pretty sharp, ( Tighter turning radius than any F350) but the distance between the rear axle of the truck and the axles on the trailer are going to be what keeps me from making any such thing as a sharp corner LOL

The thickness of the ramp keeps me from unloading the Bronco when it's connected to the trailer, it's that close!!

 

[ssray]

The only thing that would keep me from making 90° are the weight distribution bar brackets that hang off the tongue. I'm about 87 deg on the turn!

The truck itself turns pretty sharp, ( Tighter turning radius than any F350) but the distance between the rear axle of the truck and the axles on the trailer are going to be what keeps me from making any such thing as a sharp corner LOL

The thickness of the ramp keeps me from unloading the Bronco when it's connected to the trailer, it's that close!!

Ahh.. so close. Your modus operarandi maybe doesn’t need that capability, would be handy if making a stop but not camping there overnight. My folks had a trailer with a weight transfer hitch years ago that wouldn’t turn tight at all so was a very different design. Later went to fifth wheel because of how they handled. Maybe you can build a turntable in and load off the side.

 

[Yeller]

Thought about your loading/unloading. Can you remove and install the arms with the trailer connected and the jack up? If so can you just unhook one of the arms and jack knife tight enough to load and unload? Just a thought to simplify/speed the process.

 

[nvrstuk]

Ahh.. so close. Your modus operarandi maybe doesn’t need that capability, would be handy if making a stop but not camping there overnight. My folks had a trailer with a weight transfer hitch years ago that wouldn’t turn tight at all so was a very different design. Later went to fifth wheel because of how they handled. Maybe you can build a turntable in and load off the side.

I need to have the guy that built hitch shorten it 30" after the guy I hired built it WAAAAAY too long against my schematics I sent him. So he's driving 4 hrs tomorrow to come pick it up and try to make it closer to what I wanted.

With an F550 I shouldn't need weight distribution bars. I want that option for local camping when I tow it with my other truck tho.

Steve- yes, these weight distribution bars are super easy to remove however, when I shorten the hitch by 30" it will move the truck closer to the trailer and then the propane tanks are in the way.

I guess it's a choice between the possibility of being able to unload super quick and easy w/o disconnecting the trlr

OR

being able to go around a corner without a trlr severely cutting the corner behind me. I"m hoping 3' closer between truck and trlr axles helps some.

I was seriously thinking of getting a 24" stinger (I've made them before for my campers) and then the tongue of the trailer would follow the truck better... drawback is the end of the stinger would then be a LONG distance behind the truck rear axle, like appr 9' behind it. Guess that's like my motorhome actually. I should measure it. Having it that trlr ball that far back sure makes the tongue swing out there!

 

[Yeller]

That swiing also helps speed up the turning response when backing.

I’ve found being able to turn 90* or close is the biggest help, that’s what makes gooseneck and fifth wheel work so well.

As for the truck needing load leveling no it does not. But the trailer needs sway control, don’t fool yourself into thinking it doesn’t. It will pull 100x better with sway control.

Wish I had pics…. I built a hitch many years ago for the race trailer with a pair bilstein 5200 shocks with their heaviest valving that made a triangle from the back of the truck to the tongue of the trailer that used pins to attach to the tongue it worked really well. Not sure where it wound up, we went to a gooseneck and never looked at a bumper pull again. It was all structured off of the receiver so it was easy to remove.

 

[ntsqd]

Decades ago grandad had both load-leveling and sway control for towing his Airstreams. The heaviest vehicle that he ever towed with was a '72 F-100 with an 8 lug conversion (for the bigger brakes). The sway control consisted of a pair of ~1" balls, one on the side of the tongue and one offset to the side of the tow ball on the slider. Attached to these was a "linear brake"; a flat plate attached to the slider small ball and a structure of a pair of friction material lined plates attached to the tongue's small ball. It had a tension bolt that allowed some adjustment of how tight the friction material clamped the first plate. Haven't seen anything like it in a very long time, but it worked extremely well.

 

[Yeller]

Decades ago grandad had both load-leveling and sway control for towing his Airstreams. The heaviest vehicle that he ever towed with was a '72 F-100 with an 8 lug conversion (for the bigger brakes). The sway control consisted of a pair of ~1" balls, one on the side of the tongue and one offset to the side of the tow ball on the slider. Attached to these was a "linear brake"; a flat plate attached to the slider small ball and a structure of a pair of friction material lined plates attached to the tongue's small ball. It had a tension bolt that allowed some adjustment of how tight the friction material clamped the first plate. Haven't seen anything like it in a very long time, but it worked extremely well.

I have one of those bars. Reese still made the balls last I looked. Anyone need one

 

[ntsqd]

What is used in it's place these days? I'd guess that they didn't go away without something that does the same job.

 

[nvrstuk]

I have seen several types of friction style sway controllers for trailers and seen a single shock used.

I have never towed with one or ever had a trailer wagging behind me. I towed this AF trlr 400 miles with a 3/4 Chev with a 6.0. Did great. No noticeable trailer behind me except when climbing a pretty good hill- I was surprised. In appropriate places I try braking pretty hard, turn the wheel like I'm dodging a pothole (safe speeds obviously), things like this so I know what to anticipate later if the situation arises.

Hooked the trlr up behind the 550 for a 4 hour pull and I'd be cruising along and all of a sudden I would "shift" in the lane to the PS or DS about 3'. Bit spooky. I spent as much time looking in the mirrors when cruising to see if there was ANY noticeable sway and none- zip. Happened randomly.

Got it all home again and looked at lots of stuff then checked the hitch- check out the video below of the amount of slop side to side. Only thing I can think of that would be causing this "shifting" would be the trailer or truck might catch a groove in the pavement and "shift" over to the side because of the slop?? Did not do it once in 8 hrs of towing with the 3/4ton Chev. Both trucks were using the weight distribution bars.

Took the bars off and didn't notice anything different when towing w/o them. Only about 60 miles but nothing discernable.

OK, the videos show on my phone but not on my desktop... ????? I'll try posting again below

 

[Yeller]

We never experienced sway with the race trailer but crossing NM, KS, OK, and TX we could definitely tell the difference in the amount pushing from the wind.

 

[ntsqd]

I'm gonna guess that the Chevy didn't have duals? I've experienced 'hunting' with the very, very few duals that I've driven, but not a full lane's worth!

 

[nvrstuk]

Slapped all new plugs in, yesterday- gapped at .049" which is what I ran with the Moates as per Decipha's recommendations.

Hooked up the PCV. DS valve cover has pcv in it and it goes to vac port below throttle blades in throttle body. PS valve cover has oil fill and is connected to the air filter. Unless it is hooked up incorrectly (like lots of new fresh air) I don't know why temps got hotter with new plugs! Unless they were all firing better and burning off a lean afr.

All cylinders were much more even on primary tube temps but after maybe 3 minutes I'm checking primary temps and I had the two hottest cyl from Friday now even hotter. 750F something on one and the other "pegged" my infared which I believe is 800F??? HOLY COW, I ran over to shut it off. No glow on the primary tube but 800F I'm not comfortable with. The cyl wall to piston clearance is tight on this block. At the minimum that Mahle recommends. Glad the piston alloy doesn't expand at all but still... not comfortable.

So I have a 30 sec datalog after I let it cool down for a bit. Hopefully the tuner can see what's going on.

 

[ntsqd]

If you were carb'd I'd thinking in terms of unequal mixture distribution due to some issue with the intake manifold. Possible that all injectors are not doing exactly the same thing?

Speaking of it, some interesting reading on the PCV system: https://mewagner.com/

 

[nvrstuk]

Same thought. We checked my buddy's 454 stroker I spec'd out almost 20 yrs back and he still runs a Qjet and he was much closer on temps from cyl to cyl than I ever thought he would. Course, "dot" placement makes a world of difference! He was under 400deg on all.

I disconnected one injector just for fun and was at 185deg. Waiting to see what the tuner says on heat and related issues.

I'll read the link next.