1989 F150 mild restoration build

[brinker88]

I needed a 4x4 truck for the winter while the ranger's under the knife so I started looking for a full size 80-96 Ford truck.

I ended up with an '89 F150. Drivetrain consists of a 5.0, 5 speed, and BW transfer case. I picked it up for $825 out the door. Plans are to fix the body up, do a single stage paint job on it, level the front, Dana 44 TTB 8 lug outers with a Dana 50 4.10 chunk, Disc brake sterling rear, and beef up the rear suspension.

I'm posting here to show my progression throughout my "build".

The truck:

The floors (both sides were like this) :

New sheetmetal installed and sealed with fiberglass bondo:

Interior is in great shape:

So far, I've installed new rough country N2.0 shocks in the rear, fixed the rotted off EGR tube, installed flowmaster muffler and tail pipe, fixed vacuum lines in the engine bay, fixed floorboards, new speakers in the door, fixed radio, fixed speedometer and transfer case linkage, and ordered ball joints.

 

[Grunizzle]

Do you plan on wheeling it? Just curious as to why do the axle upgrades. If your ranger engine ever does you have a 5.0 donor now haha

 

[adsm08]

So you are broke again huh?

 

[brinker88]

Do you plan on wheeling it? Just curious as to why do the axle upgrades. If your ranger engine ever does you have a 5.0 donor now haha

Don't plan on wheeling it ever. I'd like the heavier axles in it because I can Plus the 4.10s will be great when hauling which is what the truck will primarily be doing.

And Eric, no. I bought the truck for $825 and sold my little 2wd ranger for $600

 

[jhammel85]

Not bad combo with the Stick and v8. Looks like a great beater truck!

 

[brinker88]

Thanks bud. It should serve me well.

 

[brinker88]

No pics, but I changed radius arm bushings in the truck Friday night. Turns out they were still the OEM ones. No wonder the truck would shake and wander all over the highways. Everything's nice and tight now. I reamed out the rivet holes in the frame to 1/2" and slapped some frame bolts in there. $17.00 in parts and 6 hours of my free labor. I absolutely HATE those rivets....

 

[MastuhWaffles]

I loved my 88 F-150. It had the long bed with 2 fuel tanks. Eventually it just got to the point where it was going down the tube. The electronics starting going crazy, it wouldn't shift anymore and then the rust was getting horrible. But for sitting in a field for 6 years, it did good. I actually ended up getting $400 bucks for it.

 

[brinker88]

That's what mine has. New tanks, fuel pumps and straps. This thing still has half the factory "paint" on the frame. Body's going to shit, but that's getting fixed.

Wanted to update this thread. Just did ball joints tonight. Fixed my death wobble AND my brake pulsating problem.

 

[country0001]

I would kill for the 5 speed. They are super hard to find around here.

 

[brinker88]

Couple updates. Got the new hood, cowl, wiper motor, doors, and passenger fender on the truck. Still need to fix the bed rust and driver side fender.

As I mentioned earlier, the truck is getting a sterling 10.25" rear and D50 third member up front stuffed with 4.10s. I will also be swapping to 8 lug on the TTB D44. I've also decided to put a small 4" lift on it with my radius arms/mounts from my ranger TTB build and they swap over perfectly.

Knuckles how they started:

Knuckles now fitted for large bearing spindles and chevy caliper brackets

^ That hole will be filled with weld from the back of the knuckle.

 

[Mudhound]

Interesting brake swap on the TTB. Any info on how/why? I can probably guess on the why part, seeing as how my 87 likes to split and then walk out the caliper pins. Stupid design.

 

[brinker88]

Interesting brake swap on the TTB. Any info on how/why? I can probably guess on the why part, seeing as how my 87 likes to split and then walk out the caliper pins. Stupid design.

It is the only possible way that I know of to properly convert a TTB Dana44 to 8 lug.

LINK

 

[Mudhound]

Okay. So, the GM stuff is simply a "test fit/grind until it fits" thing, right? Stubs are from 10 bolt, then?

 

[brinker88]

Okay. So, the GM stuff is simply a "test fit/grind until it fits" thing, right? Stubs are from 10 bolt, then?

Correct. Make SURE the caliper brackets are 3/4 ton. Ask me how I know. And the stubs can either be 10 bolt or chevy d44.