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F-250 Super Duty tow rig upgrades and maintance build

16K views 113 replies 26 participants last post by  Skooter_Built 
#1 · (Edited)
I've owned my 02 Super Duty since July 08 and have decided that this truck is too good to let go of, so im putting down the money and time I've been lacking on it to bring it back to show room new and give it a few upgrades at the same time :) plan's will include exterior body clean up and paint work, drive train work and interior improvements

*Current specs*
02 F-250 crew cab lariat short bed 7.3 auto 4x4 with 132k miles. Came fully loaded from the factory. I've installed a leveling kit up front (came with air bags in the rear), Tony Wildman 6 position chip, Afe stage 2 intake, 4" Turbo back exhaust, 05 conversion headlights and cut down grill, warn hubs, spray on bed liner and a goose neck hitch.

*Stage 1 work that's underway*
new drilled/slotted rotors front and rear with ceramic pads, xfr ball joints, tie rod and drag link, 4 new shocks (belsteins or ranchos), new 17" aluminum wheels with 315/70 Good year duratrac tires, 08 tow mirror with heat and lights, 05-07 front bumper with the Harley grill, pocket style fender flares, 05 lower dash w/ upfitter switches, 6.0 intercooler and trans cooler, all fluids/filters flushed and replaced then a full interior and exterior detail.

*stage 2*
Ship it off for paint and body work. By luck I have no major rust issues on the cab, bed or doors just surface rust. So I will have that repaired along with a few dents. I want nothing fancy, just other then to make it look factory again.

*stage 3*
This will happen come winter or spring but I will have the audio system improved with new speakers and a sub amp combo, new drivers seat bottom leather and a newer rear flip and tumble rear leather bench. Under the hood ill get an adrenaline hpop and regulated fuel setup for a little more power and some tranny valve body upgrades

In total should run a couple thousand for all this; minus paint, wheels & tires, whatnot... but its better it save my truck now then to have the payments of a newer truck.



My truck from last year, doesn't have the 20's installed right now
 
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#101 ·
I bought an auto zone special for $50 but it has a lifetime warrenty. This is probably my 4th relay in 3 years, my truck hates the cold and I usually get about a year out of them.

I still need to do an oil change this week, new fuel filter as mine is leaking, new shocks, rear hub seals, change all fluids and maybe get a new valve body for the trans and a bigger trans pan.
 
#103 ·
Its not bad to replace them, 5 minutes of work. Actually I learned a trick that if for whatever reason its cold and your truck wont start, take a set of jumper cables and attach one to the positive battery terminal and another to the right main power lug on the relay, facing the engine its the lug closest to the drivers side. Your truck will start in seconds!

I change my oil every 6000 miles and use regular Rotella. If you are a member of Sams Club you can buy Rotella for cheap, usually 35 bucks for 3 gallons.
 
#108 ·
Have a slight update to report, might help other Ferd turd oil burners. I replaced the factory tiny and leaking trans cooler with a huge 6.0 trans cooler awhile back. Since then the trans started running hotter then it ever has, hitting 200+ degrees with easy driving. I figured either the install on the new cooler was wrong, torque converter was failing or the whole trans was on the way out. I eventually started poking around and checking things out and nothing was wrong with the cooler install. Crap, this is looking expensive! Actually not, the fix was only $30 bucks.

What a discovered is that 4R100's and their older brother's have a bypass tube/valve on the return lines which in cold operation cycle the fluid through the trans first until proper temps are reached before going through the cooler system. Well mine failed so the fluid was only going through the trans nd never getting cooled. I ordered a sonnex bypass valve rebuild kit online, rebuilt and installed it and so far no overheating issues to report.
 
#111 ·
FAIL!!! Back to hot trans :(

The back of the trans pan is leaking and the back of the housing is wet. Everything aft of that is coated, WTF!!! I cant win with this Stupid Duty.
 
#114 ·
The tube doesn't seem to be the issue, everything behind it is wet. Its like the seal around thetrans output and tcase input is the problem. I checked the pan bolts and none were loose, still torqued to the setting i had them at.
 
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