The Haywagon Hauler, 1979 F250 Camper Special

[snowracer]

Figured i would start a new build thread for my 79 as the one for my wheeler is comming to an end as the truck is getting parted out. The wheeler was called the HayWagon so thats where the hauler name came from

when i was out looking for a tow rig i wanted a dsl truck but it was not in the budget so started looking at gas pots. i have always been a lover of the dent side trucks so was looking for one of them and after making some calls i was talking to a friend and he said he had one sitting at his place. the truck was not his but a buddys and i could get it for cheap. went out and looked at it and it sure needed some love but had what i was looking for and was cheap

now the truck had been sitting for almost two years as the motor blew up and the owner never got a round to swapping in a new one.

this is what it looked like when i went and looked at it





and the best part was the front 60



then once i had the truck in my name i started to think about what to do about the lack of motor. the truck had a 351m in it but had a blowen piston so was not any good for rebuilding. there was a used 351m in the back of the box along with a lot of other spare parts. i was going to do a cheap clean up of the 351 but then i was talking to a buddy and he told me that he had a 460 that i could have for free. so once i had the motor figured out i got it in the shop and pulled it down and did a cheap rebuild with a few go fast parts







the truck was set up for propane when i got it and had no plans on changing that as i will also be using this truck as my daily driver and tow rig

motor in the truck with the conversion motor mounts



now everywere that i read people say that i would have issues with exh manifolds clearing the frame, i did not have that problem so that was a big plus



the only major issue that i came accross was the accessory drive, once again everthing i had read said that i could use the v belt system off the M block. that did not work at all for me as the alternator was hitting the crossmember and the ps pump was hitting the steering box. so after a little more reading i went with the serp system off a 90 460. it was not a bolt on but was real close.



had to make a small bracket for the ps pump mount to the water pump but that was about it

[snowracer]

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now while doing the motor rebuild i pulled the trans to do a shift kit in the c6, while i was doing that i was not watching what i was going and heard a load snap so i stoped. i took the trans in to a my fav local shop and turns out it was a good thing i did as the trans was toast and would have failed real soon

when putting the new trans in i ran all new lines and used a cooler for a E350 with a psd motor as it was in with the part that came with the truck. when i ran the lines i did a cheap little trick to help hold the lines together

just some pico clamps





now with the new motor and trans in the truck it was time to start driving it but it really needed exh as it was open manifolds.

went with 2 1/2 from the motor into a magniflow X muffler and then 3inch out infront of the rear tires. i must say it sounds real mean but is not to loud that i get tired of it when driving down the hwy





at the same time i also really need some new tires as it came on split rims when i got it. so for the first few weeks i ran on some old stock size tires till my rims showed up. went with 17x9 rock crawlers and some old 35s that i had



also tossed the winch bumper and put a stock bumper that my dad had from his 78 that was only on his truck for a few years so it was like new





and with my old daily driver and my wheeler



next on the list was putting in the large fuel tank that came with the truck as the little ones under the box were really not getting me far

[snowracer]

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drove the truck for a bit like this but was not a fan of the stock front bumper and really did not like the winch bumper that was with it when i got it. so i pulled some tube out and started to bend something up



cut the front fenders for a little more clearance and to look better





main bar with skid plate

[snowracer]

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with the bumper done i turned to the front diff as i really needed new brakes and shocks



no working at a ford dealership has it upsides as when we do lifts on new trucks all the stock stuff gets tossed so i got a crap load of shocks. just had to find a way to make them fit the 79. stock is stem stem and the super duty shocks are loop stem. so easy fix was just to make some conversion mounts for the bottom





also added a little beef to the diff cover while i was at it becuase i had the diff apart changing the fluid and repacking the king pins

stock cover









also got a set of free leather seats out of a 1997 dodge, they are not in the best of shape but way better then the shitty bench seat that was in the truck





and got my autometer guages in, used a overhead console for a newer chevy and it fits great under the dash and looks way better then the cheap under dash ones

[snowracer]

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when i got the truck it had the large tank in the box but it was not hooked up, then a side mount tank and also rear under box tanks. once i had the large tank mounted and hooked up i ran the side tank out and then pulled it out as it was crazy ugly

before



after



was able to pick up another 35inch tire for a spare free from work so just had to get a rim. once i had it mounted up i build a box mount for it. bolts down to the box then has a chain welded to it so that i can lock the tire up










now when i got the truck i knew it has some rust but did not really know how bad it was till i got it home and almost crapped my pants when i looked. i started with pulling the carpet out on the pass side and back of the cab, when i got it out i found way more rust that some one did a bad job of fixxing. with money being tight i did not want to spend it on new floor pans so cut up some street signs and patched the floor

[snowracer]

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driving the truck and working the bugs out i found a major one that was getting real bad. i had a major death wobble and knew it was not the king pins as i just checked them out and put new springs and bushings in when i did the brakes. turned out to be the short tie rod from the steering box



now once again being tight on money i did not want to spend the moeny on the stock one as they are crazy over priced. i had some dom and adapters left over from another project, so just reamed out the knuckle and pitman and built my own tie rod







when i got the truck on the road my second day driving it the heater core blew out so i just bypassed it as i did not have time to fix it. once i had the time and it was getting cooler i pulled the heater box out and put a new core in. while i had the heater out i laid down some dynomat and i must say it made a big differance



also built some mounts for my shovel and high lift



used a pico clamp on the handle end and just a bolt and wing nut on the head

[snowracer]

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after driving the truck i was having some starting issues and turned out it was my old red top so pulled it out and built a new mount so that i could put my two yellow tops in. i wanted to put them both on the same side so i had to beat the inner fender in a bit but worked out great





and my simple holders to help keep the battery in the tray







with the truck starting great i spend some time just using it as my daily driver but there was one thing that was still really bothering me about it. someone before me put a sunroof in the truck and did a shitty job of it. it did not open and it leaked like crazy and i was getting tired of getting wet when driving. this was also the reason the floor is so bad.

i did not want to just reseal the sunroof so i cut it out and filled the hole. now i am not a body man buy anymeans so it did not turn out that great but i dont care as it does not leak anymore

[snowracer]

next up for mods on the truck was a little more power for the 460, got a weind intake









with the new intake on the truck sure felt more responsive. with the new found power the truck finnally got used for its intended use and pulled a few trailers





then a big ass heavy trailer that the truck did not like

[snowracer]

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got a free rack for the back, its ugly and i will have to rework it a bit but it was free and will do for now





now that is about it for pics right now. for the most part the truck has been doing great and worked well pulling the trailers. the main issues that i have had is that my single 16inch electric fan was just not up to cooling the motor when working it. i have changed out to a dual fan set up now and is doing way better at cooling it, should have some pics this weekend as i used a fan set up off a new crown vic cop car.

the other thing i did not like was the c6 for towing as with ony the 3 gears i found i really only used 2nd and 3rd and the truck was lugging or revving and was never happy. i was looking into doing a zf 5speed swap behind this 460 as i have the trans and would just have to get my flywheel machined to work.

now that i have parted out my wheeler im thinking about rebuilding the motor and trans from it as it would be a better combo for towing. the Haywagon has a 7.3 idi with a zf speed. the motor and trans worked well for towing before the truck turned into a wheeler. i have already had the pump turned way up and have a turbo and some other goodies for that so that is now the plan for this truck. it will be spring before any of the drive train swap start as im busy and still in the planning stage

more to come this weekend as the truck now has a new set of 37s on it and a few other small changes that i have not had time to get pics of

[knightkrawler]

Wow pretty cool swap with the 460 running on pain from a 351M I myself have always prefered the Winsor over the Modified also those 17's look sweet and not gay as alot of folks who put larger wheel on older trucks you have give me a great ideal for my 90 thanks!

[redpitbull44]

Originally Posted by knightkrawler

those 17's look sweet and not gay as alot of folks who put larger wheel on older trucks you have give me a great ideal for my 90 thanks!

Well, 17's aren't really that big dude. I mean, the stock wheels on 250s and 350s from then up til the 90s was a 16" or 16.5". It's kinda funny, to me when you go from a 16 to an 18 they look "big" but from a 16 to a 17 it doesn't seem that much different.

@snowracer
As far as this build goes; are you intending to make this a wheeler, or are you going to keep with the hauler theme?

[Ramboss429]

Nice work on the hauler! Why are you parting out the Haywagon??

[snowracer]

Originally Posted by redpitbull44

Well, 17's aren't really that big dude. I mean, the stock wheels on 250s and 350s from then up til the 90s was a 16" or 16.5". It's kinda funny, to me when you go from a 16 to an 18 they look "big" but from a 16 to a 17 it doesn't seem that much different.

@snowracer
As far as this build goes; are you intending to make this a wheeler, or are you going to keep with the hauler theme?

ya the 17s are really not that much bigger and i really like the look of them on the truck, think 20s would be to much.

this one will be a very mild wheeler for camping trips and such as i will not have a wheeler for a while. main job for this truck is daily driver and tow rig once i have a wheeler again

Originally Posted by Ramboss429

Nice work on the hauler! Why are you parting out the Haywagon??

thanks man, haywagon got parted out as i only took it out once this year, frame is getting bad and i had a guy show up with good money for the diffs and suspension. i will build haywagon 2.0 but that will be a little bit down the road

[Loki89t]

We should trade front diffs

[huff75]

I like this thing a lot! Kick ass truck man.

[snowracer]

Originally Posted by Loki89t

We should trade front diffs

we should not

Originally Posted by huff75

I like this thing a lot! Kick ass truck man.

thanks man, not as cool as yours but im not going for a wheeler with this one

[zainyD]

Truck looks great, but I would ditch the body lift or at least put in some gap guards to cover up the gaps between the frame and bed.

[knightkrawler]

Originally Posted by redpitbull44

Well, 17's aren't really that big dude. I mean, the stock wheels on 250s and 350s from then up til the 90s was a 16" or 16.5". It's kinda funny, to me when you go from a 16 to an 18 they look "big" but from a 16 to a 17 it doesn't seem that much different.

That is true but alot of folks pick those gay chrome look at me getto wheels, no truck or suv should have to wear that shame around.

[Sledgehammer83]

Looking good. I like the functional mods on the cheap. Keep up the good work.

[snowracer]

Originally Posted by zainyD

Truck looks great, but I would ditch the body lift or at least put in some gap guards to cover up the gaps between the frame and bed.

thanks man, but body lift stays and i really could not care about the gaps so it will stay the way it is

Originally Posted by Sledgehammer83

Looking good. I like the functional mods on the cheap. Keep up the good work.

thanks man

got some pics this weekend of the truck and the last few things i have done

took the overflow out of the haywagon and put it in this truck as i was just running a pop bottle before and it looked like crap



my new dual fan set up that is off a 2009 crown vic that i got for free from work. im only running the one side right now as i have not hooked up the relay for the other one. right now with only one its cooling the truck better then my single 16 flexalite did



pulled the switches out of the HW and put them in here for high idle, fog, driving, and back up lights. i have an extra spot if i want to add one more later on



also put my b&m shifter in as the old husrt one i had fell apart and i was not able to shift anymore



did some horse trading and got a set of 37x12.5r17s, the old bfgs that are like 98% and thats for the 4 on the truck. also got 2 more in the deal and they are the same and have never been mounted and still have the tits on them

[Sledgehammer83]

Oh.....I forgot to mention I love the dual side pipe.

[snowracer]

small up date, nothing to major as have just been daily driving this thing

dropped oil pressure and had a lifter tick so pulled the motor apart over the holidays and did a few other little things while i had it all apart





changed out the two lifters and put in all new push rods, put on a new timming cover as my old ones leeked and i could not get it to stop. after checking bearings and they all looked good i put in a new high volume oil pump and switched over to a rear sump pan



posi in the rear diff is shot and i hate winter driving with a one wheel wonder so i welded it up for a temp fix. i have a 10.25 that i plan on swapping in soon as the brakes on the 60 are shot and the 10.25 has new brakes



got my spare full 37 mounted and bolted down in the box



and my other spair tire, i now have 6 37s that are all 95% or new



and my tach in



and when all ricer with blue leds in all my gauges



even did the dash lights while at it

[ydocnitsua6705]

Any updates on the hauler? I just got a 77 F250 Super Cab and your giving me alot of inspiration even though mines only 2wd. Want to set it up as a tow rig just like youve done. Good work and cant wait to see Hay Wagon 2.0

[kentucky4x4]

how do you like the welded rear on a dd?

[snowracer]

Originally Posted by ydocnitsua6705

Any updates on the hauler? I just got a 77 F250 Super Cab and your giving me alot of inspiration even though mines only 2wd. Want to set it up as a tow rig just like youve done. Good work and cant wait to see Hay Wagon 2.0

sorry man i kinda forgot about this but will do an update tonight as i have some new pics as i have done some work to it. the body on the truck is real bad and i am thinking about trying to find a 2wd truck this summer for a body swap.

Originally Posted by kentucky4x4

how do you like the welded rear on a dd?

well i loved it till i blew the rear 60 up this winter, truck now has a 10.25 in the back with a real tight posi.