Towbie, the 2004 F-450

Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
Time for some updates.

First the good news. The backup camera I was waiting on showed up, hooked right in, and works great. Im even pretty impressed with the nightvision it has.

Now the bad. Last Wednesday I was heading down south with my pig to the vet and around American fork I felt something similar to a pop, and the truck started decelerating. luckily I was right near the exit so I coasted to the side of the road and the truck died. I tried starting it with no luck. Pulled up the diagnostics and found all these

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They all were related to an ICP sensor, crankshaft sensor, and camshaft sensor. Well bummer I thought, at least I have roadside service through my insurance right? Well surprise surprise when I called my insurance about it and was informed that although they did say my coverage was the same as my last truck, they neglected to inform me that my truck is a commercial vehicle and is not eligible for roadside service so I ended up forking out of pocket for the tow. This commercial truck BS is getting old. Anyway since its early in the morning, and the truck really hadn't had time to warm up, there I was with frost forming on the inside of the windshield and a very unhappy pig. Had my mother in law come get the pig, then toughed it out for an hour til the towing company showed up.
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I starting thinking I should have bought a flatbed truck like this ^. It was slick watching him load it up.

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Made it to the shop!

After a day with the truck the shop narrowed it down to 3 possibilities. None of which were good, and of course all 3 were in different areas of the motor so labor wouldn't overlap. We tried their best guess first which turned out wrong, second time around they got the issue. Turned out the HPOP went bad.

Im not sure Ill get used to the increased cost of working on these things. holy cow! basically flushed all hopes of going to EJS this year down the drain, or wheeling in general for that matter.

Upside? Well the HPOP seal was weeping a little oil anyway so now that the leak is repaired I can park in the driveway again. Also the truck is way better mannered. It seemed to run good as far as I could tell before, and the dealership I had do an inspection on it said it seemed alright too, but now it starts instantly when the key is turned, gets better mpg according to the programmer, idles smooth when started cold when before it would shake noticeably, and other things.

Overall its a bummer to have an issue this soon, but im glad it happened locally rather than when im out on a trip somewhere.
 

SPECIAL ED

Yellow Helmet boy
Location
Utah
I fought with my insurance company about my F-350 flatbed. They told me it was a commercial truck due to the fact it was sold as cab and chassis and the last owner (state of Utah) insured it commercially. I finally won the battle.
 

Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
I fought with my insurance company about my F-350 flatbed. They told me it was a commercial truck due to the fact it was sold as cab and chassis and the last owner (state of Utah) insured it commercially. I finally won the battle.

Yeah im actually looking into other insurance companies today and so far none of them have cared about it being a 450 or flatbed. Ill be switching next week sometime i imagine :thumbs:
 

Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
Another rough patch for towbie last week. A few days after I got it back from the shop I walked out to the truck and found it in a puddle of antifreeze. I was more than a little frustrated. Tracked down the leak to a Fumoto valve on the side of the engine block. Its used to drain antifreeze out of the engine to help with flushes and such. Next day air'd 2 new ones just so ill be ready if it fails again, replaced the valve, no more leakage!

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Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
While I was draining the antifreeze from the motor to replace the valve I decided to just throw the chrome flaps on.

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SPECIAL ED

Yellow Helmet boy
Location
Utah
Yeah im actually looking into other insurance companies today and so far none of them have cared about it being a 450 or flatbed. Ill be switching next week sometime i imagine :thumbs:

I had to make sure the insurance agent checked with the under writer before i would listen to them. it is a pain in the ass but worth the battle.
 

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
Another rough patch for towbie last week. A few days after I got it back from the shop I walked out to the truck and found it in a puddle of antifreeze. I was more than a little frustrated. Tracked down the leak to a Fumoto valve on the side of the engine block. Its used to drain antifreeze out of the engine to help with flushes and such. Next day air'd 2 new ones just so ill be ready if it fails again, replaced the valve, no more leakage!

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Is there somewhere local to buy Fumoto valves or did you get it online?
 

Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
I ended up buying them online on amazon. I was going to check locally but it was presidents day weekend so most stuff was closed
 

Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
Time for some updates. Traded vehicles with my friend while they worked on my new sliders.

Mocking up in position.

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Some welding
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Good to go!
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Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
I had some rustoleum roll on enamel I thought I would give a try. seemed similar to por15 but less expensive, although I know por15 is a better product. Anyway it had been sitting in the garage a long time and while I rolled it on it was very runny. almost watery. Since I hadn't used it before I figured it was normal, and it was late at night so I just went with it. The next day I realized the paint had separated into a hardened sludge at the bottom, leaving just the runny coloring on top. So there are runs all over in the paint. I was too lazy at that point to sand and redo them so I went and bought a new can of the stuff and rolled it on. I wanted a flat black look so I didn't clear coat it and it seems to get scuffed easily when bumped into or stepped on. Time will tell how it holds up.

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Also painted the new angled tie down points they added for me.
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Team1k

Active Member
Location
Lehi
Next up it was time to install. I finished painting them on a Tuesday, but wouldn't have anyone available to help install til Saturday. well I was too anxious to do that so I made a device to help me install them by myself. Worked awesome and took me about an 1.5 hours to install them. They mount to 3 factory step locations on the body under the door, then 3 frame tie ins that used tapping screws to attach.
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