There comes a time in your own project vehicle’s life when you’ve got to drive it outside your comfort zone. For some people that comfort zone may be the boundaries of their own neighborhood, city limits, stateline, or larger geographic zone. For others that may be getting their car to the track. It’s been almost 6 months since FordMuscle took delivery of our 1978 Ford F250 4×4. This past weekend we got outside our comfort zone with a trip to Truckee, CA for some off-roading, beginner style. While the durability of an unknown drivetrain was a concern off-road, the highway climb to 5800ft was also a concern. Good news is we made it there and back without a hitch and gained great confidence both on and off the asphalt with Project Redneck. Here are a few pictures from the weekend trip.
This a satellite shot of where we took the truck for some messing around. Prosser lake in Truckee, CA is loaded with fire roads for lightweight off-roading.
This years short snow pack left reservoirs low in the Sierra low but you could get your truck right down to the water’s edge. We threw a line in a creek feeding Prosser Lake. One bite and nothing landed, so we hopped in the truck for off-roading redemption.
Even though the 351M is considered a dog in stock form, coupled with the New Process grany gear it felt like this F250 could climb over a 5 story building. We learned a few things about off-roading with the leaf sprung F250, it’s a stiff ride!
A special thanks goes out to FordMuscle friend Wedge Martin for believing in the Redneck and taking some great photos!
hey everybody, im not disagreeing about the 351m’s being dogs stock but i had a 1980 ford f100 ranger it was a 4×4 with a short wheel base and a short box but it was completely stock and i thought it was the best ford engine ever made it was strong it never broke down on me and it would go anywhere i wanted to! which weren’t the easiest places to get to
By wickizer. April 10th, 2008 at 3:44 pmcheck with Deaver Spring to have them make new front springs. They use a 9 or 10 leaf pack that is pretty supple. And gotta love those 70’s F-series!!
By Brian. September 9th, 2007 at 9:09 pmcould i benefit from a solgan for the the ford f-series.i’m 60 years old and on disabilty.before 1972 i had pieces of used cars. a1972 ford torino was my 1st ford.then a1977 f-250 4×4,next a used i think 1990 f-150.all 3 ford products was close to 140,000 miles on them.i’m now a proud owner of a 1998-1999 f-250 4×4 which is now at 170,000 miles and still going stong.any feedbackwould be great.
By robert e prelich. July 26th, 2007 at 6:52 amthank bob prelich rprelich@yahoo.com
there was a company that made a 2 piece spring shackle, that without a load would provide for softer suspenion movement than the stock springs, and would lock tight with a load in the truck. Very cool design, but I cant seem to find it. I’ll keep looking…
Regarding the air tank, you should really look into building an on board air compressor out of an old York AC compressor. You never know when you might need a lil air, be it for tires, or an impact…
By Luv70sFords. May 24th, 2007 at 8:43 amThanks guys for the tire pressure suggestion. Probably be a good idea to carry a compressor or air tank for the trail. Any suggestions on leaf springs? The truck is stiff as a board around town and I don’t see myself using it for very heavy loads. Let me (us) know and we’ll put an article together on it.
Thanks,
By Mikelonis. May 23rd, 2007 at 8:47 amJon
Awesome! As was stated above, dropping those BFGs down to 20 psi or so will work wonders in the traction and ride department.
Looks like fun!
By Steve Moberley. May 23rd, 2007 at 8:37 amAh, a Ford truck in its natural habitat….
Looks good! For future reference, dropping your tire pressure not only makes for better traction, it smoothes the ride up a lil too.
Glad to see it all went well, maybe you’ll reconsider your Rubicon adventure? I had a buddy made it over with a stock Isuzu Trooper…
By Luv70sFords. May 21st, 2007 at 10:35 amWay to go! It’s always nice to know that you have a solid platform to build on, and that bits and pieces won’t fall off every time you push a bit.
By Tom. May 21st, 2007 at 8:55 amMan that looks fun. Why does your truck have both Calif. and Nevada license plates though?
By Editor. May 20th, 2007 at 9:13 pm