The News From Here

Talk about frustration- Oh you weren’t talking about frustration? Well Sorry about that.

I believe,
feel like,
there may be a possibility that,
I intend to try,
soon,
to get that pickup back on the road. Of late it seems that I’ve been in positions to learn some facts that at the time were VERY important and rarely know by people in normal or typical situations. Unfortunately I have to learn these priceless tidbits the old hard way- try & fail and keep trying. In this case Ford changed its lug stud sizes 3 times from 1998-2004 on F150’s. So if you have a rear axle that came from 2000 that the books say is interchangeable with all F150 2 wheel drive pickups from 2000 through 2004 you may have a problem that doesn’t show up till you are mounting the wheels. Everything goes together correctly until then- HALT! On the positive side my local tire shop that I’ve done business with for 20 years have some very knowledgeable folks on staff. 5 new chrome deep log nuts are in place correctly I think. What is most surprising is they knew precisely what I needed and sold them to me for the princely price of $6 TOTAL. The lesson was provided for free and it’s not the first one they’ve provided for me.

I won’t know for sure if the original problem is “fixed” till it’s all back together and I’m going down a smooth road at 65-75 mph but I now have reason to hope.

I’m pretty sure I’m taking today off though- I think I NEED a day off and I have commitments for Sat. and Monday & Tuesday, Somewhere in there I should be able to finish it and test drive it. Be listening closely because you’ll likely be able to hear me shouting –it’s just WHAT I’ll be shouting that remains in question.