Anthony's 2002 F-350 Tow Pig Build and BS

Well here's a thread to document and keep track of my latest financial burden.

Specs are as follows:
2002 F-350 Lariat
7.3 PSD T444 Engine
Crew Cab Short Bed
Medium Flint Leather Interior
4x4 with ZF6 and manual t-case
254k on the clock, original motor
Trans and t-case replaced at 160k

I purchased it at 250k from a younger kid from Lancaster, PA who only owned it for a year or so. Prior to that it was the original owner as far as I could tell from the carfax and what the kid I bought it from said. It had the bed replaced with a new bed from a 2010 and paint matched, the frame was in decent shape and the rockers were about the best you will find for up here in the northeast. My plan was to fix up what needed repaired and make it a reliable tow pig for using it to tow my 4runner if that ever gets done or moving my dad's equipment from time to time.

Modifications to date:
Converted to 05+ front end
2008+ bed & Tailgate
Ford OEM bed liner w/rubber bed mat
2008+ Towing Mirrors
4” lift
315/75R16 Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx
Warn Lockout Hubs
Autometer 3 pillar gauge mount on A-pillar (EGT, boost, fuel pressure)
Custom HomerTaco front Grille
GTP38R with turbomaster wastegate controller
Dieselsite boost relief valve
Intake air heater delete
Non-EBPV pedestal
GTP38R high flow outlet
TS Performance 6 Position chip
BD Diesel intercooler boots
South Bend dual disk organic clutch
International Ceramic Coated bellowed up pipes
Ford AIS intake
G2 rear diff cover
Moroso oil pan
Dieselsite Coolant filtration system
Magnefine power steering filter
FS-2500 bypass oil filter
Redhead steering box
PMF dual steering stabilizer
Riffraff HP oil crossover
Airdog II-4G DF-165 fuel pump/filter/water separator
Beans Diesel fuel sump
Riffraff Fuel rail crossover
Riffraff Fuel check valve delete
Riffraff High flow fuel banjo bolts
International 203* Thermostat
Recon 60” taillight bar
Cab lights, marker lights, turn signals, headlights, reverse lights, and tail lights all converted to LEDs
Swapped to front heated leather lariat seats.
Heated mirrors using a ThermaSync defroster module
Max AC mod (heater core bypass)
CCV re-route to rear axle
Edge CTS3











I will add the list of modifications and pictures as we go. I can tell you one thing the only thing that drains your wallet faster than a Tacoma is a diesel

 

First things first, towing @MY50cal's engine back to my shop for some dry storage



The top plastic guard was missing when I bought it, so I got a new one and bolted it down since the clips that hold it in suck at doing their job


A pile o parts to freshen up the front end awaits


Hanging out with the Pop's F-150


Picked up a new front end to do the 05+ front end conversion




Sent the front grill over to @HomerTaco for some custom Fordtoshi fun, the man is a grill savant




More to come, stay tuned

 

Why do u even own a Tacoma anymore?

 

Because it's the greatest truck toyota ever made, the same reason I bought it 8 years ago.

Big truck lotsa popcorn

 

Next up, fix the sloppy steering with a redhead steering box


Remove 16 year old steering box


Yank off 16 year old pitman arm


Transfer to new box


First new part in the truck


Something is missing here


New ball joints


I made a mess


Home brew SST, Ferd axle seal installer


New wheel bearings and regreased the lockout hubs


Starting to look like an axle again


New TRE and drag link to finish it off




Replaced the glow plug relay at this time as well with a new White-Rodgers

 

Next up, fix the coolant leak. Replace Water pump and gaskets

Out with the old


In with the new




Replace thermostat with 203 degree as designed from the factory at international


Add billet thermostat housing to replace old rusty one


Flushing the coolant out of the heater core


Add coolant filtration system while everything is drained


Replace worn out degas bottle with new as well


The best part about a big truck is you just sit on the engine to do the work


The fuckery of sockets used to drain the engine coolant through the block plugs


I wonder what's next

 

Figured I'd finally start this to keep track of everything, I've lost count of time, money, blood, etc.

When I bough the truck the reverse lights did not work. Did some simple troubleshooting and narrowed it down to the sensor in the transmission. Replaced the reverse sensor


Replaced the cab lights with LEDs


Replaced the 3rd brake light, load compartment lights, as well as the reverse lights and brake lights with LEDs. Stock on right LED on left.


Installed a recon tailgate LED light bar


Picked up a set of 2008 towing mirrors and installed them as well, had to run all the wiring since my stock mirrors were not set up for heat, parking lights, or turn signals.


Once Craig finished the grill for me I swapped out the front end


Painted the upper bumper cover


Out with the old




Zoodad mod on the new header panel


Old and new grills side by side, new emblem on the 2005 grill




Finished up


Day time shot




New mirrors on


Night time shot of the mirror lights hooked up

 

A lariat, 7.3 manual.....

 

I would call it a unicorn to find one up here in the salt belt that isn't a complete rusted shitbox lol

 

I can’t even find one like that down here!

 

It took me about 6 months to find this one. Looked at probably 10-15 trucks in person before finally finding this one. They were either beat up, rusty as hell, a million miles, tons of blow by, or if they were nice the owner wanted 30k for it haha. The ZF6 is rare to begin with, I think something along the lines of maybe 10% of the trucks produced were standard transmissions. I wanted manual trans/manual t-case for the reliability, same setup as in my tacoma

 

Next up was fix the AC. Blower motor and actuators all worked fine but AC did not work at all. Tested a few things (relay, climate control panel) then looked at the compressor and it was obvious why the AC did not work, it was missing the entire clutch hub lol

Bought a new clutch hub and shim kit, along with a new bolt (P/N W711877S437)


Set the air gap and almost back in cold air


The clutch would pull in intermittently with the engine running but would pull in fine with engine off. Had me scratching my head for a while, AC would work for a bit then cut out. Found that the high side pressure switch connector was worn and loose, and if you wiggled it around it would repeat that intermittent clutch pull in. I bought a new motorcraft connector with pigtail and spliced it into the old harness and voila, ice cold AC






Next up was to change the rest of the fluids in the diffs, trans, and t-case. Also opted to change the rear diff cover to a G2 which has a drain bolt on the back so I don't have to mess with making a gasket every time I change the diff oil. These big ol trucks hold alot of fluid Ford recommends ATF for the ZF6, I did a 60/40 combo of redline D4 ATF and MTL.




Man that was a messy job, glad it's done. Afterwords I take her for a spin, shifting was much improved

 

Next up, time to beef up the fuel system a bit. First step, drill hole in bottom of fuel tank


Install rear sump


Mount new filter, water seperator, and gerotor


Install new high flow banjo bolts (also deleted the check valves in the head)


Replacing all the fuel lines with new for the peace of mind


Also installed high pressure oil crossover and fuel rail crossover while everything was out



Replaced leaking ICP sensor I discovered when doing the fuel system work

Pile of old parts

Everything buttoned back up


Fired it up afterwards, everything is good


Next, time to modify the skid plate so that it will fit back on with the new sump installed


Went with the KISS theory, bent some 1/8" plate and welded it to some angle iron to drop the skid plate down a bit near the area of the sump


Welded up


Nice little paint jobber


Installed, should make sure nothing hits the rear sump anymore

 

That was measure 4x and cut once as I recall...

 

Nice recovery on this thing. That’s one helluva project!

My tow rig is a 2000 SCSB 7.3 auto...no rust, 99k miles from Lexington for $15k. White-Rodgers relay, 05+ HD lights, 08+ mirrors, MBRP 4” exhaust, and surgical tubing in the weather stripping. Turn the key and go anywhere without a second thought

 

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