Above 1200 Sq/FT Overcoming Good-Deal-Itis One Project at a Time

madison069 · Apr 10, 2026

I got a big fire extinguisher that I need to look into getting inspected. Guess I'll add that to the list of things to do!

Aluminum trim on the corners does look good!

M.Brane · Apr 10, 2026

As long as the gauge is in the green you're good, but it's beneficial to invert them, and beat on 'em a bit with a dead-blow hammer periodically.

SilverJimmy · Apr 13, 2026

I have an appointment to drop my F-350 off at the body shop this coming Tuesday morning to get the carnage from the blowout repaired so I thought, what better excuse to test out my new lift and make sure there’s no any other damage from that event. It was very nerve racking to do the first lift, but…. Ta da!

These trucks have a very narrow set of frame rails and a bunch of stuff in the way, but I got it racked nice and securely. Definitely want a couple underhoist pole jacks on each end if I’m doing anything substantial! But it is really a great feeling to actually be working in my shop and not on my shop! Then to make today a real win I got the last of the Roppe base installed in the machine room.

And for the perfect ending today, I got to watch the NHRA Winter Nationals while working in my shop… Living the Dream!

Hope you all had a great and productive weekend too!

Old Man Roger · Apr 13, 2026

I may be totally wrong cause I’m just looking at a picture, but it looks like those front legs need to go further forward. Don’t underestimate the weight of the engine and transmission.

madison069 · Apr 13, 2026

Your garage looks like mine, needs organization! I think I wasted 30 mins this weekend just looking for the tools I needed for a simple downspout project,

It's nice to have that TV on while piddling around! Shop is looking good and machine room is looking close to being finished!

Jgaz · Apr 13, 2026

SilverJimmy said:
Definitely want a couple underhoist pole jacks on each end if I’m doing anything substantial!

YES!
I feel so much better when there are stands at the ends.
Ive seen far to many near disasters and a couple of real problems

Xti04 · Apr 13, 2026

At least your truck is a crew cab. Mine has the extended cab and the frame is so short for lifting. Always makes me feel uneasy with it in the air. I put my pole jack under the rear for extra support

SilverJimmy · Apr 13, 2026

Old Man Roger said:
I may be totally wrong cause I’m just looking at a picture, but it looks like those front legs need to go further forward. Don’t underestimate the weight of the engine and transmission.

I hear ya, but these trucks are tough to rack! Here’s the lift manufacturer lift book diagram for this model Ford.

The left rear pad has to be carefully positioned to just clear the fuel tank and the front arms are at that angle just to reach the frame. After I racked it I lifted it up barely clearing the floor and then shook and bounced it from the front and the rear, it didn’t give me any suggestion that it wasn’t secure.

zmotorsports · Apr 13, 2026

SilverJimmy said:
I hear ya, but these trucks are tough to rack! Here’s the lift manufacturer lift book diagram for this model Ford.

Agreed Sterling, these longer trucks are sometimes tricky to get properly balanced, even following the lifting manual to a "T". I lifted these for more than 15 years on my 10k pound lift without any issues, however, the rear arms always seemed to be just a little overloaded due to the longer rear overhang. This is the primary reason I jumped up to a 12k lift this past year despite the criticism I received for doing so over my 10k pound lift's capabilities. The arms on my old 10k pound lift were designed and spec's to be loaded evenly to 2500 pounds, but with the longer overhang to the rear, even though the overall weight itself of the truck was well under the lift's capacity, I always felt like those rear arms were overloaded. Jumping up to my 12k pound lift, even using the same pickup points for the arms, the truck feels so much "happier" now with the beef of my rear arms as well as the column dimensions compared to my old 10k pound lift. Placebo effect? Maybe, but it was well worth the cost in my mind.

I still always put a pole jack under the rear at minimum, but often both front and rear just as a little added safety.

M.Brane · Apr 13, 2026

That looks about right to me being a CCSB with a shell. If you're that worried about it you can run some straps around the frame, and the lift arms. From what I've seen so far that lift ain't goin' anywhere.

SilverJimmy · Apr 16, 2026

My suffering from “Good Deal-Itis” must be contagious. My friend that I got a good deal on the forklift a couple weeks ago called me on Tuesday to tell me about his good deal he found and asked if I could help him to get it. He knows that I’m pretty good at moving tool boxes cuz a couple years ago we went and got him his first Snap-On roll cab from down south in Tucson. Yesterday we loaded up my trailer with E-Track straps and pads and headed over to pick up his find.

Mid 90’s KRL1001 Roll Cabinet, KRL1201 Top Cabinet, and a KRL1012 Side Locker. These were an early Dale Earnhardt themed special box set, quite popular back then, I sold a few in my route.
Should clean up pretty good for an almost 30 year old set of boxes.

zmotorsports · Apr 16, 2026

Nice Sterling. I had a coworker with that exact box/setup back in the early 90's.

madison069 · Apr 29, 2026

I dig the box your buddy got there!

SilverJimmy · Apr 30, 2026

Like it never even happened!

Body shop found a good used driver side running board to replace the destroyed one. The one they found is a perfect match to the faded 23 year old passenger board. The only other option was to replace both sides with some cheesy aftermarket tube running board and I really don’t like those things!

Body shop also replaced the driver side headlight and turn signal assembly with an aftermarket setup from TYC. I got all the lights for my ’06 GMC 3500 from TYC and I can’t see any difference between the OEM and these lights, so I ordered a passenger side set for my F-350 to finish off this repair. Anybody here have any long term experience with these TYC light assemblies?
Happy to have my old 6.Ut-Oh back to looking great and ready to move more of my “treasures“!

larry4406 · Apr 30, 2026

SilverJimmy said:
Like it never even happened!

Body shop found a good used driver side running board to replace the destroyed one. The one they found is a perfect match to the faded 23 year old passenger board. The only other option was to replace both sides with some cheesy aftermarket tube running board and I really don’t like those things!

Body shop also replaced the driver side headlight and turn signal assembly with an aftermarket setup from TYC. I got all the lights for my ’06 GMC 3500 from TYC and I can’t see any difference between the OEM and these lights, so I ordered a passenger side set for my F-350 to finish off this repair. Anybody here have any long term experience with these TYC light assemblies?
Happy to have my old 6.Ut-Oh back to looking great and ready to move more of my “treasures“!

Looks great!

I have a 2003 F350 and the headlamps are fogged with UV fade.

I’m interested in the model number of your TYC lights.

I’ve tried polishing once with a Griots kit and it looked great for maybe 8-9 months so not interested in going down that path again. Ford has discontinued the lights.

SilverJimmy · Apr 30, 2026

This is the drivers side headlight assembly, the passenger side that I ordered off the jungle is TYC 20-6439-00-1 and I don’t know for sure if it’s correct as it isn’t getting delivered until tomorrow. I will be sure to give a

after I check it out!

SilverJimmy · Apr 30, 2026

Larry, like you I have polished the headlights on all of my junk that have these plastic lights and after 6-8 times the plastic has become so hazed and the clarity has degraded so much it’s a lost cause. It’s almost like the plastic is foggy on the inside surface and it’s not possible to polish that surface. These TYC lights look so good I’m inclined to believe that the OEM’s probably don’t make their own lights, they just let the Headlight-Guru’s make them and just specify their badging and part numbers be on them so that they can charge many times more than the aftermarket gets for basically same parts!

Xti04 · Apr 30, 2026

I have looked into doing a grille and headlight swap on my 99 to get rid of the crappy sealed beams and get the newer style headlights. Just need the motivation to pull the trigger

larry4406 · Apr 30, 2026

SilverJimmy said:
Larry, like you I have polished the headlights on all of my junk that have these plastic lights and after 6-8 times the plastic has become so hazed and the clarity has degraded so much it’s a lost cause. It’s almost like the plastic is foggy on the inside surface and it’s not possible to polish that surface. These TYC lights look so good I’m inclined to believe that the OEM’s probably don’t make their own lights, they just let the Headlight-Guru’s make them and just specify their badging and part numbers be on them so that they can charge many times more than the aftermarket gets for basically same parts!

We have an O’Reillys auto parts that I can have the TYC ones shipped to. I think they are like $48 each on their website.

Let me/us know your thoughts after getting the other one and driving around at night. I see they come with bulbs.

Finallygotit · Apr 30, 2026

SilverJimmy said:
Larry, like you I have polished the headlights on all of my junk that have these plastic lights and after 6-8 times the plastic has become so hazed and the clarity has degraded so much it’s a lost cause. It’s almost like the plastic is foggy on the inside surface and it’s not possible to polish that surface. These TYC lights look so good I’m inclined to believe that the OEM’s probably don’t make their own lights, they just let the Headlight-Guru’s make them and just specify their badging and part numbers be on them so that they can charge many times more than the aftermarket gets for basically same parts!

This is true! North American Lighting (NAL) used to make headlight assemblies for many OEM's. I say used to because I have been out of the injection molding biz for a while now. For all I know, they still do.

:beer:

EDIT: I just checked and they are still manufacturing lighting assemblies.

Cheep · May 2, 2026

I've used the TYC brand several times and they are as good as it gets for aftermarket. Sometimes the only choice.

SilverJimmy · May 2, 2026

I built this metal shelf years ago for my ”storeroom” at our old house. Pretty simple design and I welded it and just did multiple heavy tacks to attach the shelves.