So i have a 1995 ford F150 XL 4X4 regular cab and a 8' box with a 4.9 L straight 6 and manual transmission. i'm in the process of making this a off road beast. First things first. The engine is rebuilt sitting on a engine stand and there is more i would like to do, just would like some opions first. Means the reason i rebuilt the tuck engine was I went in water that was a little to deep and messed alot of things up, as it was only a stock truck, I'm afraid i got water into everything.

I went through a creek that was about 4 feet deep and about 20 yards across(a flooded gravel road in the Welch Cannon River bottoms in MN). I made it half way across when she died the first time. She started back up after about 45 seconds of cranking on her, letting her sit, cranking on her, ect. We (my yellow lab sweetie and I) made it to the other side, I called my brother, dylan, who has a lifted Jeep 4.0 with semi-decent big tires. I was parked on the other side when he got there, I asked him to pull me back through it without starting my truck because my truck was still running fine and I didn't want to risk destroying her and his Jeep would have had no problem going through that. Well, as i'm sure some of you know because your brothers are *** holes as well, he said no and that he would pull me out if my truck did decide to die. Well she did, about 1/4 of the way into it (the deepest part). He backed his jeep so that the two back tires were maybe 6 inches in the water, I threw him the 25 foot rope I had previously attached to my front bumper. He pulled me out. My truck wouldn't start or even turn over by turning the key. We had to roll start it. It took about 30-45 seconds of going at 20 mph. She started and was sputtering and i had to drive about 6 or 7 miles home. The truck has a unusual shake(one of my friends and I described it as a tremor) that got a little worse at points and a little better at points depending on acceration and speed. I thought it wasn't firing on all cylinders or something. The next day i changed all fluids(oil, oil filter, gear diff fluid[front and rear] and tranny fluid). The next day I went out and my truck started just fine so i drove to work (7-8 miles round trip) and noticed that my truck was doing the same thing. So rebuilt or overhauled, what ever you want to call it, the engine.

1st) i would like to make everything i can as water tight as i can. so starting from the bottom and going up? first thing we come to is differential breather tubes. I beleive mine are 1/4" on the inside and about 1/2 inch on the outside, does that sound right???? i made these measurements at midnight in the dark with a P.O.S. flash light and ruler. i may be wrong. but i did find the both of them. Also, I've found kit to do this online but i couldn't find on for my type of truck. But it looks like something some plastic tub from ACE Hardware could fix.

2nd) The transfer case and transmission breather tubes need to be relocated to a higher spot. I beleive it has a mazda 5 speed tranny and i know it has a borg-warner 1356 transfer case. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THOSE BREATHER TUBES ARE. So i would need to know where those start (either at the transfer case or transmission side[where at on the tranny and transfer case would be of great help]) and where they go. i've read tranny breathers go up the tranny dip stick on some models, call me dumb, but i don't beleive my truck has a tranny dip stick. I have both Chilton and Haynes Repair Manuals. Neither of them say anything(size or location) about tranny or transfer case breather tubes.

3rd) I need to seal the distributor cap. With what? Gasket Sealer? I don't know. So some help here would greatly be appreciated.

4th) I need to seal all electrical connections with dielectric grease(I'm assuming). Which connections do I need to seal for sure? Should i wrap them in something else to keep the grease in like electrical tape? So some help here would greatly be appreciated.

5th) I need some ground clearance. I'm thinking all that I need is a leveling kit means i'm not a avid off roader. Then my truck will clear 33x10.5r17 tires. That is all the bigger I want to go. Would like to hear how this worked for you, your ideas, or any changed you would have made or did

6th) Back to the water idea. I've been researching many different snorkels. From Safari Snorkels(which are an arm and a leg) to home made ones out of pvc pipe. If anyone has done this I would like to hear your ideas and how it worked out for you.

7th) Tires. The tires I've looked at and narrowed it down to BF Goodwrench All Terrain T/A KO size 265/70-r17. I mostly drive on pavement, snow covered pavement, gravel, mud, clay, and rarely on sand. If you have this kind of tire, i would like to hear your opions and how well the tires get you around.

I know this is a long post. But I do need a lot of help. I am not the smartest machanical person, but I'm not the dumbest machanical person by far. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading. Looking forward to reading responces.

 

I'm tryin to waterproof mine too. me and my buddy sank it up to the bottom of the windows once. As far as sealing the distributor goes, i think silicone works. i haven't tried it (because i can't afford to be wrong and buy a new distributor) but I've heard of people doing it. and for the breather tubes, you can buy more tubing at most hardware stores like you said, and then you run it through your floorboards and under your seat. Just make sure you seal up the hole in the floor.