F5 50 Fontaine classic traveler, F550 1999 7.3 with trax you UTF fuel system

[Myrna]

Info on these trucks is aging out.
mine has 278,000 km, transfer fuel system, and air bags. Wish I had a pocket full of cash to make it golden!
Transmission rebuild to start, it had a rebuild at 130 000 km, pulled hard all over the US. Needs a new rebuild,
Exhaust manifold leak on driver side, ughhh not a simple task!

 

[MrMarty51]

Welcome to thetruckstop Myrna.
There are some in here that knows Fords as well as GM and anyother brand.
I’m sure some of them will jumpnin and help You out.
My BIL has a truck that looks just like that one. He has put a load of miles on it and never been left stranded. I think it has in excess of 500,000 miles.

 

[Myrna]

I think most of these Fontaine fords are in the states. Haven’t seen one here in Kelowna, BC. just north of Seattle. Only 500 produced.

 

[MrMarty51]

I think most of these Fontaine fords are in the states. Haven’t seen one here in Kelowna, BC. just north of Seattle. Only 500 produced.

I’m not too familiar with Fords, I never heard of a Fontaine. Would that have been a custom interior/trim package ?
I know My BILs ford would not be one of those. His too is a single rear wheel. If that makes a difference ?

 

[Myrna]

Fontaine modifications are a company that makes fibreglass semi truck cabs and running boards among other aftermarket truck boxes. The low profile box on my truck was made by Fontaine, and installed on a new Ford chassis when truck cab was bought new. The assembly is one component from front tire surrounds,thru to running boards and outer bed skin, with solid steel box as a base. It is an 8 ft 4” box, specifically designed for fifth wheel hauling.

 

[Myrna]

Here a few current pics

 

[MrMarty51]

I like that feature.
I would like an 8’ overhead popup camper, a someday item.
One problem is the box of My truck is 8’ and when a 8’ camper is poked into there, the tail gate will not close. Campers seem to always be exactly, or slightly longer than the 8’ bed.
Maybe if I ever get where I could afford one of those campers, I’ll also buy another truck box, use it for an extension by carving it up, and extend the length of the box on My truck about four inches.
The reason I want an overhead camper is so I can tow the river boat without having to tow a camper and the boat.

 

[JayTheCPA]

Yup, bed is definitely aftermarket as the tail lights are a give-away.

About that tranny, if it was rebuilt to OE specs, that is a problem. OE specs are not good enough and it needs a better build. Do some searching as there are plenty of threads on better options than OE.

Oh and about information on this generation of truck aging out, I beg do differ. There are a handful of sites that are still active, FTE is way more active than others. At the moment, I am aware of just two outfits that have a good reputation at bulletproofing this transmission.

Most parts for the powertrain are still commonly available.

If not already done, might look into a front spring conversion to move away from leaf and use a coil. Makes a difference in turning radius.

Manifold leaks at this truck's age are fairly common. Would not surprise me if the uppipes are also leaking. And the turbo is leaking oil somewhere. Manifolds are still available and might consider ceramic coating them to slow down future rot.

For the uppipes, the OE design uses a doughnut which is known to fail. Common replacement is going over to the Navistar / International design which usses bellows and much less prone to failure.

Given the home climate, might consider switching engine oil viscosity if not already done. OE spec is 15W/40, but the injectors will appreciate 5W/40 as the 15 weight is a little rough on them for cold starts.

 

[MrMarty51]

Oh yes, on the 5-40 weight oil. Even my old 6.5 appreciates that switch over.

 

[Myrna]

Yes, am a member of FTE. They refuse Ed the site, and I haven’t been on lately. I’ve gots lots of Info off the Ford site about my classic traveller box and how that all came about being installed on the 550s. The Tihe lransfer fuel system has a lot of checks and balances and I have got tons of information about the fuel system. This truck has had a tranny repair and a tranny rebuild, our family is a Ford family and have many different ford vehicles My husband has told me to get a BD tranny, as that is a good go to instead of the OE.
That tranny is worth $7000 Canadian, not including labour i.e. the BD. This truck previously before I bought it had the turbo replaced twice. It did a lot of hard work before I bought it, don’t really know the history except it was all over this United States and the owner actually lived on Vancouver Island. The box on the truck is not attached to the frame, that is the Ford frame by being drilled on. that was not allowed by Ford to warrantee the whole package so there is a system o f H and Z brackets under there, bit of a nightmare as the brackets have broken off and or loose, so there has been a few hours under there by my wonderful husband to weld things back together.
I dont drive it in the winter, it’s hauling my horse in summer, and moving hay and whatever else. I start it a few times in winter, but always plug it in beforehand, good top about the oil, !

 

[Myrna]

Here are a few recent pics

 

[Myrna]

Oops, I see I already sent them. Me bad,
ya, that turning radius sucks.!
My better half had a 2003 f550 with an amazing turning radius, amazing! but had the the 6.0 L… was its demise, awful !

 

[JayTheCPA]

Yeah, FTE members can get a bit prickley at times and I regularly take a break from that site as well. Especially when people ask a super basic question with lots of information already available (like: 'Hey, what is a better / the best injector?') or basic specifications (like: 'Hey, how much can I tow?') and then get upset when people like myself refuse to answer the question and politely point out that the answers are easily available by either searching or opening the owners manual (which is still available for download from Ford). But, oh well, they are too smart for the rest of us, except for the part that they are not smart enough to look on their own. There are a core group of individuals whom provide great value to the community by way of continuing to offer repair advice as well as testing of new aftermarket products.

But I digress . . .

For the transmission, about two years ago, Wise seemed to rise toward the top of transmission outfits for this truck. With COVID, cannot tell whether this holds true, so searching on FTE will help with decisions. Wish I had more information to relay about the transmission, but I have a stick and do not pay much attention to conversations about the slushbox.

What that truck really needs is a 6 speed transmission as the 4 speed makes the engine work harder. If you do not mind a manual transmission, converting over to the ZF-6 will unleash a lot of the engine's power. Have not seen where anybody converted to a 6 speed automatic.

If the turbo seems like it needs overhaul, consider looking into current threads in terms of alternatives as there are some very interesting developments.

One thing to watch is modifying the exhaust pipe diameter without modifying the turbo. If the exhaust pipes are OE size, then things are fine as-is. If there is interest in going with 4 inch pipes, the turbo *MUST* get modification otherwise it is at risk of a short life from surge (a condition where the compressor repeatedly stalls while simultaneously trying to make power). Curing / preventing surge is easily done with an aftermarket compressor wheel, but with the new turbo options available it opens the question of whether to modify the OE turbo or replace it with a better unit.