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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Trucks / March 2008those crappy Ford dash vents
I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, actually pretty good shape overall although both bumpers need attention. But inside, those crappy vent assemblies made it look very ghetto, because of course like all Fords "of a certain age" all the vanes in any given assembly point every which way. Well I figured I'd see if I could fix them myself rather than pay the $25 apiece for new ones from LMC. turns out all of the vanes were busted in the same place - a little molded plastic pin that fits into a sliding piece to keep all the vanes pointed in the same direction. You can remove the vanes simply by bending them slightly in the middle. So I pulled 'em all out, used an unbusted one as a template, and inserted a piece of wire in the busted ones. I just drilled a hole in the end where the little plastic nib was broken off - I think I used a #52 or #51 drill bit, I forget, and a pin vise - and inserted a piece of 14AWG copper wire. Then I snipped the piece of copper off just a little longer than it needed to be and finished with a flat bastard file. Reassembled et voila, un-ghettofied vent assemblies, all for the cost of some scrap wire that I was going to throw out anyway. I'd keep them lubed up well with silicone or other non-greasy lube, because I can't remember the last time I saw a truck that didn't have at least one broken vane... nate > I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in > case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, actually [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > nate Well now I can... about five minutes ago! It's a beautiful sight. just had to wait for the epoxy to dry on one vane (used a #50 drill bit on the first one I tried, and that was too big for 14AWG wire without glue.) kinda proud of myself at the moment... nate >I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in > case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > have > at least one broken vane... When I sold my 1992 F150 back in 2006 all the vanes were still working properly. Ed On Mar 10, 8:17 am, "C. E. White" <cewhi...@removemindspring.com> wrote: > >I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in > > case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Ed Weren't you the one that also said you'd never replaced a windshield? I'm starting to think that you lead a charmed life or are in the habit of sacrificing small woodland creatures to the Ford gods, because my experiences and those of several friends owning similar model year trucks are significantly different... nate > Weren't you the one that also said you'd never replaced a windshield? > I'm starting to think that you lead a charmed life or are in the habit > of sacrificing small woodland creatures to the Ford gods, because my > experiences and those of several friends owning similar model year > trucks are significantly different... The dash vents on my 93 Ranger are still working fine, and that's after 15 Arizona summers. I have replaced the windshield on it, tho...as well as those on most of my other cars... Weren't you the one that also said you'd never replaced a windshield? I'm starting to think that you lead a charmed life or are in the habit of sacrificing small woodland creatures to the Ford gods, because my experiences and those of several friends owning similar model year trucks are significantly different... nate Cleanliness is next to godliness or some such thing. Since I quit smoking I dont have a problem with them ether. Whitelightning On Mar 10, 2:03 pm, "Whitelightning" <white.lightni...@verizon.net> wrote: > Weren't you the one that also said you'd never replaced a windshield? > I'm starting to think that you lead a charmed life or are in the habit [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Whitelightning hmm, my truck is a well cared for two owner truck (I bought it maybe six months ago) and I have receipts for several windshield replacements. One friend has a truck that he seems to replace the windshield on at least every other year due to cracks, and my other friend has just been driving his with a bigass crack across it, I think he's waiting until he gets a fix-it ticket to bother replacing it... nate On Mar 10, 2:03 pm, "Whitelightning" <white.lightni...@verizon.net> wrote: > "N8N" <njna...@hotmail.com> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Whitelightning hmm, my truck is a well cared for two owner truck (I bought it maybe six months ago) and I have receipts for several windshield replacements. One friend has a truck that he seems to replace the windshield on at least every other year due to cracks, and my other friend has just been driving his with a bigass crack across it, I think he's waiting until he gets a fix-it ticket to bother replacing it... nate I was referring to the vents issue, but reading my post I really wasn't clear on that. Then again the only windshield I had to replace for delaminating was the one in my 64 Falcon. replaced in 1987. I've never had to replace one for cracks, but then I tend to stay well back of rock haulers and trucks in general, and get around them quickly when the opportunity presents it self. Of course I've only been driving since 1971, so there's still plenty of time I suppose. Whitelightning On Mar 10, 6:01 pm, "Whitelightning" <white.lightni...@verizon.net> wrote: > On Mar 10, 2:03 pm, "Whitelightning" <white.lightni...@verizon.net> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Whitelightning Well, we'll see. I haven't broken anything (yet) on the truck while it's been in my care, and there's nothing on the windshield that looks like it could be the start of a crack (knock on wood.) Maybe my friends are all ham-fisted and I'll have better luck. I have, however, had to replace windshields on two vehicles due to cracks and have one stone chip repaired on a third. Both of the ones that cracked weren't due to stone impacts while driving, I just came out in the morning to find them cracked. One was my old Scirocco - I got to watch maybe a 1" crack at the bottom of the glass spread halfway across the windshield during a long road trip. The other was on the Impala; I just came out one morning to find it cracked. Both were in the winter, so I suspect thermal stress. So based on that alone I imagine sooner or later I'll at least need new glass... nate On Mar 10, 2:03 pm, "Whitelightning" <white.lightni...@verizon.net> wrote: > "N8N" <njna...@hotmail.com> wrote in message ...and my other friend has just been driving his with a bigass crack across it... nate Nate, I'd imagine that the reason your friend has so many broken windshields is that he drives around with big asscracks on them... I'm sorry. That line caught my eye and I had to laugh. CJB > On Mar 10, 2:03 pm, "Whitelightning" <white.lightni...@verizon.net> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > nate I've had 5 vehicles in the last 20 years (4 of them Fords) and I have replaced only 1 windshield. > Weren't you the one that also said you'd never replaced a > windshield? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > experiences and those of several friends owning similar model year > trucks are significantly different... I've replaced plenty of windshields over the years, mostly because of rock strikes, but when I sold the 1992 F150 it still had the factory installed windshield. I think it was the only vehicle I owned for more than 3 years that didn't require a windshield replacement. Probably the biggest reason the F150's windshield survived so long is where the truck spent most of its life. It was down on my farm and mostly operated on rural roads, not here in the Raleigh area - also know as Rocktopia. I swear there are so many dump trucks dropping rock on the road around here I think the windshield business must be a gold mine. As for my F150, it was never garaged, and spent a lot of time on mud and dirt. Although the windshield held up well, the headlights looked like crap after about 10 years. The inside often looked like I had shoveled mud into the floor boards (nice "vinyl" cover floorboards - no carpet). Maybe my dash vents survived because I whacked my kids any time I caught them fiddling with them. I really loved my '92 F150. By far the best truck anyone in my family owned as long as it was on reasonably dry ground. Its only weakness was an inability to handle even wet grass when the bed was empty if you let one of the front wheels drop into even a moderate hole. If the truck had 4WD, I probably would still own it. If Ford still made them, then I'd ditch the POS Frontier I have now in a minute. Unfortunately Ford decided they rather make Chevrolet Trucks, or should I say caroids. Ed N8N <njnagel@hotmail.com> wrote in news:288b7834-5070-4b43-99b8- 6231763d8a83@e60g2000hsh.googlegroups.com: > I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in > case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, actually [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > because I can't remember the last time I saw a truck that didn't have > at least one broken vane... Last place I worked we used to do lots of stuff with Magna suppliers to Ford. Most of our projects involved interior trim (made by Decoma Group). We also did work with Collins & Aikman (Manchester Plastics), which also made interior parts for Ford. I don't remember now which plant actually made the vents for the F150. From what I recall, those vent vanes you mention were made pretty much exactly the same (cheap) way for everybody, including the vents Decoma made for Chrysler and others. What usually happened when they fell apart was one vane of the set would stick, immobilizing them all. People would then force the assembly to try and get them moving again, and the tie-bar would break, setting all the vanes adrift.  SignatureTegger >I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in >case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, actually [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > >nate Many vehicles vents become broken , not just f150's , many times the cause is from spraying cleaners/polishes and these seep into the pivoit points of the vanes and dry there nearly glueing them in place. On Mar 11, 10:35 am, samst...@aol.com wrote: > >I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in > >case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, actually [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > - Show quoted text - You could be onto something there. Most people I know with the vents all messed up are regular smokers (of one leaf or another). They (especially those prone to the black market smoke) often spray those air freshening sprays into the vents to that it's blown throughout the car to mask the smell. Then again, my 98 Ranger's previous owner was a smoker, stoner methinks, and all my vents are intact. Sticky, but intact. Maybe he just never moved them? I should take them out and clean them before one of them breaks.
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