SOLD!

The good people over at The Fast Lane Truck Channel recently reached out to us about a very cool project they have been working on over the past few months. You see, one of their viewers, David Morrow, offered to donate this 1989 Ford F-350 to them on the condition that they fix it up and sell it, with the proceeds going to the Mountain States Children’s Home in Longmont, Colorado. They thought that Barn Finds would be the perfect place to auction this truck. We are honored to be helping them find a good home for it and to help out such an amazing cause! We are going to waive the Buyer’s Fee and the winner of the auction will receive a free Barn Finds t-shirt and stickers. So, if you’d love to be this truck’s next owner, you can register and bid below! And be sure to check out TFL Truck’s Gunsmoke Series here on YouTube.

A huge amount of work has gone into this truck to not only make it a good driver but to also make it a good looking off-roader! Before we go any further though, we really need to give David Morrow a huge shoutout for not only donating the truck but also for doing a huge amount of work to get it done. He actually bought the truck for the camper that was sitting in the bed and while he could have easily sold the truck, he thought donating the truck would give it a new lease on life and the money could go to help at-risk youth.

While the truck was running and driving relatively well, plus has a nearly perfect original interior, it was in need of some major work. It had rust in the usual areas, such as the cab corners and bed. There were some dents and dings from farm life as well. And it was in need of a wheel and tire upgrade, at least for what the guys at TFL Truck want to use it for. Given the low gearing, the heavy-duty drivetrain of the F-350, and the incredible durability of the International sourced 7.3-liter diesel engine, this truck is the perfect low budget off-roader. The wheelbase is a tad long for serious rock crawling, but the short cab, 5-speed manual, Dana front axles, and Sterling rear axles easily make up for that!

To remedy the bulk of the issues and make sure this truck would be ready to hit the trails in Moab, Tommy and Kase set out to find all the parts needed to fix it up. After some investigation, they actually decided it would be cheaper to find a parts truck than buying new panels and tailgate, plus it would be a whole lot easier than cutting and welding. They managed to find an F150 with a rust-free bed for just $900 and they were even able to drive it home! After a stop at a pick and pull junkyard to get a good front fender, they had all the parts they needed to get started on project Gunsmoke.

Both trucks ended up back at David’s barn where the job of swapping body panels, repairing the cab corners, patching the leaky fuel tank, and painting the truck took place. While it was there, David also did some extra work to make the truck really stand out, including building a set of awesome custom rock rails. He even took the time to treat the entire frame with rust inhibitor to ensure this truck will be around for years to come. With all the rusty panels swapped out and the cab corners repaired, the entire truck was prepped for paint and sprayed right in his barn. The factory original Smoke Grey metallic color was used and while it isn’t show quality, it’s definitely a huge improvement over how the truck was looking and shows well in photos!

With the paint done, the guys put the truck back together and also installed a new set of shocks, new mirrors, and rebuilt the brakes. They also had the bed sprayed with Line-X coating, which looks fantastic. Toyo Tires provided them with a set of 35-inch Open Country AT III’s that they had mounted onto a set of old-school steelies. There’s still some work to be done, but this truck is on the road and ready to hit the trails as is. They admit it could use an alignment and a new set of injectors would help with the smokey start-ups when it’s cold. It’s named Gunsmoke though, so that might be a feature you want to leave? Kase assured me the exhaust clears up once the engine is up to temperature, which points to leaky injectors rather than blow-by. Also, the AC and CB Radio aren’t currently working. While you can probably live without the CB, fixing the AC would be a worthwhile endeavor if you plan to drive this truck much during the summer. On a high note, the factory radio works great and Kove Audio has kindly provided one of their Bluetooth speakers for the next owner to enjoy in the truck or at home!

This really is a great project! The 7.3 liter diesel won’t win any races, but it produces a healthy 365 ft-lbs of torque and with its indirect injection system will pretty much run forever. Plus, the heavy-duty 4-wheel-drive will take you just about anywhere you’d want to go! This is the kind of find you can either enjoy as is or customize into a serious rig. So, if you’d love to own this piece of TFL history while also helping an amazing cause, be sure to bid! And if you have any questions for the guys at TFL about this truck, please leave your questions in the comments below.

• Location: Boulder, Colorado
• Mileage: 59,000 Showing, actual unknown
• VIN: 1FTHF36MXKKA19031
• Title: Clean
• Engine: International 7.3 liter IDI Diesel V8 with 180 hp and 365 ft-lbs of torque
• Transmission: 5-speed ZF S5-42
• Front Axles: Dana 60
• Rear Axles: Sterling 10.25

Bid On This Auction

• History (29 bids)

* We are waving the 5% Buyer’s Premium on this auction so that all the funds can go to the Mountain States Children’s Home!