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Well. Friday I started cleaning the hangar bay out for the Buick project. It was a loving poo poo hole. I got half of it cleared entirely by Friday night and the other half started. A friend's truck blew a power steering line so he borrowed another truck and dropped me off at home after we were done so I could leave the Buick here and come back with a backup vehicle. Today I cleaned for many more hours, we found and fixed the power steering leak (luckily a rust pinhole in the return line so we cut it back, bubble flared it, and hose clamped 2 feet of line on instead of the 1.5 feet it left the factory with) and he helped me finish installing the lift. The only things left to do were cut 7/8 grade 8 washers into c shaped shims for leveling it and tighten the nuts down, then adjust the cable equalizers and slap some covers on. So I did that. Holy poo poo I could get a car in here and on the lift:  Decided that rather than tipping the lift over and dropping the Buick and getting murdered for it I should test it with a lighter vehicle first.  The tops of the posts lean together 1.25" when the MJ is on it, 3500lb. Not happy about that but not much I can do and I don't know what the spec even is. Pulled the truck back out and put the Buick in. It goes in the air tomorrow.  gently caress I'm tired.
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Aug 29, 2021 08:19
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| # ? May 24, 2024 20:49 |
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How are you planning to move all that stuff? How are you getting a vehicle into that lift? I see pictures from both directions and neither has a door.
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Aug 29, 2021 08:50
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Advent Horizon posted:
Like a lack of door ever stopped Ken
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Aug 29, 2021 16:16
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It's a hangar, the whole front of the building with the windows is the door. There's a barn door track along the top and it folds and rolls along the side of the building, which is why that orange painted axle is so far from the wall. The door is in extremely poor shape, as is the rest of the building, but I can't beat the no fucks given attitude of the landlord, free access to a 3200ft runway for testing, and the extremely low rent. The stuff... Great loving question. Most of it isn't truly necessary to my existence. I'll be giving away, selling, or tossing a lot. The rest I'll probably be moving with a U-Haul, the 5 ton or a pod. I have been unable to find anyone to buy the 5 ton at any price over half what I've got into it, and I didn't expect the housing market to go insane like this, so I'm going to drive it up to the hangar soon (my buddy I share the place with says he doesn't care how long it stays there) and assuming the house sells for what I want, I'll fly home toss all my poo poo in it and drive West as originally planned. I dunno.
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Aug 29, 2021 17:39
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Good evening to everyone except the rear end in a top hat at GM who decided to use loving flare nuts on both ends of the trans cooler lines And not use any flexible sections in lines spanning from the trans to the radiator And now 3 of the 4 flare nuts are either seized to the trans, or seized to the line at the radiator I think I'm gonna loving cut these assholes and splice in some rubber just so I can actually pull the trans back. This is BULLSHIT. In the Jeeps I'm used to they use flex sections in every line, and quick connects. This should have been a 45 second problem even if I had to replace the quick connect receptacle on the trans. God damnit
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Aug 30, 2021 04:54
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I'm slightly amazed that has flare nuts on the transmission end, my '00 4L60E has the quick connect bullshit. The only real solution is AN.
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Aug 30, 2021 05:49
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Oh great 2 of the 3 crank pulley bolts were a turn loose, and the other was tipped and wedged in the hole but not threaded at all. Pulley flapping on the balancer. Pulled it all apart and cleaned it up and chased threads and filed burrs off allegedly flat surfaces and put it back together. Those bolts have been loose or working loose for at least 6 years because I have never touched them before today. This thing is full of wonderful surprises... Edit: didn't see your reply. It's a 93 so I think this is technically a 4L60 or 700R4 not a 4L60e. Same rear end in a top hat, different color of turd, whatever. It uses 1/2-20 invert flare nuts and 5/16 lines. Both are nearly inaccessible and my half inch flare crowsfoot is a microinch from rounding each so I backed off. I got the upper radiator end one loose and the radiator is cracked somewhere, bulging at the top two rows and leaking so I'm going to have to face the bottom one at some point anyways. So I think I'll cut the bottom line where it should have flex line anyways, bubble the ends lightly with my flaring tool and slide it four inches back to do the flexplate. It's not like I actually need to remove the drat thing just move it out of the way a little. gently caress this project. Edit 2: alright that decision is made. It's cut. This is now also where I'm inserting the monster trans cooler I need to put on it, because why the gently caress not, it's already cut. I think I've got some nice compression to barb fittings that are for 5/16 so I'll grab some 5/16 cooler line, a cooler, and another piece of 5/16 preflared cunifer with the right nut in the morning when I go to the parts store for the slip yoke seal it also needs. kastein fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Aug 30, 2021 |
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Aug 30, 2021 06:13
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Pictures of busted poo poo Got the car in the air. Didn't need it very high, just high enough to comfortably work under on a crawler. Put jackstands under the arms in case this 4500lb beast overpowers the 70 year old cement pad.  Approximately 30 seconds later, I find my smoking gun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiVdAHTJGEY Unbolt and unclip a bunch of bullshit Get stymied by the cooler lines as previously ranted about Hey wait what the fucks going on here?  Holes are chewed up from the flapping for who knows how long  So I unfucked that and was finally cross enough to just cut the line that wouldn't come undone at either end. Unscrewed the other and got back into pulling the transmission back. New mount with wrong stud, meet old two piece mount  Yeah it's cracked  Smacked it with my ratchet a few times and whoops  This flywheel and flexplate holding tool is a life saver  Hit the parts stores for more parts, put the cooler line back together for now with cunifer because no one stocks a 5/16 compression to 3/8 barb fitting locally  Wagon flew the coop, pulled the MJ in and then lost all semblance of motivation as I'd been up for like 22 hours straight at that point. I have done nothing useful since then.
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Aug 31, 2021 06:01
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It's not just for style, 2 piece wheels are usually lighter weight
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Aug 31, 2021 07:54
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kastein posted:Yeah it's cracked  That would have been a fun failure halfway through your trip, glad you were able to knock that out before hand. See updates at all hours of the day/night, do you even sleep?
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Aug 31, 2021 10:44
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Yikes, holy poo poo. You should post that in the mechanical failures thread.
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Aug 31, 2021 14:31
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So I've sort of lost track. What vehicles are you taking with, what's being left behind, and what's being sold?
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Aug 31, 2021 15:38
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Roadmaster is driving Blue Comanche is driving Honcho is driving Forester is gone (plus its two predecessors) Datsun is gone Red XJ is gone Third MJ is gone Green XJ half is gone Green parts XJ is gone Blue MJ half is gone Red MJ half is now a moving trailer Red MJ quarter is gone White Comanche is getting mostly parted out and the hulk sold to a Jeep recycler in RI Justy, 5 ton, and Grand Wagoneer are getting sold if I find someone who will actually want them and also have money. Otherwise they go to the hangar (wagoneer is already there) and sit till I come back for them, and the 5 ton will be used by Jack when he's doing airport maintenance and ultralight club stuff. Wouldn't be surprised if it ends up with a big rear end plow on it since the airport currently lacks a runway plow and is basically abandoned all winter. (I can't recall which of these were here still last time you were at my place for an NEAI meet) Nitro, I sleep, but my sleep schedule at this point is more like "4 continuously rotating sleep cubes" than anything society would recognize as a schedule. Edit: Vim Fuego posted:It's not just for style, 2 piece wheels are usually lighter weight I actually thought you posted this in the wrong thread the first time I read it. kastein fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Aug 31, 2021 |
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Aug 31, 2021 20:56
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drat, that is some serious cleaning out. How long until D-Day?
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Aug 31, 2021 21:45
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Wait, what year is your Grand Wagoneer? This whole time I don't think I knew you had one!
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Aug 31, 2021 21:46
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Lol you sound like that dude that put a Predator engine in a Honda Insight. https://youtu.be/cL2FKDtpRt8
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Aug 31, 2021 21:56
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Do you want the Big Dig move schedule, or the "I said I would be done with the house by Christmas... 2010" move schedule? I don't give estimates anymore.  The Grand Wagoneer is an 89. It needs a frame and some rust repair to the body. If it doesn't sell for a decent price I'm just going to use some of the proceeds from the house to have it shipped West, then find one with a dead drivetrain and a totally clapped interior but no rust and combine them, ideally with a Tesla as well.
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Sep 1, 2021 04:14
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Pulled the alloys and locker from the white MJ a while ago. I put a new ujoint in the passenger one, swapped the locker into the blue MJ's front diff and installed the shafts this weekend. I should have waited because I discovered the loving carrier bearings are wasted on the diff so I'm going to have to do most of the work again this weekend when those arrive, but at least all the bolts are freshly loosened. Also replaced the steering intermediate shaft and swapped a used steering box into it that has less play in the sector shaft. Hopefully that actually solves the deathwobble that I've been fighting for five years and counting instead of just covering it up like the new steering stabilizer did. Checked the shimming on the Buick starter since it sounds like fried rear end, it's not too tight but it might be too loose. Going to check it again when I get it on the lift after the truck gets out of my bay, which can't happen until some more parts arrive because the fancy high clearance ubolt plates I used on the rear axle required welding and are made from 3/16 plate. That's a bad mix when your butt welds are pretty but weak, they cracked. So I'm buying new ubolts and making big dumb ubolt plates out of 3/4" hot roll like I should have in the first place. I'd use 1/2" but I've got 3/4" sitting here... Oh, built a spare transfer case for the move as well since I think my existing one is making glitter and it's definitely leaking so it needs to come out to fix that anyways. It needs a few more parts which are currently on order.
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Sep 6, 2021 20:15
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Spare transfer case finished and installed as of yesterday. The old one is a shitshow of glitter inside and I'm just hoping I have enough spare parts to patch it back together as the new spare. New carrier bearings, locker, armored cover, and alloys installed in the blue MJ along with the fuel tank skid I've owned for ten years and never even put on the white MJ  I fiddle hosed around with the wiring a bit. Hate RENIX, but it just keeps running. Replaced the TPS AGAIN and now the engine runs better and the transmission will actually downshift with my foot which is very nice, it would race into OD and laugh while I floored it trying to accelerate to 35 before. Currently chipping away at the Buick maintenance debt: - new junkyard headlight housings installed - tempermanent fixed a bad ground in the right turn signal that was making all the front right lights go wiggy - installed aftermarket trans cooler, in the interest of not exploding the 4L60 on the way through the Rockies Next up: - cat - fix instrument panel lighting? - fix super hosed ECU diag port issues so I can interrogate it as to why it's been trolling me so hard - radiator - heater and evap cores - check starter shimming and make sure it's not too loose because omfg it sounds like poo poo, even though it works and isn't too tight - build trailer hitch that's not a janky piece of poo poo Edit: gently caress. Don't have the right hardware for the cat, hoses for the rad, guess I'll pound my head on the starter next kastein fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Sep 22, 2021 |
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Sep 22, 2021 03:55
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GM starter shimming is the most abjectly stupid, pointless thing I've had to do yet. No shims? Too loose by far. One shim stuck under just the outboard bolt? Too close but at least it's not taking chunks out of the brand new flexplate ring gear teeth anymore. No good way to engage the drat starter drive so I disconnected the battery and ran a jumper lead to the positive so I can hit the solenoid pin to shove the gear out without actually spinning the starter, but it's severely overheating 14ga wire and I hope it didn't overheat the solenoid too. I have never ever had to shim a Jeep or Subaru starter, this is a bullshit design. Be better, GM.
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Sep 22, 2021 08:04
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kastein posted:I have never ever had to shim a Jeep or Subaru starter, this is a bullshit design. Be better, GM. It hearkens back to the days of hand-built automobiles assembled by master craftspeople, each part being meticulously fit by hand. Tolerances? What's that?
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Sep 22, 2021 20:44
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kastein posted:I have never ever had to shim a Jeep or Subaru starter, this is a bullshit design. Be better, GM. You know what engine GM makes that doesn't need starter shims? You know. 
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Sep 22, 2021 21:03
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IOwnCalculus posted:You know what engine GM makes that doesn't need starter shims? A buick 215. The starter shim thing is such the laziest hackiest loving backwater bullshit to fall out of an engineers rear end and brought to you by GM.
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Sep 23, 2021 03:34
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IOwnCalculus posted:You know what engine GM makes that doesn't need starter shims? The LS family don't use them? I thought they did. I've only unbolted the LQ4's starter once and couldn't remember if it had any and haven't unbolted the LQ9's yet. It'll get in there eventually, but not right now unfortunately... Unless I find out a whole lot more info very quickly. I have weeks to be ready to roll at this point, not months.
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Sep 23, 2021 04:51
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My LQ4 didn't. Or at least I never saw any or put any in when I changed the starter several times. I agree it's a dumb system now, but GM is the king of "if it's fine for the production line and doesn't break in warranty, don't fix it"
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Sep 23, 2021 13:57
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Yeah, GM apparently figured out how to consistently cast a starter mount sometime between 1955 and 1997, so the GenIII+ engines shouldn't ever need shims.
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Sep 23, 2021 16:05
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All this talk of starter shims was a bad idea. Last night I got a call from my brother, who was in Fairfield county CT at a gas station where he had driven to and after filling up the truck just went click instead of starting. We went through the usual no start diagnosis and came to the conclusion that it was almost certainly one of 3 wires, the starter relay (which is a great honking big contactor because Ford thinks you need one of those to power the solenoid on a starter for... Reasons?) or the starter itself, which had been replaced several years ago. He managed to pop start it and drove it straight here, we diagnosed it as the starter after a few minutes of DMM usage, slept in the hammock on our porch (since we already disposed of or packed all spare bedding) and we did a parts store grand tour of central mass today to get a new one. Installed it and hey it runs again. Zero shims of any kind were required. Never had the input stud literally tear out of the plastic end cap of the starter solenoid before, though. Most of my parts orders for what I think is the last of the pretrip work on the Buick and Comanche have arrived or will on Monday. Radiator hoses aren't due till next week sadly.
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Sep 26, 2021 06:37
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kastein posted:…Ford thinks you need one of those to power the solenoid on a starter for... Reasons? One of my best friends has a scar on his forehead exactly the shape of a 1/4” screwdriver from bridging the failed-for-the-fifth-time-in-three-months starter solenoid on his Mustang with it. It arced a bit and scared him, and the hot blade gave him an idiot mark. Ford starter solenoids are made of pudding and disappointment. kastein posted:Never had the input stud literally tear out of the plastic end cap of the starter solenoid before, though. “Dear Ford Motor Company, gently caress you very much. I’m writing to express my gratitude for the new and interesting ways your vehicle components can fail. I’m never disappointed at your continued creativity, thanks very much.” -Kastein, probably
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Sep 26, 2021 12:36
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MrYenko posted:One of my best friends has a scar on his forehead exactly the shape of a 1/4” screwdriver from bridging the failed-for-the-fifth-time-in-three-months starter solenoid on his Mustang with it. It arced a bit and scared him, and the hot blade gave him an idiot mark. Ford starter solenoids are made of pudding and disappointment. It took me a while to learn to jump a starter solenoid with conviction instead of jumping when the sparks started This was a previous aftermarket replacement so I am regretfully unable to directly blame Ford for it. I think it was only a couple years old too, want to say it got done sometime between 2017 and 2019. The bakelite was so brittle from heat (it's very very close to the exhaust header... Great design) that it broke instead of the rusted ring lug nut coming loose.
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Sep 26, 2021 16:58
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kastein posted:(which is a great honking big contactor because Ford thinks you need one of those to power the solenoid on a starter for... Reasons?) Overkill is the best kind of kill, and it beats the gently caress out of "run the solenoid current through three miles of wire and good luck getting the starter to kick when it's hot" like GM did.
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Sep 26, 2021 18:51
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Well I think we're getting closer to ready to drive, though the Honcho is making the first trip not the Comanche since I still have a lot more east coast work to do after that will need the truck. So far: Buick: Fixed existing trailer hitch Fixed exhaust hangers New radiator New turn signal socket to replace one that failed Re-fixed driver window track and actually lubed it this time Oil change Reshimmed starter, still sounds kind of crappy but better than it was and the tooth gap is now in spec New front brake pads New sway bar bushings New cat Trans mount bolts fixed again, apparently I didn't get all the oily goop out from between the mount and trans and they loosened up Left to do: Fix cluster lamps maybe Passenger door swap since it's dented to poo poo from a previous owner and I already got the door Figure out electrical issue with ECU Blue MJ: One sway bar bushing done, one bolt on the other one tried to break on me so I aerokroiled it and made a tactical retreat so it can marinate about it for a while Sway bar links Rechecked torque on new rear axle ubolts Rotated tires Oil change Light bar install since I had it sitting here for half a decade and would like to not get kamikaze'd by deer Mounted my trailer connector after only 4 years of it being vise gripped to the hitch. Sorry vise grips Checked fluid in new-new transfer case, seemed fine Left to do: Rebuild spare steering box this can wait till after the first drive Track bar bolt and bushing Parking brake and rear service brake adjust Bt radio install Ham radio install Figure out why tcase shift lamp doesn't work Alignment? Honcho: Fix front lighting harness correctly though it currently works Tie rod ends - it's badly pigeon toed Rivnut and weld the pass front fender flare so it stays on for 3000 miles Side mirrors Update reg, insurance Install battery, battery negative cable Install gauge senders so I can tell what's going on Build drop hitch receiver so I can tow a little harbor freight moving trailer with a big offroad truck New wheel bearings in the harbor freight trailer because one's hosed and the others not far behind. The worst one was so bad I could undo the lug nuts with the tire off the ground just by smacking the lug wrench with my hand repeatedly... This is going to be a shitshow
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Oct 4, 2021 05:06
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Jesus dude, all that on a time crunch too. Been there, but not nearly at that level, moving sucks.
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Oct 4, 2021 15:15
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This cross-country trip is going to be AI as gently caress.
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Oct 5, 2021 08:35
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rndmnmbr posted:This cross-country trip is going to be AI as gently caress. I cant wait to see pictures of the Honcho flat towing the Buick which is towing a trailer.
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Oct 5, 2021 14:12
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I think that's actually legal in Indiana and several other Midwestern states. I've been jokingly calling it the methamphetamine-B double so yes it will probably happen to us. Just finished making a better ground cable for the battery so I can run a regular group 24F or 34/78 instead of the specialty group 78DTS I built the old ground cable for. Also got the hubs both pulled off the harbor freight trailer, one was so bad the inner bearing was stuck on the spindle because apparently my dad doesn't believe in greasing trailer hubs and, well, harbor freight thought peanut butter would suffice. And eyeballed the alignment well enough to hopefully not burn my tires up in a hundred miles. Another few minor things and I believe it's ready to roll. Didn't really expect to be towing a trailer 3000 miles with a poop pipe driveshaft... Pray for me. Will probably be hitting the hangar one last time to press the new trailer wheel bearings together and build the drop hitch plus some wiring and installing the temp and oil pressure sensors tomorrow morning. Fix front lighting harness correctly though it currently works Side mirrors Update insurance Install gauge senders so I can tell what's going on Build drop hitch receiver so I can tow a little harbor freight moving trailer with a big offroad truck New wheel bearings in the harbor freight trailer @ 50% done kastein fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Oct 6, 2021 |
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Oct 6, 2021 00:28
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'87 Dodge Dakota flat-pulling an '83 Chevrolet 1-ton, itself pulling a 36' fifth-wheel travel trailer... yeah the summer between my junior and senior year was interesting. (It was less than three miles - clutch grenaded in the 1-ton that close to home, didn't have another vehicle to pull the travel trailer.) e. Took us more time to drive to Lubbock and buy a new clutch than it did for us to pull the trans, install the clutch and new pilot and throwout bearings, and re-stab, and that includes taking the pressure plate to a machinist friend of my grandfather for a quick resurface pass. rndmnmbr fucked around with this message at 07:12 on Oct 6, 2021 |
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Oct 6, 2021 07:03
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kastein posted:I think that's actually legal in Indiana and several other Midwestern states. I've been jokingly calling it the methamphetamine-B double so yes it will probably happen to us. Trailer wheel bearings done and man do they spin smoothly now! I ignored the front lighting harness work. It works now, I'm not loving with it. Maybe in a rest stop before going to sleep or something. I even put the driver side trim ring on the headlight so it looks swanky as gently caress now. Side mirrors are on, but flappy as a motherfucker. They are for legal purposes only and shouldn't be relied on at all as they might be looking at the sky or the ground at any given moment. I didn't install the gauge senders, I'm going to just wire my OBD2 port up in the morning and use Torque on my phone on the dashboard. Mounted the trailer connector instead of letting it flap like it has been. Mounted my ancient aux fuel tank, which I'll be plumbing into the fuel cell with a ball valve I can reach while driving. My intent is to make it so I can refill the fuel cell from the aux tank by sliding the back cab window open so that I don't have to stop for gas so often. Drop hitch is done. It's terrible and I feel like a bro trucker but it'll work. Comes off with 4 bolts plus the hitch pin.            And done. 
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Oct 8, 2021 04:49
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kastein posted:And done. I mean, needs must, but yeeeesh. That’s hilarious. Well done reinforcing the crap out of it.
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Oct 8, 2021 05:14
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Yeah. I'm gonna be counting the miles till I get to take it back off. At least it'll only be towing like a 1000lb moving trailer. I actually am fairly confident in the welds, just didn't want to put that much leverage on the bumper when I didn't do the welds that hold it to the frame. The bracing makes me a lot more comfortable with that. Once we are moved this trailer will probably be our dedicated dump-run trailer. It's the 1195lb hf one, all the paint is coming off, it's ugly, it's rusting, it's flappy and lovely and the decking plywood is shot to hell. I'm not sure it's really worth putting any money into because by the time I fix all the problems I could have just built a new one. Which makes it perfect for putting the garbage cans on and not caring that it can't be used for anything else. I already spent too much money on fixing the lights and wheel bearings but it still cost less than a U-Haul rental for like 3 days so it's a win.
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Oct 8, 2021 05:41
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That hitch is horrifying in the best way. I absolutely love the aux tank though, I can't even explain how.
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Oct 8, 2021 06:48
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