That was my thinking...and IF it needed replaced I hope to find it at a salvage yard. Problem is I was hit by an SUV while riding my motorcycle 2yrs ago. I bought this baby to restore. I managed to get a bit of the work done before I was in the accident. Now I can't climb on or under her to really see what is going on :/ when they showed me it was bad it was because it had a lot of play...prob what caused the wear on the tire...but because I can't get down there to really see WHY there is movement...I'm I'm a bind. I really appreciate all the advice! Oh also, any advice on rotors? Centric had really high reviews on a lot of sites and are really nicely priced...any advice?

 

Please start a new thread. This no longer pertains to the original subject. You'll probably get more help that way.

 

21 years? did you buy the truck new? i went through a set of oem stoppers in 6 months.so i quit wasting my money. i just put a little dab of grease on them every time i grease the front suspension and they never make a sound.

 

My truck has stops on them still (metal, probably not OEM) but they still creak real loud. Just a heads up. Once the stops rub so they are flat and glossy you'll need to replace again. It's grease for me.

 

I think why some caps last longer than others depends on the area and type of driving you do. If you live in a heavily urbanized area where you need to turn lock-to-lock just to get out of parking spaces because some dumb@ss boxed you in, make tight 3 point turns in tight streets, u-turns to get of traffic, tight work or college campus parking lots, etc.... you will wear them down rather quickly like me.

I have those ebay steering stops and they have worked well for a few years now. OEM ones lasted me about 3-4 years each time I replaced them (I am the original owner of a 92'). I would estimate that the first set lasted about 4 years and then the following sets lasted a little less than the previous years. After they wore through I would dab grease on them for some years and then put a new set on after getting tired of doing that. Then repeat cycle over the 21 years I've owned this truck.

I suspect that why they kept lasting less and less was because the metal started to obtain sharp edges after grinding a while, which would speed up the cutting through of the plastic caps. The ebay guy states to file/sand down any burs and sharp edges before putting his on just for that reason. He also stated to rotate them so they wear down as evenly as possible. There is much more "meat" to his caps then stock ones so you can rotate them for a number of years. (Which reminds me, I need to do that again! )