Nice man! Did you go with custom plates?

 

Yep inspection sucks. In MD, if your family gave you the truck, no inspection is needed. As long as it was currently registered.

 

i wish. but with the amount of money i'm making, i like to keep a little extra around. so they're the standard "war of 1812" plates. i like custom tags on the trailers because it's a one-time fee.

i'm almost ready to do another rausch creek trip, but i doubt that i'll get up there before the spring. that's ok, because i have a boat and camper to work on

 

nope. "bought" it for $1. but it's ok. only 4 issues, easily fixed (toolbox not tight, leaf springs slightly misaligned, discs worn, wiring under hood not secure) so: (wrench, hammer, new discs, zip-ties)

i was surprised at how well the mva handled everything. granted, it was the end of the month, ergo crowded and long waits, but the paperwork was quick and the staff helpful.

 

incoming metric crap-ton of parts, including new u-bolts, new front-end hub components, and a mirror i need to put on my dad's truck (i dun broke it). don't know when i'll have the time to install everything, but i'm pretty sure i can get most of it done over a weekend

 

im glad i live in flordia were not inspections are required, they dont even come out to check the vin, or even look at the truck, i know if i were to take somewhere it wouldnt come close to passsing a visual inspection, much less a smog.....

 

in a year, i can register this as "historic" meaning no inspections, either. and the inspections on regular cars are just once. then you can go crazy

 

U-Bolts? Flip Kit?

the MVA has been improved majorly over the past 5 years.

 

no flip-kit. i don't have the energy for something that won't be too beneficial in the foreseeable future.

 

then what are the u-bolts for?
I did mine when i replaced my springs, I couldn't have kept the standard u-bolts because the OME leaf pack is about a 1/2" thicker IIRC.
Spring replacement...worth every penny.
u-Bolt Flip.... looks nice and clean, took about 30min(that's with prep and paint) to weld on new shock tabs

 

meh, i have my reasons. i just need to get it on the road legally for the next year or so.

as for the new u-bolts, the old aal's are cracked and twisted. i found some cheap ones to throw in there until i scrap the leafs completely, and my luck with u-bolts isn't exactly great

 

How did Sandy treat you guys down there? Up here we just had a lot of wind and some rain... few trees down... only one death a store sign blew apart and the panel killed someone walking by... store going to get sued for sure... sign panel was reportedly loose and flapping in the breeze for weeks and the co. was aware of it...

not at all as bad as what happened to NY/NJ area... thoughts out to those folks...

 

Nice, you can be done with the "inspection" stuff's, eh?

You have pics coming of the Spring Fix? Just curious.

 

just lots of wind and rain. government got shut down for two days. nothing more than a few stick down, a tree or two (away from roads/buildings) down, and lots of leaves. i lost power for about a minute.

as for the truck, yeah, i need to pass inspection. at least it's a one-time deal

 

so you got about what we got minus the gov. shutdown... power was unstable here that night... went on and off about 4 times before I went to bed...

 

replaced my add-a-leafs today. these were slightly longer, and are less curved than the old ones





probably a stiffer ride, but almost able to pass inspection now (still need to do the front discs)

 

You going to do that Tundra front brake upgrade Ian?

 

no. my front brakes work just fine, and they seem plenty big to me.

 

got the new rotors on today. fairly easy when you have all the right tools and all the right parts.

off with the old



on with the new

 

Still not sure I like the idea of those spacers Ian... kinda like the stock set up where the steel body of the axle stub provides some more area for the wheel to flex against in case of lug nut/stud failure, as opposed to the body of the Aisins.