Put a couple thousand miles on her since i last posted so here are some pics and some new problems...


QUESTION 1:
The problem being that i drift off the road. Its not really noticeable at low speeds or a problem off road, but at highway speeds I'm constantly having to pull back into the middle of the road.
Now I'm fairly sure its something to do with crappy shocks, sc's minefield impressions they call roads, and not having had the truck aligned since i bought it.
But, before i take it in to get aligned is there anything i should check. I don't want to get her aligned then replace parts and have to do it again. So what should i check, or out and out replace before i take it down to get aligned?



I'm going to be going to be going to school in the fall and that means long (300 mile) commutes every couple weeks and no access to my covered work space, most of my tools, and my mechanic friends in the interim. This being the case I want to make sure I'm in tip top shape before i take off. Soo I'm trying to compile a list of things i should either service replace or check over the summer to try and ensure a safe and repair free semester (neglecting wheeling breakage :p).
So far i have:*(In the order they occurred to me, not perceived order of importance)

• Service
  • Oil + Filter
  • Air Filters
  • All grease zerks.
• Replace
  • Shocks
  • Wipers (all this rain... not used to it)
  • Get some half decent headlights
  • BIG 3. Made a noticeable difference on my last truck, and at the price I'd be crazy not to.
• Inspect
  • Fuel Filter
  • Timing Chain
  • Battery
  • Alternator
  • Fuel Lines
  • Clutch
  • Spark Plugs and Wires

I'm gonna make a separate topic for additions to that list, this is so i can keep track of what i have done.
Main question here is the drifting issue.

 

So when you say drifting, is the truck wandering, like you have to keep correcting the direction it is heading in? If so, the first thing I always tell people is tires! How many miles do your tires have on them? If a decent amount, or made in china, the sidewalls will break down and get a lot of flex in them, causing the truck to stray on the road. Every time I have put brand new tires on a rig it straightens back up, but that has been my experience. My truck wanders as well, but from what I can tell everything in the steering is solid, but my tires are near the end of their life.


If your tires are basically brand new, have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth and look for loose steering connections. If everything is tight, replace the steering stabilizer.

Great truck by the way, keep up the good work.

 

By drifting i mean it pulls right, its always to the right. I termed it drifting because it only seems to happen at speed, when driving slowly i don't notice it as much.
Tires were brand new in November, don't have more than 8-9 thousand on them. They are BFG AT/KO II so i hope they should last longer than that.
I'll check the steering like you say at lunch.

Thanks, I like her too, a real solid workhorse.

 

If it is always pulling right, steering stabilizer is not the problem, and if it just started acting like that one day, you could still possibly have a loose steering connection, but... try swapping the tires around on the rig and see if the pulling changes with the tire. Front with the front, rear with the rear. Pretty easy way to find out if you have a slipped belt.

 

Fair enough, I'll flip them around some evening when i can get over to my buddy's lift. What exactly would show a slipped belt? And how exactly would a slipped belt make it pull? I think we might be thinking of different belts??
Thanks.

 

Sorry, The steel belts in the rubber that hold thw tire together. It is really impossible to tell just looking at it, but if the inside of the tires circumference happens to be larger than the outside, it could push the tire to the outside, causing it to "pull" in that direction, if I am thinking of the forces correctly. Either way, if the shape of the tire changes in any manner, it can result in shaking, uneven wear, or pulling/pushing. Just an easy place to start. Take into account the slope in the road as well when driving, and look for any signs of uneven wear on the tread depth.

Hope that helps. In my experience that is a common issue. Even my dad has spent thousands of dollars trying to find good tires that drove straight, he would buy a new set and 8000 miles later his rig is pulling one way or another, or it starts shaking and he can't get it balanced.

 

That would suck... but i'll check it out. What was the advantage of ATs over muds again, atleast with muds I'd be expecting this mess.

 

Shocks...
I'm looking at bilsteins to ensure quality and long life. However I'm getting lost in the specifics.
4600s appear to be the drop in model. HDs appear to be the cheapest (though i can't fin the rear ones yet). And 5100s seem to have the best rep.
Anyone had personal experience with any of the above or any advice?
Looking to buy within a week.

 

Make that "looking to buy ASAP" not sure which it is but one of them took a dump on me today, hit a pothole and the truck went to bobbing side to side...

 

Well as soon as the paycheck clear there will be a full set of Bilstein HDs on the way from shockwarehouse.com
Sadly that won't be till Monday so i have another week at least to ride the bounce mobile, and that mean there are three days t owarn me if I'm ordering the wrong thing or if you've had a bad experience with shockwarehouse.
Thanks y'all.

 

Shocks are ordered. Should be here next week.
The rolling was getting pretty bad so i jacked her up to investigate and here is what i found, all round.
Good news: The hub i rebuilt is solid as the day it rolled off the production line; no fluid leaks.
Bad news: Rear right shock is toast. Pics incoming.


Don't know if you can really see it in the side pic but it is no longer straight, hence the wear marks.
Worse news: The shocks get here next week and i have no other transport for the time being... that roll is doggone unsettling, diagonal wobble would be more accurate i guess. And I'm fairly sure this also explains the pulling to the right. We shall find out when i get it fixed.
Oh i take that back, my gas tank leaks... I have never owned one that didn't

Or is that grease thrown up from the drive shaft?

 

Okay, shockwarehouse was a mistake... got an email saying they didn't have the quantities i ordered in stock.... canceled my order and am looking elsewhere. Sadly that seems to be a common problem.

 

After a week my procrastination paid off, just paid for 2 bilstein HDs for the rear at $66 each. With free shipping from Amazon. Just as well I'm getting tired of beating my tail up on the roads around here.
Whats the deal on installing shocks? I've never done it before?
Jack'er up take the wheels off un-bolt the old shock... how do you keep the new one compressed while you put it in?

 

Some good news and some bad news:

The shocks are in. Easiest job i ever did once I put my brain in gear.
Yes this doofus did mess up a simple little job like this! In removing the old shocks i had to hang on my breaker bar under the truck... so not really thinking about it i decided they needed to go back on that tight. Yup, snapped the head off. Luckily it backed out real easy. 2 Days later i found a fine pitch metric bolt in tractor supply of all places? The shocks take a m12-1.25 x 50 bolt if anyone else needs to find one.

The bad news? My CEL is flashing. Comes on while driving at highway speeds on random trips and tends to disappear when i sit at idle for a minute or two. Problem is its not leaving a code behind. Any ideas what could cause a problem like that?

Other news, I am planning a few fun mods. Well fun for me, they might be a little boring for y'all. Until that is i break something and i need help fixing it...
A few hints: my headlights flicker when on high beam, I'm looking at wiring diagrams for a number of the truck's main functions, I'm buying relays, and something from bluesea, oh and I'm peeling old loom.
Stay tuned.

 

Well I was hoping to post up some more progress this week. But my funds were suddenly diverted when the backhoe operator at work knocked my window out.... pics in the morning. I will be reimbursed but that check won't come till the job is done so i am out a bit of capital.
I am still going to order the front shocks this week, can anybody comment on how easy they are to install? Being under the ball joint and all.

 

Okay Pics. I'm slow and lazy :p
Bilsteins installed all around and new calipers on the front. No pics of the calipers, you all know what they look like.


The back shocks went in real easy, but the front ones were a class act. Red locktite allover the bolts. I picked the truck up with a bottle jack placed under the box-end wrench if that gives you and idea of the problem.... However we did get them off eventually and got the shocks in. Rides a lot stiffer in the front now, none of this rolling in the turns like a slinky.


Replaced the passenger side brake caliper which i should have done back in December when i did the drivers side.
Then drove her to the mountains for a week on a construction project. She ran like a champ after i figured out shifting on the big hills. This flatlander never drove a stick in the hills before.... just didn't feel right running 75 on the interstate and being in 3rd gear... Got 21.2 mpg with ladder rack, ladders and a full load of tools and materials.

Ain't she a purty beast
Oh and my buddy hooked me up with an un-named and now unavailable substance to clean my rims. Nice and shiny now.

Got back and went in for an alignment and discovered the source of my ditch fascination. Passenger side was waaaay off. Unfortunately we couldn't fix it as my rear cam bolt is frozen and the tie rod ends were liberally coated in some more of the PO's favorite substance. Red locktite!!
So I'm bathing her in pb blaster for week till i can get back to the shop with a new cam bolt and a set of tie rod ends and sleeves.

 

Long time no see yotatech.
Its been almost a year since I posted anything and its about that time again to dig in and do some wrenching.
I finally got that alignment about a week after I posted about it, couldn't get the cam bolt out but did get it adjusted and held off on the tie rod ends.

Put another 15-20 thousand miles on her and still going strong. No mechanical issues at all.

My drifting has returned at highway speeds and I have a little slop in the wheel when turned at a standstill so I'm gonna put those new tie-rod ends in along with some new idler arm bushings and see if that cleans it up.
I'm being told I should do the pitman arm while I'm in there but i'm wondering how i would tell if it needs it.(besides the fact its 21 years old)
Then of course my old man pitches in an says that the ball joints probably need replaced??

Anyone got some tips for deciding what needs done in the front end? I already have the tie-rod ends cause i bought them last fall, but everything else is up in the air for now. Got some long haul driving to do in june so i need to get it done before then.
Thanks guys.

 

Well I was chatting with a friend after work this evening and mentioned the work i was planning on the truck so he got down and had a look under the truck, had me wiggle the wheels etc. and his conclusion was that the play was my imagination and that my issue is the fact that I'm still running the original steering stabilizer.
I never would have thought of that, atleast not till I'd ordered parts and torn the skid plate off...
So I reckon I'll replace that and see what changes. He also brought to my attention the fact that I am sitting only about an inch off my bump stops in the front. Hence the jarring I mentioned last year.
Any ideas as to what I should do to fix that? Torsion bars or something else? I'll probably start a new thread for these issues and just report back in here.

On a more positive note I did a fun little project where I dug my door handle spring out of the door and put it back in the handle, only this time with a pin through the middle so it will never come loose again. Did the drivers side as it was broke, gonna go ahead and do the pass side while I'm at it and will post pics of the process when I do that one. I do enjoy little projects I can knock out and feel like i accomplished something.

Also need to come up with a mounting solution for the ladder rack pictured above, the last foot came loose a few months ago so if there are no straps it bounces like a toddler unsupervised in a mattress store.

 

http://www.oldmanemu.com.au/

this is a link for the kits dude

 

Ordered a Moog steering stabilizer. Should be here first of the week.