That $300 figure is not surprising. I could have bought the seal for less than $2 on the internet but then I'd have spent $4-5.00 for shipping and handling. As for deleting the heater, it's probably good to keep it because you never know when you'll be needing to spend the night in the cold. It ain't no darn place to be diagnosing a gelled fuel situation. I was exasperated enough when the lift pump went bad. The piston pump style isn't subject to the same failure mode as the diaphragm style. Glad I have AAA.

 

Finished my front end work today. New steering knuckles, new kingpins, bushings and bearings, new front axle shaft ujoints, new tie rod ends, repacked bearings and hubs, and then off to Les Schwab for an alignment, and new tires. I had the toe in almost dead on, actually, but it was good to have it checked and set, anyway.

 

WR, aren't you glad that's over? Now you're gonna have black fingernails and gunk underneath those nails for about a week and a half. Heavy work, too. But, it is a sense of accomplishment, and you had fun.
I did everything you called out, around March of 2016. Curious to know if you replaced those inner axle seals, the seals that keep the gear oil from flowing out the axle tube. I didn't, and I know one day I'll be opening all that up again to get to those.

 

Yeah, I have been putting that job off for a loooong time, so definitely glad it's done. Ended up being more time consuming and expensive that I had planned and budgeted for, so I guess it's no surprise I was procrastinating.

But the truck does drive SO much better. I replaced the steering gear last fall, and put in Bilstein shocks all around, so nearly all of the front end stuff is pretty fresh now. Of course, the body is just about shot, so a cab and doors transplant is going to have to be in the works pretty soon. But for now, I can go camping in it again, and tow things again without the death wobble threatening to throw the whole truck off the road. It had gotten dramatically worse in the last few thousand miles.

I did not do those inner seals. I did not have the tool for spreading the axle housing to get the diff out, and I also did not have the tool for doing the seals, and I just ran out of patience with all the cost overruns as it was. I did notice that my right seal has been seeping just a little bit, so yeah, at some point, I'll have to be back in there again.

Should be another 300k or so before I need to mess with those kingpins again, though!

 

Been taking the truck out a lot, testing my new brake system. Think I finally won the battle. Washed the truck, armor all' the tires to a shine, and while under the truck I see, the dreaded ATF leak!
Thought I had won the battle with all the leaks, due to above and beyond crank case venting, but forgot about the tranny. It was one of the 1/2" cooler lines heading towards the front grille. Years ago I threw some Parker fittings on there, compression style, and when I broke one of those loose and took apart, I was caught battling a froze up inner brass ferrule.
Tried all methods to remove it, but all failed. Finally took my 4" cutting wheel to it, in hopes of just slicing thru the ferrule, but as my luck would have it, I sliced into the pipe.
Tubing cutter to the rescue, and so glad I invested in spare ferrules, cause I was able to complete the task.
Then went to the movies with my 20 year old son to watch The Dark Tower. If any of you have not seen that flick yet, it is a must see. Action packed most definitely.

 

I got my exhaust brake hooked up and put four inch exhaust from the down pipe back. Went for a drive out through the Uintah mountains to test the brake a little before I hook onto the fifth wheel and Ranger trailer to start scouting for the big game hunts.

 

Everytime I work on this truck it ends up costing more and taking longer. The rear brakes have been the only exception since the bearings were good.

 

I am taking the girlfriend, daughter and some friends out to Stowe to drive around in the antique car show parade through town this afternoon. We will be in the old white crew cab we refer to as the Vanilla Gorilla.

 

What exhaust brake did you use? I'm in the market for one myself.

 

Sounds like a food, beer and pictures event....

 

Today I stripped the cab down on the parts truck in preparation for removal.

 

Id be interested to know this myself as well.

 

Stopped by WallyWorld and got a Everstart, some say Neverstart 29DC battery.
I have noticed a decrease in starting performance lately and upon adding water to a dry cell of the old Everystart 29DC and having it immediately drip onto the ground I beleive I found the problem.

Also put on a new Baldwin BF7772 filter.

 

Replaced my alternator. All is well.

 

Removed the cab from the chassis on the parts truck.