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2017 Chevrolet Trax
Replaced front brake rotors and pads, rotated tires, changed oil

2006 Cadillac DTS
Replaced front brake rotors and pads, changed oil

1969 Chevrolet C10
Replaced battery and battery terminals
 
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Now regearing a 7.2 IFS front. GM engineers had a sick sense of humor because driving the outer race out is a little difficult as you're trying to swing a hammer in a half-dome.

Then I figured driving in new races would be easy because it's aluminum. I was wrong. They seemed to be a tighter press fit than steel housings.

I finally decided I needed to pull them in with something. I grabbed some ball joint press cups I've previously modified for 2nd Gen Ram D44 seals and this worked very well.
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The cup on right I threaded 5/8‐11
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I was curious to see how the ultrasonic sensors were attached to the bumper; the rear being the easiest to gain a visual.

While under there, I noticed this.



The Highlander has an odd suspension knock; front/back/left/right. Didn't show itself during the test drive but appeared during periods of rain and when I'd run the vehicle thru the car wash with an undercarriage rinse. Once dry, the noise would disappear. The past few months, it would do it all the time, then just disappear and randomly reappear.

Because of the heat, I just cranked the tire up; I'll have to drive it a while to see if the noises are gone. I figured the cause was something stupid like this.

I wasn't to concerned other than annoyed. I was going to have the dealership take a look when I bring it in for the bumper recall.

So much for Toyota Certified Pre-Owned, 160-Point Inspection.

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When you get a chance, lower the spare tire to the ground and check it for adequate air pressure. Most of those truck-style tire mounts rely on cranking up the spare and compressing a bit of the sidewall against the undercarriage to keep it tight. The tire can get loose as shown in your video when loses some air pressure over time.
 
Our big rain was a bust yesterday but a welcome +2". Seems we missed the heavy rain by 20-30 miles to the east of me.

So sprayed some roundup in the ditch that I cleared off. Very stubborn cherry, wafer ash and the terrible bristly greenbrier.

Got a SoftStart kit for my cheap Goodman AC and will put that on today. Hot weather coming back this weekend.
 
Rotated the tires on my 3500 and adjusted air pressure as well. Used my new cordless impact, which I should have had a decade ago.

My wife has been doing some daily driving with the truck and thankfully no P2281.....knock on wood.

I also picked up some presents from our local ag store.

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120K service on a 2012 Highlander. That’s oil change, tire rotation, cabin air filter, engine air filter and spark plugs and new intake gaskets. I actually enjoy stuff like this but the bolt on the back of the intake with limited room sucks to get too. Also done a flat tire repair and upsold rear brake pads and machine rotors on this car too because they were at 3mm. Also worked on my grandmas car during lunch too she needed new tires, state inspection and oil change. She paid me but I always insist she doesn’t have too. Then she called my mom afterwards and wanted her to ask me if she gave me enough. I was like of course I wasn’t expecting anything and you didn’t have to give me any money for this but she always spoils her grand kids lol. She said she was having a hard time eating afterwards because she was worried she didn’t give me enough. Her tires practically disintegrated coming off the bead tore one almost all of them. Cheap MasterCrafts were on it. Hankook installed. The Kia stuck out like a sore thumb in a Toyota shop lol.
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I replaced the spark plugs on my Mazda today. The recommended interval is 75k and it just hit that yesterday. I only recently realized the interval was this short. I was used to >100k or more. I paid $50 with tax for four NGK replacements from Advance. Amazon is cheaper, of course but there’s a very high chance of getting a counterfeit from them.

The old plugs looked pretty good. The only thing interesting was the mouse nest I found under the engine cover and that the plugs were smaller than my smallest plug socket. I had to lift them out and lower them back in with a magnet stick. Surprisingly I was able to spin them in a couple of turns to start them with just the magnet on the top.

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1969 Chevrolet C10 350 small block V8
Replaced valve cover gaskets, pcv valve and hose, changed oil

2009 Nissan Frontier
Replaced blower motor

2011 Dodge Avenger
Replaced blower motor, rotated tires, changed oil
 
Now regearing a 7.2 IFS front. GM engineers had a sick sense of humor because driving the outer race out is a little difficult as you're trying to swing a hammer in a half-dome.

Then I figured driving in new races would be easy because it's aluminum. I was wrong. They seemed to be a tighter press fit than steel housings.

I finally decided I needed to pull them in with something. I grabbed some ball joint press cups I've previously modified for 2nd Gen Ram D44 seals and this worked very well.View attachment 229550The cup on right I threaded 5/8‐11View attachment 229551

I weld a couple 5/8-18 nuts onto the race 180° apart, Then weld a 3rd in the center either over or between depending on the diameter of the Cup/Race, Use a slide hammer to knock the race out.

Nice installation tool!!
 
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Well I was just going to change the brake light socket on the Focus.. but thanks to Ford had to splice the wiring. I really hate Ford and its connector changes.
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Had a successful test drive of the Express after regearing. 16 very easy miles. Will do another two easy drives under 20 miles with FULL cool down between before releasing to the customer.

I had an epic battle with the crush sleeve on the 7.25 IFS last night. So glad Yukon provides two sleeves. The first one crushed a little then refused to do anymore, then of course I finally overshot it.

For the second sleeve I rigged a more elaborate setup that let me slowly lever it down by hand so I could avoid using the impact. If I had to do a lot of these I'd build a jig to bolt the case half to my table.

I called it quits around 2a last night, although I took this pic of my messy bench earlier in the day
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Had a successful test drive of the Express after regearing. 16 very easy miles. Will do another two easy drives under 20 miles with FULL cool down between before releasing to the customer.

I had an epic battle with the crush sleeve on the 7.25 IFS last night. So glad Yukon provides two sleeves. The first one crushed a little then refused to do anymore, then of course I finally overshot it.

For the second sleeve I rigged a more elaborate setup that let me slowly lever it down by hand so I could avoid using the impact. If I had to do a lot of these I'd build a jig to bolt the case half to my table.

I called it quits around 2a last night, although I took this pic of my messy bench earlier in the day

I like to do solid spacers on crush sleeve differentials, Crush Sleeve Eliminator kits are available for many applications (Spacer & shims) then you shim your pinion bearing preload like a Dana.

Crush Sleeve's are a pure production time/cost saving innovation.
 
Replaced a shifter button on '14 KL. Stellantis is so crappy they can't even build a large plastic button that lasts.

Pull down boot and remove two Torx:
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Disassemble, swap in new piece (lower right)
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Fin:
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