What are you working on today?

The wife's '15 Tundra: drove great when we bought it with Hercules HTs (LR SL) in 275/55/20 on factory Platinum wheels. As soon as we mounted slightly wider Fuel rims with 285/60/20 Duratracs in LR E, you could tell the struts were cooked.
20260105_170251.webp

Years ago a client gave me stock Bilstein TRDs from his '16. He said they had about 60k on them -- better than our old Platinum units with 135k.
20260105_151329.webp

I finally got them on today and wow, so nice to no longer have bump steer or walking on wasboard.
20260105_152916.webp


And yeah, the gas patch just "improved" our road, which apparently means making it even muddier with deep ruts.
 
1993 Volvo 240 Classic sedan, 260k, 20k service
Tune up, air filter, all fluids, cleaned the flame trap, MAM, throttle body, lubed the throttle linkage, doors hinges, hood hinges,
Door locks, etc

The car runs flawlessly. The engine consumes 1/2 quart every 5k of 5W-40 full synthetic. I’m really pleased.

IMG_3105.webp
 
2013 GMC 2500 now with 308k miles:
-engine oil change
-installed new front bumper valance. I ordered this from a place called Chicago Auto Body Parts specifically because they stated they don't ship ANYTHING rolled up. I was skeptical because the price was less than most Amazon and ebay sellers, and I had contacted one of each and both said they ship rolled but were quick to point out, "Don't worry -- a few hours in the sun and all is well." Uh huh.

They shipped like this in enough bubble wrap to hide a dead body, and it arrived in perfect condition. The Post Office was all too happy to hand it off and get it out of their back room.
20260105_112057.webp

Fit was excellent
20260106_210507.webp

He also ordered Diode Dynamics fogs, but turns out they tell you to reuse the OEM retainer clips. Well, one light was gone because the old valance was ripped in two. The remaining light had one (of three) retainers broken, and another broke as soon as I touched it.
20260106_192516.webp

For what Diode Dynamics charges, they could have included six new retainers. Quantity 20 of aftermarket is $10

Highly recommend Chicago Auto Body Parts!!
 
Also on the 2013 Sierra 2500: installed a torsion key leveling kit so knew he was gonna need an alignment. I found noticeable slop in the idler arm, and the battle began.

The tapered stud was stuck worse than anything I've encountered. When the air hammer failed, I preloaded the stud with my OTC 7503 and hit it again with the air hammer, but nothing. I kept cranking down on the puller and using the air hammer and eventually a jaw left the chat:
20260106_151548.webp

Ok, well I have the 7503HD. I preloaded that with my 1/2" impact and hit the linkage for an extended period. Nothing. I finally left it loaded and warmed the linkage with the blue wrench, at which point everything exploded apart and sprung the jaws on the 7503HD:
20260106_151557.webp

You can see the beating the linkage took. It's a good thing I inspected the steering because the transmission cooler lines were no longer retained by the stupid plastic retainer, and had fallen to where the idler arm was sweeping across a hard line:
20260106_151525.webp
 
Similar to above, I found time to pull the tired rear shocks off the wife's '15 Tundra and install the used, relatively low mileage TRDs I got for free.
20260107_190216.webp


I will say in general I think threaded-stem shock mounting is some of the dumbest stuff. They're always a fight to get apart. If manufacturers would at least use coarse thread this would help -- fine thread is WAY more sensitive to thread contamination and much more likely to gall.
 
I bought a 6 foot bucket back in September at auction as a project to convert into a skeleton bucket. Welded about halfway on some JD adapter brackets. Need to reinforce them a bit better, but so far so good. The tractor is a bit bouncy with a much heavier bucket, but the most work this one will see is scraping the ground for cactus and ground rocks, not serious dirt work.

IMG_7712.webp

IMG_7713.webp

IMG_7714.webp
 
Lower bearing on a Volvo blower motor started squealing after 22 years. I believe the OEM is Behr Germany. Sprayed it with penetrating fluid before lubing it with 3-in-1 oil and all is quiet again (for now). Not sure if this is the best oil to use and open to suggestions for next time around.

Shame that some people replace quality factory blower motors with aftermarket junk instead of servicing them

1767942004000.webp
 
Presently ..... I'm annoyed at Mahle valve cover gaskets on a Ford transverse 3.5 -- a 2007 CX9 but call it a 2007 Ford Edge.

I installed them ~45k and 4.5 years ago (Aug '21) and both are leaking quite badly. IIRC these bottom on metal sleeves in the grommets, so you can't hardly screw them up by overtightening (plus I would have used a TW). I checked a few by hand and they're tight, ie not backed off.

Just frustrating.....and I feel obligated to offer a discount on replacement. Valve cover gaskets should last more than 45k miles (from 99k to 144k right now)

Wonder what @mattd uses?
 
D60 said:
Presently ..... I'm annoyed at Mahle valve cover gaskets on a Ford transverse 3.5 -- a 2007 CX9 but call it a 2007 Ford Edge.

I installed them ~45k and 4.5 years ago (Aug '21) and both are leaking quite badly. IIRC these bottom on metal sleeves in the grommets, so you can't hardly screw them up by overtightening (plus I would have used a TW). I checked a few by hand and they're tight, ie not backed off.

Just frustrating.....and I feel obligated to offer a discount on replacement. Valve cover gaskets should last more than 45k miles (from 99k to 144k right now)

Wonder what @mattd uses?
Click to expand...
JMO. While I agree it really “shouldn’t” be leaking after 45K miles, 5 years after a repair i wouldn’t feel obligated to offer a discount. That far exceeds any warranty you’ll get anywhere.

I use dealer gaskets only. Never had a problem with repeat failures.

I would make sure the plastic covers are straight and not warped. I had that happen on my wife’s 2.5 fusion.
 
MyWifesBoyfriend said:
Lower bearing on a Volvo blower motor started squealing after 22 years. I believe the OEM is Behr Germany. Sprayed it with penetrating fluid before lubing it with 3-in-1 oil and all is quiet again (for now). Not sure if this is the best oil to use and open to suggestions for next time around.

Shame that some people replace quality factory blower motors with aftermarket junk instead of servicing them

View attachment 318998
Click to expand...
If it’s a sleeve bearing then 3 in 1 or even something heavier would work. I like Pedro’s synthetic chain lube for MTBs if it’s available. Those bearings are supposed to be “oil impregnated.” It might be possible to soak it in Hot oil and re-saturate it?
 
Well, I'm up north at some isolated reserve for work. There is a company truck that needed to be checked as its slated to be driven out. Its an outfitted Topkick 7500 and sat untouched for over a month. At least the block heater was plugged in.

The battery kill switches had been left on, batteries were dead and it saw -35c for some time. Today was a balmy -20 so no time like the present. The battery tender is hooked into the genset but Im not going to run a diesel genset in this to trickle charge thr main batteries. Yesterday I bypassed it so the tender was plugged into a wall outlet. Today it was at least accepting a charge but still unable to crank over.

Where it was parked we could not jump with a vehicle but did manage to find a jump pack. Got it to fire and run but it would shut off every time. Didn't matter if it was low idle or high idle. Timed it to a 30 second interval. Got to be a sensor or derate. We added some antigel to ensure there was not fuel related.

Then we noticed the coolant symbol on the dash illuminated. Checked the expansion tank, which was low but not empty. Ok, well we managed to scrounge up some possibly oat compatible coolant and topped it up. Then like a stroke of luck, found a 15 amp charger hiding in some small corner of this place. Well, we got it running and there is an apparent fail safe for low coolant because the old girl is up and running. We are letting it run for an hour and then will shut it off for the night and throw on the charger and block heater.

We got guys driving 8 hours to get up here and get it so this saved a pile of time and hassle.
 
meep said:
If it’s a sleeve bearing then 3 in 1 or even something heavier would work. I like Pedro’s synthetic chain lube for MTBs if it’s available. Those bearings are supposed to be “oil impregnated.” It might be possible to soak it in Hot oil and re-saturate it?
Click to expand...

Thanks. In further reading, I should have used their electric motor oil (SAE 20) instead it the multi purpose oil (SAE 5). Both are non-detergent oils so hopefully not the end of the world.
 
Today I replaced the right front brake caliper on my 04 F-150. It was not locked up but it wasn't releasing just enough to keep light pressure on the rotor. New caliper resolved the issue. I also disabled the automatic door locks. Got tired of going around to the passenger side and and forgetting the door was still locked.
 
Worked on forming my bulk fuel storage pad today. It’s 10’x40’ and will be 6” thick. I’ll tie the rebar tomorrow and that’ll be it until it warms up again. The pipe is for 120v power, two of my tanks have electric pumps on them. I’ll have gasoline, 500 gallons of dyed diesel and 800 gallons of clear diesel. The gas and dyed fuel are more of a convenience but the clear diesel will help manage fuel cost with my trucks. I hope to contract fuel in the future and having it here at the farm will save me a ton of time each day.
8A172F43-30DA-48A5-8F1B-FD4716C69FA2.webp
 
Rear brakes on former co-worker's 2021 Passat SE, for the second time. In 48K miles :oops:. Several complaints about rapid brake pad wear on the latest Gen Passats and SUPPOSEDLY VW changed the compound in response. Well, it obviously did NOT decrease the wear rate, as this set only lasted a bit over 24K. Both the original set and the replacement set were VWAG labeled pads and listed as "ceramic". All of the pads were this thin which suggests the caliper is working as designed, ie; piston moves freely as do the guide pins (they got cleaned and re-silicone pasted anyway). Sourced a completely different ceramic compound pad from Ate at FCP Euro and will see how long these last. I'm beginning to think it is a brake bias problem and not the components per se.
IMG_0474.webp
IMG_0473.webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
  • Locked
New Tire Time again (Final Review AltiRT43)
Replies
8
Views
5K
RitcheyRch
Back
Top Bottom