What are you working on today?

Installed OE MOPAR skid plates for the Ram, covering the front suspension and differential area as well as the transfer case. They should also add some extra rigidity to the frame, but more importantly, protect the underside from those ladders one finds in the middle of the freeway...
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Each one is about $65 from MOPAR online, adding them both constitutes the "Protection Group" package.
Mopar's still adding that dumb angled lip at the front, huh? My non-profit's 2012 Ram was similar, and in the adobe clay here it acts as a storage unit for mud. Also acts as a nice scoop in the deep stuff. Genius indeed....
 
I’m not sure you could have done a better job. You’ve got those spring bars pulled in pretty good, truck is level, camper is level. You can see the whole truck hunched down a bit to carry that load. Should ride nice. Tighten the anti-sway bar and it’s probably good and locked in on the freeway straights. If she tows a lot, I can see going a step up on shock stiffness. Nice work.
The E2's are integrated sway, so there's nothing for her to adjust, which is part of the reason I had her buy one. Set once and you don't have to mess with it again for the most part.

She's within the limits, but just. They just don't build the 1500 Ram chassis for this kind of work. They're much more a comfort truck. The powertrain will do the job all day long, and it is a comfortable enough tow, but the truck is gonna be working for it.

We'll probably scrp the factory bumpstops for a set of SumoSprings as well. Make it a little more compliant over harsh roads instead of crashing into the factory stops.
 
Went to do rear brake pads on my 2021 Corolla. Son wanted to watch (!) so went to do that job. Couldn’t get the piston to go back in, but, watching vids now, I suspect that while I had the electric parking off, I failed to put it into service mode. That or the caliper is seized. I’m guessing the former, way too early to lose a caliper.

Well he got to watch and learn about jacking. Tomorrow I’ll try again. Hoping its just user error..
 
Heavy tech requiring serious mechanical aptitude here:

-replaced the side view mirror on my neighbor's '99 Escalade after a horse leaned into it (not kidding). It's not paint-matched like OEM but his pass side had already been replaced with a black one, so now the side mirrors at least match.

Apparent imperfections are just dust/fingerprints:
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-had to help my folks in Moab with medical stuff so I drug over my ramps, creeper and supplies to change the oil on their '05 LJR. It's a HUGE event for my dad to take it to a quickie lube because they rarely leave the house anymore, but he was stressing over it.

It had a PF53 on it which is considerably smaller than the standard *16 or 51085. I know it doesn't much matter but I wasn't thrilled to see that. I installed a Wix 51085.

At a whopping 26k miles it's got a decent rear main leak, because 4.0
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At least I got a view of Moab Rim while working
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Yesterday

Got all the brake parts replaced on the mustang, save for the drums, which I'll put on the lathe today. Went ahead and changed the oil.
 
checking and/or changing the engine air filter and cabin air filter on my Sis' new to her 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited...CarFax says it had these changed in February but we'll see... ;)

Bill
 
Neighbor's bought a 2017 Spark LS from a long way away, woke up to a car carrier backing down the dead end
Got to advise them on what it needs, a RockAuto cart is being formed

I'm feeling a little better, my eBay shenanigans netted me 3 parts only/DOA Snap on MT2500s (the red brick)
My first Snap On tool 😀
I'm up to 2 of 3 working
Some light soldering and cleaning, plus some fresh 9v batteries
The yes/no keys had buildup on the membranes, so they were either unresponsive or jammed on
They're the later v2.2 backlit models, that's a plus
The MTG2500 is still inop, I'll tear into it next
Cane with everything I needed, except a GM ALDL 12 pin adapter, keeping an eye on another auction 👀

The cartridges reminded me of late 1900s video games, like the Sega Genesis 🤔
I bet @dishdude would know all about such activities 😂

If it's obscure OBD1, imma diagnose it 😏
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I got the 92 Cavalier running today. Yesterday I got the pump put in the tank and got everything hooked up and plugged in. Went to start it and could not hear the pump come on and the car would not start. I got back under the car and unhooked the wiring harness where it plugs into the underside of the car and discovered that the wiring harness for the new pump only had three wires coming off the pump vs the four on the old pump. The three pins in the new harness were not configured the same as the pins in the harness on the car.
Last night I looked at wiring diagrams for the car and discovered that the power wires for both the pump and the fuel gauge were in the right place in the harness but not the ground for the pump. Since the new pump only had three wires, the third wire was the ground for both the pump and gauge. I ended up cutting the ground wire at the end of the new harness and splicing some new wire and an eyelet to ground everything to the body near the connector for the car. The original pump wiring had separate grounds for the pump and the gauge.

I switched out all of the wheels from the 94 to the 92 since the tires on the 94 had good tread and the 92 did not. I also bled the brakes since the master cylinder had gone dry from sitting. It looks like it had been leaking from the master cylinder but after bleeding the brakes, they worked fine so we shall see.

I used my new Speedibleed brake bleeding system for the first time and it worked great. Definitely made bleeding by yourself very easy and fast. https://www.speedibleed.com/

The next project on this car is to find out where its leaking coolant.
 
Took waaay longer than expected, but finally it's done. Replaced brakes on the Pontiac Vibe.
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They were "slightly" overdue...
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Yup, just slightly...
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While I'm at it - threw some high temp silver on the calipers.
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And dug out the 17" Jaguar wheels from the shed, to replace the Pontiac steelies. Now wheels are flush with fenders front/rear. Used 5x114.3-to-5x108 adapters, 1.5" thick. Worked out great.
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That's the 16" Pontiac steelies, just for reference. Also did find a roof rack from an AWD Pontiac Vibe of same generation.
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judging by the DBC throttle body, the newest that truck could be is 2002 so i’d consider 21 years to be a pretty good mark for rubber seals running in coolant. how many times did you change the coolant?
04 6.0L in an Express chassis. I’ve changed it 3 times at least in 11 years we’ve owned. Last time was just last year. It looked to be a fracture in the housing. Wasn’t leaking out of the weep hole. Tested the coolant and it was good down below -20-25 so no idea. I think it’s been leaking for a couple years though just base by smell, but never did drip where it was setting.
 
Went to do rear brake pads on my 2021 Corolla. Son wanted to watch (!) so went to do that job. Couldn’t get the piston to go back in, but, watching vids now, I suspect that while I had the electric parking off, I failed to put it into service mode. That or the caliper is seized. I’m guessing the former, way too early to lose a caliper.

Well he got to watch and learn about jacking. Tomorrow I’ll try again. Hoping its just user error..
Are you twisting the piston back? Because it is a twist back style. Just making sure you aren’t trying to push it back. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone use service mode and haven’t had any problems.
 
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04 6.0L in an Express chassis. I’ve changed it 3 times at least in 11 years we’ve owned. Last time was just last year. It looked to be a fracture in the housing. Wasn’t leaking out of the weep hole. Tested the coolant and it was good down below -20-25 so no idea. I think it’s been leaking for a couple years though just base by smell, but never did drip where it was setting.
interesting, i was going to say LS water pumps are pretty reliable if coolant is changed every couple of years. i wonder if the crack came from an imperfection in the pump and finally cracked over time.
 
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