Precise1

Congrats Pezzy !! You and your Pathy deserve a lift !! Um, well, you know that I mean... LOL Slick, you were not joking at all !! Yeah, I still need to figure out the front end shake... I have some ideas, but need time and nice weather to poke around before I start buying parts... Workin on it Miss !! B

Well, I'm not going to go into bearings yet, because that may not be the issue, it could be the brakes. If you calipers are rubbing they will heat up the rotor like that also (I will assume you were not in stop and go traffic or live at the bottom of a long hill). Could be that you need to bleed the brakes, could be that the slide pins that allow the calipers to release are crudded up, or it could be the bearings. I'd guess the brakes first though. How do the wheels spin when off the ground ?? Can you feel the calipers dragging ? Does the wheel have play like the bearings are loose ? If you step on the brake and release does it take a few moments for the tire to become spinable again ?? Take a few minutes and play around with these things just so you don't "fix" the wrong thing... Let us know. Bernard

You may try checking the entire exhaust... If something is sagging, it may buzz enough to touch the frame... I have that right now, annoying, but not annoying enough apparently... B

O, so then I retrieved my brain from the nightstand, installed it and looked in the manual... Chilton says "Remove torque converter cover. Matchmark the converter and the drive plate for assembly; they were balanced as a unit at the factory. Remove the bolts attaching the converter to the driveplate (flywheel). You will have to rotate the engine to do this, using a wrench on the crankshaft pulley bolt" That was step 13, step 15 is remove the starter so I must be confused in the previous post. Hope it helps. B

Ok Bud, I'm working from memory here so be afraid, be very afraid !! I could have sworn someone talking about having to access them through the starter hole. It doesn't sound like fun. Hopefully I'm right, but I think so... Just trying to let you get a jump on it. M/T here B

In any normal situation, its best to put the truck in neutral (I dont use the clutch ) and use the brakes. Brakes are the cheapest easiest thing to replace... But then I do understand and respect the annoying the GF part; I do the same at times. I figure everything should be equal in a relationship B

Not to mention the nice thing about bolts is that you can remove them easily... B

Hey solid snake, I believe the nose up look you are talking about is the desert racer stance, which makes sense in arizona... I think it helps with steering, jumping and sudden NASTY suprises while keeping the CG low to minimize rollover tendencies that can occur at speed in the loose stuff. If you look closely at a desert vehicle, you will see that they have very beefy front ends and skid plates all the way back... B

Yep, that idea for the pan hard drop mount should work fine... basically the same thing I'm drawing up minus the welding with solid spacers instead of washers, and out of 3" channel iron... B

Ditto to revgolem about the string and level thing... I have actually read "instructions" on how to do this, but didnt have the patience or a good place to play with it. While there are no adjustment features, you could always get a severely misaligned rear closer. It is just basically bolt in there, so things could always be lengthened, shortened, bent, etc as needed. That of course is an over simplification, so as long as it is not visually out of square, it's not worth messing with for most people. B

Yeah 88, that gas attendant thing in Oregen was wierd. Went through on a motorcycle trip, and first gas station the guy steps up to the bike with the gas nozzle. I thought "what the He!!" and studied him for physical signs of mental retardation... He handed it to me and left.... All the people let me pump my gas; some were wierd about it, and some seemed to expect it. Must be a motorcyle thing or maybe its a "there's a guy in full body armor who looks angry" thing... B

Sorry JJ, I'm misspeaking again. By off the shelf I mean purchasing components through places like McMaster Carr, Graingers, AirGas might have some, also MSC. I meant not having to fab or scrounge too much to put it together. If you have trouble finding certain items, let me know and I'll send some links... B

Oh, I get it k9sar... You are one of "those" customers, aren't you... "Look, it says it right here in the book/computer" and you shouldn't attempt to apply logic or mechanical principles !!! I hear you Bud, been there so many times I can't remember them all. Why don't you just order them online ?? I got an entire OEM tie rod assembly for the passenger side for about $50 from nissanmart.com. Check them out... GL, and try not to strangle anyone, spray windex in their eyes, c clamp their hands to the counter, etc. Bernard

AirRun, its about 29" diameter... Here, http://secret-secret.com/turbo/DIY/tirecalc/turbotire.html B

Sorry about the size, paint wouldnt open a jpeg !! Darn work computers...

Hey lgranch, here a couple of pictures to give you an idea... There are some that you can buy but it is hard to find ccw ones. Look up spade drills or HiRoc mold drills, etc. here is a link to some cw ones that msc carries. http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF Of course, to me the key is to always spin ccw. I make them on a diamond wheel tool grinder out of premium micrograin carbide (usually a busted end mill, spot drill, etc). Purchased ones can be somewhat pricy, so if you want, I'll make you a couple. Just tell me the minor diameter of the thread you are tyring to remove, and I'll stay safely below that. These work very well, are tremendously durable and hard to break. The one in the pict is a .25" diameter shank from an old endmill. Bernard

LOL JJ, good one... I do notice now that he is packing, so its obviously an occifer... I don't know any paramedics who are packing (visably). B

I was just joking about the exhaust... Yes, there are plent of ballscrew suppliers, but I have never seen (or looked for) any that reversed in the center... Maybe weld 2 pieces together ?? Are you thinking ball screw to keep the friction down ? Otherwise acme thread with oil-lite bronze bushings would work just fine and be cheaper. My apologies TrailChaser, I misspoke. I have only seen the show a couple of times, but yes, it is cool, funny, and a great idea. Am I thinking about the right one, where they build wierd contraptions out of odds and ends to a time limit ? If thats the one, things are generally put together too fast or too mismached to work well. Thats what I meant, is hacking things together, not calling the people hacks; they are obviously quite skilled and knowledgable... B

OK, I just have to say this... WD-40 is "WATER DISPLACEMENT-FORMULA 40" NOT miracle in a convenient can !! While it can help somewhat in other applications, thats NOT what it is formulated for !! It will not free corroded bolts, walk the dog, provide lasting lubrication, restore hair loss, provide lasting corrosion protection, cure bad breath, make the wife happy, wash the dishes, or replace the 5+ other types of formulaes, oils and grease that should be in your arsenal. It WILL penetrate somewhat, apply temporary lubricity, clean somewhat, and temporarily prevent corrosion by DISPLACING WATER !! *pant, pant* Ok, that being said, my carrier was getting stiff after the winter, so I used some WD-40, sprayed it in the top of the pivot, both open and closed and worked it back and forth many times. I repeated this many times. While wiping away rust colored drips, it became free enough to be reasonable for now. It's not a real fix, I just didn't want to damage the area where it mounts to the body... Good enough for the next few rains but in a month or two, it'll probably be stiffer. This summer I'll spent a few hours in the sun and do it right. Bernard

Thats the animal BigMike !!! My neighbor in the '80's had 2 of those and they were truely indistructable !! Was an eye opener to me. Ya didn't want to go over 55mph, but for offroad use they are almost impossible to beat. He had his from the family ranch in texas where they had been used since birth... They will never win a race, but will never let you down ! I SO do wish dodge would go retro and make a true truck like that again !! B

Just for what it is worth, I never use the "easy out" spiral bolt extractors... I've snapped more of them off than have ever been successful with, and I do this type of stuff for a living ! I think the spiral is exagerated and the material is crap and/or the hardness is excessive. There is no feel from torquing to snapping. The only broken bolt remover I will use is the square tapered ones with the left hand turn flute/bite. Before I use a bolt extractor, I core drill it with a left hand (ccw) drill deep and slow. A lot of the time the reduced pressure from the core being gone and the 'unscrewing' torque, not to mention heat and vibration will suddenly back the piece out. If the drill is unsuccessful, then I will employ a 130 degree left hand carbide spade drill of my own design to further the core drilling/removal. I make my own and have given to friends to use, who after using them, refuse to give them back, lol. Then I will use a bolt remover until I can see if it is not working, and resume the ccw drilling. This works almost flawlessly; I have removed bolts that come out looking like helicoils without damage to the threads... Reforming threads is another chapter... Honestly, I have tapped more holes than most people have ever seen, and removed more bolts than most have overtorqued. Bernard

*calmly screens BigMike's "College of Fundimentals" hands on training course by nonchallantly throwing a beer glass at the far wall, pointing out a distant, random, likely individual and yelling "he did it !!"* B

I don't know about lucky... That looks an awful lot like a medic to me... I don't wish that on anyone, Sheep or not... B

Hmm, linear actuator ??? Kinda like this one ??? It's a functional cut away demo model that I made for a company I used to work for... I'm quite a bit brighter with the mechanics than the electronics, but it seems like everything said so far is right on... Personally, I'd build one for the specific application; it's not hard and a lot of parts are off the shelf. I'd also consider pneumatics. Its better for the application, and if you had an air locker... Consider a cantelever and maybe moment arm for the lifting rather than a direct stroke/travel application. Seems like a lot of work to be able to smell your exhaust fumes, but then I have done a lot of complicated work for VERY silly reasons; finished one today. It was a 3" convex fresnel lense that had a beautiful 'floating bubble' effect depending on your view point and rotation. It's a F-ing neeto shiny thing for a toothpaste box that cost $8K. Anyway, let me know if you want some help... Oh, monster garage is cool, but it is for hacks... Bernard

LOL, $2.65 87 octane today here in north Ca... I love the way that gas costs less in some places that it has to be trucked in long distance while I live 40 miles from a refinery... Just goes to show, the prices reflect what the market can bear, not what the actual costs are... B