The Truck of Doom: An Occasional Build Thread

[Dorsai]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Looks good for eight years, but you use it on the regular, right?

Yep.  I try to drive it at least once a week, and make sure to get it out on the highway at least monthly.  Usually I do better than that, though, and overall I'm averaging about 2300 miles/year.

Gary Lewis wrote

I really like knowing that each part of the vehicle is working right.  So I see no problem going through a carb and finding it was working correctly.  It just ticks one more box in the "all these are correct" column.

Agreed, it doesn't bother me at all that there's nothing wrong - in fact, it just gives me confidence that my carb rebuilding skills are at an acceptable level.

However, I did discover that the four screws holding the carb body to the throttle body were not as tight as they could have been.  They weren't exactly loose, and there was definitely no leak, but they would have been a problem in a few more years.  So it suits me just fine to take care of that now.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm left with doing the most basic maintenance.
Don't have time or money to get into it unless/until things become a problem.

It a good plan you have.
I'm still kinda disappointed you didn't give Dominc a lesson in making buggy whips....

[Dorsai]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I'm left with doing the most basic maintenance.
Don't have time or money to get into it unless/until things become a problem.

I'm in the same situation as you, mostly with respect to time.  Money's OK, unless my wife decides to take a peek at the credit card statement this past month...

It a good plan you have.
I'm still kinda disappointed you didn't give Dominc a lesson in making buggy whips....

Oh, his time will come.  I did drag him downstairs to show it to him and explain what it was and (generally) how it worked.  He didn't care, but what 14 year-old (yesterday was his birthday) does?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Happy birthday to him!  🎉🎁🎂
Almost the same day as my son...

I'm sure he had friends and presents to think of.

[Dorsai]

So, I was able to get the driveshaft out today:



It came out way easier than I expected, which was nice.  But, I now have questions:

1.  Did these trucks come with greasable U-joints?  The joints that are in there now have grease fittings, which I somehow didn't realize before pulling the driveshaft.  I'm wondering if these are in fact replacement joints, and not the factory originals I had anticipated.

2.  These joints are in really good shape - I pulled the two exposed end caps on the rear joint, and everything looked great with plenty of grease in there.  As to the front joint, there's no play whatsoever and everything moves smoothly when I work the joint.  Given this...is there any reason not to simply grease the joints up and put them back into service?  

[Gary Lewis]

I think the originals had grease fittings, but I really don't know for sure.  But if everything looks good I see no reason to replace them.  Just make sure you make sure that grease flows from all four bearings of each joint.  And if one doesn't flow then you'll want to pull it apart to find out why.

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

I think the originals had grease fittings, but I really don't know for sure.  But if everything looks good I see no reason to replace them.  Just make sure you make sure that grease flows from all four bearings of each joint.  And if one doesn't flow then you'll want to pull it apart to find out why.

I think that's what I'm going to do...in the meantime, hopefully someone will chime in on the following:

I just got done looking at my rear axle...it's a standard Ford 9", 2.75 gearing.  I had gotten the idea somewhere that the oil change procedure was to pump the oil out through the vent tube fitting, but the vent is on the axle tube...doesn't seem like I could get much out that way.  Or do I pump it out of the fill hole on the side?  My Haynes manual is curiously silent on the topic, and there are a thousand different theories on the internet.

Or am I wasting my time here completely, and should just top it off through the fill hole and call it a day?

Fill hole:



Vent:

[Gary Lewis]

You pump it out via the fill hole.  And if you have a pump I'd do it rather than just top it off.  That way you are likely to get any water out that might be in there as water can cause all kinds of problems.

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

You pump it out via the fill hole.  And if you have a pump I'd do it rather than just top it off.  That way you are likely to get any water out that might be in there as water can cause all kinds of problems.

Hmmm, good point.  The pump it is - and fortunately I just happen to have one.

Meanwhile, I'm changing the U-joints out completely; I didn't like the look of one of the seals as I was pumping grease in, so out they come.  I've been pleasantly surprised with how easy the process has been so far; I'm still scarred from the memory of helping my dad change the U-joints on my mom's '67 LeSabre when I was a kid.  Maybe this will put those demons to rest.

[Gary Lewis]

My folks had a '67 LeSabre as well, but I don't remember changing u-joints.  I left for college in '65 so if that had to be done Dad would have done it.

Anyway, glad it is going easily.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

Dorsai wrote

Vent:

Reminds me, my vent hose is broken off at the brake splitter.
I noticed it the other day, when I was into the spring hanger.

I guess I was a little distracted.  
Those grade 8 bolts let go with a bang!  

[Gary Lewis]

That's not too unusual.  Many of the trucks I've bought had the same thing.  And that included Dad's.

Then I realized that Dad's rear diff had a noise in "coast".  So when I had the clutches in the diff replaced I wasn't surprised that the ring & pinion were pitted on the back side.  I'm guessing that water got in through the vent, but never found it.

[ArdWrknTrk]

No, not unusual, but something I have to address the next time I'm climbing around under there.

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

Anyway, glad it is going easily.  

Going...going...and gone.  I reinstalled the joints on the shaft yesterday, and today I got it back in the truck as easy as could be.  I think I'm going to call dad in a bit and tell him he sucks at U-joints.

Anyway, I took the truck for a spin on the highway, and all was well.  In fact, even though I wasn't able to detect any wear on the old joints, a clunk that occurred during shifts under hard acceleration that I never gave much thought to is now gone.  Win!

[Gary Lewis]

Cool!  Well done, Matthew.  One more item you are sure of.  

[Dorsai]

Dorsai wrote

I think I'm going to call dad in a bit and tell him he sucks at U-joints.

It had been a couple of weeks since I last spoke with my parents, so I called down there last night.  Dad remembered the U-joint change on the Buick as being difficult, but couldn't recall what the exact problem was - I was only 13 or 14 at the time, so I don't remember either.  But he had a good laugh at my having been scarred from the experience.

[Gary Lewis]

Some time back "there" GM started retaining the u-joints with plastic.  And they were a BEAR to get out, especially if you didn't know there was plastic in there.  Might that have been the problem?

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

Might that have been the problem?

It was the removal of the joints from the driveshaft that was the hard part, I remember him swearing and pounding the crap out of it...so that certainly could have been it.

I don't know if all Fords are the same, but mine had the common external retaining clips.  So easy.

[ArdWrknTrk]

GM used hot injected plastic.
You just heated it with a torch until the plastic started boiling out.... then you smacked them out.

DO NOT stand in the way of a bearing cap.
If it's wet in there and that water turns to steam, the cap is launching like an F18 off the flight deck.

[Gary Lewis]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

GM used hot injected plastic.
You just heated it with a torch until the plastic started boiling out.... then you smacked them out.

DO NOT stand in the way of a bearing cap.
If it's wet in there and that water turns to steam, the cap is launching like an F18 off the flight deck.

Amen!  I was just trying to find out when they started using the plastic and found a post where a guy said that a cap came off and traveled 85', out the open garage door and through a window on the house on the other side of the street.

He said his wife was NOT amused that their son had been there with his father and just happened to not have his face in front of the cap.