84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

Decided today to address the cab slipping from side to side on the cab mounts. Took me a while to figure out what was going on, but that was what was happening. Annoying as all heck, almost every corner, or big bump I took it would "clunk". :(

I thought I would be clever and grease everything up really well when I installed the new poly mounts. Well this was one of the reasons things went haywire.



I removed one side at a time, cleaned all the grease off in the parts washer, cleaned the body side with solvent and then finally re-installed. Then snugged up the bolts. Then I measured from side to side to make sure the cab was evenly spaced on the mounts.

One thing I did find was that once I had things in place, and I tightened up the nuts, that the nuts would bottom out on the shoulder on the factory bolts. I think this was the other reason the cab was moving around on the mounts. Not tight enough to hold things in place.

So I dug through my buckets of misc washers. Found some thick hardened washers from ??? But regardless I stacked two under each nut and it gave me enough addition thread to be able to torque them up to the factory 40-60ftlbs.

All done...right this time...;)

 
A little trick I have been using while working on interior stuff. You probably all know how hard it is to find the darn screw holes under the carpet and insulation, once you have removed a piece of trim, shift boot or other piece.

Well I figured out a way to make it relatively easy to get your item back in exactly the same place, and hit all the screw holes with little, to no effort.

Here is what I do. First get some long finishing nails. I think I use 3" nails. Then once the carpet and such is back in position you use the finishing nails to poke through the carpet and insulation until you find the screw holes.

Like this...



Then once all the screw holes have been found, just lower your piece over the nails.



Then just remove one nail at a time and screw it down into place. Works perfect every time!
 
over years of frustration i got to the point where i was locating holes with a drill and drill bit..smaller than the hole as it would help clear the carpet out of the way..trick was using the sharpest bits i could find so they wouldnt tangle
 
Stick this thru the hole in the trim piece, then locate the corresponding hole;

awl-hed-2014.jpg

Once you locate the first hole, get screw started, but don't tighten. From there the rest of the holes just fall into place. :cool:
 
used that for a while too..but between new carpet, new sound deadner, and dynamat added..it was just too much to just stab thru...stab to find the first one and then id carefully drill out the rest
 
I tried the Awl as well...but the thicker shank on it tends to cause more resistance. That is why I went with the finishing nails, thin enough to slide through carpet, sound deadner, and any extra insulation.
 
thrashingcows said:
Hmm... I could buy that, OR use all those 3" finishing nails that I bought for $5. ;) :)
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The beauty of using the regulater is that you only need to search/locate one hole, the trim piece self-locates the rest. Also it's a lot easier to handle by us fat-fingered neanderthals. :shifty:
 
68R/T said:
The beauty of using the regulator is that you only need to search/locate one hole, the trim piece self-locates the rest. Also it's a lot easier to handle by us fat-fingered neanderthals. :shifty:
Click to expand...

I have to disagree on finding one hole...and the other all line up. I had a heck of a time getting the shift boot and trim ring into place. If I had not had at least 4 of the hole located, I would probably still be searching for the others.

And I have more then a few early evolutionary traits....Heavy Brow, thick skull, and the big thick fingers. :) I seem to do OK with the finishing nails....a pair of needle nose vise grips work wonders too....;)
 
course the trucks have the worst trim alignment holes drilled...dunno how many times ive delt with holes drilled so far off he screws have to be put in at silly angles
 
I guess I'll keep doing it my way and you'll keep doing it your way...............and we'll both be happy. :cool:
 
I have needed a new pass. side mirror. The mirror had broken, and the original owner had installed one of those cheap shiny U-cut plastic mirrors. Could barely see out of it. And the power mirror motor gears were stripped as well.

Anyway I got a new "reproduction" mirror...well it looked nice in the box. But went to install it and ran into some issues.

First off the mounting holes were just slightly out of alignment, or too small? Finally go the mounting bracket into place and found the routing for the power wires in the wrong spot. So remove it again and change the location of the wires, then Install again.

Thought I was almost done and went to put the outer cover down and over the mounting bracket, and could to get it to line up, or install tight enough to get the lower set screw into place. So I pulled it off again and checked it to the original bracket. Looked like the clip they used that the screw goes into was too short. So I swap those and tryed AGAIN!

Now this time I was just able to push hard enough on the cover to get the lower screw in place...but barely. But now the rubber seal around the neck of the shaft the mirror is on was pushed up and almost out. Seems that the outer cover is just a tad too small...all around.

So removed it AGAIN! and this time pulled the original bracket and cover off the old mirror and installed it on the new one. Installed it on the door and it all fell into place! The actual mirror, motor and stuff seem to be fine...it was just the mounting bracket and cover that gave me all the grief.

So if you are considering buying one of these aftermarket mirrors be aware that things might not fit right.
 
Also got some time to hunt down and stop a few front end rattles.

First was the air cleaner assembly. It was rattling in the metal bracket. So I removed the air cleaner box and then put some sticky one side neoprene rubber foam along all the edges where it sits. Nice and quiet now.

Then it was on to the front brakes. Turned out when I redid the front end, and all the brakes, that I did not install the brake pads properly. The outer pads I did not bend over the tabs and makes sure they were tight on the calipers. And the inner pads I did not use the anti-rattle clips.

I have eliminated most of the rattle and clunks now. And the truck just seems tighter, and better then ever. Even more reasons to love it! ;)
 
It's getting all those little squeaks and rattles out of it that make all the difference, isn't it? I did some little detail stuff to the Dakota over the weekend that make such a perceptible difference... like cleaning/polishing the cluster lens and clearing up the headlamp lenses of their oxidation.
 
Dr.Jass said:
It's getting all those little squeaks and rattles out of it that make all the difference, isn't it? I did some little detail stuff to the Dakota over the weekend that make such a perceptible difference... like cleaning/polishing the cluster lens and clearing up the headlamp lenses of their oxidation.
Click to expand...

Yeah it sure does. Glad to hear that your have made a little ore progress on the old Dak.
 
I have been noticing a difference in the RPM my tach is showing when I'm cruising on the Hwy. In the cool of the morning...about 5am...heading to work, I am seeing 2000rpm at approx 100Km/h. But in the heat of the day, late afternoon heading home, I am seeing 1850-1900 going the same speed.

I never saw any fluctuations before when I was running the magnetic tach signal pick up on the harmonic balancer, and this very same Isspro tach.

Only thing I can think of is maybe the CPS is going bad, or there is a weak link in the wiring? And the heat of the day is causing a deterioration of the CPS signal?

Thoughts, ideas?
 
As the ambient temperature rises it causes the internal tire pressure to increase. This pressure increase causes the tire circumference to increase accordingly resulting in a lower RPM at a given speed. :liar:
 
68R/T said:
As the ambient temperature rises it causes the internal tire pressure to increase. This pressure increase causes the tire circumference to increase accordingly resulting in a lower RPM at a given speed. :liar:
Click to expand...

But once the tire has reached operating temperature the RPM should correct itself.
 
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