84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

[thrashingcows]

Next was the tranny mount biscuits, I used the Anchor 2667 and 2668 parts.

Forgot to take pics of this but just loosen the nut and bolt holding it tight, then jack up the tranny/TC to give enough clearance to slip the old ones out and slide the new ones in. Once everything it lined up lower the tranny/TC back down and tighten everything back up.

 

[thrashingcows]

Now the big job of the evening, carrier bearing and 3 u-joints.

Pulling the carrier bearing apart for removal...

Just used a thin 1/8" cutting wheel on my angle grinder and a couple cold chisels to get it off. Outer shell removed....bearing has seen better days!

The inner bearing shell I just cut about half way through then use a wide cold chisel in the cut and give it a whack and it cracks and is able to slide off.

All the ugly pieces...

__________________

 

[thrashingcows]

Since I don't have a press I had to come up with a way to install the new carrier bearing, did some digging through my piles of misc stuff and found a piece of pipe/collar for something I picked up in a parking lot, and some 2" black PVC/ABS pipe, then a piece of 2x4 and my 2.5lb brass hammer.

Action shot...Well not really but close enough.

__________________

 

[thrashingcows]

Then it was installing the U-joints, again forgot to take pics of the process but sure most have done them before so use your favorite method for removal and installation.

New Spicer U-joints...

This was the worst U-joint, it was at the diff...

Now Patches is driving nice and smooth again with no more leaking on my nice gravel driveway...

 

[thrashingcows]

And that is about it, will update as more work is done to the ol girl.

 

[Dr.Jass]

It seems like the water pumps are the only real failure-prone part on those Cummins engines. Here's a picture of my friend Ethan holding the vanes he fished out of one. Yes, every single vane on the pump rotted off. This wasn't the only time we ran into this at the diesel shop, however it was the only time the customer didn't notice the temperature gauge reaching for infinity and beyond and blew the head gasket.

I've probably posted this before, but it still makes me giggle... Ethan's a funny guy.

 

[71ChargerRT]

I just read through this thread again over the last few days. That truck has been through some serious updates over the years.

 

[thrashingcows]

Wow have not updated in a few months....

Back in July I had to replace the tail pipe...was leaking really bad and looked like Swiss cheese.

Then in and around August I went through two water pumps, both were used units that had been on the shelf for a bunch of years, in fact I had not installed a new water pump since I bought my crewcab over 10 years ago. First one lasted only a few days before it started leaking, then the next one lasted about a month or so before it started leaking, so I finally bought a NEW water pump and everything has been golden since then.

Here you can see the one I had taken off first. I did not know that it was leaking because it had to weep hole, so the only time it would leak was when it was running. The next used one had the weep hole.

And now with a brand spanking new water pump.

 

[thrashingcows]

Decided this year to switch my gear oil in the diffs to a 75W90 Synthetic with a temp flow rating of -50*C, since with the cold winters we get I could sure feel that old conventional gear oil thick as molasses for the first few miles. Was a little hesitant since the last time I put Synthetic in about 5 years ago I got really bad clutch chatter from the power-loc unit in the rear diff. Pretty sure the fluid already had some sort of limited slip additive, but I added an extra bottle of additive just to be safe....been nice and quiet since around the end of October.

But when I was jacking the front end of the truck up in the air to do the fluid swap and grease all the fittings in the front drive line, the wood block I had between the jack and the front diff exploded and it dropped a couple inches and slid out from under the axle and dented the oil pan a little bit.

 

[thrashingcows]

Then last week figured it was time for the yearly front hub tear down with new seals and re-grease the bearings etc.

Finally got to use the new hub nut socket I got for Christmas last year, has a lip that goes over the nut to hold it secure in place....works much better then the old open style one I was using.

Black grease from water infiltration....from just over a year.

While it was all apart I figured why not toss on a new set of brake pads but I could not get the piston on the drivers side to retract all the way into the caliper, I even removed it and tried in the vice, but would not go the last 1/4"...so guess the bore or piston have corroded so need new calipers.

 

[thrashingcows]

Patches has been developing a drive line vibration/growl, I replaced the U-joints and carrier bearing back in April, and they all seem tight and in good shape. I had hoped it was something in the front end, but after new seals and grease the vibration/growl is still there. After Christmas is over I will be getting into the rear axle...new E-brake cables and hub seals as well and hope to find a problem that could be causing the vibration/growl. If after the rear axle service I still have the vibration/growl I have a bad feeling that it might be a bearing starting to go in my NV4500 or maybe NP205?

 

[thrashingcows]

Back in the spring I went to put on new brake pads but one caliper piston wouldn't push all the way back in. Removed it and sprayed brake cleaner through and got out some junk out but even with a big C-clamp it would not go back in far enough to get it on the rotor with the new pads. I need the truck so just put it back together...fast forward 6 months and the squealers were starting to make some noise...guess I need to get some new calipers.


Order brand spanking new A/C Delco units and installed those the other day along with the wagner pads I tried installing in the spring. Man the truck stops so much better, you don't realize the slow deterioration over time. Also I hadn't realized one side was grabbing harder then the other....I just had adjusted my driving habits to compensate.

 

[thrashingcows]

Alright been a while since I have updated this...again!

So back in Oct/Nov 2021 I took Patches off the road and into the shop to get to a bunch of stuff done that I have been putting off for a few years now. Mainly the spring eye bushings were either toast, or the bolts had seized in the bushings and I had uneven suspension travel, or no travel at all.

First was the front springs...

I had decided I wanted to try a set of poly bushings in the front springs just to see if the ride would be noticeably harsher, or that they might last longer, but I had forgotten that I had put in a set of "smooth ride" after market springs and they had the large bushing in the front eye so the kit would only work on the rear eye of the front spring.

Well once I started pulling things apart I found that on the front eyes one side was seized, the other wallowed out. I removed the old bushings with fire and the outer casing on the bushings I used a sawzall to cut most of the way through them, then hammer and chisel to crack them loose and drive them out.

So I was in a spot with no bushings for the front eye and started looking on-line for a poly bushing. Well turns out there is no listed kit or single bushing set for the large diameter eye bushings in poly that I could find...OEM style rubber no problem!

I had a vague recollection of some large poly bushings I had bought/received/found decades past so started digging through my hoard....well I did find something and it would work with a little modification!

I had exactly two of these...what are the odds! But they were to wide to fit within the frame spring bracket so I had to take some material off the outer face...about 1/8"-3/8", but lucky me I have no belt sander so had to put on my backyard engineering hat and come up with a way to do this.

This is what I came up with...

Drywall sanding pad with some 120grit mesh then sliding the bushing back and forth...back and forth...back and forth...for what seemed hours until I got them down enough that they would slip into the bracket.

As found on the left, in the process in the middle and finished on the right...

Once they were done measured and trimmed the inner sleeve.

Then it was lube everything up and install...

New bolts with stover nuts installed as well...with lots of never seize this time round!

 

[thrashingcows]

Once the front eyes were done I figured it would be a quick re/re of the rear spring bushings with the poly and front is done...well that was not to be. Turned out one side the bushings in the frame bracket was toast as well, but since I had done the 2wd to 4wd conversion I was able to unbolt them from the frame to make replacement easier.

I decided to drop them off at a local spring shop to get them done quicker...well that turned out to be a fiasco as well. I get a call saying that one bracket was fine but the other once the bushing would just slip in loosely, I know darn well what happened but the owner wouldn't admit it and claimed it was my bracket that was faulty. But I know he let one of his shop apes who lacked any critical thinking skills press out the outer shell with a die that was to large for the bore of the bracket and stretched it out. So he said he would "shrink" the bracket and all should be good, this is what I recieved....

He heated it up and then beat it to misshape it so the bushing would deform going in. Not happy about it but it was the dead of winter and I wasn't going to lay under one of my parts trucks grinding and pounding out cold rivets to get a replacement....I'll do that in the summer if I have time and then replace the bushings myself.

So installed the frame brackets, new poly bushings for the rear eyes and put everything back together.

 

[thrashingcows]

Then it was on to the rear springs....

After what the spring shop did to my front bracket I decided I would just do the spring bushings myself with my little 20 Ton shop press. So I ordered up new OEM style rubber eye bushings and go to work trying to get those rear springs out. Turned out all the bolts turned with a little persuasion but one, thank fully it was the pass side front so there was not fuel tank in the way. I worked on that bolt for a week or two while waiting for the bushings, heat cycling, PB blaster, torque on the bolt and repeat...think my bushings had arrived and was getting ready to break out the sawzall to get this out and the friggin thing finally moved!

Once out it was the same as the front...heat and fire to get the old rubber bushings out, then sawzall the outer shell and then hammer and chisel the shell free...

I pulled the top spring off the spring pack to make the re/re of the bushings easier, then reassembled...

If you've ever worked on the rear springs you'll know that the engineers decided that it would be best to have the bolts for the front eyes run through from inside the frame rail, and on the LH side the fuel tank would then be in the way....thus making it a PITA to re/re the springs and/or bushings. So I decided I was not going to go through this again, I picked up more bolts and stover nuts and go to modifying a couple of them to solve this problem...

My solution was to grab some flat bar and make them fit around the nuts....

Then weld said flat bar to the nuts...

Then cut and shorten the bolts to the OEM length...

And install the bolts from the outside with the new nuts and flatbar wedging against the frame bracket so I don't have to try and get a friggin wrench into that tight bracket....worked like a charm! Now I can loosen and re-tighten the bolts every year or two to ensure they are not seizing up.

 

[thrashingcows]

Then it was re-install the rear brackets..

Axle blocks with new U-bolts and nuts...

 

[thrashingcows]

I also removed the shocks and cleaned them up...front were pretty crusty but cleaned them up, coat of primer and paint and re-installed.

Started on the rear shocks and one of them had rusted through....

So was looking at buying some new rear shocks when I thought I should go check the parts trucks...well turns out one of my Ramchargers had the exact same Rancho shocks on the rear, so out into the cold to remove them!

Then cleaned them up a bit and ready to go back on...

 

[thrashingcows]

More to come...

 

[restoman]

Good move on reversing those front bolts!

 

[69.5CUDA]

a little trick for those who have no belt sander and or need something more delicate..i have a belt but know i couldnt get the "even" sand needed

get some "floor saneder sheets" specificaly the ones homedepot sells for use on their big square floor rental unit, you can just slap them down on a clean surface and you now have a flat edge sanding surface thats about 12x20.....ive been using it mostly for RC stuff and by gods its a new fav tool

good call on those stovers and the bar stock, i modified a wrench specifical for the job 2 holes drilled for magnets and the end cut off..i like your solution MUCH better