A mountain out of a mole hill

A few months ago we decided to park my truck and drop insurance to save some money. Well things are looking better so I decided to start driving the truck again. I called the insurance agent Friday on the way home to add insurance back to it. I picked up a wheel cylinder because I knew when I parked it that one of them was leaking. Yesterday after the funwas drieral I just didn't feel like working on it, so this moring I hit it. I figured about an hour to change the cylinder and bleed it. Well I got it jacked up and on jack stands and the drum came off easily. And then I about crapped my pants because there were no pads left on the back shoe. I don't even remember the brakes grinding when I was driving it. So I shot off to Autozone to get the brakes. The gal at the store asked if I wanted the hardware kit, and I thought she's a good sales person -- trying to add on to the sale. I told her no and took off back home. Oh did I say it is 18 miles from my house to Autozone? I got home with the shoes and it was then that I noticed the adjuster cable had broken in two and the springs were in bad shape. So I hopped back in the Volvo and rand back to the Zone to get the adjuster cable and spring kit. Got back home and noticed what looked like grease on the backing plate. Well the only place grease can come from is the axel shaft seal. I decided to button it up and attack it again when it dries out some. My military rain suit is great but I got tired of fighting the rain. I guess maybe I should have checked this truck out better when I first bought it. Of course I don't know how the guy who had it before me took care of it. I guess it's actually not in too bad a shape for a 22 year old truck.

Here's a good source for truck parts if anyone is interested.
http://www.lmctruck.com/

Sounds like my luck on parts hunting.

Well I got all the parts and I had intended to work on the truck today. But since it's been raining for 40 days and 40 nights (not really but it seems like it) I decided to work inside instead. I racked my apple wine into another gallon fermenter so it could clear out. I also racked my 5 gallons of wheat beer into a secondary fermenter. Good news is it smelled like beer not vinegar, so I guess when my grandson pulled out the air lock it didn't do any harm. I guess maybe I'll hit my truck on Sunday. It's supposed to be dry then. Oh how I wish we'd bought a house with a garage!

Sorry to hear your truck repairs had turned into such an escapade... Hopefully when you go to work on it on Sunday, you will have everything you need then and can get to working on it and get it done. Glad to hear your wine is doing fine. Also glad to hear that your grandson didn't do any harm to the wine LOL..

Well I tore into the rear end of the truck yesterday. I wound up stripping off the head of the bolt I had to take out to remove the axel shaft. After much cursing I decided to just do the brakes and drive it through the winter and get something else next spring. Now that Vickie has money coming in maybe we'll be able to pay cash for a good work vehicle that gets better gas milage. I figure if I need to haule something I can get a hitch for the Volvo and get a trailer. That way if I find a good deal on Ebay for a scooter I've got a way to go get it!

It always seem to go that way don't it Ridge, start fixing something and you know you are tapped for money then you brake something it sucks for sure and have been there and done that a few times myself, im a good one for breaking wrenches and sockets.

North Star wrote:

It always seem to go that way don't it Ridge, start fixing something and you know you are tapped for money then you brake something it sucks for sure and have been there and done that a few times myself, im a good one for breaking wrenches and sockets.

I like to break screw drivers....lol

saltfisher1 wrote:

North Star wrote:

It always seem to go that way don't it Ridge, start fixing something and you know you are tapped for money then you brake something it sucks for sure and have been there and done that a few times myself, im a good one for breaking wrenches and sockets.

I like to break screw drivers....lol

I like to drink screwdrivers!

Well I got the brakes changed out. Had to buy wheel cylinders and adjusters for both sides. I had to replace a piece of brake line on the drivers side. I got the passenger side back together, now the friggin drum doesn't want to go on on the driver's side. I'm half tempted to make a bonfire out of the darn thing.

lolol i almost thought that is what happened i hate when things just keep going wrong like that.

Lol ..Drink screwdrivers.....It would be alot easier if they called those drinks hammers.

LOL... Glad to hear you got your truck running, ridge. Sorry that you ran into more problems. Hope it will get you through the winter. I like to drink screwdrivers also!~!

Well after a good night's sleep and 2 cups of coffee I attacked the brakes again this morning. Yesterday I couldn't get the driver's side drum back on. This morning I figured out the emergency brake lever was not retracted fully and was pushing out the brake shoe a little bit. I disconnected the e brake cable on that side -- it doesn't work anyway. The drum slid right on. So I didn't burn the truck down and the brakes work. Here's a gem I picked up at the Autozone and it is well worth the $7.00 I spent on it. And believe it or not it works great!

You just open up the bleeder valve, put an adapter in it and attach the hose. Attatch the bottle to the frame with the supplied magnet above the wheel cylinder. Fill up the master cylinder and pump the brake pedal about 5 times. Check the bottle to make sure it's not full, and make sure there's no air in the hose. Tighten the bleeder screw and you're done.

Well I drove the truck the other day to work. On the way home, I had to keep holding my cell phone up to the dash to see how fast I was going. Today I changed out the dash lights. I checked them and they worked. Tonight I went to use the truck to go get Casey's pizza and when I turned on the headlights and it was still dark in front of the truck. So now I'm in a quandry -- do I still work on fixing it or just give up and replace the truck? Burning it still isn't our of the question either.

you may as well fix it you went this far already with it.

Well I found out the culprit of why the headlights didn't work. It was less than a $10.00 fix.

This is the dimmer switch. Yes once upon a time they used to be on the floor.

If you look closely at this picture of my switch you'll see a pencil eraser sized hole in the body of the switch. I've never seen a switch this badly corroded. Took about 5 minutes to switch out the switch. Not counting the 45 minute round trip to go to Autozone and get the part. I'm happy now -- well I will be when I get tires.

Yep that will do it