Finally got home. Traffic there this weekend is hell. Sorry had to cut out early but being on the bike i do not like to be out in the dark around fayetteville.
May HAMOM
- Thread starter ClemsonCruiser
- Start date
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Sorry I missed out too. 5th Birthday, hike to MT. Pisgah, etc. Looking forward to hearing the details of the axle rebuild.
GIT-R-DONE!!!!
Marathon Mechanics!!! You gotta love 'em! Got home at 1:30.
Good to finally meet Darin, Juan, John, and the ever elusive Zach. Learned some more about the trusty TLC and a lot more about DAPO's (dumb-ass previous owners).
Thanks for the great grub and cigars, Andy!
Marathon Mechanics!!! You gotta love 'em! Got home at 1:30.
Good to finally meet Darin, Juan, John, and the ever elusive Zach. Learned some more about the trusty TLC and a lot more about DAPO's (dumb-ass previous owners).
Thanks for the great grub and cigars, Andy!
This one will go down in history. We arived at 11am we left at 11pm. 12hrs of wrenching. By far the most intense session so far. What should have been a 3 or 4 hr job turned into a long day. Though the cold beer, cigars, and Andys cooking kept us going.
Lesson one. PO vehicles can be a real pain in the ass. You have no idea of what you have until you get it all apart. This vehicle really seemed like it was build well. But on the front axle looks are decieving. No C -clips, no marlin tac, only one out of the 3 of the 4 snap rings and the wrong hubs for the birfs just made us scratch our heads. And to top it off some studs were replaced with heli coils. Some were done well others were not. PO must at some point used a screwdriver to get the spindle nuts off. One axle seal had been completly mangled due to no c-clip to hold it back. But even a c-clip wouldn't have helped since the hub were to short for the longfields.
The other side was even worse the birf was missing the inner snap ring so the birf just separated from the axle when I pilled it out. With the axle just floating back and forth inbetween the dif and birf. There was no way the inner axle seal could do it's job.
And one brake hub was all screwed up. Some hub studs had been replaced with bolts. SOme had been broken off and drilled and heli coiled (some not so good).
So we spent all day on damage control. We got it back togethr by putting all the good parts on one side and put the other side back together knowing it would have to come off to fix the issues.
So it's rolling. In no shape for wheeling. Andy was on borrowed time from the begining. Just goes to show you can really try to cover all of your bases but unless POs are going to tell your front axle has some issues that need to be addressed before putting it in 4wd yhen you will have no idea what you have until something breaks possible hurting you or leaving you in BFE.
I still had a great time. Andy does so much for our club. I'd do it again just for him.
Lesson one. PO vehicles can be a real pain in the ass. You have no idea of what you have until you get it all apart. This vehicle really seemed like it was build well. But on the front axle looks are decieving. No C -clips, no marlin tac, only one out of the 3 of the 4 snap rings and the wrong hubs for the birfs just made us scratch our heads. And to top it off some studs were replaced with heli coils. Some were done well others were not. PO must at some point used a screwdriver to get the spindle nuts off. One axle seal had been completly mangled due to no c-clip to hold it back. But even a c-clip wouldn't have helped since the hub were to short for the longfields.
The other side was even worse the birf was missing the inner snap ring so the birf just separated from the axle when I pilled it out. With the axle just floating back and forth inbetween the dif and birf. There was no way the inner axle seal could do it's job.
And one brake hub was all screwed up. Some hub studs had been replaced with bolts. SOme had been broken off and drilled and heli coiled (some not so good).
So we spent all day on damage control. We got it back togethr by putting all the good parts on one side and put the other side back together knowing it would have to come off to fix the issues.
So it's rolling. In no shape for wheeling. Andy was on borrowed time from the begining. Just goes to show you can really try to cover all of your bases but unless POs are going to tell your front axle has some issues that need to be addressed before putting it in 4wd yhen you will have no idea what you have until something breaks possible hurting you or leaving you in BFE.
I still had a great time. Andy does so much for our club. I'd do it again just for him.
Wow - good thorough synopsis Marshall. This was quite the "day" project. I can now see where the high cost comes from to get this done at the dealer or service shop - it's all labor and LOTS of it.
As Alex said, it was definitely MARATHON MECHANICS. It certainly would have helped if my "garage" acumen was better and these guys saw first hand that it may be stretching it to even give me a 1
rating. 
Pictures downloading now. Not a lot of them since we were busy and not very interesting as they all show various shots of guys wrenching on the axles. But it's documented and that's a good thing.
I can't put into words how indebted I am to everyone that showed up and helped out. For people to take their time and money and tear away from their families on a holiday weekend is an incredible testament to the giving nature of the folks in the cruiser community. We had people travel from Raleigh, NC; Fayetteville, NC; Columbia, SC; Clemson, SC; Charlotte, NC; Mauldin, SC; and Powdersville, SC.
So to John, Darin, Zach, Alex, Marshall, Juan and JP, thank you very, very much for all of the hard work and commitment to getting the job done.
As far at the front axle conundrum, it certainly continued to present challenges as the day went on. For a 30 year old truck with probably 6-10 PO's and everybody putting their special "touch" on it, I guess some PO's and some areas get "touched" more thoroughly and correctly than others. The front axle definitely fell into "the others" category.
As much as I have wheeled her, I have yet to tap into the full capability of this rig with the way it is built. I am glad to know that we identified and corrected a hidden disaster waiting to happen (with a few remaining action items on my part). Just good to know that if / when she passes on to her next owner, she'll be in better shape than when I got her due to yesterday's efforts.
Thanks again gents and pictures to follow!!
As Alex said, it was definitely MARATHON MECHANICS. It certainly would have helped if my "garage" acumen was better and these guys saw first hand that it may be stretching it to even give me a 1
rating. Pictures downloading now. Not a lot of them since we were busy and not very interesting as they all show various shots of guys wrenching on the axles. But it's documented and that's a good thing.
I can't put into words how indebted I am to everyone that showed up and helped out. For people to take their time and money and tear away from their families on a holiday weekend is an incredible testament to the giving nature of the folks in the cruiser community. We had people travel from Raleigh, NC; Fayetteville, NC; Columbia, SC; Clemson, SC; Charlotte, NC; Mauldin, SC; and Powdersville, SC.
So to John, Darin, Zach, Alex, Marshall, Juan and JP, thank you very, very much for all of the hard work and commitment to getting the job done.
As far at the front axle conundrum, it certainly continued to present challenges as the day went on. For a 30 year old truck with probably 6-10 PO's and everybody putting their special "touch" on it, I guess some PO's and some areas get "touched" more thoroughly and correctly than others. The front axle definitely fell into "the others" category.
As much as I have wheeled her, I have yet to tap into the full capability of this rig with the way it is built. I am glad to know that we identified and corrected a hidden disaster waiting to happen (with a few remaining action items on my part). Just good to know that if / when she passes on to her next owner, she'll be in better shape than when I got her due to yesterday's efforts.
Thanks again gents and pictures to follow!!
1. Starting the epic 12 hour job
2. Teamwork at its best
3. Ripping everything off
2. Teamwork at its best
3. Ripping everything off
1. El Presidente
2. Thank goodness for members with real tools
3. Keepin' at it
2. Thank goodness for members with real tools
3. Keepin' at it
1. More real tools helping speed the job
2. The mess builds - clean up is going to take a while
3. Day turns to night...
2. The mess builds - clean up is going to take a while
3. Day turns to night...
1. Delirious El Presidente (I think we all reached this state at some point)
2. Testing Juan's new top - it's a perfect fit!!!
3. Nearing the end in the skeeters, relenting heat and mess. The witching hour nears!!
2. Testing Juan's new top - it's a perfect fit!!!
3. Nearing the end in the skeeters, relenting heat and mess. The witching hour nears!!
It was nice meeting you guys...look forward to see you again. Andy I think I left my hat there...Is tan with a star and the letter B on the front. I was so tired that I did not even look for it when I left....Hold on to it if you find it....Thanks for your hospitality and look forward to hang out and learn more from you guys.
well, it looks like I really missout on a good learning op....fotunately I am off on weekends next month, so if you guys plan on doing this again, please let me know. I would love to help in any way.
Andy,
Let me know if you need somestuff to get her right that i should have just laying around. I just spent all day today detailing the bike, it was a mess before i went there and was alot worse after i got back.
It was good meeting all of you all and if you ever need my help / lack of expertise let me know. Hopefully i can meet more of the SC delegation next time.
Let me know if you need somestuff to get her right that i should have just laying around. I just spent all day today detailing the bike, it was a mess before i went there and was alot worse after i got back.
It was good meeting all of you all and if you ever need my help / lack of expertise let me know. Hopefully i can meet more of the SC delegation next time.
Thanks
It was good to meet you guys. It is great that you are all so willing to help others out. I learned alot even though I couldn't stay the whole time. I was so inspired that I stripped my 40 down to the frame today. Time for some sandblastin... I will try to make it up for more of your events in the near future. John
It was good to meet you guys. It is great that you are all so willing to help others out. I learned alot even though I couldn't stay the whole time. I was so inspired that I stripped my 40 down to the frame today. Time for some sandblastin... I will try to make it up for more of your events in the near future. John
wow can't wait to see what i find when i strip my front axle down :shocked:
wish i could have been there! great pics!
wish i could have been there! great pics!
ClemsonCruiser
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FJ40-40 said:
John, glad you made the drive up it was good to meet another Palmetto state cruiserhead! And I am glad to hear to hear you got fired up and went to town on your 40, now just remember to join the club and that way you can get the HAMOM.
JP
Juan - Glad you made the trip from Raleigh. Sorry to hear it got you excited enough to go out and get your resto'd 40 stuck over the weekend. Did you get it clean??worldcruiser said:
I found your hat. I actually ended up having quite a few people over after you guys left and we ended up getting pretty rowdy into the wee hours of the morning. How I pushed on through my fatigue and sleepiness, I'll never know...actually, I do know
but I paid for it on Sunday. Some people who were here actually gave me crap for having a Boston hat lying around being born in New York...Send me a PM with your address and I'll mail it to you.
Also, let me know and I'll send you the info to join Upstate Cruisers!!
krzyabncanuck said:
Darin,
I'll take you up on it. If it's sincerely lying around in boxes like you said, I'll at least take the rear passenger side turn signal metal border. If you remember, mine snapped right where it screws in at the end.
If you have c-clips and snap rings laying around, that would be cool, too. If not, I can get it all ordered and shipped to me. I can paypal you shipping and $$ for the parts, just let me know.
Maybe you can make the Tellico annual meeting in August. Should be a great time!!!
Andy we got the truck cleaned up but it seems like we can not totally get rid of the friggin mud.....That is the only part I did not like about my grocery trip adventure....Oh man that was an experience....