Time-Lapse video of front axel job

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CruiseOrlando

CruiseOrlando

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**UPDATE** I finally encoded all the videos, and I've updated this post.


As promised, here are some time-lapse videos of my recent front axle job I did on my 94. This is one way I'm trying to give back for all the help that everyone has been on here - even if you don't know it - as I read a LOT before I tackled this job, and thanks to some good instruction I was able to figure it out and get it all taken care of.

Unfortunately I didn't realize my webcams were recording at low resolution until it was too late into day 1, so most of the dissaembly of the driver and passenger sides aren't that clear to see.

Here's the driver side:



And here's the passenger side:



After I figured out my mistake, I bumped the resolution up to the highest setting on both cams I had going. So here's the reminder of day 1 for the driver side. Note, around 3:00 in I start putting together the axle. Most of the rest of the time was recording while I was off cleaning parts.



And the remainder of day 1 for the passenger side - note this wasn't really eventful as I was concentrating on getting the driver side done.



For day 2, just about everything was on the passenger side. You can see a pretty good capture from the assembly here:



And, if you're really interested, you can see that same capture from the other webcam. Note it's not that good... lots of shots of my back and sagging jeans ... perhaps the more interesting thing for some is that you can see my other laptop capturing from the other angle :)



So there you have it. I redid these videos so that 1 second = 1 minute. My webcams were taking pictures every minute, so sometimes they got action shots, other times it's like magic :)

As always, happy to answer any questions / comments you might have. If you're interested in how to do this for yourself, I would probably suggest that we start a thread over in chit-chat, but I can do that if there's interest.

Enjoy!
 
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Nice ending! Great touch there. I loved how at some points the capture took when you weren't in the frame and for lengths of time it is reassembling itself. :D

Enjoyed it, looking forward to checking out the rest. :clap:
 
TeeDiggs said:
Nice ending! Great touch there.
Click to expand...

I thought that was one of the steps in the FAQ? :D

TeeDiggs said:
I loved how at some points the capture took when you weren't in the frame and for lengths of time it is reassembling itself.
Click to expand...

If only it was that easy! If I slow it down some more, there might be better 'resolution' of what I was doing. I was hoping it captured more of the birf reassembly, as that was something that cost me a lot of time the first time, and I'm hoping I can save someone else the headaches. I haven't actually looked at all the pictures yet... pretty worn out as it is. Maybe tomorrow ;)
 
So did you do a standard speed set of vids? I've still got this job hanging over me on my '97 LX, and am not really looking forward to it....
 
I had my webcams take pictures every 1 minute (I did this all on Linux, so I'm not going to name programs unless folks really want to know as it won't mean much to most people!). I then took another application and told it to compile the video with 4 frames = 1 second. I can slow that down or speed it up. Speed it up too much and it's like watching your DVR on 4x fast forward.

As a matter of fact, this is a LOT like that. Your DVR (assuming you have one!) takes 'frames' and projects them very quickly showing you a point in time. I'm doing the same thing with this setup, only I'm making a movie out of it.

As to the job, it wasn't that bad. Very messy, however.
 
almost 9 hours huh? didnt notice the hours it takes to clean all the old grease out though. Cool video man.
 
azrider said:
almost 9 hours huh? didnt notice the hours it takes to clean all the old grease out though. Cool video man.
Click to expand...

Actually that was about 6 hours - 2:30p or so until about 8:30p. I stopped the capture while I ate dinner and ran out to the parts store for another brake bleeder.

Almost all of the cleaning happened on day 1. Once I get those up, you'll see the long pauses in activity... and I didn't move the camera around on day 1 either. It's kinda neat as you see the sun setting across the floor.

If I had to do it again and had all the parts ready to go, I could probably reassemble the whole side in a couple of hours.
 
TeeDiggs said:
loved how at some points the capture took when you weren't in the frame and for lengths of time it is reassembling itself. :D
Click to expand...

Well, All the magic is in the step #6 ;) If you drink enough of'em you might be able to reproduce this amazing effect !!

No, in all siriousness, drink responsibly... especially if you're planning on spending the weekend laying under a 3 tons hunk of steel !!

Thank you very much for that video man, kudos on prepping your floors for that inavidable mess this job brings :clap: Really useful footage !!

:cheers:
 
I actually looked for a few days for the "right" protection for the floor. I ended up getting a tarp on sale at Harbor Freight for $3, but I didn't want to work on that surface. So I picked up a sheet of cheap OSB for $7. That made the work surface, then I used cardboard on the wings to protect the floor. Needless to say I still made a complete mess of things, but the majority was contained ;)

As for step six, that's exactly what it was - celebration of a job DONE, not recreation while working!
 
Hey, I've ordered all my parts and they will be here soon. So when can I drive down to tackle this job with you? LOL Just wanna say thanks for posting this. I have a 94 also, planning on doing the axle service next week as well as a valve cover gasket. Great vid you made, thanks for giving back. Many of us here search these threads for info, guidance and inspiration/motivation to tackle these jobs ourselves. Me, I'm not very mechanically inclined but I am becoming :-) Especially when you get a quote from a shop to do a service like this and it's over $1,000.00. Besides, I plan on driving my 80 for a long time. Happy trails
 
Great work; and you did it alone.

This is a very useful resource. 1 sec=1 min would be nice to see too.
 
Happy happy, I got everything encoded and uploaded. Re-read the first post if you haven't already! Enjoy!
 
One more video... birf soup.... ! This was my passenger side.



This was even a couple of minutes after removing the shield...
 
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