Builds Treebeard (1 Viewer)

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Thanks @gt7058a! I've done a bit of reading and I'm going to re-torque my shackles and u-bolts before trying anything else, it's quite possible that they're a little loose.

Other than the steering issue the truck made it back home without a hitch. I recorded 13mpg highway down and 11.5mpg back with the RTT up top... but I don't have a light foot. I totally trust this truck now and I can't wait to put this tent to use ASAP. I stopped in Olympia on the way home to say hi to the PO and they were really excited to see how the truck is coming along!

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This week I added 2 degree caster shims (thanks @cruiseroutfit) and the steering is definitely less twitchy. It’s still not great... I need to adjust my drag link ends and go from there. It does seem like the truck tracks straight on very flat streets but I have to hold the wheel to the left to go straight on wider roads (with a slope to the right?). Is pulling in the direction of the road slope still a caster angle problem?

Bonus photo of the truck and my wife’s newly-acquired GTI.

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You might check the thrust angle on the rear axle.
 
If someone hasn’t said it... if your using an iPhone, hold your phone horizontal and in my signature line a link for the fsms will appear. Others have it too.

Unfortunately, Trollhole had to take the links down....no more digital FSM's available that route.
 
This week I added 2 degree caster shims (thanks @cruiseroutfit) and the steering is definitely less twitchy. It’s still not great... I need to adjust my drag link ends and go from there. It does seem like the truck tracks straight on very flat streets but I have to hold the wheel to the left to go straight on wider roads (with a slope to the right?). Is pulling in the direction of the road slope still a caster angle problem?

Bonus photo of the truck and my wife’s newly-acquired GTI.

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So in thinking about drifting ( I hate when someone says it pulls to the.....) it’s gonna drift to the side with the most camber ( positive) or the least caster ( negative). Have you had an alignment since adding the shims? Did you get a printout of before and after?
 
Unfortunately, Trollhole had to take the links down....no more digital FSM's available that route.
What? Why? I’ve got a few books. Lmk if you DO need something.
 
Treebeard took us into the woods for the first time this past week on a two-nighter through the Olympic National Forest. Only a small stretch of our trip required 4x4 but the truck handled it easily! We found a great camping spot off of a forest road with amazing views of the stars.

Gladly there were no surprises! My steering still ain't great... I tightened the drag link ends a while back and that definitely helped but the steering follows the slope of the road very readily. I may try 4 degree caster shims but I'm thinking my box is going to need work before long.

My Odd Iron Offroad LED kit paid for itself while camping, highly recommend. I also came home to find the BH3D cupholder on my porch, a welcome upgrade. :)

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Treebeard took us into the woods for the first time this past week on a two-nighter through the Olympic National Forest. Only a small stretch of our trip required 4x4 but the truck handled it easily! We found a great camping spot off of a forest road with amazing views of the stars.

Gladly there were no surprises! My steering still ain't great... I tightened the drag link ends a while back and that definitely helped but the steering follows the slope of the road very readily. I may try 4 degree caster shims but I'm thinking my box is going to need work before long.

My Odd Iron Offroad LED kit paid for itself while camping, highly recommend. I also came home to find the BH3D cupholder on my porch, a welcome upgrade. :)

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Congrats, truly. Awesome your able to enjoy your 60 now. Perhaps we can meet up and I’ll show you around Crater Lake National Park with a 60s gathering at my property. I miss Olympic National Park, last time I was there I was almost 20 years ago.
 
Congrats, truly. Awesome your able to enjoy your 60 now. Perhaps we can meet up and I’ll show you around Crater Lake National Park with a 60s gathering at my property. I miss Olympic National Park, last time I was there I was almost 20 years ago.

I'm definitely enjoying it, even if it's just around town. Still... it clearly prefers being on a dirt road with a full load of gear in the back. I've never been to Crater Lake NP and would love to see how it looks with a band of 60s in it. ;)
 
Little updates!

Carb fan - This still doesn't work. I bench tested the fan and it works really well on its own. The sensor wire is grounded (the ground is good) and I've replaced the relay underneath the fuse box. Next up is to try replacing the relay/timer on the passenger side. I'm really hopeful that this will help with the hard starts I've been experiencing recently, especially warm.

Headlight washers - These also do not work yet but I wired the motor straight to the battery and got sprayed! I haven't looked at a wiring diagram yet but it's possible that this is another bad relay. It is a little suspicious though that I'm having electrical problems with both the carb fan and the headlight washer motor...

AC - I just had this charged up today and it sounds like everything is working except that the switch on the dash is intermittent. Honestly there have been so many things like that on the truck that get more reliable with use so I'll give that some time. I'm going to get some kind of tint on the truck soon to help with the greenhouse effect and I think that combination will help a whole lot.

Rear brakes - Pulling my E-brake at 15mph does absolutely nothing. The parking brake holds the car on a mostly-flat surface but I've gotten into the habit of leaving it in gear when I walk away. I had a shop pull open the rear brakes for me and they said one of my axle seals is leaking so... time for a full rear axle rebuild, new shoes, and new hardware. I haven't had a big project to work on in over a month so I'm not overly bothered by it. :)

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Carefully pop the cover (once removed from under the dash) off the fan control board and inspect the solder joints for cracks, especially the ones for the plug in terminals. Resolder if necessary. Pretty common problem.
 
The carb fan on the 60 i am working on doesn't work in th 60 but when i bench tested it did tested it with a 18 volt drill gun battery. Test the plug for power to confirm it has or doesn't have power.
 
No new progress to report on the truck itself but I have finally started tearing down and scrapping the old engine block. I found this in the oil pan when I dropped it...

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A few days later I pulled the pistons out and sure enough found that one of them wanted to produce more HP.

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It feels like a shame to scrap a 2f block, even if there is a crack in one of the cylinder walls. Anyone in the Seattle area want it? I can’t store it so it has to go somehow.
 
I scrapped the block yesterday. It felt like a dirty thing to do but it had to be done. Bought an iced coffee with the $4 they paid me.

Yesterday and today I did the rear end rebuild. I encountered two hiccups. First, the pins/springs/cups that came with my brake hardware kit did not fit. I pulled the old ones out of the trash and reused them because they’re fine. Second, one of my cylinders started leaking literally as I watched. I had just reinstalled the shoes and was getting ready to put the drums on. Fortunately O’Reilly had some in stock so now I have new cylinders on both sides as well.

Tomorrow I’ll torque the diff cover bolts, fill it with gear oil, get the truck off of stands, and go for a drive. I may have over-adjusted the star nuts in the brakes by pulling on the e-brake cable by hand. 😬 I’ll drive around the block and see how it does. It’s going to be extremely nice to have working rear brakes!

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I'll share a longer update about the brakes later but I want to shout-out to just a few of the amazing posts that I've benefitted from during this build.

1) Starting technique. This is the procedure I use to start my truck and it works almost every time.
2) Brake adjustment procedure. More details to come but following this process got me MUCH closer to having my rear brakes working well.
3) Headlight buzzer mod. I killed my battery multiple times by leaving the lights on before I did this super-easy mod. It's a lifesaver.
 

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