TWT -- The Wrenching Thread (36 Viewers)

[stevezero]

Ive got a stand that is permanently at the bottom of the base. It failed, scared the crap out of me, and almost took off a finger. I used it only on my wife's car after that, or somewhere it doesnt have to lift.

Well, a properly set up welder and cutting system is useful for so many projects on your list. Fixing this jack stand for starters. HECK, you can even build your own custom stands that could hold a gagillion lbs, for a fraction of the cost of a harbor freight set. You could be welding in pieces to level out the wobbly file cabinets you picked up from me in March, then weld them together for structure and safety. Have you seen all the tipping furniture recalls lately? The life you save could be your own. You could try using it for your plumbing projects (although that might lead to a whole new set of tools). You could build that decorative railing youve always wanted. Heck, expand that theme to protect the windows too. Its practically paying for itself now..... Then, onto all of the vehicle projects you could do at home. You can get raw sheet metal, and do all your own body work. All those stuck nuts and bolts? Weld a new nut on and break em loose. I've got my souvenir from when @Rice had to weld a nut on to my alternator belt pulley.

With a welder, and a new roll of aluminum foil backed duct tape, you would be an unstoppable force that even Chuck Norris would approve of.

 

[Rice]

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! Yeah, some dumbass hammered in the retainer tab while the upper arm was all the way down, trapping the tab in between the upper and 'stupidly close to upper' stops. D'oh! Not enough room to get a screwdriver or prybar in there to lift the tab. He banged it in good. And, of course, it's too far of a reach to go in from the top. I tried to put a washer and nut inside and use a bolt to lift it up but the only bolts skinny enough to fit twisted right off. That's some damn strong Chinese metal. I thought about drilling and tapping a hole in the tab to use a screw to lift it but the welding a bolt to pry it up is a better idea that 'preserves the integrity of the product as designed'. HA!!! I was mostly interested in seeing if anybody could even identify the problem. I'll deal with it here one day.

Hmmm. Challenge: Can @Rice or @stevezero turn this into an enabled moment to justify a welder? I mean, that thing's like $15 if I had to replace it!

Sorry .... don't think my SEP (Super Enabling Powers) can be stretched quite so thin. On the other hand, That does look like a job that a slide hammer with the right attachment could yank out in short order.

 

[JohnVee]

@stevezero I want to like that post sooooooooo many times. How do you know so much about me??? I thought only @pawwright had that weird and creepy talent.

@Rice Hmmm, slide hammer. Are we thinking of that same thing? Not sure how this would work.

 

[Rice]

@stevezero

@Rice Hmmm, slide hammer. Are we thinking of that same thing? Not sure how this would work.

View attachment 1582065

 

[JohnVee]

Truthfully, I mostly LX this year.

 

[ROBsSON]

Hey guys any ideas on getting this little guy out I asked arb and he told me how to get the PDF and it's in there tried and I can't manage to get this little sucker.

@Trollhole this is the pin you were talking about needing to be removed to remove the actual cross pin right?

Edit: from my understanding after describing it to the ARB tech my pin is in backwards lol soooooooo drill? Try something tomorrow, maybe superglue and a Allen key

 

[RedHeadedStepChild]

Not really wrenching, but my in-laws has 4" of snow on their muddy salt filled road. Had to power wash all 80 lbs of the corrosive sludge off Sarah's 4Runner. Thankfully today was 37*F so water could flow.
#reasonsimissthesouth

 

[pawwright]

fify...

Not really wrenching, but my in-laws has 4" of snow on their muddy salt filled road. Had to power wash all 80 lbs of the corrosive sludge off Sarah's 4Runner. Thankfully today was 37*F so water could flow.
#reasonsimissthesouth

 

[JohnVee]

I was gonna spend the day in the bathroom today. Instead, I helped @Ghostrider I wire in some horns and swap out a hood strut (only one because the locator pin bracket on the PS was waaaaay off in size). Maybe he can post which Amazon Specials they were for future avoidance.

I finally tapped into the wiring loom stash that @fourtrax gave me a few years ago. I haven't used it on my own POS stuff, but it did make for an attractive install. Finished up in the dark so no pics.

Oh, the bathroom thing... ...finally in full on remodel mode. I guess I'll get to that after dinner.

 

[forrest5000]

Finally ran Constant power for the Eviro cooler. Next to the arb power .

 

[JohnVee]

Ghetto DIY: Amazon LED closet light. Rechargeable with a Motion Sense/On/Off switch. A little velcro and a small power pack on the side. We'll see how long this will last on a charge. The yellow color is painters tape to tone down the harsh brightness. I seem to love crap that isn't permanent and has a dubious lifespan. Commitment issues, maybe? Anyway, it lights up the tailgate nicely but I set off my driveway floodlights every time I moved far enough away to get a nighttime pic. Too lazy to turn it off and try again.

 

[ROBsSON]

No time like the present! 1am and pillow block, center block whatever is right is in! Gonna get the old gasket off again and put it all together this time everything was tested before the plate went back on....

@Roxx hey don't know if I said thank you enough yet bet thanks! Haha

 

[GLTHFJ60]

This was going to be a chat post, but ended up being a wrenching post, lol.

Last night @fourtrax , Garret and I trucked out to Wilmington in Mayhem to pick up my parts F550. Same thing happened when we took the cab off, where the deck boards of the trailer broke when loading

Figured that out, got the truck loaded, then hit the road. Strap check was a go, and we kept on the way back to Durham:

It turned out to be a good thing that this was a running driving truck we picked up, because Mayhem's alternator died at some point and the batteries were completely discharged about 90 miles east of Durham. I'm not sure exactly when the alternator died because the battery light has been on intermittently since June and I've dismissed it as worn out batteries (strike #1 for me) All the lights dimmed, christmas tree in the dash lit up, radio and brake controller flickering on and off, etc. Pulled over on the side of the highway and left Mayhem idle while we took the batteries out of the parts truck. Mayhem shut herself off after about 5 minutes.

Got the batteries swapped and we were good to go, albeit without a charging alternator. Turned around and went back to a Pilot station where we planned to buy some tools to change the alternator, because Mayhem does not yet have a proper toolkit (strike #2 for me). Bought a toolkit and went to loosen the first bolt on the parts truck, but the socket adapter exploded. Walked back into the store where the told us "yeah, we don't do returns". Bought a set of wrenches instead and swapped the alternator out. It was tough putting the spare alternator on without being able to release belt tension, but we got it done. Mid replacement:

Needless to say, last night was an adventure. We got back to my house at about 12:20pm, about two hours behind schedule, then @fourtrax and garret drove back to their house in Fuquay. Couldn't have made this trip without you two, I can't thank you enough

 

[fj40z]

New belts with some good helpers

 

[jfz80]

Borrowed the neighbors lil helpers and got the hard top cleaned and installed tonight.

 

[ROBsSON]

Love the 45 man those are just awesome looking trucks.

 

[Rice]

Love the 45 man those are just awesome looking trucks.

And With JUST the right amount of cam.

 

[ROBsSON]

@Rice that thing is cammed??

 

[Rice]

@Rice that thing is

Just enough to let you know it's there. @jfz80 will recall the specs better than I can .... he's somewhere around a 0.480"lift and 224 degrees @ 0.050" duration. (Advertised duration ~ 280 degrees). All around, a nice motor.

 

[ROBsSON]

That's awesome, I look forward to hopefully seeing that thing someday!

I'll have to learn more about cams to fully understand what all that stuff means though haha