Pugly

[429CJ-3X2]

Let me know when we're going. I just need enough time to get my list ready. I don't know whether engineers are the stupidest smart people or the smartest dumb people. Either way, I've concluded I'm too smart and have too much sense to be an engineer. I suppose what they come up with works fine as a single part or assembly in the controlled conditions in their labs, but it would be nice if engineers and the design people would work together as a team so we can get to what we need to repair in the real world.

 

[gmanpaint]

Let me know when we're going. I just need enough time to get my list ready. I don't know whether engineers are the stupidest smart people or the smartest dumb people. Either way, I've concluded I'm too smart and have too much sense to be an engineer. I suppose what they come up with works fine as a single part or assembly in the controlled conditions in their labs, but it would be nice if engineers and the design people would work together as a team so we can get to what we need to repair in the real world.

Theses wimpy little bolt head bleeders have been around long enough for them to know they suck milk from a lotion bottle pump tube. If they used a stronger material, thicker wall shaft, and a larger bolt head, we wouldn't fight these things anymore.

As far as engineers in general go, they either under think or over think. If they under think, and they still have funds in the budget, they keep at it until it's useless as belly button lint & toe jam.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

Yeah, one of the front bleeders on my '01 Sport Trac is rounded off just like yours. Four per vehicle = a lot of bleeders, and a lot of them rounded off. Plenty of evidence there's a problem that needs fixed.

 

[96EXXLTinCO]

I vote we show up with a bunch of different type vehicle and have those smart sumb people show us how to bleed the brakes with those little **censored** pieces of **censored** useless **censored** bits of **censored**. And then when they round em off or break em off we can show em they're #1 on each hand tell em to **censored**.

 

[gmanpaint]

Haha! Yeah...

So today all I managed to get done was the newer knuckle rebuilt, the replacement spindle cleaned & greased. Managed to strip the knuckle on Pugly down. I have the Bj's soaking in PB blaster overnight, and will giver her hell with the BFH tomorrow, and get it off.

I am using this time to change out the c-clip eliminator spring out for the proper one from Echo. The one given to me to use for this application was wrong. Way too small. I have had the correct one for months, but never got to it. Finding a boot for it has been challenging tho. :scratch:

As usual, whenever I do something, I have to do 10 other things. lol I have a set of 1.5"-2" lift skyjacker coils on the way. I want to get rid of the F-150 coil seats, and get a better ride. The stock coils are old, and compressed with the bigger seats. These should give a much better ride.

Since I am getting the new coils, and they might lift it a little more (1/2" maybe) I decided against the castor/camber bushings I got, and ordered a set of the 2 pc adjustable type. 2 day wait on those.

Once all that is done, the new soft lines will go in, and a bleed will be last on the list. Well, until Pugly inherits her bigger brothers rear shocks shortly.

 

[gmanpaint]

So the work continues a little everyday after work. It's slowly getting there.
I am not trying to bore anybody to death here, but keeping track of the work I do, and how I do it, helps me recall info, and it might help someone searching.

Ok, with that said, here is the latest update on Pugly.

The new pass side knuckle turned out great. I cleaned it up, painted it, installed the BJ's (lower nut 90 ft lbs) upper then lower. Almost forgot to install the upper grease zerk before the axle went back in. lol

So as I said earlier, the C-clip eliminator mod spring needed replaced. I quicly discovered I was right and the old one used was way wrong, and the reason I had some side to side slack with the axle going in/out of the diff. Pics below show the old on left vs the new on right. Man that thing took forever to get over the spline ends. The outer seal got replaced, splines got cleaned, and new grease, then put back in the diff.

Now that is done, the rebuilt spindle could go back on. I cleaned and painted it as well. Some anti-seize to the back of it, and bolted it right up nicely (45-50 ft lbs). I could instantly feel the spring doing it's job, as I had to push on the spindle some to get the spindle nuts on. I have to run a little emery cloth over the bearing seat still, but I waited until it was back on to do so. When installing it back on, I never know what can happen, and I figured, might as well wait for this step.

So now for the Moog 2pc adjustable caster/camber bushings. I removed the Drivers side with the air chisel with flat blade. A little at a time as I went around the bushing lip, and it slowly raised up, and eventually out. Pass side had a stock 1.30* bushing, and the drivers side had been replaced with a 2.0* bushing about 6-7 yrs ago. Cleaned up the holes on the arms for the new ones, sprayed a bit of PB for slight lube, then tapped the new bushings in set at N-0, which is a neutral position, and the slots in the bushings point side to side (front to back) on the arm. If they are installed like this, the alignment shop has a base starting point to use with the pre-spec check. To turn them, a 35mm socket works best, if your doing these Moogs yourself. When you doing ball joints, these bushings HAVE to come out to get the knuckle off or the top BJ stud hangs up, and the knuckle won't come off.

UPS says new coils are arriving today (late afternoon/early eve usually when UPS shows up), so I can get them in. I have to tear down the parts rig for the stock coil seats still, as I can't find my originals anywhere. This delay will mean I need another day to wrap up this portion of the suspension work.

I want to show you what happened to the knuckle from the loose rotor hammering away at it, from the blown inner bearing. Pic below shows the old damaged knuckle with the inner brake pad keeper chewed away. Then the new knuckle for reference.

More pics and updates as they happen.

 

[gmanpaint]

Starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Skyjacker 2" lift coils arrived last night, and I got them installed. Pretty much a pain to do alone to get them to fit. They are about 2.5" longer then stock. I compressed them close to the stock coil lengths, then removed the shocks, sway bar, TRE ends, & calipers. Pushing down on the TTB ends as I was squeezing the coils in, was no small feat to accomplish. I learned the hard way the coil compressors have to fitted just in the right place to get the coil on, and to get them off. All that (to me) was still better then removing the RA's for more droop. (I so want a set of long arms after all this.)

So with the F-150 coil seats removed, the rig sits an additional inch higher then before, but that should settle over time. I'm happy as that is exactly what I was after.

Alignment is tomorrow. With the adjustable bushings set at Nuetral/zero, there is a bunch of positive camber in it. I haven't checked the Toe yet, but will in the morning, and hopefully it's not too bad. Just has to go a couple miles to the shop.

I was afraid to do the brake lines just yet as it has decent brakes now, and I can't miss the alignment. I will do that once it is back home.

 

[gmanpaint]

Set the toe as close as I could to 1/8" in, and took it to the alignment shop today.

They loved the 2 pc adjustable bushings, and the fact she is a clean old gal. They had no trouble getting it right the first time. Wheels even return to center effortlessly. Miracles do happen.


Added bonus....The Steering wheel is back to straight again. (Heep steering shaft mod)

Have to get the front brake lines swapped and system bled still, then the rear shocks get changed next. The lower intake gasket has to be done as well, but I need a little break from her right now. I have other things to wrench on! lol

 

[Turdle]

finally an alignment sheet with no red boxes!

woot!

 

[gmanpaint]

It's nice for now Jon, But I will have to take it back after the coils settle down.

Seems all these years of dealing with the leaking gearbox has finally taken it's toll on it. There is now a little play in the box. To replace or just deal? :scratch:

So I was about to replace the brake lines with the stock Napa lines I picked up, when I thought to myself..... This is stupid, I need longer brake lines to accommodate the 2" lift. When the longer front shocks go on, the travel will increase even more.

So... What stock Ford brake hoses, fit these caliper banjo's, bolt up to the hard lines, and are longer then stock?

 

[gmanpaint]

Scavenged some parts off the 94 Limited for Pugly today.

Door seals were in like new condition (shocker) so I got all of them off.

Rear leather bench seat is in perfect condition, so I get to swap out the cloth seat and have all leather now. Got the Drivers seat out, then got stuck on the pass seat.
Stripped the T-50 seatbelt bolt as it was so frozen, even the 700# impact wouldn't budge it. Broke out the big breaker bar, and, well... thats all she wrote. Was gonna cut the seatbelt arm off, but the seat wouldn't go forward far enough, to get to the back bolts. Said Ok, screw it, front seats stay, and so does the nice dark brown carpet.

Got both side mirrors, Headlight assemblies, tail lights and harness's. Purple Limited grill, and perfect condition running boards off. Front axles, drivers side knuckle, steering assembly, one good auto hub (lol), Drive shaft, rear carpet and rear saddle style floor mat. Tomorrow, front drive shaft and T-case.

Leaving engine & Trans alone as someone I know needs it. Hopefully they come get this thing in the next few days. I'm tired of looking at it, so I know my neighbors are too. lol

 

[gmanpaint]

So I have found that on this day, I can't bleed brakes alone. Pedal is still soft and goes all the way to the floor with only a slight bit of back pressure. Guess an appt is needed at a shop.

My fuse just isn't as long as it used to be I guess.

 

[Dono]

Lol. My success with self bleeding is mixed also. I've even used a vac pump for this.
I still think the best results are with someone pumping the brakes.

Either way, your getting your truck back in to great shape. Not to worry, its only money. . I just take my truck in when my mental cup fills up also. I think its the smart thing to do. Not worth laying awake at night frustrated.

 

[gmanpaint]

I tried my vac bleeder, and then a gravity bleed. Went thru a full big bottle if fluid. Left some red dna here and there. Said enough of this crap. lol

Win some, lose some. Ain't but a thing.

 

[gmanpaint]

So I felt something weird on the front end. I had to inspect it, and see what was up. I got the pass tire up, and spun it. it didn't spin easily at all, and acted like the brakes were ever so slightly applied. Hmm, ok, off with the wheel for a closer look.

Removed the manual hub, and seen what looked like graphite collecting on the spindle. Hmm... that can't be good. So off came the caliper, and rotor. Bearings were fine, rotor was fine, WTH is going on here? :scratch:

So I decided to clean all the grease off everything for a good look at the surfaces. Out came the pail and Lacquer thinner and cleaning brush. Once clean, everything looked fine. So I took some emery cloth to the spindle, to make sure it was smooth. Then I repacked the bearings, and installed the rotor. Spindle Nuts went back on fine, but then I seen the issue. I was pulling the parts out of the cleaner pail one at a time as I needed them, and it figures, it is the last parts that had the issue.

Apparently for some weird reason, the half round clip that goes on last, was so tight, it was digging into the side of the last toothed washer/keeper. I had to stop and think about this for a bit. I compared that half round clip to another I had, and sure enough it was thicker. It worked fine on the old spindle, but not the new one. I kind of remember having to tap it on. Weird stuff man. I used the other spacer, and had a spare toothed washer on hand. Thank goodness I'm a pack rat with parts.

Can't say I have ever seen this happen before, have you?

 

[gmanpaint]

I had replaced the rear shocks on the other rig recently, as one had leaked the gas out.

Still had one good shock just sitting around. I returned a part to Amazon, and they gave me an option to use my refund towards another purchase. So I got another shock. Pugly now has Rancho 9000xls on all 4 corners.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Apparently for some weird reason, the half round clip that goes on last, was so tight, it was digging into the side of the last toothed washer/keeper. I had to stop and think about this for a bit. I compared that half round clip to another I had, and sure enough it was thicker. It worked fine on the old spindle, but not the new one. I kind of remember having to tap it on. Weird stuff man. I used the other spacer, and had a spare toothed washer on hand. Thank goodness I'm a pack rat with parts.

Can't say I have ever seen this happen before, have you?

I have

It's not the C clip that is rubbing. You have the wrong spindle seal (or too many parts in the seal) and the splined washer is rubbing against the end of the spindle tube. Check to see if the spindle bearing seal has a little lip extending out form the surface of the spindle face. Get rid of it, especially if you have the graphite spacer on the axle shaft. This will allow the axle shaft to extend out a little further so the splined washer doesn't rub

 

[Albino 94LTD]

I had replaced the rear shocks on the other rig recently, as one had leaked the gas out.

Still had one good shock just sitting around. I returned a part to Amazon, and they gave me an option to use my refund towards another purchase. So I got another shock. Pugly now has Rancho 9000xls on all 4 corners.

Turn them around so the adjuster is facing forward. That way you won't knock the adjuster knobs off

 

[gmanpaint]

I have

It's not the C clip that is rubbing. You have the wrong spindle seal (or too many parts in the seal) and the splined washer is rubbing against the end of the spindle tube. Check to see if the spindle bearing seal has a little lip extending out form the surface of the spindle face. Get rid of it, especially if you have the graphite spacer on the axle shaft. This will allow the axle shaft to extend out a little further so the splined washer doesn't rub

The other c-clip was forcing it against it. Your right about the axle not coming out as far as it should. I thought about that when I was looking at it, but thought I was imagining things. I took the old spindle to it, just to check and see if it was different in lengths even. lol

The new seal I installed does indeed have a lip that protrudes out. Gonna have to wait another day for that job. The thinner C clip is working for now, but it is still in there firmly.

 

[gmanpaint]

I have

It's not the C clip that is rubbing. You have the wrong spindle seal (or too many parts in the seal) and the splined washer is rubbing against the end of the spindle tube. Check to see if the spindle bearing seal has a little lip extending out form the surface of the spindle face. Get rid of it, especially if you have the graphite spacer on the axle shaft. This will allow the axle shaft to extend out a little further so the splined washer doesn't rub

So I took the spindle off. The seal that goes on the end of the spindle is the same as the other 2 spindles I have. That seams fine, as it matches.

The seal on the end of the outer Pass axle looks to have a larger lip on the ext side. This might be what is pushing the spindle out too far? The new splined washer is already cut in half almost. I am afraid what would happen if it cuts all the way threw and it breaks off.

Can I run without that axle seal for a while? Will the spindle seal keep it clean enough to not worry for a few days? Nobody has the axle seal around me, and I have to order one.

Edit:
I ground off a bit on the end of the spindle in hopes it would give room for the splined washer. Took it for a spin, and instead of grinding, it was whistling loudly. the faster the wheel spin, the louder the whistle.
So I removed the splined washer, put the c clip back in, and am running without it. I can only think this washer and clip holds the spindle nut form coming all the way off in the event it comes loose. I normally torque the spindle nuts at 150 lbs, but cranked this one to 175 lbs. Hopefully it is alright until I can rebuild a spare spindle completely.