The K0611120 stretched again and I leave Sunday morning for my 500 mile one way trip to Deals Gap. It was groaning and the tensioner was flopping around at idle with the AC on. So I removed the grooved pulley just above and inboard from the AC compressor.
I tied the tensioner down with a strap...
Since Steve is tied up at the body shop until after my trip to Deals Gap I needed to put sealing tape on the topper. Good old Amazon $35 for a nice roll of EPDM camper tape. I spent 2 hours with a drill and wire wheel and got the old adhesive and oxidation off of the topper rails and wiped them...
Took the truck out for a test drive yesterday and the handling is so much better. The ride is firm but not harsh and it feels much more stable in tight curves. I heartily recommend the Bilsteins for anyone considering a set of shocks. After the test drive we took the topper off to install...
I fooled around with my butterfly impact and a ratchet wrench and vise-grips for about 15 minutes trying to get the nuts off of the front shocks, then I grabbed my cut off wheel and cut both of them off. The bottom bolts came right out after soaking with PB Blaster.
Had to improvise, adapt and overcome to mount the RH rear shock this morning. It was about 1/4 inch from lining up and I wasn't strong enough to line it up with a punch and push the bolt through. So I got a piece of pipe and a piece of wood and lowered the truck until it lined up and bolt went...
Limited time today but I did manage to get the LH rear shock removed and replaced. It took extensions and a wiggle socket with my butterfly impact to get the top bolts and nuts after a generous application of PB Blaster as the shocks have been on there 20 years. One down and three to go.
It is...
I got an estimate for the paint job on the truck and topper from a local independent body shop. He said 5K. He is quite busy so it may not happen until after my trip to Deals Gap 05-12 May. He is supposed to email me the written estimate by this weekend. The rest of the shops in town do...
I spent about two hours of my life that I will never get back talking and texting with Dirty Dingo today. I explained the issues to the tech guy and he said the shorter belt K061115 will fit if the K061120 won't. ( it doesn't) He also said tensioner pulleys are a non-replaceable item that I...
A valiant effort was made but the 100 MM Dayco pulley even with a swapped bearing had slop in it brand new out of the box. Damn shame too as it gave me the 2 inch dimension specified in the Dirty Dingo instructions. So we put the 90 MM Chevrolet pulley back on. I will be contacting Dirty Dingo...