Replacing part of an axle tube.

[Schurkey]

While I'm a BIG proponent of buying stuff at the Treasure Yard, in this case I might go to a GM dealer for the yoke nut.

 

[454cid]

If you have the part number do a search on RockAuto by part number. They often have GM parts, but they're not always listed by vehicle application.

 

[DeCaff2007]

If you have the part number do a search on RockAuto by part number. They often have GM parts, but they're not always listed by vehicle application.

Yes, I've noticed that! I've done that several times and ya know what, it sometimes ends up being a better deal that what's listed by specific model.

So, no sooner did I call it quits yesterday (due to lack of parts), than everything I ordered showed up! Strange!

Now I have a brand new pinion nut, which threaded on quite nicely to the pinion gear. Also, the die for the pinion threads worked exceptionally well Although, I had to turn the die with channel locks because I didn't have a T-handle big enough to fit over the die.

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Setting pinion preload:

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Now to complete this and INSTALL this damn axle, I still need one wheel cylinder and the wheel seals for both sides.

 

[DeCaff2007]

Finally....

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All new brake hardware, but the shoes seemed ok so I kept the old ones. I really need to get new drums, but OMG expensive!

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Now to figure this mess out.

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[Schurkey]

I really need to get new drums, but OMG expensive!

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?????????

www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/brakebest-select-drum-rotor-hub/brakes/brake-drums---rotors/brake-drums/4b5c83cb9113/brakebest-select-brake-drum/bbr0/2572dgs/v/a/3001/automotive-truck-1990-chevrolet-c1500-pickup-rwd?pos=0

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/brakebest-select-drum-rotor-hub/brakes/brake-drums---rotors/brake-drums/4b5c83cb9113/brakebest-select-brake-drum/bbr0/2572dgs/v/a/3001/automotive-truck-1990-chevrolet-c1500-pickup-rwd?pos=0

Fifty-five dollars is not "OMG expensive". Two days ago I bought smaller drums for a Fookin' Ford Focus that were $80 each. Be glad you don't have a full-float axle.

I bet you can get generic white-box crap from Amazon for even less.

 

[sewlow]

Be glad you don't have a full-float axle.

I paid over $275.00 for brand new GM (As if that means anything, anymore.) FF drums.
Each!
That was probably more than 15 years ago, too.

 

[Schurkey]

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Am I hallucinating, or is there a lot of slack in that park-brake cable?

Does the park brake hold the vehicle?

 

[DeCaff2007]

?????????

www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/brakebest-select-drum-rotor-hub/brakes/brake-drums---rotors/brake-drums/4b5c83cb9113/brakebest-select-brake-drum/bbr0/2572dgs/v/a/3001/automotive-truck-1990-chevrolet-c1500-pickup-rwd?pos=0

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/brakebest-select-drum-rotor-hub/brakes/brake-drums---rotors/brake-drums/4b5c83cb9113/brakebest-select-brake-drum/bbr0/2572dgs/v/a/3001/automotive-truck-1990-chevrolet-c1500-pickup-rwd?pos=0

Fifty-five dollars is not "OMG expensive". Two days ago I bought smaller drums for a Fookin' Ford Focus that were $80 each. Be glad you don't have a full-float axle.

I bet you can get generic white-box crap from Amazon for even less.

Focus'es are complete garbage. My Dad used to have an 05 Focus wagon, ZTW of all damn things. Gutless 2.0L and I'm telling you right now, that was the ONLY Focus wagon on the planet with rear DISC brakes! Rock Auto wanted $150 each for just the rear caliper brackets. Bull!@#$%^

No O'reillys by me. Only Auto Zone and Advance Auto. There's a NAPA, but those guys don't know their a55 from a hole in the ground.

Also, never mind, I was looking up the wrong drum. I have the 2-1/4" shoes, not the 2-3/4". BIG price difference.

Anyway, this truck is PISSING ME OFF. My Dad came over today just after lunch to help bleed the brakes. Because, you know, 35 year old brake lines are in perfect shape..... We replaced the master cylinder, the two hard 3/16" lines going from the pumpkin to each wheel cylinder, the long, 1/4" line coming from the isolation/dump valve to the rear hydraulic hose, and said hose. Luckily, I'm quite proficient at flaring brake line fittings, and pretty decent at saving the old steel nuts that usually rust fast into their bores. Hell, I've even saved a few calipers with seized up bleeder valves, some of which were sheared off flush with the caliper body.


Back on track, I've read that some people get nothing at all in the rear. No air, no fluid. I have the exact opposite problem. Plenty of fluid, but can't manage to stop the air bubbles, either. Soft pedal no matter how much we bled them. Finally, my Dad ran his finger under the fitting on top of the pumpkin where those 3 lines meet. Wetness. WTF. I re-flared that fitting twice, just to make sure. Tightened it down good inside the aluminum block on the end of the hose. No dice. Gotta be a bad hose right out of the box.

Oh, and these came in today:

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[DeCaff2007]

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Am I hallucinating, or is there a lot of slack in that park-brake cable?

Does the park brake hold the vehicle?

You are not hallucinating. That slack is there because neither cable is connected to anything on the other end. I'm sure the slack will be taken up when I install the equalizer and then connect everything to the front cable. This is a work in progress, and a PITA at the same time.

 

[Schurkey]

Focus'es are complete garbage. My Dad used to have an 05 Focus wagon, ZTW of all damn things. Gutless 2.0L

How right you are.

I spent two days trying to get the right side ball joint to release, so I could change the CV axle. Rusted solid. Finally popped the stud out of the casting by using an air hammer and tapered bit on the top of the stud. The rest of the CV shaft swap was easy, except for getting the wheel off the hub/rotor. All four wheels were so rusted to the car that I needed an 8-pound sledge to knock 'em free. I was NOT happy about that. The aluminum wheels were covered in aluminum-powder that had corroded away from the main part of the wheel. Wheels have "CHINA" and the Ford Oval cast on the inside.

So, discovering that the rotors were trash, but the pads were only half worn-out, I cleaned the rust from the wheel mating surfaces, coated 'em with anti-seize, and put 'em back together using the shiity Ford lug-nuts that have a sheetmetal cover on them so they look like expensive lug nuts. Half the sheetmetal covers are gone.

I needed a slide-hammer, anger, and perspiration to get the drums off. No, the shoes had not worn into the drums. The wheel bearings had seized to the stub-axle. The wheel bearing on the right side was failing, apparently it was the cause of uneven tire wear. Car shook like it was having an 0rgasm at 70 mph. MUCH better now with a new tire and bearing. Not perfect, though, 'cause it still needs front rotors, and the other rear tire has mild uneven wear.

And we haven't even gotten to the part where someone--NOT ME--is going to have to remove the piece-of-crap plastic intake manifold to fix the four piece-of-crap plastic flapper-valves Ford recklessly crammed into the air passageways. I thought GM was on dope, casting non-moving iron ski-jumps into the ports on the TBI small-blocks, and Vortec 454s. I have a whole new attitude now that I've see how Fookhead Ford induces turbulence. I've watched some Youtube videos on the intake manifold flapper valves, and I'm gonna tell these folks that they can take THAT somewhere else. Plastic bushings, plastic flapper housings, plastic flappers, plastic actuator, and a dead-soft-steel shaft that the plastic bushings wear grooves into.

Ford couldn't make a decent oil pan drain plug in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. They couldn't make decent spark plugs in the '80s, '90s and '00s; why would anyone think they can build a decent economy car?

No O'reillys by me. Only Auto Zone and Advance Auto. There's a NAPA, but those guys don't know their a55 from a hole in the ground.

Varies by store, perhaps by store manager or store owner.

O'Reillys has a well-stocked loaner-tool program I really like, and lower prices than NAPA. I got hooked into NAPA because they had business hours that met my needs decades ago. Open early, open late, open Sunday. And NAPA used to have top-quality parts. But now every parts chain gets their crap from the same Chinese shipping containers.

Back on track, I've read that some people get nothing at all in the rear. No air, no fluid. I have the exact opposite problem. Plenty of fluid, but can't manage to stop the air bubbles, either. Soft pedal no matter how much we bled them. Finally, my Dad ran his finger under the fitting on top of the pumpkin where those 3 lines meet. Wetness. WTF. I re-flared that fitting twice, just to make sure. Tightened it down good inside the aluminum block on the end of the hose. No dice. Gotta be a bad hose right out of the box.

HOW are you bleeding the brakes? Vacuum? Pump-the-pedal?

I REFUSE to vacuum-bleed brakes, because the air never stops, especially on drum brakes.

I had to gravity-bleed the Focus, I don't have an adapter that would fit the molded-plastic remote fluid reservoir. But at least I got to eat a leisurely lunch and talk to my machinist buddy for the hour-and-a-half it took to change the fluid.