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modestobulldog

Any shade-tree mechanics out there?

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I inherited my father-in-law's Toyota T100 SR5 extended cab four-wheel drive pick up with only 95,000 miles.

Today I am replacing one front axle and doing a front brake job. Because of the four-wheel drive axle, I'm going to have to repack the front bearings. I think it's been 30 years since I've had to repack wheel bearings. Most of the new vehicles have sealed wheel bearings.

In high school I took two semesters of auto shop, in college I bought a Craftsman tool set, and I've added to the tools over time. Over the last 10 years, I have got back into working on my own vehicles, primarily to save a lot of money, but I also enjoyed the challenge and to learn more about the vehicle.

Just curious, do any of you work on your own vehicles?

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13 minutes ago, modestobulldog said:

Just curious, do any of you work on your own vehicles?

Just old motorbikes. Got a couple old BMW's. Just ordered a bolt-kit for a 71 /5 my son and I are restoring.

lamb-with-human-face-150331-670.jpg?itok

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1 hour ago, modestobulldog said:

I inherited my father-in-law's Toyota T100 SR5 extended cab four-wheel drive pick up with only 95,000 miles.

Today I am replacing one front axle and doing a front brake job. Because of the four-wheel drive axle, I'm going to have to repack the front bearings. I think it's been 30 years since I've had to repack wheel bearings. Most of the new vehicles have sealed wheel bearings.

In high school I took two semesters of auto shop, in college I bought a Craftsman tool set, and I've added to the tools over time. Over the last 10 years, I have got back into working on my own vehicles, primarily to save a lot of money, but I also enjoyed the challenge and to learn more about the vehicle.

Just curious, do any of you work on your own vehicles?

1972 Triumph TR6(complete frame off)

1977 GMC K15 stepside 4X4(complete frame off)

1969 Dodge W200 Power Wagon 4X4

1997 GMC 2500 4X4 (driver)

Working on your own vehicles became fun when they didn't have to run monday morning.   

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3 minutes ago, Jackrabbit said:

1972 Triumph TR6(complete frame off)

1977 GMC K15 stepside 4X4(complete frame off)

1969 Dodge W200 Power Wagon 4X4

1997 GMC 2500 4X4 (driver)

Working on your own vehicles became fun when they didn't have to run monday morning.   

I'll take the Dodge 4 by 4, is that the crew cab version?

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I try to do as much as I can - but it is literally "shade-tree mechanicking" as I don't have a usable garage or driveway.  Youtube has so many video's out there to learn how to do dang-near anything. And buying the right tools and DIYing is generally cheaper than paying someone's labor.

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Brakes, including new rotors going good, and repacking wheel bearings are also going good.  Unfortunately, one CV axle bolt I can't break free, slightly rounded nut, cursing myself for not buying a 6 point socket set for the larger high torque application.  Also, should have sprayed permeating oil last night.  On the axle, I am stuck until tomorrow morning.  The new axle from NAPA was not new, even had mud in spline.  New replacement will be there in the morning.  Also ordered new nuts from Toyota, so I will finish tomorrow.  Such is life. 

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6 hours ago, Jackrabbit said:

Std cab, i use it as a snow plow.  Cant imagine the longer wheel base.   Its a beast the way it is

The 60"s Power Wagon 4x4 crew cab is on my bucket list.

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32 minutes ago, modestobulldog said:

The 60"s Power Wagon 4x4 crew cab is on my bucket list.

Those are pretty rare.  My brother had a 66 2x4 stepside with a poly.  I know of a 62 W100 shortbox stepside nearby that runs.

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24 minutes ago, Jackrabbit said:

Those are pretty rare.  My brother had a 66 2x4 stepside with a poly.  I know of a 62 W100 shortbox stepside nearby that runs.

My all-time favorite is a 67 GTO silver with Black Vinyl top.  My first car was a 67 LeMans same color with 326 ci V8 2BBL.  I am 60, finally got my 4x4.

This is my spare vehicle, so no worries on the timeframe.  One thing about it, it lays mechanics work out naked.  The was clean gease over nasty grease back in the hub.  The grease in the wheel bearings was pretty nasty, just a little clean grease applied over old grease.  My friend is coming over, he was a machinist, I am going to have him inspect the wheel bearings, any doubt and I will order new from Toyota.

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I love working on vehicles.  I take care of my own vehicles.  I have a new gmc 4x4 crew cab L5P Duramax with the Allison tranny and I can’t wait until I’m done with the free maintenance visits so I can upgrade the oem stuff they put into it.  I’m rebuilding an old 60’s Chevy truck.  I’m finished with the complete drivetrain, tranny,engine rebuild.  Actually, the tranny is a new 5 speed borg Warner but, the trick was getting to fit on the bell housing to the engine with the new center force II clutch housing with the right diameter clutch plate to match the same spline.  A Chevy S10 clutch plate was the trick.  Hamilton Intakes made the perfect spacer for the tranny to bell housing connection.  The tranny was longer so I had a driveline shop shorten the drive shaft and balance it.  The engine is a 327 cu in with all Edelbrock performer series components from camshaft, intake manifold, to carb.   I even made sure to upgrade to the best Clevite bearings made.  The electrical was upgraded to an hei msd street fire distributor.  I still need to finish rewiring for the rest of the vehicle for lights and breaks and such.  The wiring is all new painless wiring.  Needs a paint job and she will be ready to roll.  Then I will sell it.  Ha.

I even took off the entire rear end to clean out the sludge that built up over the years.  I removed the axles installed new seals and repainted the rear end body.  Added some Mobil 1 synthetic so I hope the future owner won’t have to deal with the sludge buildup.

I don’t do all this stuff because I have to it’s really more about enjoyment of learning how things work and making it better.  Even if it’s a simple oil change in upgrading the quality of oil.  I even got a kick of buying my first oil extractor a few weeks ago and had fun changing the oil on a German made vehicle I own.

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At my Wisconsin cabin, I have a 78 GMC 1500 4X4 Pickup.  My dad bought it in Whitefish area of Montana.  It would have rivaled for tops of the beater vehicle thread of a year ago.  It has a 400 ci 4 bbl from a 77 Chevy Van.  Lots of deferred maintenance, probably only washed three times in the last 10 years. 

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6 minutes ago, modestobulldog said:

At my Wisconsin cabin, I have a 78 GMC 1500 4X4 Pickup.  My dad bought it in Whitefish area of Montana.  It would have rivaled for tops of the beater vehicle thread of a year ago.  It has a 400 ci 4 bbl from a 77 Chevy Van.  Lots of deferred maintenance, probably only washed three times in the last 10 years. 

I bought the same 4x4 78 model gmc new.  Horrible fuel economy.  8 - 10 mpg maybe.  Then I moved to San Diego the next year and got caught up in the fuel shortages where I could only buy gas on the even days if my license plate ended with an even number.  Haha.  Those were some special days.

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Yeah. I do. I like the whole experience. Saving money is cool but the whole accomplishment bit makes it more rewarding. I did repairs on my old 3 serieses and an old Volvo 240 I had, plus countless old Chevy and Ford trucks growing up. 

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23 minutes ago, modestobulldog said:

At my Wisconsin cabin, I have a 78 GMC 1500 4X4 Pickup.  My dad bought it in Whitefish area of Montana.  It would have rivaled for tops of the beater vehicle thread of a year ago.  It has a 400 ci 4 bbl from a 77 Chevy Van.  Lots of deferred maintenance, probably only washed three times in the last 10 years. 

I love those things. 

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21 hours ago, modestobulldog said:

I inherited my father-in-law's Toyota T100 SR5 extended cab four-wheel drive pick up with only 95,000 miles.

Today I am replacing one front axle and doing a front brake job. Because of the four-wheel drive axle, I'm going to have to repack the front bearings. I think it's been 30 years since I've had to repack wheel bearings. Most of the new vehicles have sealed wheel bearings.

In high school I took two semesters of auto shop, in college I bought a Craftsman tool set, and I've added to the tools over time. Over the last 10 years, I have got back into working on my own vehicles, primarily to save a lot of money, but I also enjoyed the challenge and to learn more about the vehicle.

Just curious, do any of you work on your own vehicles?

I have a Ford F-150 and do simple things like brakes pads, oil changes, plugs, etc. But I need to get my A/C fixed and that's going to cost a lot. I live in San Diego and it's not hot along the coast, but if you drive inland ten miles it heats up fast. El Cajon can be a real broiler in the Summer and I go out there a lot for work. So I need a good A/C mechanic.

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@Jackrabbit all this talk about trucks....I want to hear about the Triumph. When I was 17 and looking to buy my first car, because my older brother wrecked the hand me down we were sharing, I really wanted but couldn't find a good reasonably priced TR6, so I bought a 1970 GT6+ for $2000.

Loved that car, it looked just like this one but with the wire wheels that were still an option at that time: 

Image result for 1970 triumph gt6+

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8 hours ago, renoskier said:

@Jackrabbit all this talk about trucks....I want to hear about the Triumph. When I was 17 and looking to buy my first car, because my older brother wrecked the hand me down we were sharing, I really wanted but couldn't find a good reasonably priced TR6, so I bought a 1970 GT6+ for $2000.

Loved that car, it looked just like this one but with the wire wheels that were still an option at that time: 

Image result for 1970 triumph gt6+

I can hear the James Bond theme in my head when I look at that picture. Sweet ride! BTW, my older brother wrecked the hand me down 1973 Mini I was supposed to get for graduation. It was similar to the one below except it was white with the Union Jack on the roof. 

See the source image

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7 minutes ago, renoskier said:

@Jackrabbit all this talk about trucks....I want to hear about the Triumph. When I was 17 and looking to buy my first car, because my older brother wrecked the hand me down we were sharing, I really wanted but couldn't find a good reasonably priced TR6, so I bought a 1970 GT6+ for $2000.

Loved that car, it looked just like this one but with the wire wheels that were still an option at that time: 

Image result for 1970 triumph gt6+

That’s really cool.  My brother had a TR6.  It was fun to drive.  When it stopped running I wanted to tear it down and rebuild it but, he wouldn’t let me touch it.  My future wife ran around in a TR7 and that was a blast to drive as well.

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