I have nothing to add except that I didn't know you were running a super duty front axle. Cool.
Carry on.
Carry on.
CK5
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2000 GMT400 CREW CAB SFA SWAP-The Warden: Fuel leak fixed and awaiting surgery…
- Thread starter GWeakland620
- Start date
The ultimate goal for this truck is tow duty/family camping trips/small offroad adventures.
I kill these rear eye bushings about once a year. I think it's pretty normal for heavy rigs that see flex, regardless of their front driveshaft status.
David
David
I didn't really think of the fact that this is a heavy truck. It's getting pulled apart this weekend.
Like @AgDieseler said, I've decided those bushings need replaced about once a year in mine. Maybe 2 years if I don't do a lot of wheeling.
Well mine are about 2 years old, so that makes sense.
I'd believe that for your wheeling rig, given the way it's used. But for a street truck that rarely flexes out? Seems like they should last a long time if set up in proper geometry. Lots of old trucks run 20 or 30 years without getting new bushings. I'd look for the root cause before I give up and just throw bushings at it.
Did you check the other side yet? If it's just loose bushings, both sides should lean together. If they're not leaning the same direction, you may have a geometry problem.
Oh believe me Ethan, I am going to dig into this more than just bushings. I have to make sure there are no underlying issues.
Dumb. Just pop some bushings in there and buy a driveshaft.
Did you grease them ..........
Yep, pretty regularly. At least with every season change. This truck has been sitting a lot lately, just cause it hasn’t really been needed a bunch. So I have been greasing before driving it any real distance.
Hey @yellowK20 what block heaters do you use?
So , on Smokey and the Blue Burb I just have the normal freeze plug replacement style .
The white 6.5 has that style to , as well as battery heaters , and a oil pan , and trans pan heater . But it also has a small Schumacher battery charger permanently mounted under the hood . All of those are tied into a junction box and then to a heavy duty cord . It’s
Smokey Jr has a recirculating lower rad hose style .as well as oil pan and trans case heaters (5-speed)
Honestly the plain old freeze plug style is enough for my uses I have a timer on the outlet that turns the block heater on @ 01:00 and turns off @06:00 to keep from running my electric bill up .
I used to use a timer for mine. Plugging a block heater in all the time REALLY kills the power bill. A buddy gave it to me. Make sure if you do put one on a timer Greg that you get one that can handle the amperage load of a block heater. I have used Zero Start, Hot Start, and Kat's and all seem to be similar in quality. Not sure about price or long term durability.
I concur about using a timer. I remember it made a huge difference on the power bill when we had the diesel with a block heater.
Yeah i'm going to look at some timers today. And my newest block heater is a Zerostart. We'll see how this one goes. Last one literally worked once. Not sure what happened there.
Came home from work and the Scangauge said the truck was 19°. Tried to start the truck and it would barely crank over. Plugged the block heater in and went and ate dinner. Came out and hour later and the Scangauge now said 59°. 3 cranks and the truck fired right up. So sounds like a timer is in order and this thing is ready to be driven this winter. Something that hasn’t happened in a while.
For what it's worth, I used a single 500W block heater with the truck parked outside. The timer was set to come on one hour before I left each morning. For a while I plugged a light bulb in parallel with the heater so I could verify the timer was functioning. Eventually I figured out I could place my Kill-A-Watt next to the window and that gave verification that the actual heater was working.
I'd use the heater when the temperatures fell below 20 degrees, and our winters get to about -20*F at worst.
Note that a healthy engine with working plugs and a good battery/starter system should still start at single-digit temperatures. Every time I drove to work, I had to cold-start the truck 9 hours later without using the heater. Consider your return trip when using a heater to get yourself to work. The block heater is just to save your starter from abuse, it's not a proper cure for the wintertime blues.
I don't have trouble starting my 73 in the winter. Monday morning was low single digits and it sat all weekend. Pumped the pedal twice it started after about 5 seconds of cranking. Let it idle for a couple minutes until it smooths out and away I go. Same thing this morning.
