Yeah, but the contact surface is correspondingly gimundic (new word!) and they stop the big truck ... and, when maintained, the parking brake works.
-- A
CK5
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'74 K5 build: Smurf
- Thread starter dremu
- Start date
Yeah, but the contact surface is correspondingly gimundic (new word!) and they stop the big truck ... and, when maintained, the parking brake works.
-- A
All valid points.
A brief follow up to the Stage 8 X-Lock spindle nuts. Stage 8 says that their model for Dana 60 also fits on the 14 bolt axle, but apparently when they say "fits", they don't actually mean that it will properly mount. In fact, the damn things don't fit at all, in any of three sets of hubs I have. 
When I called them, their response was "Well, it fits some 14 bolt hubs but we don't know which ones". I don't know which ones either, but it isn't any of mine.
Thankfully Summit will take 'em back, though I'm out the postage, but it's still annoying.
-- A
When I called them, their response was "Well, it fits some 14 bolt hubs but we don't know which ones". I don't know which ones either, but it isn't any of mine.
Thankfully Summit will take 'em back, though I'm out the postage, but it's still annoying.-- A
TheBeast_88K5
Banned
Wow... I think someone was talking out of their a$$....
Sorry to hear, A...
Sorry to hear, A...
Some notes to myself: Drums are simple, he says. Put drums back on the truck and the parking brake will work, he says. It will be easy, he says.
Also, I'd forgotten about all the little fiddly bits inside the drums, the levers and springs and holders and you have to put things together in just the right order. I musta installed and removed the shoes a dozen times, to get this piece in before that piece but after this other. Never mind the hubs and drums, which had to go on and off repeatedly. The drums, btw, are like 50 pounds each, without the hubs.
And the self-adjusters that, contrary to their name, do not self-adjust. Ever. Even when cleaned and lubed and put together just right.
In the end I did get the axle swapped and the brakes are back to stock. The parking brake holds the truck in place even on an incline and even in gear with my foot off the gas. In a panic stop the brakes will lock up all six and slide the truck -- and she slides straight, no pulling to either side -- which in a crewcab is quite the experience.
Not exactly hoonage, but exciting in something that big 
And I'm in the new and unusual situation of having three vehicles, all of which move under their own power and can do so at highway speeds.
I'm at a loss, but the first, key, thing is ... stop fixing the trucks!
-- A
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TheBeast_88K5
Banned
Run away.....
Run away.....
You oughta talk -- you get the new truck home and the first thing you do is remove the engine?
-- A
Take the Blazer off road???
Martin
Martin
I would say yes.
Martin
Martin
TheBeast_88K5
Banned
I second that.
Aaron. You installed a roof... On a full vert...
Get yer ginger a$$ off road.
You owe it to the poor K5...
I second that.
Aaron. You installed a roof... On a full vert...
Get yer ginger a$$ off road.
You owe it to the poor K5...
Hmm, better do this before it gets too hot then. Y'all Sacto folks planning another trip to PC any time soon?
-- A
TheBeast_88K5
Banned
Whenever there's a passenger seat open... I'll go...
Well, what's your schedule like for the next week or so? Doesn't hafta be the weekend, especially since your wife might want you around for Mother's Day.
-- A
Or we could plan a rubicon trip...
TheBeast_88K5
Banned
Or we could plan a rubicon trip...
I. AM. DOWN.
We should make a separate Rubicon Trip thread.
Get Chris and Dan in on this bidness.
Or we could plan a rubicon trip...
Those of us who are fat and old and have breathing disorders prefer day trips or motels, as opposed to camping.
Nonetheless, I'm listening...
-- A
Well, I've only done the trail one time. We camped at Loon Lake the night before starting the trail, as it is a long winding drive from Reno. There's really nice established campsites there. You could get a motel in Placerville, but that's probably an hour and a half from the trailhead. It's an hour from highway 50 to Loon Lake (the trail head) because it's 30 miles of VERY slow, winding road. We'd probably want to be hitting the trail no later than about 9 A.M., particularly if we had a reasonably large group (i.e. more than 5 trucks). We went with 9 trucks, if I remember right, and it took us nearly all day to go from Loon Lake to the mid-way point: Buck Island Lake. We had a nice pace, though, and did some nice sight seeing along the way.
Buck Island Lake is an extraordinarily nice place to camp. There's GIANT flat slabs of granite for camping on, which is nice because it's not real dusty or lumpy. There are bears up there, and they got one guy's food that was sitting in the back of his Jeep while we were sleeping (or rather, waking and having to deal with a mother bear and her 2 cubs.
)
The second day has more miles, and starts off a bit more challenging than the first day. However, the last 6 miles of the trip (from the scenic overlook above Cadillac Hill to the trail end at Lake Tahoe) is just a terribly bumpy/uncomfortable ride, but it's not technical. And, the faster you go w/ tires at 10 PSI, the more comfortable the drive is!
You'd probably want to get a place to stay in South Lake Tahoe that night. So, the shortest trip you're looking at is 3 nights, if you want to do it comfortably. I'm planning to go with another friend and make a longer trip out of it - 2 nights at Buck Island Lake. I want to do some hiking up there.
As to breathing, it is obviously super clean nice air up there, but you're talking about spending most of your time between 6 and 7 thousand feet elevation, if I remember right. It's certainly not lower than 5000 feet.
I can't recommend the Rubicon Trial enough. It is SO stunning. The four wheeling is great, with lots of nice technical stuff, but nothing that requires a buggy. I took my Blazer through there with only a couple scratches, so it can be done pretty easily. Rocksliders, however, are an absolute MUST HAVE.
Buck Island Lake is an extraordinarily nice place to camp. There's GIANT flat slabs of granite for camping on, which is nice because it's not real dusty or lumpy. There are bears up there, and they got one guy's food that was sitting in the back of his Jeep while we were sleeping (or rather, waking and having to deal with a mother bear and her 2 cubs.
) The second day has more miles, and starts off a bit more challenging than the first day. However, the last 6 miles of the trip (from the scenic overlook above Cadillac Hill to the trail end at Lake Tahoe) is just a terribly bumpy/uncomfortable ride, but it's not technical. And, the faster you go w/ tires at 10 PSI, the more comfortable the drive is!
You'd probably want to get a place to stay in South Lake Tahoe that night. So, the shortest trip you're looking at is 3 nights, if you want to do it comfortably. I'm planning to go with another friend and make a longer trip out of it - 2 nights at Buck Island Lake. I want to do some hiking up there.
As to breathing, it is obviously super clean nice air up there, but you're talking about spending most of your time between 6 and 7 thousand feet elevation, if I remember right. It's certainly not lower than 5000 feet.
I can't recommend the Rubicon Trial enough. It is SO stunning. The four wheeling is great, with lots of nice technical stuff, but nothing that requires a buggy. I took my Blazer through there with only a couple scratches, so it can be done pretty easily. Rocksliders, however, are an absolute MUST HAVE.
Anybody remember "Police Squad! ... in COLOR". Ahem.
Despite my best efforts to stop fixing the trucks, I did finally get around to installing the front rubber floor mat into Tankie, the Smurfmobile. I'll do the rear later, but that one should be easy by comparison.
I got the mat kit from LMC Auto Carpet @ https://www.lmcautocarpet.com/ wherein they list many more options in colors and sizing than the regular LMC site. I got blue, of course; for the whole kit it was a bit less than $400 to my door.
Back when I had my M1009 CUCV I did the basic LMC black kit, which was pretty easy. Pulled the seats and shifter cover, dropped into place, cut and trimmed, then reinstalled stuff.
Tankie however has the cage and the triple stick, so it's a bit more complicated. In this case I sorta rolled the mat up and started squeegeeing it under the cage, then cut for the shifters and weaseled it all into place. I had to undo ten sets of cage feet or fasteners, so thank God for the cordless impact. The weaseling was tedious: move one side a half an inch, run around to the other side of the truck, pull it a half an inch, go back to the other side, lather, rinse, repeated. It involved more swearing than anything else, though a certain amount of blood was drawn to get the cage unfastened and then refastened. I never really cleaned up the front fender cuts, so a coupla times they dug gashes in me.
The kit comes with an unattached piece of jute padding which more or less fit. That's not a dig at LMC; this tranny tunnel is custom welded to clear the triple stick, so it's shaped differently.
Despite my best efforts to stop fixing the trucks, I did finally get around to installing the front rubber floor mat into Tankie, the Smurfmobile. I'll do the rear later, but that one should be easy by comparison.
I got the mat kit from LMC Auto Carpet @ https://www.lmcautocarpet.com/ wherein they list many more options in colors and sizing than the regular LMC site. I got blue, of course; for the whole kit it was a bit less than $400 to my door.
Back when I had my M1009 CUCV I did the basic LMC black kit, which was pretty easy. Pulled the seats and shifter cover, dropped into place, cut and trimmed, then reinstalled stuff.
Tankie however has the cage and the triple stick, so it's a bit more complicated. In this case I sorta rolled the mat up and started squeegeeing it under the cage, then cut for the shifters and weaseled it all into place. I had to undo ten sets of cage feet or fasteners, so thank God for the cordless impact. The weaseling was tedious: move one side a half an inch, run around to the other side of the truck, pull it a half an inch, go back to the other side, lather, rinse, repeated. It involved more swearing than anything else, though a certain amount of blood was drawn to get the cage unfastened and then refastened. I never really cleaned up the front fender cuts, so a coupla times they dug gashes in me.
The kit comes with an unattached piece of jute padding which more or less fit. That's not a dig at LMC; this tranny tunnel is custom welded to clear the triple stick, so it's shaped differently.
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But in the end it all fit. The padding I either placed away from the cage feet or trimmed so it would clear, but the rubber mat proper I left underneath the feet:
There was no way I was gonna be able to trim the mat around the feet and keep it tidy and fastened down, and I figure the ~1/8" thick rubber will just act like a gasket to the body (which is way thinner and half rusted anyway.) On the underside of the body are 1/4" plates, so it's all sandwiched pretty tight.
The shifter came out nicely, after repeated measure and mark cycles. At first you cut only the bare minimum to get the shifters through, then slowly cut out more and more until they can move through their entire range.
There was no way I was gonna be able to trim the mat around the feet and keep it tidy and fastened down, and I figure the ~1/8" thick rubber will just act like a gasket to the body (which is way thinner and half rusted anyway.) On the underside of the body are 1/4" plates, so it's all sandwiched pretty tight.
The shifter came out nicely, after repeated measure and mark cycles. At first you cut only the bare minimum to get the shifters through, then slowly cut out more and more until they can move through their entire range.
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