Joel's Jimmy update

[Joel Wilson]

Okay, finally got the Jimmy to Kentucky. What a nightmare and a small fortune later. 2200 and the guy was still 3 days late. Some issues that I noticed later is an electrical drain that is killing both batteries in a week to 10 days so that will be fun to track down. I was changing out th350 pan gasket to try and stop my leak from before and rolled over and noticed a scratch mark on passenger front leaf spring. How did that get there...noticed skyjacker add a leaf was snapped off about an inch behind the u bolt. Fresh too. No rust, no dirt. There's 120 to 150 bucks on top of labor for me plus chasing electrical gremlins. I've got a replacement gasket for rear diff that will hopefully solve that leak that has been there awhile but slowly getting worse. Once I get all that annoying little stuff done, I gotta add a horn button in case I have to get inspected to get title transferred from Cali to Kentucky. Getting the Jimmy here set me back and work hasn't allowed me much time or energy to work on the old girl and I still need to replace front rotors and pads on my equinox this weekend. And I seriously need some time in the mud or sand so I can unwind.

And I went with a reputable company to ship the Jimmy too but all they are is a broker. They supposedly screen who they use as a shipper but that doesn't necessarily mean they speak good English or wear deodorant or will be on time. And you only have a very limited time to check your rig for damage. But the Jimmy is here and somewhat safe. Just gotta do some repairs
Joel

 

[Wes Harden]

wow glad you got it. wonder if the dumb ass didn't shut the key off when parked it on rig ? I charge up those batts and see before I started tearing into things.
Bummer on the spring you know it took alot of force to bust that. Lazy, not looking what they chain to, and ratchet away with abandon

 

[Chickntrk]

This is why I don't let anyone touch my junk, too many don't give a f$#@s out there today. Id be surprised if half of them knew if it fell off the trailer until they got to the destination, "well shit, wonder where that last one fell off at" Glad you got it in mostly one piece though, just take it one step at a time and don't let it become not fun anymore. Try to keep a running driving project that you can tinker on that way it doesn't become a garage ornament.

 

[500$k5]

If your horn doesn't work, is there a chance that the horn button is always on, and the horns are disconnected. This will leave your horn relay on, and cause a battery drain. I have seen it many times on older vehicles.

 

[eodcoduto]

I’ve shipped a G20 van from Virginia to California, and a K20 Suburban from California to D.C. and got screwed both times. Both trucks were late, 12hrs first one and 5 days the 2nd. Brokers throw out number and send you confirmation that the load is booked but it really isn’t. Both loads went up by $500+ from the original price and all the drivers are East European dudes in track suits. All crap.

 

[Bigb55]

I battled a dual battery system that would drain itself for years.

Turns out I didn't have a significant parasitic drain (big enough to drain it in a few days), the batteries were swapping charge due to various reasons. I finally replaced both at the same time and with the exact same batteries. Hasn't done it again for two years.

Easy way to tell is to isolate the system with one known good battery. See what happens

 

[Joel Wilson]

So I got the brakes and rotors done on the equinox. Replaced rear diff gasket with a lubelocker one and found I was missing an Allen bolt from aluminum cover so I gotta get one of those. Ultra black was real easy to come off in some spots. Other spots it was glue. Easy spots were at the bottom so that was most likely source of the leak there. Trans pan gasket that I got from Moroso was thick. Real thick. So thick that the bolts are now only holding the pan on by 3 maybe 4 threads. So I gotta replace those. I might go with an Allen head bolt to make it easier to tighten some of those. The speedway pan is aluminum and I don't have a lot of clearance in some spots. Making progress, just slow progress.

 

[Joel Wilson]

Okay, no leaks on trans or rear diff so far. Tracked down a few electrical gremlins and mismatched batteries are at least holding a charge for awhile now. Got the front right add a leaf replaced. A few OSHA manuals may have burst into flames getting the alignment bolt to properly seat, but it's all done. Something to be said for ratchet straps to get the axle back into alignment. Getting there, finally

Joel
Kentucky

 

[Wes Harden]

Yeah I use ratchet straps to move axles where I want them when doing spring work.