Rust,Rust,Rust!!...the bane of my existance..

[diesel4me]

Well,I guess my trucks days are numbered--seems like everything on it is rotting away at an alarming rate rather suddenly.......................................................................................................................................................................................................I just finished replacing all the brake lines,front & rear rubber hoses,wheel cylinders,the rear u-bolts and spring plates,and now the "rebuilt" master cylinder is oozing brake fluid out of the rear of it--seems no matter what I do,I just cant keep the dam brakes working in this thing more than a week before something else dies of rust poisoning...the front rotors are next,they are rotted in the middle where the cooling slots are,look like they could come apart any day now too............................................................................................The oil pan is rotted and was patched up with J-B waterweld putty for the past 3+ years now-I got a good used oil pan from Iceman here,but have not been able to install it myself,my back is wasted,and just doing the brake lines almost put me in traction,and lifting the engine up will bust off the exhaust pipes and or rotted manifolds,so I gave up hope as far as installing that lying on my back ...........the oil cooler lines are so crispy where they screw into the block they could blow any day too...I'm tempted to just plug the oil cooler ports off and run it without one,until I can afford to get new lines ,it would be better than running it out of oil I suppose--I dont drive it much or very far ,mostly because of un-trustworthy parts like these about to fail, get my ulcers bleeding..............................................................................................I walked by the truck yesterday,and saw a "new" puddle under it....the dam fuel tank is now leaking!......the passenger side tank,I had dual tanks but the drivers side was already "screwed" with a self tapper and a rubber washer when I got it,it also leaked,so I just cut off all the dual tank plumbing and used just the passenger side one...(I never even filled ONE tank full,and would never be able to fill both on my budget,so why have them?)...............................................................................................SO,now I need a dam gas tank,and I have read that diesels dont use galvanized tanks,so I guess that means I cant just grab any tank at the junkyard off a gas powered truck,or I'll have problems with the zinc ending up in the injector pump???....I'm ready to just stick a 5 gallon plastic gas can in place of the tank and use that,seeing I never go far in the truck,but I like having a gas gauge....I do have a plastic 40 gallon saddle tank I had on a similar truck,but it was off a Dodge and I doubt the gas gauge would work with my GM gauge...............................................................................WHY does everything F*** up when your broke????........and dont have the cash to do anything RIGHT...I'm getting really tired of replacing one thing,only to have another fail from RUST two days later....I'm about ready to sell both my pickup and suburban,and move to AZ...only problem is what both are worth,would probably not buy enough gas to GET there.........................................................................................maybe I should start flicking lit matches under the truck.....

 

[Deuling]

If u dont have the money to do it right. Do what you gotta do to get it going. May not look appealing but if it can get u from a to b, thats better than nothing. On the gas tank, try to tip it enough to get the gas away from the leak, clean it, jb quick weld, let it sit for 5 min, then throw some paint over it and good to go. (what i did and its not leakin at all). Idk what all u have as far as tools and such. But if u can find a good tank, you could cut a square out around your sending unit, cut the same size square out of the new tank, and weld it in. Then your gauge would work

 

[80' 427]

If it is plastic, patch in the metal sender area. maybe seal it with gas tank patch.

 

[diesel4me]

I'm just tired of having to fill up all the fluids before I can USE the truck--with oil and brake fluid being over 5 bucks a quart,& diesel fuel at 3.85 per gallon aint cheap either...it often costs me more for fluids than fuel!!!--I suppose the radiator will be next to leak,the filler neck for the cap is oozing coolant out of the soldered seam on it too now...guess I was lucky to get 9 years out of the truck with practically no issues,till now anyway...now its seeming like I poured battery acid all over and under it...................................................................................................................That plastic dodge gas tank has sat for years outside,had maybe a few quarts of gas left in it when I put it there...I'm not sure I want to use it,it was a bit too long to fit quite right on the last GM truck it was on like mine,and the sending unit issues also discourage me from using it--I wont have the "water in fuel" light any more,nor the ability to drain water from the tank,like the original one does too.............................................................................................................I've had practically zero luck patching fuel tanks,I know J-B weld will work,and I have used fiberglass resin and cloth before,and a lot of various epoxies,but none seem to last long... if I'm going to suffer the agony of pulling the tank off it,I may as well put something worth the effort back on it if possible--I can swap my sending unit into a tank made for gasoline,but dont know if the zinc would be a problem...........................................................................................................................................................................................................I found out the boards in the stepside bed up under my toolbox are rotten too,my foot went thru a few of them the other day,now I have a large peice of sheet steel off an old furnace I scrapped,plopped over the holes,so everything wont just fall thru and land in the street!.....maybe I should just rip the dam bed off,chop off the old fuel tanks,and put my equally rusted flatbed that needs paint and a plywood floor back on it,and run it off whatever I can get for a GM tank ....if my back wasn't fubared,I'd already have it done...right now I feel like its a hopless situation.......what pisses me off more,is the fact my '85 Suburban is sitting 3+ years now,and will have the same issues my pickup has soon,if it dont already...and I'm in no condition financially or physically,to correct any of them right now...

 

[diesel4me]

Well,after searching the web for a tank,I see no specific "diesel" fuel tanks listed,so I assume all aftermarket ones are the same,zinc coated whether for gas or diesel for the 81-91 trucks...so if I find a recently replaced one in a junkyard,I'll probably go for it provided its cheap,a new one can be had for about 85 bucks locally,and if I had 85 bucks,I'd just buy one--but I dont........................................................................................I tried jacking the truck up so the fuel would not leak out where the rusted area is under the cab,then tried sanding it clean and using brake cleaner to clean the diesel off,and I tried using some J-B waterweld putty,and the stuff refuses to even TRY to stick,so I guess that was a waste of 10 bucks..--it worked a ot better on my rotted oil pan...why is it we can put men on the moon,a space station,and a rover to mars,but they still cant invent something that will stick to a leaking gas or diesel tank ,that hardens in the presence of diesel fuel or gasoline??....I tried a bar of soap in desparation,that didn't slow the drip down much either.................................................................................................................................................................................................I should have know NOTHING will stick to a tank that had diesel on it,and I'm doubtfull if I had drained the tank,that I would have had any better luck....its rusted near the edge at the corner and looks like its coming from the inside out,looks like a worm stuck to the tank,several spots look just like the only one thats dripping,so they all will probably be leaks sooner than later...the rest of the tank is pretty nice though--I cant use the self tapping screw and rubber washer trick on that location either.................................................................................................................................................................................................In a way,the tank leaking was a blessing,because as I went to jack the truck up,I noticed the brand new front brake hoses I just put on it last week (and the truck wasn't moved yet)---were getting PULLED so tight,they would have been yanked apart!.............................................................................................................................................................................................................I had to bend the steel portion of the hose where it joins the calipers,evidently despite having the same length and bends,they were not in the correct location ,to not hit the shocks at full turns,or be stretched tight when the axle dropped into a hole!--they were NAPA hoses too,not china junk!.......now they have the correct clearances and dont get stretched ---good thing I was watching them when I jacked it up--and hadn't tried DRIVING the dam thing,they would have been ripped apart at the end of my driveway when I cut the wheels! ............and I'd have wasted 35 bucks and two hours hard labor......so if anyone reading this needs new brake hoses,be SURE to jack the truck up carefully and turn the wheels full lock both ways BEFORE you try driving it..................................................

 

[Duntz00]

I wish I was closer to ya cause Id love to have that stepside bed and would help ya switch the tanks and bed on your truck...

 

[diesel4me]

The bed is pretty wasted--the wood and metal strips that hold them down in the bed are rotted,the steps are rusted and had to have aluminum diamond plate bolted to them to keep them from folding down when you step on them---and the fenders are both pretty rough,drivers side has the imprint of a telephone pole I backed into while plowing with it ,and both are rotted and patched around the gas tank doors...the rest of it aint that bad,but its hardly worth the trip from KY to come get it!.......................................................................................................I've seen better beds in junkyards.....the whole truck may reside in one soon,if it keeps pissing me off...getting sick of owning nothing but rusty junk,and having to throw money away buying new parts,just to watch them rot away again in a few months..and not being able to trust the vehicles to go anywhere without having something fail from rust.......