CK5
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At my PC now, so.....

Had a call come in while in Moab, as I am drinking my Milt's vanilla malt one afternoon. A yellow first gen K5 had ripped the frame out at the steering box. At the very top of Metal Masher. I picked up what I thought they might need and was just about to leave when Mark walked by. So I recruited him to go along.

I will say it was the fastest drive I have ever done to the top of Metal Masher. I do not remember the time from the highway, but I was enjoying it. Encountered some of their group heading out. Got the welder, grinder and steel to them in plenty of time to beat darkness. Hung around while they slowly fixed it. We made sure they were moving and past the bad stuff. Then.......

Off we went. It was now dark enough that we could move faster because you would see lights coming before a vehicle got there. Moving really well coming down the cliff trail. Maybe a little bit of adrenalin was flowing from the roads on top.

Pulled on the highway and realized that the steering wheel was not in the correct rotation point. Rocked it once and it did not go back to the same spot. Slowed way down at that point with the flashers on. We were hot, hungry and tired. Just wanted to get back. Found a group eating at The Moab Brewery and had food. Pulled out onto the main drag and the steering wheel was in a different rotation location.????????? Something was really failing.

Made it back to camp. The next morning I found the pitman arm, that I had made 15 years prior, from an original arm and chromoly plate was ripping apart. The plate was ripping next to the welds. We were about 1/2" from not having steering.

We both realized that throwing the rear-end around the corners coming down the cliff road could have ended us.
 
. A yellow first gen K5 had ripped the frame out at the steering box. At the very top of Metal Masher.
GIF by South Park
 
I had a video. It was so dark, the video did it no Justice. But we did wring every last ounce of fun out of that ride
 
Thinking of pulling the bed to fix the rust holes

Other than an engine hoist, what do I need to know?
 
Just watch the fuel filler assembly, even after it's loose it likes to snag on stuff. And the wiring of course. I just put 4 hooks in the ceiling and used 4 straps in the 4 corner stake pockets, was very controllable.
 
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