No more drunk driving!

So a few months back I detailed how the truck was pretty much driving like "keg" drunk because of drivers side ball joints etc...
I replaced those parts and reduced it to "12 pack drunk" which was a nice improvement but still not enough.
In the meantime I drove to Susanville, Dixon, and various points between and the sloppy steering was not only hard to drive but embarrassing and I noticed front tire wear in excess of rear tire wear... all in a little over 1,000 miles! $$$$OUCH$$$$

So I took it to the local tire place where they threw it up on the rack and proceeded to show me all the parts that needed replacement... pretty much the entire steering assembly except for the box and the spindles. After pricing it and despite FABULOUS service from BJ's Offroad, the wallet has been stretched thin and I had to go with the standby-rockauto.com

For all the same part numbers-Kragen was $380, BJ's was $310, and rockauto was $234 delivered(including a steering box rebuild kit)
Boxes came yesterday and today and I ripped out the old parts and swapped in the new ones.

It took about 4 hours including a trip to OSH and taco truck and gathering and measuring...
Most of the problem was DPO must have done something to steering as there was a washer missing on the pitman arm allowing it to flop about. Luckily it didnt damage the splines and I was able to get a big fat washer at OSH to allow the nut to fully tighten.
Center hole on this bad boy is 1 1/8"

I will have to go get an alignment since I didnt get everything exact but it only pulls slightly to the right and even still I can take my hands off the wheel!
SUCCESS!

elevator complete(in theory)

So this goes out on the truck tomorrow. I constructed the entire slanted part of the elevator and the whole upper part of the yellow slinger(not the frame part). I also did a lot of assembly... fun and neat to see it in action.
The slanted part is 48 feet long. The large black tires have a 22.5" rim... I think the top is raised to 26'(maybe the bottom of the hopper) That is a 6 cyl john deer diesel. The belt is 30" wide.
its designed to move cow feed. The slinger on the end shoots the grain out over 150' Not kidding.

mailbox

So PO(previous owner) had installed a nice brick mailbox planter.... CROOKED! and about 3 feet from where every other mailbox on the block is.(typical)

We want a flagpole and to make things a little better.
So I had to pull planter-how best to do that? What better tool than an engine hoist?!
Rednecks unite!

tuesday package from BJ's Offroad

Got my UPS delivery.
before;

after; (the working dump bed sure makes it nice and easy to work on!)

in case you missed it;

these are load leveling air bags that will eventually run off my onboard air. Sure needed them this weekend. They take 100# and are independent of each other for no load shifting. Adds 1500# more load capacity which means it brings it to where it should be from the start.
saggin wagons! =(!

COE weekend in motel parking lot

Went to dixon again with my welder and plasma to get the COE/cummins project farther along.
1947 GMC COE on top of 1992 dodge 2wd 3/4 ton cummins turbo diesel. Got home before 1am monday morning.

thursday

so this started it all. I went in to work at 6am today which was good cause it allowed me to rush home at 2.30 and rip the(leaking) radiator out and be at rad shop by 3-gosh I am getting fast at this. =( "THREE"(see previous post)
Turns out previous leak repair had failed and rubbed hole in repair(his fault)

I think the frame is so stiff-the core support -isnt- and so radiator being 65 years old has to take the abuse. All modern radiators are cradled in rubber-this is steel bolted to steel... So my attempt at flex is to drill larger mounting holes, get these grommets and hope it helps. I have VERY limited space so lets hope this helps.

So far-this radiator has been out 3 times for repair. New radiator almost $450. total spent so far-$45. Not bad!

so how about the "lowrider" look?

No-really. this is a pre-curser to mounting these fenders(original to the cab) for the next year or 2? until I design and fashion and construct my utility boxes. They will be a mimic of the rear fenders but stretched and lifted and lowered with doors cut into them... stay tuned.

this is a NOS 1995 repop radio to fit the VERY special radio opening since I dont have the $550 to get a modern radio that looks OEM.

Oh yeah-this is a by-product of pulling the radiator. the PS pump doesnt belong here-but since this one leaks like a sieve-I have to wait till after work tomorrow to pick up the new one(that was supposed to be in a week ago!!! =(

monday

The underbed frame.

the front hinge-that is 1/2" plate

In the midst of a long day monday-with some help I stripped the underbed framing, added hinges, channel and welded in the OEM crossmembers for temp till I can go get the 1x2x.125 tubing i want to use. The bed now goes up/down without bending or flexing 1" rearward.