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biggman100

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Everything posted by biggman100

  1. Moses, time to pick your brain again on my 1994 dakota. I finally found the right extension housing, swapped it, filled the transmission, and now it has a severe vibration in first through 4th gears. i know i could probably just rebuild it, but when i got the extension housing, it came off a complete transmission i picked up, so im thinking of just using the used one i picked up, since its supposed to be a good transmission. The one odd thing i noticed though, with the transmission i picked up, is with it sitting on the floor in the garage, the shifter is very stiff, and i cant get it into any gear except first. Could that just be because it is sitting out of the truck on the floor in the garage, and because it has been cold out? I dont want to swap the transmission, only to find out i have issues with the one i picked up and have to take it back out.
  2. Moses, one thing id like to clarify here. Since JohnF is from the New Jersey area (which i noticed by the color of the plate on the van), older, mainly major rust free vehicles are usually easier to find, especially if he is in southern jersey. Certain parts of jersey, especially bordering New york, are where you find the eaten away, rotted out rust buckets. Central, southern, and south western Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and going south, rust free vehicles are easier to find. We buy all our vehicles starting in central PA, and working our way south, so we get away from the rot boxes, and we have found some very old (I.E. 34 Ford, and 33 Dodge), that were in really good shape for the year and where we found them. The real find here though is that he found an early CJ in any condition that was still useable. Most of them were cut up for off road use, scrapped when prices were really high, or sold to collectors in the midwest and western states many years ago. JohnF, i am extremely envious of your find. I have wanted an older CJ5 or CJ7 just to bomb around in on the back roads around where i live for many years, every since i rode around my uncles farm in his CJ7, but i have never been able to find one that the tub isnt completely rotted out. Congratulations on your find, and good luck in whatever your plans are for it.
  3. Kazu, a question if i may though. Which measurement are you referring to when you say they are different from the OEM joints?
  4. Kazu, welcome to the forum. I would like to add to what Moses said, if i may. While Rock Auto, Amazon, NAPA, and even Autozone and Advance Auto are all good places to find quality parts, for brakes and suspension components, i would try to steer clear of Ebay, unless you are absolutely certain the part you are getting is a quality part, such as from MOOG. I have heard way too many stories of people on Ebay selling inferior parts, and even stories of people selling inferior parts that they have placed in MOOG, Raybestos, or even OEM labeled boxes. I have also heard stories of people selling used parts that they listed as new, and for brake, steering, and suspension parts, it just isnt worth the hassle of dealing with Ebay. Rock Auto is a good company to deal with, and i have done quite a bit of business with them, but i always only buy quality name brand parts, and i also always check their price against local suppliers before i buy.
  5. Moses, i know this one has been on here awhile, but after what happened to a friend on his ford the other day, i have one other bit of advice to add to this. When you take the old pitman arm off, mark it in relation to the steering box, and make sure the new one goes on the exact same spot as the old one. I know this may seem like common sense, but the other day, my neighbor did the one on his 1995 F-150, and somehow the wheels got turned while the old pitman arm was off, and instead of realizing that, he just lined up the pitman arm so it would go back on the steering box, and into the hole in the center shaft, which in turn caused the steering wheel to be way out of position, and caused his air bag to go off while he was driving. Another bit of advice, make sure the steering wheel is locked in the center position, and take the keys out of the ignition so the steering wheel cant turn.
  6. RareCj8, I don't know if you have seen these, but on my 1991 Dakota, i had an easy to wire, switchable, on/off dual battery meter from a company called Abr-Sidewinder. They are actually out of Australia, but i found one on ebay fairly reasonable priced. I know there are others out there, even some cheap ones you just plug into a lighter socket connected to each battery, but what i liked most with the Abr is that instead of LEDs, it actually showed the voltage in numbers, and it is wired so that the power feed wire can be connected to a key on only powered source in the fuse box, so that it doesn't drain the battery when the key is off, and it also has an on/off switch right on the unit itself, as well as a switch so you can see voltage to each battery independently. I enclosed a pic of the one i have, so that you can see what it looks like.
  7. Moses, i showed this video to my uncle, who had an original mid 30's dodge sedan, and also lived on a one lane, muddy, rutted, dirt road, and he said that the trick was to get it moving, and don't let it slow down, or it would get stuck. He said he thinks that the reason the old cars like the one in the vehicle performed so well in mud, and even snow, was partly due to the skinny tires, and the fact that it didn't have a lot of power to make it spin as much in those conditions. He said he remembers his rarely ever spinning the tires, unless he really got on it hard, whereas newer vehicles have enough power to just sit and spin, and that most people start to feel there vehicle get a little stuck, and they step on the gas more, which just tends to make the situation that much worse.
  8. People are slowly learning that upstate isn't anywhere near, or anything like NYC. One thing that is starting to help, is all the tourism in and around Oswego and Onondaga counties. In Oswego county, there is Harbor Fest in late July in Oswego, as well as salmon fishing in the salmon river (which this year drew a record number of fisherman from as far south as Texas and Florida, and as far north as upper central Canada), deer hunting, snowmobiling, dog sledding, and hiking, as well as ATV and OHV use in the Pulaski/Tug Hill area, and water and sporting events, as well as N.Y. states largest car show , the Syracuse Nationals (which had 86000 verified attendees this year, which is down a bit from previous years), in Syracuse, which is in Onondaga county. Our weather seems to match yours. We havent had 6 inches total since the snow first fell 3 weeks ago, but we have had a few very cold days, and very bitter nights lately. For example, right now it is only 18 degrees out, and thursday night is is supposed to get down to 8.
  9. Unfortunately, unless they tell you where the vehicle is at ahead of time, most of the time you cant look at them ahead of time. The reason i picked this one, and how i even found out about this site, is because in my travels looking for the extension housing for the 1994, which by the way i still havent found, i happen to see this one in the lot of a salvage yard. The owner told me he doesn't deal directly with the salvage vehicles, but goes through inrides instead, and gave me the contact info for them. He did have the keys to it, and showed me that it did start and run, which did help in going through the mess of bidding on it. I, personally, never would have went through them without knowing anything about the vehicle ahead of time, but i figured some people might not worry about the whole not seeing it ahead of time issue, especially if looking for a parts vehicle. I have since found out though, that more and more parts yards, at least in N.Y., and northern PA, are going through sites like inrides because they don't want to deal with reselling salvage and rebuildable vehicles anymore, due to all the hassles involved with some of them.
  10. I recently found this website: http://www.inrides.com/. They are a salvage auction clearing house. I know this idea won't be for everyone, but you might find a vehicle you may be interested in rebuilding, or even a parts vehicle, through them. The pic i attached is of a 1993 i got through them recently, and have plans to rebuild using another Dakota i have. The way the site works, you become a member, and then you bid on vehicles, and hope you are lucky enough not only to win the bid, but win it at a low price. For those of us lucky enough to live in a state where rebuilt vehicles can be retitled, it's another way of getting a desired vehicle cheap, as long as you are willing to put some work in it.
  11. Moses, i wanted to touch base some on this, now that my father in law and i have done a couple winter activities. We havent had as much snow as we normally get, so so far this year, we havent gotten the snowshoes out, nor have we even put fresh gas in the snowmobiles. We did do a 12 mile round trip hike in Happy Valley, outside of Mexico, N.Y., a few days ago, and although it was a bit cold, the trails were mainly mud, instead of hard packed snow like they usually are this time of year. One surprising aspect of the hike, was that we had noticed fresh bear tracks in the woods, so they havent even started to hibernate this year. Closer to home, it was the middle of rifle and shotgun season for deer, and a couple weeks ago, my neighbor has actually had bear very close to his tree stand a couple times this year. One even walked directly under his stand while he was sitting in it, which has led my father in law to believe we are going to have a cold, but mainly snow free winter, or we are going to get hit very hard sometime soon. Ill keep you posted on that as it happens. I got a few pictures of the lake at Happy Valley i wanted to share. A couple of these were taken a few days ago, and the rest were taken at different times of the year.
  12. Jim, i would definitely add trailer brakes. The trailer might turn out to be compact and not very heavy, but fully loaded it might end up extremely heavy, and push against the truck, and cause the trucks brakes to work harder, and especially on big hills would definitely be worth it to have.
  13. I guess there is something to be said for slow, old, vehicles with rubber band tires. Maybe we should try that on a truck and see what happens.
  14. Now i see what you meant. For a full size that looks like it would work very well and be functional as well. I doubt you could use that on one of my Dakotas. The pic i posted is from D.K Hostetler, in Milroy, Pa. They are the parent company for Bri-Mar trailers, and they also make utility beds for trucks, and i have seen people use the Bri-Mar dump trailer box and modify it to fit on a pickup. They have a whole range of fullsize truck beds an utility boxes, but they will also custom make any box you want, to fit almost any midsize or full size.
  15. Hobbs, just a thought, but what about wheel adapters? You can usually get them for almost any bolt pattern combination, and wouldnt have to swap rotors and brake components.
  16. Moses, i let this topic sit awhile, just to see what others might chime in with, but in the meantime, i have also talked to a few local shops about this kind of work, and most say that having a flat rate for any custom or add on work isnt feasible, due to the fact that they dont do a lot of that work, and they never know what they are getting into until they actually start on a job like this. A perfect example is a lift kit for a 99 Jeep Wrangler im thinking of buying. I have never done one on a Jeep, so i thought i would ask around just in case i didnt feel comfortable doing it myself, and got estimates anywhere from 18 hours, to more than 50 hours just for labor to do the job.
  17. There is actually two parts to the reason why wheel studs last longer than say head bolts, and that is heating and cooling effects, and the way the bolt is tempered, or hardened. I will start with the heating and cooling effect first. Over time, engine bolts are subject to extreme heat, which can cause one of two things to happen. Either the bolt will stretch, or the threads will become brittle and when that bolt is removed, the threads will start to get rounded just a bit on the edge of them, both of which in turn cause that bolt to not be as strong as when it was first machined. Another issue, particularly with head bolts, is that the expanding and contracting of the head and the block, usually at different rates, as the engine heats up and cools down, will cause the bolts themselves to stretch, and change the temper of the bolt over time. I have actually seen some extreme cases where if you take a used and a new head bolt, and compare them with a digital micrometer, there can be as much of an 1/8 of an inch difference in length. I have also seen where people have tried to cut corners and reuse head bolts, and in less than 5000 miles of normal driving, the heads would literally come off of the head bolts. Wheel studs, on the other hand, are tempered to an extreme hardness, to withstand repeated use. Without going into all the particulars of tempering, since i dont understand the entire process myself, a wheel stud, or any other hardened bolt, is done through a heat and chemical process, to allow that bolt to withstand extreme stress for long periods of time. Engine bolts, particularly head bolts, cant be tempered the same way, because the heating and cooling effect of an engine will just cause the bolt to become more brittle over time, and the heating of an engine can interfere with the chemicals used to harden a bolt, so instead of wasting the time and money to harden those bolts, they just say its better to replace them. Flex plate bolts, on the other hand, are made to withstand extreme side to side loads, due the the flex plate spinning, and over time, the flex plate bolts can start to wear in the area right under the head of the bolt, and eventually, even though it might take many years, that area can actually be wore down enough to pop the head off the bolt. I worked at an engine machine shop in college, for about a year, and i learned over time that a lot more science and thought goes into the job of each bolt on the engine than you would expect, especially considering it's just a bolt.
  18. Actually, because they used my truck as a test vehicle, i didnt pay for the bumper, winch, lights, or tow hooks. If i would have though, with installation, it would have been in the neighborhoow of $900 to $1200 installed. The bumper for the 1987 to 1996 Dakota, with no accessories, is right around $500, and im assuming that is the price for the bare bumper for most vehicles. The price might seem steep, but considering i have hit several deer, a couple trees in the woods, and have used it as a push bumper without hurting it, it is definitely worth it, and it will last an extremely long time. ( i have had that bumper for almost 7 years, and have had it on 3 different Dakotas!) As for the Dakota, that is what it looked like a few years ago. My nephew has it now, and it is definitely showing signs of age.
  19. Ok, enough with the wishing for ultra expensive accessories! This one is more practical in many ways, and not just for lights or a winch or tow point. It's the wincher bumper from TAG (Tactical Armor Group). The parts i like most about the winch is it's integrated, there are various places to install lights, it also helps as a crash guard, and can even be used as a solid place for kids to sit while watching outdoor events if the kids are small enough. It is built pretty sturdy, and as i have learned from experience, doesn't bend easily either. The pics i attached show it attached to my 1989 Dakota, which i let them use as a research vehicle. If you own one of the vehicles they are still looking for, then you can get the bumper at no cost as well, like i did. This is a list of the vehicles they are looking for, taken directly from their site: http://tacticalarmorgroup.com/TAGStore/TAGStore.aspx. Quote from TAG: "Our Research & Development department needs vehicles for product research, inspection, fitment and testing. If you own a vehicle that is included in the list below and would be able to leave it at our facility for a period of 10 to 14 days, we would be able to develop new products for our product line. You would benefit by receiving our new products, installed and guaranteed to function properly. That would be a cost savings for you (components and installation) from: $500.00 to $1200.00 or more! 2007+ Toyota Sequoia for Front and Rear bumper Jeep Liberty Gen. 2 for Front Bumper Hummer H3 for front and rear bumper Toyota 4Runner 2010+ for front and rear bumper
  20. Actually, when i got the grizzly, the tracks were already on it, and i have never had them off, so im not sure about total setup time. I do know changing the track on one took me a couple hours the first time. It is a pretty involved job. The Grizzly was partial payment for helping tear down a barn after a friend acquired a property in a tax sale, and we found it in the garage. As for the trucks, i know the Ford took about an hour or so to swap the tires to the tracks, but that was also done in ATTs shop, where they have done many of these installs. It isnt really that hard to do from what i saw though, just jack up the truck, pull the wheel off, roll the track up, and then use the jack to set the truck even with the hub on the track, and bolt it up. The Dodge i would assume didnt take much longer than the Ford to do, but i wasnt at the shop for that one. I did find another downside to the tracks though, and that is that they are limited to 45MPH, so that would severely limit where you could drive them on the road. The guy who owns both trucks told me he only installs them in the winter, and takes them off in the spring, but he also lives in northern NY, so they come in handy for the snowstorms. He also said that he usually only installs them on the Ford anymore, and then only uses it when the snow comes. So they definitely arent for everybody, although in deep snow, sand, and mud, i could see where they would be useful. On the Grizzly, which i use in mud in the summer, and to plow in the winter, i havent gotten it stuck yet. I was looking up to see what Mat Tracks said for install time, which i didnt find an answer to, and came across another type of tracks, called the trak n go system, that you can use without taking the wheels off the vehicle. The website is: http://trucktracks.com/en/ and i attached a pic of what they look like.
  21. Moses, i have one id like to have on my truck, after driving a friends Ford and Dodge with them on it in heavy snow. The downsides are, they are pretty expensive, and the tracks have to be replaced regularly, because just like a tire, the tracks are rubber and wear out over time. MatTracks, as well as a couple other suppliers make them, and they are built to fit almost any Jeep, Dodge/Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, or any other SUV or Pick Up on the market, as well as most 4x4 ATVs and UTVs. I have them on a Yamaha Grizzly 660, and i leave them on year round. I enclosed some pics of my Grizzly, as well as the Dodge and Ford my friend owns. both trucks can also be seen in the gallery on: http://www.americantracktruck.com/ Both of his trucks were test vehicles for American Track Truck.
  22. Yes, the Jeep is the one in need of a ball joint. The Dakota was done years ago, and i originally used it as an example of why i didnt want to do anything with the Jeep until i knew the right way to do it, and then we got sidetracked.
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