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biggman100

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Everything posted by biggman100

  1. ScramblingMan, the best way to know what each system would cost in your area, due to the fact that prices can differ radically in different parts of the country, or even in your own state, would be to go to the manufacturers websites listed in the magazine, then other online suppliers, and then your local parts stores, in that order. I say in that order because i have found that companies that advertise in magazines at times give a discount when customers are referred from that magazine. The company is most knowledgeable about whatever parts you are searching for. Online suppliers, while usually being somewhat knowledgeable about the products they carry, usually only get their knowledge from whatever the manufacturer told them in whatever info papers they send with the product. Owning a computer repair shop and parts distributorship, i see this one quite a bit. A product will come in, accompanied by a sheet of paper with the minimum specs and info for that product. Local shops, while usually knowing what they are selling, also tend to cost more than online suppliers.
  2. A point of caution about using quick release straps to help seat the bead of a tire, as i learned first hand a few years ago. Once the beads are seated on both sides of the tires, remove the straps before you air up the tire the rest of the way. Luckily, i am the over cautious type, and have my air chuck for tires set up through a foot pedal a ways from the tire (i learned that trick from my step dad, who does tractor trailer split rim tires quite a bit), because i had a strap break and go flying across the garage while airing up a tire a few years ago. The inflatable type are much safer, in that they have some stretch and give to them before they break.
  3. Moses, a bit of real world info on the portable bead breaker. I do have one of those, although it is in my garage, and is only used around home. Although it does work pretty well for breaking the bead, and will even hold the tire sidewall down to help get the tire off the wheel, the handle is the weak point. After using it to break the bead on a few stubborn tires, the handle bent a couple times, and then eventually broke, and i had only had it a couple months. My brother welded me a solid handle for it, which has worked well for the last 4 years, but also made the whole unit a bit heavier. It is also somewhat long at the base, so about the only place trail wise it would work is on the ground, or in the bed of a pick up, the cargo area of a jeep would be too small to carry it around in. When i used the bumper jack, it was on the front bumper of a 2 wheel drive 1986 dodge pick up, and if the truck was on any kind of incline, the jack would want to tip sideways.
  4. Joe Mac, according to my neighbor, he used this to break the bead on a Kubota BX2660 tractor, and the rear tires on that are 13-24, and are pretty heavy. The one thing he did say though, is that he had to start to break the bead, and then rotate the tire a bit to get it to break completely. Moses, i did the same thing you did with a Hi-Lift with an old 1980's bumper jack years ago, and it didn't always work out so well.
  5. Joe Mac, do the super springs make your truck ride any harsher when there isn't a trailer attached? For my neighbor's 05 ram, i don't see where that is an issue, but on my Dakota, making it too stiff might cause me problems on the roads around here. Most of the roads around here are barely maintained dirt and gravel, which is why i did the heavy duty shocks originally, so that on the washboard sections of our roads, the truck didn't jump all over like my durango used to.
  6. Thank you for the info Moses. I saw the letter designations here on the forum, and in other places in reference to the Jeep vehicles, as well as in our discussion about my Dakota's AX15 transmission, but i always assumed they were just a manufacturer's internal designation. As always, your info helped to clear up that mystery for me.
  7. Hi, guys. Today i had an unusual issue on my utility trailer. It was towing funny, and when i checked it, i found that rocks had somehow become embedded between the tire and the bead, dont ask me how, because i have no clue. Anyway, i was going to take the tires to a shop and have them take care of it, but my neighbor said he could do it right in the bed of his truck, so i said ok, show me. We took the tires to his house, and he has a portable, easy to use and also somewhat easy to store hand tire changer that he attaches in the back of his truck using heavy duty hood pins, like Nascar cars use. I asked him where he got it, and he said harbor freight for less than $50. We took the cores out of the valve stem, and he proceeded to pop the tires off the rims with almost no effort. We cleaned the rocks out, aired the tires back up, and they seem to be holding up just fine. There are a couple of downsides i see to it, such as it has to be attached to something solid for it to work. Also, it does take a bit of muscle to get the tires off the rim, but, for the most part, i see where it could be very useful in an off road situation as long as you can find a place to attach it in the back of your vehicle or in a trailer. It also has no provision for balancing tires, but, as a quick and easy way to get back on the trail, it looks to me like it might be a worthwhile idea to have one. You can always have the tires balanced once you are back at "civilization". The changer has a built in bead breaker, and also a screw-down steel plate to hold the wheel securely to the changer while taking the tire off and putting it back on. I have enclosed a couple pics from harbor freight's website, so you can see what it looks like:
  8. Hi, guys. This is a question about preference and real world advice. On a 2005 crew cab Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 truck used to haul a large car trailer (19 foot, 2500LBS. empty), and at times a heavy equipment trailer, which would be better for the rear suspension: to add air bags or the metal spring helpers that bolt over top of the rear springs? Sometimes, with the car trailer and a medium size car, the rear does drop a bit, and with the heavy equipment trailer, with a bobcat with a bucket on the front of it, it sags every time. The other vehicle is my 1994 Dakota 4x4. I dont haul anything heavier than an occasional 2 wheel dolly or my jet ski trailer, with a yamaha 1100 triple and a polaris slt780 two seater on it. It seems to tow ok, but with the jet skis on the back, the drop is noticeable, even with new rear heavy duty shocks, so i am wondering which would be better to use on the rear suspension of this truck as well: the air bags or the spring helpers?
  9. Hi guys, im looking for some real world experience here. I finally got around to finding out why i have different odd noises in my 94 Dakota, especially in the right front, and left rear, and have found the the upper control arm bushings, and rear spring bushings are bad. I have been weighing whether to use just the standard OEM bushings, or upgrade to polyurethane. If i go with polyurethane, i am thinking of getting a complete kit that not only replaces the suspension bushings, but body mounts as well, but, after doing some research, i hear a lot of people say that polyurethane will make my truck a lot stiffer to drive, and that they require periodic greasing and maintenance to keep them from going bad, although most of what i have read is in the line of, i heard this or that from so and so, and not much in the way of actual experience point of view. What i am basically looking for is to hear from the guys who have upgraded to polyurethane and how they hold up in real world situations, whether it be a daily driver or a purpose built trail rig. I would like to know things like how long ago you installed them, what kind of driving you do with the vehicle, and most of all, how well they have held up, and how much, if any, maintenance has to be done to them.
  10. I see a lot of references to XJ, YJ, TJ, WJ and other 2 letter combinations in reference to the different Jeep models. What do the letter designations actually mean? For instance, what is the difference between a TJ and YJ Wrangler, or an XJ and a Grand Cherokee? Do they denote model or trim levels, or do they encompass all body and trim levels within a certain model? Are they strictly to denote the same model within a group of years? I am a fan of the dodge trucks, namely Dakota, and have only worked on a couple jeep vehicles, so i sometimes get confused as to which model is associated with which letter combination.
  11. Moses, my suggestion would be a numbering system, say 1 to 10, with 1 being the easiest, and then also add a paragraph with maybe a list of tools, especially any speciality tools needed, and any special notes or things to be careful of, or things to watch out for.
  12. Moses, i know it has been hyped in print, TV, and other media, but i have found that Stabil works better than they advertise. 3 years ago, in anticipation of a week's vacation on or near the water, i filled the gas tank in my old boat (a 1980s Bayliner), which is 20 gallons, only to find out a few days later that our annual family get away was being postponed, due to my wife finding us a new property to purchase, away from the city, for us to move to. Between moving, remodeling, and other get aways and family functions, my boat sat with that same tank of fuel for 3 years. I did put Stabil in it the year i filled it, and then knew it was going to sit. This year, since i never use that boat anymore, due to buying a bigger boat plus jet-skis, i decided to sell that boat. I figured i would at least drain the old gas out, put fresh in it, just to get it running and make sure there were no engine issues. I stored the old gas in 2 10 gallon gas cans, and then found out my wife had poured one of the cans into our around-home truck (a 1991 Dakota 4x4, with a 3.9l v-6), which we use for getting firewood and other non-pavement uses. That was 5 weeks ago, and the truck starts right up and seems to run with only a minor stumble here and there, which it already had before she put the old gas in it. Im not recommending everyone do something like that, but Stabil does work well.
  13. JJ, one other thought i had, after something i saw today, was the idea of using a branch block to run your ground wires. I would never recommend this for the main ground to the engine, but for accessory grounds, such as from the battery to the firewall, the battery to the frame, and the battery to the core support, unless someone knows a reason why it wouldnt work, i dont see where they would cause an issue, as long as they are attached to the vehicle firmly so they dont move around. Another use i see for them is to branch off the pigtail on the universal cables i mentioned before. Below is a pic of one, so you can see what i am talking about. On the type shown, you run one wire, say the ground from the battery, into one side, and have 4 output leads, that you can then branch off to anyplace you need a ground. I would always place the block under the hood though, and not inside the vehicle.
  14. One more thing i want to add to this, after an experience i had today. I would never recommend that anyone run a single heavy gauge wire from the battery through the firewal, and then branch off from there. I saw a vehicle today where someone had done this, and my first thought was he was hoping for a fire, so he could collect on the insurance. He had the main single wire run inside the vehicle, then using a branch block, ran heavy duty wires to 2 sepearate high wattage amps, one capacitor, which i would never place in the open in any vehicle, and two different sets of neon under vehicle lights.
  15. Moses, i second JJ's hint about adding a difficulty system. When i took apart the AX15 i picked up, i made sure to follow your write up very closely, but, even with the write up, some parts were a bit difficult to disassemble. And, i also had downloaded a copy of the AX15 part of the shop manual, and i agree, it didnt cover the rebuild near as well as you did.
  16. Moses, i was in a parts store today and spoke to a longtime friend who is also the manager. He said that a couple different companies originally came out with the universal cables for older or heavily modified vehicles, where the original cables weren't available, or the original cables wouldn't work because after modifications they were too short. He did say though that the universal cables haven't really been out that long.
  17. JJ, if you are only putting one or two wires on a marine terminal, stacking in that case would be ok, but as i have found in the past, if you stack too many wires on a marine terminal, it either wont get tight enough, and will vibrate loose, or will end up possibly crushing and breaking the smaller ring terminals due to vibration. If you are going to go the marine terminal route, i would recommend replacing the wing nut that comes with them with a Ny-Lock nut, because the wing nut rarely ever stays tight. In the case of needing 3 or more wires running from the battery, i would recommend using a positive lock battery terminal end. They can be purchased with anywhere from 4 to 8 connections in the terminal, and if you solder the end of the wire, then crimp it by tightening the set screw, they usually dont come lose easily. I used these style ends on both my current and my last Dakota, as well as on a 1999 Durango that had a winch, electric-hydraulic plow, 6 driving lights and large stereo, and even with the abuse from plowing large amounts of snow, and mild trail runs, and whatever other abuse i put it through, the wires never vibrated loose. I have enclosed a pic of the ones i normally use, which can be purchased at walmart, AutoZone, and most other parts stores for around $10 or $15 each. They come with the allen wrench needed for the set screws as well, and if you are like me, i always put them in an envelope in the glovebox, so i dont lose them.
  18. JJ, to add to your question about rebuilding your transmission, and also a minor note to Moses, unles you have considerable experience with the inner workings of any manual transmission, rebuilding the AX15 isnt something i would try myself unless Moses was standing over my shoulder watching. As some already know, i have a 1994 Dakota with an AX15, that had some issues, which is what first brought me to this forum. In finding the part i needed to fix mine, which i finally found a few days ago in the form of a used AX15 that had internal gear issues, i found that that transmission can be a bear to work on. All i was replacing was the extension housing on mine, which is the rear piece the transfer case and shift lever attach to, and just getting the one off the transmission i bought, even going by the pics and info Moses posted in his AX15 rebuild, it still wasn't easy to get apart. After finally getting that part off, i decided, since i have never taken one apart, and the one i had was mainly a parts transmission anyway, to go ahead and dissasemble the rest of it, just to see how everything worked inside, and even with all the info Moses posted, and all his help, i found that just taking that transmission apart isn't an easy task. Im not saying that you couldnt do it, but if you do, i would have a computer next to you, with Moses' write up already open on the screen, and be prepared for some unexpectedly heavy parts, and stubborn, hard to remove parts as well.
  19. ScramblingMan, welcome to the forums. When you say not getting fuel, do you mean it wasnt getting fuel into the carb from the pump, or that the carb was getting fuel, and it just wasnt flowing through the carb into the engine?
  20. A guess on the winches: They are used to haul workers and spare parts, such as light bulbs, up to the roof? Rarecj8, that is a really neat idea for a camping trailer and doesn't look like it would be hard to build. A couple questions, though. First what is the overall weight? And second, how long does it take on average to set up the tent?
  21. Now that school is quickly approaching, i thought i would share an idea that we use to get away for a day, or even overnight. This is something that is always for the most part unplanned. What we will do, usually on a weekend, is just take off and go for a drive. No destination in mind, no planning, and for the most part, no GPS or map. We try to travel to places we have never been, or maybe go somewhere that we have been, and then go from there. We pick an area of NY or PA that is within a few hours drive, so that we always know we will back for school and work in time, and head that way. If we don't make it to our destination, that is fine as well, and this is where the no GPS and no map come in, as well as making it interesting for everyone. We will head away from home, get to an area that looks like it might be interesting, and then try to get lost on as many back roads and out of the way places as we possibly can. We drive down a road, come to an intersection, and have someone pick a direction to turn. With 3 younger children, this also helps to keep them interested and cuts down on the "Are we there yet?" scenario. For us, we have found dirt roads that ended in seasonal use roads, found an old barely remembered fort, a hidden lighthouse, a defunct castle, a very old train bridge, a defunct and unused military base, a series of covered bridges, and even learned different ways to get back home. When you get tired in your travels, especially in the off season, hotel and motel rates are usually cheaper, which helps save money. Meals are sometimes a bit hard to find in some really out of the way places, but if you are truly lost, most GPS units will show you where lodging, fuel, and food are in relation to where you are at and your distance from those places. We have found over the years that in getting lost, you can find some interesting things you might otherwise never know in your area. A bit of caution, though. Always use your better judgement on these trips, because being that the area is new to you, you can get yourself stuck very easily. If you see a road that you dont think the conditions warrant traveling on, you can always turn around and try the next road. Getting stuck somewhere that you have no idea where you are can really put a damper on a trip! An example of this, a couple years ago, we took a trip like this, and after driving down a barely used seasonal road, instead of turning around when the road seemed to end, it looked to me like instead of the road ending, it just got narrower. Instead, we ended up driving on an ATV and snowmobile trail that was rutted and muddy, and had a couple very sharp turns, and almost got stuck, which in winter, in NY, would have been no fun at all. It also helps to find a local radio station, so that you can keep alert to weather and road conditions, accidents, impending storms, whatever the case may be. For the most part, though, it can fun a fun, interesting and rewarding way to get out of the house, and cure boredom, and if done right, isnt all that expensive depending on how far away from home you travel.
  22. One other thing i wanted to add. The last post i made about the universal cables, is that most are available for fairly reasonable prices. I have seen them as low as $12 or $13 around here at local parts stores, such as AutoZone. At some sources they may be more, but they are still fairly inexpensive, but a solid way of adressing the battery cable issue.
  23. In NY, we have companies that do steam cleaning of engine bays, whether it is a newer, oil free vehicle, or an older oil coated diesel truck. There are even companies that will wash ATV's, motorcycles, and snowmobiles for a fee, but the regulations on them being allowed to be washed in a car wash are lightening up quite a bit, due to club and group complaints and actions in the capital. Just opening the hood on a vehicle at a car wash can cause a visit from the state police, especially if the camera doesnt pick up the reason you opened the hood. I learned this first hand when i washed an older truck, and had to get under the hood to dry off the distributor cap because water got on it and it wouldnt start. The camera caught me opening the hood, but not why, and when i got home there was a state police investigator at my house. Luckily when i opened the hood, i was already done washing the truck, and didnt have the wand in my hand. Cleaning off of mud, road salt, and the like are acceptable at the car washes here, because, as one politician put it, that is what the car wash is for. Many people call NY a pseudo police state, because of things like this. As for dumping anything automotive related on the ground, if you are caught, it not only can result in hefty fines, but up to 10 years in prison as well. Even dumping old tires in NY can cause severe penalties.
  24. Tatman, i did find some limited info on the 1/2 and 3/4 ton scout and scout 2. The half ton scout and scout 2 have a 5 on 5 1/2, for all years, and the 3/4 ton is 8 on 6 1/2, for 1969-1984. Both the 1/2 and 3/4 ton use a 1/2 in lug stud. I couldnt seem to find backspacing or wheel center info though. It also looks like all years of the travelall use that same 5 on 5 1/2 bolt pattern as well. With that info, you can at least do a search on Road Kill Customs, and put in the bolt pattern, and get a list of wheels that may fit. A word of caution though, i was told that certain newer ford truck wheels the backspacing will work, but that they wont fit over the center of the front hub. Another bit of info i found, is that the backspacing for any wheel for the I-H can be no more than 3 3/4. Hopefully this helps steer you in the right direction.
  25. Moses, a thought on your idea of washing down the engine bay. In NY and PA, it is illegal to wash the engine bay, and some, depending on how dirty the truck bed is, wont allow you to wash inside the bed either. The reason is, at least around here, that most car washes recycle the water that is ran through the wash bays. Most have even taken to installing cameras, or have an attendant on duty, and will take down your license plate number, and will report you to authorities, which can result in fines, especially if they find any oily residues in the water. Some of the more strict ones also have restrictions on washing any recreational vehicle, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, large commercial trucks, and extremely muddy off road vehicles. It used to be just a few of the larger car washes, but now even the small out of the way places have signs forbidden washing certain things.
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