http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php en Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:56:29 GMT vBulletin 60 http://coloradok5.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=638 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:28:07 GMT I few things I've collected include a D60, D70HD, SM465, and a NP205.






Lots and lots to do. :doah:

Got started removing the massive drums from the hub. Having a press makes life a whole lot easier.




That's about all I've been able to do here lately. I still have to finish assembling the L59.

Current plans are 5.3, SM465, 203/205 doubler, D60, D70HD, and 42" bias Iroks. But knowing me that can change at any moment. ]]> Kjunky5 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=638 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=637 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:28:35 GMT Image: http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs109.ash2/38769_417795394370_198311934370_4387324_4126627_n.jpg Image: http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp130/bgkyk5/Wishbone%208-14-10/IMG_0785.jpg Image: http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp130/bgkyk5/Wishbone%208-14-10/IMG_0778.jpg ...

















I had AJMBlazer, KJunky5 and his girlfriend along to spot for me and sweat their brains out too.

(Minor) Damage Report:

-dent in rear bumper
-minor dents on front fenders from contact with tires (I must have the axle in the perfect spot, cause the tires hit both the front and rear of the inner fenders. :D)
-paint damage from brake fluid pouring out of the MC (presumably when I was nose up)

Near Future Upgrades:

-Hydro Assist (to get the steering to move :rolleyes: - also add a PS cooler)
-Bump Stops (I used all 5" of uptravel in the front shocks, bump stops would help keep from bottoming the shocks and keep the tires out of the fenders)
-Larger Bore MC (long pedal travel with one ton front brakes and the stock MC - also better sealing lid and prolly hydro-boost)
-Attach the stereo and speakers so they don't keep falling out all over the place. :doah:
-Move the trans temp sensor so it actually measures hot ATF. :doah:

Distant Future Upgrades:

-Winch (eventually, if I can't find another way up that one hill)
-OBA (to air up afterwards - I just drove the 20 minutes home with 9-10 PSI instead of messing with my little compressor)
-Stronger Front and Rear Bumpers (to fend off surprise attacks from the trees)
-Truck Box (to hold my stuff instead of lashing it to the rear seat)
-Upgrade front drive shaft (it's still stock, I'm surprised it didn't come apart at the slip yoke)
...etc. etc. etc. ]]> BGKYK5 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=637 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=635 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:27:22 GMT A bunch of people are running Ford Stupid Duty shock mounts up front. They work great, but there have been reports of them pulling bolts through the frame and it can be tough to clear the steering shaft. So I decided to use Stupid Duty shock mounts... with a little BGKYK5 tweak. Step 1.... A bunch of people are running Ford Stupid Duty shock mounts up front. They work great, but there have been reports of them pulling bolts through the frame and it can be tough to clear the steering shaft.

So I decided to use Stupid Duty shock mounts... with a little BGKYK5 tweak.


Step 1. Acquire a couple Stupid Duty shock mounts. You can get them at a junk yard, from a CK5er or from your friendly neighborhood Ford parts counter (PN E5TZ-18183-A)

Step 2. Acquire some steel. I got a foot of 2"X6"x3/16" rectangular tube. You'll need 6" for each side. If you can get 2"x6" angle, get that.

You should now have two sets of these:



Step 3. Cut the 2"x6" tube to make a 2"x6" L shape like this. Save yourself a little work, and keep the side without the seam.



Step 4. Remove the brake line bracket, trim it, flip it over, and weld it to the bump stop bracket.

Before:



After:



Yes, it is an ugly weld, but it is stronger than the brake line. ;)

Step 5. Remove these bolts:



Step 6. Notch your 2"x6" piece of steel to clear the brake line. I notched it so it could slide all the way up to the forward motor mount braket bolt on top of the frame (you just removed the rear one) without hitting the brake line. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the corner of the notch before cutting to provide a nice radius there.



Step 7. Drill out these holes to clear a 1/2" bolt. You will use the slotted hole in the frame as well, but it is already large enough. Drill matching holes in your 2"x6" L as well as a hole for the top motor mount bracket bolt (which is 7/16).



Step 8. Grab your Stupid Duty shock mount, measure half a dozen times, trim a little and test fit again. Repeat many times until you have this:



Step 9. Tack weld them together and test fit again. When you are happy with it, weld it solid and knock off any sharp corners/edges. Mine are leaned back at about a 10 degree angle. I left a little gap in the weld to clear the bolt washer on one side and had to grind the weld a little on the other side. I had to drill out the shock bolt hole in the Stupid Duty mount to fit the shock bolt too.



Step 10. Now take your scrap pieces from the 2"x6" rectangular tube and cut a backing plate for two of the bolts (the other two go through the motor mount bracket).



Step 11. To keep the shock eye bolts parallel, I cut off the lower shock mounts and welded on some of my favorite Ruff Stuff mounts. Mount these as far outboard as you can get them. Mine are right up against the inner "C" and welded to both the inner "C" and axle tube. I never understood why people mount thier shocks to the top of the axle. This way is just as protected, helps prevent axle wrap (a little), and it keeps your shock tower about half as tall for half the leverage on the frame.



Step 12. Install your brackets and shocks. :D You will have to trim the inner fender on the passenger side.







I am using 15" travel Rancho 9000s up front with about 4" of lift and about 4 1/2" of up travel.

The tricky part of the whole process is keeping the shocks and mounts out of the steering shaft and spring plates. This method allows you to set the back of the Stupid Duty mount inboard of the face of the frame. I set the driver's side about 1/4" further inboard than the passenger's side to clear the steering shaft. The extra clearance on the passenger's side helps clear the larger spring plate on that side. The shock body gets pretty close to the spring plate on the driver's side. I may have to trim it. You also end up pretty close the evaporator housing on the passenger side if you have AC, but it is easier to miss than the steering shaft on the driver's side.

You will also have to slightly tweak the brake line and fuel tank vent line running down the passenger's side frame rail to clear the two bolts that go through the backing plate.

Two of the bolts on each side tie into the motor mount brackets and the other two have a generous backing plate. There are also bolts in two different planes and angles for stiffness in two different planes. I am much more confident with this setup than I would be just putting two bolts through the Stupid Duty mounts and the frame. I thought about adding a second bolt on top of the frame rail, but didn't want to drill another hole in the frame. There is a hole that could work on the passenger side, but that would require recontouring the bracket to match the bend in the frame. I decided that was too much work for too little gain. ]]> BGKYK5 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=635 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=634 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:57:44 GMT To give my 700R4 a fighting chance in the summer heat, it was time to put in a trans cooler. I also have had a Perma-Cool trans filter kit sitting in my garage for longer than I have owned the Blazer, so I decided to toss that in as well. I decided to mount the external trans filter on the... To give my 700R4 a fighting chance in the summer heat, it was time to put in a trans cooler. I also have had a Perma-Cool trans filter kit sitting in my garage for longer than I have owned the Blazer, so I decided to toss that in as well.

I decided to mount the external trans filter on the passenger side battery tray.



A hand full of brass fittings and I even have a spot for the trans temp sender. Of course the right fitting adapter is only available from AutoMeter. I discovered that after visiting Home Depot, Lowes, Advanced Auto, Napa, and a bunch of websites. :doah: I ordered mine from Summit - it shipped today.

I am going to splice into the hard lines with compression fittings. Of course 5/16" compression fittings are not available locally. I discovered that after another visit to Home Depot, Lowes, Advanced Auto, and Napa. But they have 1/4" and 3/8" everywhere. :doah::doah: I ordered mine from McMaster - they shipped today.

I had a spare oil cooler from the '89 I parted out that I planned to use as a trans cooler. I read that the fittings were 1/2" pipe. They are not. They are some funky o-ring fitting that is not available anywhere. I discovered that after yet another visit to Home Depot, Lowes, Advanced Auto, Napa, a radiator shop, and an industrial plumbing shop. :doah::doah::doah: So I punted and got a generic stacked plate cooler.


To mount it, I used the brackets from the old oil cooler (they are just pop-riveted on). Cut to length. drill a few holes and viola:



That's it on the passenger side. The stock oil cooler is on the driver's side.

How many heat exchangers do you have in your truck? Probably more than you think. I have:

1. Radiator
2. AC Evaporator
3. AC Condenser
4. Heater Core
5. Oil Cooler
6. Stock Trans Cooler (in radiator)
7. Aftermarket Trans Cooler
8. PS Cooler (under rad)

Here is the filter installed in the truck:



With the intake ducting in place you can hardly see it. Yes, the filter is removable without unbolting anything. It is tight, but possible.

Yes, I need new battery cables.

I wanted to use braided line and AN fittings, bit that would run $100 plus for the plumbing. So I went cheap. After all my running around and buying a bunch of fittings I can't use, if I did it again, I'd go with braided line and AN fittings.

Final install pic:



I had a 50/50 chance of getting the plumbing right, so of course I got it wrong. :doah:I wanted the ATF to go from the trans to the filter/temp sender, then through the cooler, then through the radiator, and finally back to the trans. I hooked it up exactly opposite of that. It was six to one, half a dozen to the other whether I was going to go through the cooler or rad first, but I definitely wanted the temp sender on the hot side. I'll leave it the way it is for now, but it will be on my list of things to fix. ]]> BGKYK5 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=634 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=633 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 18:30:17 GMT Image: http://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp130/bgkyk5/Front%20Shock%20Mounts/IMG_0700.jpg More info when I finish the other side.

More info when I finish the other side. ]]> BGKYK5 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=633 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=632 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:46:50 GMT Unfortunately not to Yellowstone, but my family and I are out of here for a while. Heading up to our campground sometime this morning, returning, well I haven't really decided when we are coming back.

We have a set of passes that my Dad got a discount on so that we can go to Lagoon park for a day. Saved us about $40 on the passes, and that isn't too shabby when you look at the total cost at full price.

We are planning to pick up an Instant Hot Shower to use while we are up there. Should make a nice addition to the comforts of the new trailer, plus it does help to have a shower on occasion when camping.

Other than that, we are just planning on having a nice relaxing week away from phones, internet, and nosey obnoxious liberal friends.:D

See you all whenever I get back, and I promise to have some new pics to show off. ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=632 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=631 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:32:44 GMT Since finishing the trans in Krusty I have been taking longer and longer drives to ensure everything is working properly. Well, after yesterday I know that something is wrong. I don't have a clue what yet, but it is too close to Yellowstone and I had to cancel the trip.

Yesterday we had to come into Salt Lake for a family dinner/get together, and since the AC hasn't been fixed in the van and I needed a longer trip with Krusty we took her in. There is an area that we come through that you climb a small hill, about 200 feet up, then descend down a couple miles later. Everything was fine until we started the downhill side. About half way down the trans kicked out of 3rd into basically neutral. Nothing I tried seemed to engage it until I shifted to neutral and then dropped it back into drive. Then it locked into 3rd and stayed there.

On the way home it appeared that everything was working fine, until we got back into town and were coming up Main at 40 MPH, and it shifted down into 2nd and didn't shift back into 3rd until we turned to come to the house.

I apparently fixed the problems it was having, but screwed something else up. It may be the use of a non-lockup converter on the lockup trans, it may be some other odd thing, I just don't know enough about autos to say for sure. And, I am not going to risk taking it on a 600+ mile round trip with a trailer attached. Blazinzuk is going to talk to a buddy of his that builds them and see what he thinks. I am also trying to see if I can get in touch with my BIL's buddy that does them as well.

So, all that being said, my wife and I are still scheduled off beginning next week. I talked to my Dad and he is going to tow our trailer up to our property in Ogden canyon, and then we will go up next Thursday and stay the week. Yeah, it isn't Yellowstone, but at least it is away from the city, internet, cell phones, and all the other distractions.

However, in order to do this I need to do a bit of work to the Safari, including repairing the AC. Temps are still supposed to be hovering in the 90's next week, and I doubt they will go down much after that. I also need to finish loading the trailer, which would have been done anyway. I need to fill the propane tank, which is something I already needed done, as well as get a battery installed since we won't have power like I had planned. I need to get a tire repaired today as well.

I have come to the conclusion that there is some force in Yellowstone that doesn't want me there. This is the third time that I have had a chance to go up there, and the third time I have had something get in the way. Guess it just isn't meant to be. But at least we can still have some fun!

Will update more, some day... ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=631 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=629 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:50:09 GMT Trying hard to stay busy, but it hasn't been easy with temps above or near 100 for the last few days. But I did get some pics of the LED setup for the tail lights, and I completed a seal job on the covers for the extenders on the trailer.

Cover with new 3/4" foam rubber weatherstrip:


Installed looking at the bed side of the cover:

Installed looking at the main side panel side of the trailer:

LED tail lights with LED license plate light:

And finally the tail light with the stock lens installed. Sorry no pics of them lit up, I will get some just didn't want to move Krusty around to do it:


More work is getting done this week. Most likely I will stay awake in the mornings a couple days to take advantage of the cooler temps before it gets hot for the day. Sitting on 10 days before we leave, and it sure feels like I have a long ways to go. ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=629 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=628 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:47:12 GMT So, just when things were really looking up, something just has to go wrong. :doah:

Tuesday night my wife sent me a text just after I got to work. Simple text "There is a big puddle of water under the washing machine". :doah:

Now, I can't complain too much, I bought that washer about 11.5 years ago, and it has never had a single issue before this. Prior to that, we had bought a matched Whirlpool washer and dryer, and the washer lasted just over a year. We were in a fairly secure place financially, so my Dad helped us buy the washer a week before I got paid then I paid him back. It was a very nice Kenmore Super Capacity Plus washer, and it was pretty quiet at the time. It has been moved a few times, dropped on at least two occasions, and has been making a tapping noise for about 5 years when it would be spinning or draining. :crazy: Needless to say it wasn't unexpected, I had just hoped that we could put it off until early next year.

This obviously left me a in a bad spot, since I know how expensive the laundromat would be for our family. We first went to Sears and found a really nice top loading Whirlpool Cabrio, selling for about $870. We applied for credit, but of course we don't qualify. Two thoughts crossed my mind at this point, one we could cancel Yellowstone and pay cash for the washer this weekend. Or two, we could go to Aaron's down the street and see what they had and what we could do to possibly save Yellowstone.

When we got there I talked to familiar sales guys (my mattress and TV were purchased from this store) and told them what we were looking for. They had this washer and dryer in a used set for about $100 a month. That price included the pedestals with storage drawers. Yes they are used, but our plan is to just rent them for the next few months, then go buy the set we really like at Sears. The problem with these is that the door on the washer is non-reversible, and because our washer sits to our right. Not a big deal since you can reverse the door on the dryer, but the washer not having this capability puts the door into the way when you are moving the clothes over to the dryer. They are very, very, very quiet running, and the timing appears to be very close between the washer and dryer. In fact we ran a load of towels through the washer, then the dryer, and the towels were dry faster than the washer had finished. Nice and clean too! Should save us a bit of money on the water and gas bills as well. The washer is a Energy Star rated High Efficiency unit, and uses very little water. But even running at high speed spin you can barely hear it, unless the furnace is running then you can't hear the washer at all.

The best part of all this is that Aaron's had a deal going on that allowed us to put off making the first months payment until Saturday, and they delivered them the same day. :bow:

Now you may be wondering why I bought a set when only the washer died, right?

Well the dryer we have was purchased used just after we got married. I paid about $100 for it, and have replaced the rollers and the heating element in it. That's pretty good for a dryer that was built in the late 80's, and we got a good 12.5+ years out of it. It still works, but the lint screen has some holes in it, and it just doesn't dry like it used to. So, I made the decision to go ahead and get a matched set, and replace the tired old dryer at the same time. My wife is super happy, and will be even happier if the clothes are cared for as much better as she is expecting.

So, we get to go to Yellowstone, and we were able to get the appliances we need.:bow:

Will update more as I do things actually related to this site. ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=628 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=627 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:08:09 GMT As of right now, Krusty is out of my garage and operating well. Now, how long will it last? I really don't have an answer to that, but it sure seems to be doing well now.

Took her for a longer drive Sat night and everything seemed to work well. Ran into passing gear and back out without issue. Shifts are nice and crisp, no slipping is evident. :bow:

Brakes are bled out and work better than they ever have. Not really surprising when you realize the calipers and pads are new, while the rear shoes, springs and hardware, and wheel cylinders are also new. Both rear brakelines on the axle housing have been replaced as well.:D Basically a new braking system front and rear.

Still need to finish up seats in Krusty, but that is pretty easy and will be done this week.

Got the lighting all set up in the trailer, and tested while connected to Krusty. The LED setup I created works well, and is easily visible in bright sunlight.

Tested the water system in the trailer as well, and found a leak.:doah: Not a big deal, it was on the one way valve that prevents city water from overfilling the storage tank. I removed the valve and the hand pump works well. :D

Also levelled the end beds, since they have never been properly adjusted. Or at the least it appeared they hadn't been done. They now sit nice and level and the side panels sit the way they are supposed to sit.

Next up is the seats in Krusty, clean Krusty out, and buy a new battery for her. Then I will take the other new battery out and put it into the trailer so we have lighting in Yellowstone.

At this point I cannot believe that anything would stop us from going to Yellowstone. This trip should happen in about 2.5 weeks, and I am very excited about it. Been running the numbers and I think I can do the trip up and back on a single tank of gas each way. At least based on past experience when towing. Obviously this new trailer is bigger, so I may not be able to pull it off. I am certainly going to try though.:D

I still need to replace some more living hinge on the trailer. That is a pretty easy operation and will be done this week. I am also going to try to get time to tear Krusty's hubs down and grease the bearings up.

Will update if something warrants it. ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=627 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=626 Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:13:30 GMT Even when it is very little progress.

Took Krusty out for another short drive Saturday, but I still haven't managed to get the air bled out of the brakes. A buddy of mine is coming over later today to help me bleed the master cylinder first, then the rest of the system.

Also finished up the LED lights on the rear of the camper. I need to get a couple pictures to show off my planning, but it worked better than expected. When I planned this I had a rough measurement of the area inside the stock lenses, but not exact. I found these tail lights and this license plate lamp and they fit inside the existing lenses. I checked them in bright daylight and they are clearly visible as tail or stop/turn. I was a bit concerned because they are behind a second red lense, but it doesn't seem to have any real effect. It did however point out that the trailer light connector is worn out and needs to be redone, well not really worn out just screwed up by the PO. The PO had stuck the stripped wire ends into the female side bullet connectors on the flat 4 connector. Not the proper male bullet connector, just stripped bare wires pushed into the connector. This will be fixed this week, after I pick up a 7 prong connector so I no longer need an adaptor on my truck.

So the new wheel cylinder is in, the brakes are somewhat bled, but need a lot more work. I have 90w oil at home, but need to get under her to get it into the transfer case. The pinion bearing was not bad after all, and there is no movement after I installed the new pinion seal and tightened the pinion nut down much tighter than it had been. There was almost no tension on the nut, so that may have contributed to what my buddy saw when he thought the bearing was bad. I have one seat drilled, but still need to put the new grade 8 bolts/nuts/washers into place to hold it down, then do the other side. I have to adjust the vacuum feed line to the modulator, since it appears to be leaking a bit. Finally, I need to re-install the boot assembly for the 4x4 shifter, and see if I can connect the indicator light plug that was damaged when I dropped the TC out. If not I am not too worried, wouldn't be the first vehicle I ever owned without that working.

All in all I thought I had a pretty good weekend. Saturday morning I took the kids to the parade (this is Utah the the 4th is not celebrated on Sunday:haha:), and just as we got there my brother was loading his kids onto the fire truck, and took mine with him. So they had a blast in the parade giving out candy and squirting people. Later I took them to the party at the park, and they got to play around some and check out some very nice cars. Finally we all watched the fireworks and went home a lit a few ourselves.:D

This week is going to be a bit slow on updates, not like it hasn't been anyway. My hope is to get the brakes bled tonight and take her out for a long enough drive to get the trans up to temp and then verify fluid levels. It would also be nice to get her up to highway speeds and see how the trans works. I don't believe I got a lockup torque converter, and I don't know what effect that will have with my lockup t350.

I have to do the rewire of the trailer plug, kill a wasp nest inside, do a bit of cleanup, and then partially close it up to get the tongue work done as far as battery mounted up and probably a new coat of paint. Finally after that is done we can load it up and then close it down all the way. I want to try to get the marker lights setup with LEDs, but don't know if I will get that far.

Will let you know how things go. ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=626 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=625 Sun, 04 Jul 2010 01:29:56 GMT Moved into the new house in May. Opens up a couple doors for projects now. Debadged the Sierra is about all I've done in a while. Good things on the way :whistle: ]]> Kjunky5 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=625 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=624 Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:11:10 GMT Friday: Got the transmission installed and crossmember in place. I would have gotten more done but thing kept coming up that kept me away from her. Saturday: Much worse day than Friday. First I found out that when lifting the trans into place, the torque converter slid forward enough to come... Friday: Got the transmission installed and crossmember in place. I would have gotten more done but thing kept coming up that kept me away from her.

Saturday: Much worse day than Friday. First I found out that when lifting the trans into place, the torque converter slid forward enough to come off the pump tangs, and then got wedged against the flywheel. I had no help this day, so I loosened the bellhousing bolts and removed the two trans mount bolts then slid it back enough to get it free. Once it was seated I tightened the bellhousing bolts back up. I then connected the shift linkage, the torque converter lockup wire, vacuum modulator, and the detent cable. Finally I sealed the pan up with the new rubber gasket. I didn't have any help, and I needed it to do the transfer case. While I couldn't do that, I went ahead and installed a new u-joint in the pinion side of the rear driveline.

Sunday: My buddy stopped by in the morning and helped me button her up. We got the transfer case in place and bolted down tight, then hooked up the shifter for it. After that he hooked up the trans lines and I installed the rear driveline. When hooking it up I noticed there is some play in the pinion yoke. Most likely a bad bearing, and I can only hope that is all it is. I will be tearing this down sometime this week to see how bad it is. Finally I filled the trans with a couple quarts and fired up the engine. Then I slowly added up to a total of 10 quarts and checked the dipstick and it showed about half a quart low. Tried forward and reverse gears, and after getting fluid to them, it locks right into gear.:D I cleaned up the area a bit, then carefully inched her out past the trailer in the driveway, and took her for a short spin. She shifts nice and firm, and goes through all the gears. :bow:

This week I have to accomplish:

1. Install LED lighting in trailer tail lights.
2. Level end beds on trailer.
3. Install new wheel cylinder in drivers side rear.
4. Remove pinion yoke and see how bad it is.
5. Install new bearing and seal in pinion (if that is all that is wrong. If it is more I may call off Yellowstone or try to find me a set of 8 lug 33's to run on the rear and I will swap to my 3/4 ton axle.)
6. Install 'new' front seats in Krusty.
7. Drain transfer case and fill with fresh 90w.
8. Possibly pull rear diff cover and refill with fresh 90w. Will have to see how bad pinion is.

I am hoping to possibly take the trailer out camping Friday night with the kids. It will of course depend on the pinion problem. This does however explain why I appeared to be losing that u-joint too fast. My hope is it is just the front bearing and I can get it to hold together until after Yellowstone. I have put a ton of work into getting her running, and I would hate to call it off now.

I will say that I feel really good about the transmission after having taken her for a short drive. The shifting is better than it has been for the 4 years I have owned her. :bow: Nice crisp, fairly firm (I didn't have the money for a shift kit) shifts. No more slipping into gear, and engagement of gears is rock solid even when cold.:bow: Not sure I would want to do it again, but it is nice to know that it can be done fairly easily with basic handtools in a home garage.

I will update later this week when I get the pinion yoke off and see what the damages are. I am hoping to do the lighting and beds on the trailer later today while my wife is out at a meeting for work.
]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=624 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=623 Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:22:12 GMT After a heroic battle, and a huge push at the end, I failed to have the drivetrain installed before I came to work tonight.:doah: As of right now the trans is fully assembled. I need to fill the torque converter with fluid and put it on the trans, then re-install everything in Krusty. I... After a heroic battle, and a huge push at the end, I failed to have the drivetrain installed before I came to work tonight.:doah:

As of right now the trans is fully assembled. I need to fill the torque converter with fluid and put it on the trans, then re-install everything in Krusty.

I had to tear the forward clutch drum down after I got it all installed. I realized I had left the wave spring out of it, it isn't used in the other drum. After installing it I didn't have enough freeplay in the clutch pack so I had to remove one friction to get that freeplay.

Right now I am nervous as hell, and will be until I can get it installed Friday. It really shouldn't take long to install, then install TC and rear driveline. Once I get to that point I can begin filling the trans and find out how bad I screwed this up. :( Maybe I will get lucky and not have it screwed up at all and it will work, then again my luck hasn't been so good for a while and I have no reason to think this will be any different.:crazy:

Keep your fingers crossed that I have done this right. If not I will probably have to cancel the Yellowstone trip, or risk taking the Safari and hope the trans in it holds up.

I will update again this weekend when I know what is up. ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=623 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=622 Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:36:54 GMT Ok, so my buddy came over and helped me rig up a tool to pull the low and reverse clutch piston. This allowed me to replace the three seals on it, and then re-assemble. As of right now about half the case is re-assembled. I need to install a snap ring on the end of the output shaft that holds... Ok, so my buddy came over and helped me rig up a tool to pull the low and reverse clutch piston. This allowed me to replace the three seals on it, and then re-assemble.

As of right now about half the case is re-assembled. I need to install a snap ring on the end of the output shaft that holds one set of planetary gears in, then replace another set of clutches after compressing the spring.

I am pretty well done for the night, and will start back up early tomorrow morning. Don't know if I will make it as far as I would have liked, but I should be close. Anything not done will get done this weekend while I am again off work.

Will update again tomorrow before or after I get to work.

Edit: I still have two clutch packs to replace, both have spring setups that I will have to compress. I should be able to use the arbor press my buddy lent me to press the springs down, pull the snap rings and re-install after cleaning and clutch replacement. ]]> lectric80 http://coloradok5.com/forums/blog.php?b=622