Page 1 of 1

My truck...

Posted: February 15th, 2015, 1:38 pm
by Eric P
I've fixed the problem of crud in the gas tank. It took a lot of trying, but I got there. And, I got the radiator off, to the radiator shop and back, reinstalled it and filled it to where the radiator core was covered. I lost a little bit of coolant and it's not lost any since. I adjusted the brakes so they work much better and the truck stops in a straight line. After a lot of searching, I found the problem with the rear lights. Someone drove a staple through a wire and actually managed to cut the wire inside the insulation. I fixed that. I installed a new brake light switch and now I have a brake light. It's acting like the front end is really out of alignment, so I'll have to fix that up and the sun visor disappeared in a wind storm, so I need to get a new one.

I'm not a mechanic, I'm not even a shade tree mechanic. But, I'm enjoying fixing it and I think I'm doing not half bad!

Re: My truck...

Posted: February 15th, 2015, 5:26 pm
by 1crosscut
Eric,
Nice looking truck. Glad to see that you are making progress and have been getting it back out on the road. I took a look at your original post on the forum and you mentioned the steering issues in that one as well. You need to get that sorted out so you can drive your truck without worry.
Lots of things can affect the steering. First off make sure the steering box is tight to the frame and then tighten the bolt that holds the steering arm onto the shaft from your steering box. You do not want any play in this connection.

Next get a helper that will be willing to sit in the cab and move the steering wheel back and forth for you while you crawl under the truck looking at absolutely everything that moves. What I mean by turning the wheel back and forth is to turn it just far enough that it doesn't actually turn the wheel but "bumps" the wheels just short of turning them. The person moving the steering wheel needs to be patient sort because you need to take your time to eyeball everything very carefully. Starting at the steering box look for any slop or looseness. Just a little bit here and there can and will cause troubles.

Some of the things to look for:
Movement in the ends of the drag link and tie rod ends.
Movement at the rear of the radus arms where they merge together and attach to the bottom of the bell housing.
Worn king pins.
Front wheel bearings loose.
Front sprng clamps loose where the spring is attached to the frame.
Brake backing plates not tight.
I'm sure others will jump in with stuff I've missed.
After you get all of the play out set the toe in.

Now that you found the problem on your brake light give it some thought on adding a second brake light. Might keep someone from driving up your tail pipe.

Glad you're having fun!

Re: My truck...

Posted: February 17th, 2015, 1:46 pm
by spectria
1crosscut wrote:Eric,
Nice looking truck. Glad to see that you are making progress and have been getting it back out on the road. I took a look at your original post on the forum and you mentioned the steering issues in that one as well. You need to get that sorted out so you can drive your truck without worry.
Lots of things can affect the steering. First off make sure the steering box is tight to the frame and then tighten the bolt that holds the steering arm onto the shaft from your steering box. You do not want any play in this connection.

Next get a helper that will be willing to sit in the cab and move the steering wheel back and forth for you while you crawl under the truck looking at absolutely everything that moves. What I mean by turning the wheel back and forth is to turn it just far enough that it doesn't actually turn the wheel but "bumps" the wheels just short of turning them. The person moving the steering wheel needs to be patient sort because you need to take your time to eyeball everything very carefully. Starting at the steering box look for any slop or looseness. Just a little bit here and there can and will cause troubles.

Some of the things to look for:
Movement in the ends of the drag link and tie rod ends.
Movement at the rear of the radus arms where they merge together and attach to the bottom of the bell housing.
Worn king pins.
Front wheel bearings loose.
Front sprng clamps loose where the spring is attached to the frame.
Brake backing plates not tight.
I'm sure others will jump in with stuff I've missed.
After you get all of the play out set the toe in.

Now that you found the problem on your brake light give it some thought on adding a second brake light. Might keep someone from driving up your tail pipe.

Glad you're having fun!
Great advice Dave!

Re: My truck...

Posted: February 20th, 2015, 10:50 pm
by Eric P
I didn't think of that, a second brake light. I'll see what I can do.

A buddy of mine just offered to sit in the truck and turn the steering wheel for me, so I think tomorrow I can get started on the steering. I don't want to take it on the street. right now.

Thanks!!!!

Re: My truck...

Posted: February 24th, 2015, 1:21 pm
by Stakebed
yea i wouldn't take it on the street until you got the steering checked out, loosing forward motion or the ability to stop it is one thing but if you loose directional control you don't have many options to avoid an accident...

looks like a great truck tho, i too would highly consider adding a brake light especially considering how slow these trucks go.

their actually pretty easy to add on an AA as the frame is already drilled for the mounting holes, just need a taillight bracket, taillight, and some wire piggybacking off the other side to do it.

Re: My truck...

Posted: February 24th, 2015, 4:49 pm
by KimVanOrder
May as well do the turn signals at the same time. Another few bucks of switch, wire and lights and you got it. I built my own istead of spending the big bucks on a purchased system.

KVO