Daddyjeep Hauler - 85 K30 crew cab short bed

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by NastyBuzzard

What did you use to scale the photos? My method is about the same as yours.

I used Photoshop, but I suppose any basic photo editor would work just fine.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Don't take this wrong, but this description is exactly what I get when the fuel filter is loaded up. I have no doubt of your mechanical ability being beyond mine but I've spent big money fixing the complicated problem before and then found out later that the little fix mighta done it.

Well.... you were right. The issue continued to get worse so I pulled the filter and dumped it out and it had tons of black sand like stuff. There was one short piece of hose that I didn't replace that is breaking down and plugging my filter. All better now.

Not a whole lot new. My headlight switch just failed on me. I got a new one and the plug crumbled while I was changing it so I got a new one of those too. I just need to get that wired in now. I will add a couple pics if that process since there are a few things I need to figure out, I might as well share what I learned.

I picked up some new (Used) tires too. I was getting tires on my Cobalt and there was a stack of tires sitting at the shop. I asked if they were for sale and picked up all 4 for $80. They are bigger than I was going to run, but I couldn't leave them there for that price.



315-75 16, so they are basically 35-12.50's

[MTCK]

Looks good! Remember that guy who said “I wish I got smaller tires?” Me either.

[daddyjeep]

Not a whole lot new here yet. I finally got my headlights working again. It turned out that the dimmer switch was the problem.

The timing chain tensioner failed in my Cobalt this week so I have been driving the truck to work. Luckily I parked the Cobalt in time and did not destroy the engine. Since I have been running the truck enough I finally figured out the mileage.... a whopping 8.36 mpg. I need to get the Cobalt back together this weekend. $100 a week to get to work isn't going to cut it for long. To continue my good luck I blew the motor in the lawn tractor last night too. It was a 15 year old box store John Deere so it outlasted it's life expectancy anyway.

There is at least a little bit of good news.... I picked up a 9k two post lift.

[daddyjeep]

Well, my luck continues... the right front brake is hanging up now on the truck. Will be tearing into that after work tonight.

Got the Cobalt back on the road and everything worked great.... for a while. I started getting timing chain noise again after about 15 miles. ugh.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's no bueno on the Cobalt. Hopefully the truck caliper is just from setting and no big deal.

[daddyjeep]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That's no bueno on the Cobalt. Hopefully the truck caliper is just from setting and no big deal.

You have no idea. shortly after typing the last message I tried to start the Cobalt to go home and it will no longer run. That most likely means it jumped time and bent all of my valves.

I bought a new caliper for the truck. They are cheap enough it isn't even worth messing with. Instead of installing said new caliper I spent the evening in the ER getting my finger glued back together. I got my finger tangled up between the cooling fins and the magneto while trying to get the push mower to run.

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm sending good luck thoughts. I hope you receive them. You need them my friend.

[MTCK]

Crap hope you are better soon and all the car gremlins get sorted.

[daddyjeep]

Thanks guys. Last night was much better. Anyone know how to type sarcasm? It just doesn't seem to show up in text. Anyway, I was hooking up the trailer to return the borrowed lawn tractor and found a puddle under the wife's Jeep. It lost a brake line. Not a big deal, but just another thing on the list.

I went ahead and installed the new caliber on the truck and got the brakes bled. Backing out of the shop the brakes felt better than ever.... then I tried to go forward. That didn't go so well. The right rear does not want to move. The wife's Jeep is first on the list because she needs it to deliver mail tomorrow.


To Be Continued...

[Dieselwrencher]

Sorry to hear about your finger! Darn brake issues. Blame the liquid rust. Haha People keep telling me it'll get better so just keep plugging along and stay positive. Have a great weekend!

[daddyjeep]

Still dealing with the right rear brake. As soon as I touch the brake pedal there is a rather loud and easily felt thunk in the right rear. After this the brake is dragging, but not before. I guess I have some more digging to do. I'm going to paste this that I found through a search for reference.


Are your leading and lagging/trailing shoes installed in the correct positions?



Incorrect positioning of the lead/trail shoes was identified - in a GM memo to their dealer service techs - as the number one cause of a rear (drum) brake grabbing condition.

Since the steel shoes are identical (only the length of the lining material differs) a full axle set - consisting of 2 leading shoes & 2 trailing shoes - can be wrongly installed in three different ways:

1. Lead and lag reversed on one wheel - but correctly installed on the other wheel.

2. Lead and lag reversed on both wheels.

3. Both leads installed on one wheel and both lags on the other.

Only in the first combination will the issue manifest itself in just one brake set. In either of the other two scenarios, both brake sets will be prone to grabbing.

The relevant parts of the GM service bulletin:

Shoes/Linings incorrectly installed.

Each side should have a leading and trailing shoe. The lining surface on the trailing shoe will be slightly larger than the lining surface on the leading shoe. The trailing shoes should be installed in the rear position on each side, while the leading shoes are installed in the front position on each side. If the shoe positions are reversed, the braking performance will be very grabby and prone to wheel lockup.

The rest of the causes in order by percentage of total:

Brake linings contaminated with brake fluid or gear oil.
Incorrect shoe size or type.
Loose or broken brake lining.
Brake shoe adjustment too tight or too loose.
Weak or broken return springs.


What to Check For


Look for the following common mistakes:

Leading and trailing shoes are reversed.
Both leading shoes are installed on one side while both trailing shoes are installed on the other side.
Inspect the wheel cylinders for signs of leakage or sticking, replace or rebuild as necessary.
Inspect the axle seals for signs of leakage. Gear oil leaking from the axle seal will usually be indicated by a spray pattern starting at the center of the drum and spreading outwards. If any signs of gear oil leakage are found, the shoes and seal should be replaced.
NOTE: Leakage at the axle seals is often caused by worn wheel bearings. If the vehicle has high mileage, it is recommended to replace the wheel bearing along with the axle seal.

Inspect all brake springs and replace if any appear worn or distorted.
Inspect shoes for correct fit with drum and backing-plate.
Inspect brake lining for cracks, missing pieces or poor bonding to shoes.
Check for proper adjustment, readjust as necessary.



Note:

The image above has a couple of flaws:

1. It shows a greatly exaggerated difference in set back at the top of the linings

2. It also shows the same big difference at the bottom - in reality there is no difference in set-back at the bottom. Lead and trail look the same at the bottoms of the shoes.

Below are some images of an NOS brake assembly that show the actual configurations.

Top:



Bottom:




I apologize if you were already aware of the lead/trail difference and have already checked and eliminated that as a possible cause. This info may be helpful to someone else in the future.

[daddyjeep]

Well, since no one offered any advice I will just have to update what I have found. After pulling the drums a couple times and verifying everything I have come to the conclusion that the right side adjuster may be backwards. I guess I will tear it apart one more time. Ultimately the clunking and locking up were being caused by the brakes just being out of adjustment. Once adjusted properly everything worked great ... for a while. It seems that the right side is getting loose after a few miles so the adjuster must be removing the tension on the drum instead of maintaining tension. We shall see.

[Ol Blue K20]

Wrong adjuster?

[daddyjeep]

Wow.... where have I been? I fought with the brake on the truck for way too long. I finally came out on top and can drive my truck again. After countless attempts and dozens of conversations with knowledgeable guys I ended up cutting the adjuster arm in half so the brakes can't over adjust themselves any more. I know it is not the correct solution, but nothing worked and I just had enough. I ended up borrowing a truck to drag the Jeep to the Jeep festival again. The Jeep didn't do so well either. After many hours of crunch time getting the new drive train working correctly it just didn't work out. The 4L60E was not fully wired and apparently it doesn't work so well without powering all of the solenoids... who knew. I just brought home a TH350 so no need to deal with that anymore.

New truck news, I picked up a used 4" lift from a buddy for nuthin. I just need to get me some shocks. I also picked up a nice set of used 33's that will work better than the 35's.

[Dieselwrencher]

Sorry to hear about the Jeep issues. It's always something isn't it? Nice score on the lift though!

[COS399]

Originally Posted by daddyjeep

Wow.... where have I been? I fought with the brake on the truck for way too long. I finally came out on top and can drive my truck again. After countless attempts and dozens of conversations with knowledgeable guys I ended up cutting the adjuster arm in half so the brakes can't over adjust themselves any more. I know it is not the correct solution, but nothing worked and I just had enough. I ended up borrowing a truck to drag the Jeep to the Jeep festival again. The Jeep didn't do so well either. After many hours of crunch time getting the new drive train working correctly it just didn't work out. The 4L60E was not fully wired and apparently it doesn't work so well without powering all of the solenoids... who knew. I just brought home a TH350 so no need to deal with that anymore.

New truck news, I picked up a used 4" lift from a buddy for nuthin. I just need to get me some shocks. I also picked up a nice set of used 33's that will work better than the 35's.

I was working on rear brakes on my 81 K5 project and had a similar issue with the adjuster on the driver side and determined that the spring on the emergency brake cable had lost just enough strength and was hanging up to cause all my problems. It was definitely a frustrating time for me. Hope that helps. Thanks for the updates.

[daddyjeep]

In truck related news.... I used the piece that I cut out of the bed floor to build the drive over section of the dove tail on my trailer. Over the weekend we were loading a buddies Subaru on the trailer and one side of the dove tail broke off. The previous owner did not weld so good and I didn't inspect it well enough to notice the crappy welds. I am taking this opportunity to completely redesign the dove tail and add storage within for the ramps.

[daddyjeep]

Well... the tire situation has taken yet another turn. I found an offer on our local Facebook marketplace that I couldn't pass up. A guy has these 18" aluminum wheels with tires that he was looking to trade for some 16" tires. Since I have me some 16" tires that I got for free it just seemed like the right thing to do. Here they are.

[daddyjeep]

The new wheels shine up pretty good. I can't wait to see how the look on the truck. I am going to have to buy some lug nuts and maybe some spacers. These wheels do have a lot of back spacing. For having zero dollars invested I think I did ok.

[daddyjeep]

Well, I finally got the DaddyJeep Hauler back into the shop so I could make a little progress. It is officially no longer a dually. Those dually fenders were quite the pain to remove. I had to cut away some sheet metal so I had a little more room to get my hands between the inner and outer bed sides. All of the bolts were good and rusty and a few on each side required cutting. After about 3 hours per side I was left with this. Pretty nice huh?



Once here I did a bunch of measuring and got the new panels centered up over the axle and screwed them in place with a couple sheet metal screws for the time being.



I am really happy with how the new wheels fit with the Dana 70. They stick out just a bit. The wheels are 18 x 9 with about 6" of backspacing.



Now that everything was mocked up it was time to start dealing with the rust above the new panels. Remember those 14" pieces I cut out of the bed earlier?It is time to put some of that steel back on the truck. Since I am only dealing with the area above the body line and below the bed rail I started by cutting it into 3 pieces.



I took a piece and cut it to make a patch for the biggest spot. I aligned it to the body line and tacked it in place.



Then I cut along the edge with a .040" cut off wheel through the rusty bed side, removed the rusty steel, and held the new steel in place with Harbor Freight panel clamps.



Then the tack welds start. A couple hundred tacks and we have one piece of steel again.



A little time with a flap disk and the welds are mostly gone. I spent some time with the hammer and dolly. That is certainly a skill I am building, but I did move some metal the way I wanted.



While I had that piece cut out I wire brushed as much of the inner panel as I could and hit it with some paint. I will continue to do that for the rest of the rust spots as I cut them out. There is a long ways to go, but at least I am moving forward again.

[MTCK]

Nice work. Glad to see you are operating with the requisite Safety Bud Light.

[Whamo]

Good stuff right here!

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking good.. I wish you were closer because I've been looking for dually fenders....lol

[COS399]

Looks like a lot of work but your doing a good job. I'm doing the same thing but I'm taking the easy way out and spent a few hours this afternoon looking for a single wheel replacement bed. Keep us posted and those new wheels look good too.