[izzy_Britton]

SHOP TRUCK UPDATE!

OKAY so i finally got the shop truck out of the shop. the biggest portion of the problem with the brakes turned out to be something lame that i would have never figured out in a million years, but thankfully there are some smart people out there that pointed me in the right direction.

After asking around to many different shops that i deal with for my work one shop posed a question that i blew off as a joke...

IS YOUR PROPORTIONING VALVE CENTERED?

honestly i blew this question off thinking i would find this line of repairs in the field manual right after BLINKER FLUID FLUSHING and MUFFLER BEARING MAINTENANCE. turns out the dumb ABS unit has to be bled BEFORE you can do a standard bleed. The ABS bleed can only be done with one of the expensive scanners like snap-ons solus among others. a friend of mine works at a shop and brought the shop scanner over after work one night and literally, 90 seconds later the pedal was off the floor and seemed normal. WOW!

it took me a couple weeks, maybe 3 to finish the good old fashioned brake bleed using a force bleeder (the kind that attaches to the master cylinder and forces brake fluid thru the line when you crack the bleeder valve). after the bleed was done i took it for a spin and the brakes work more or less like you would expect them to work. there was a drag on the rear brakes that ended up being the park brake shoes had expanded to the inside of the rotor drum and after readjusting that the problem there was solved. in the process the rear soft lines started leaking at the caliper and a new banjo bolt and 2 copper washers per side was required to fix this issue.

I replaced the windshield with a new unit, and had the rear window taken out of the z-71 cab and installed into the back of the shop truck.

Using a large crescent wrench and a small sledge hammer, an ugly hood that i picked up a month or more ago at peel your own parts was installed in more or less the proper position. because of the damage to the front of the truck the hood hinges were/are both so jacked up that the hood sits wonkey where it is kind of supposed to sit and only the secondary latch catches. I have the front of the hood held down to keep it from flipping up with a ratchet strap. totally redneck. but it works for now.

I installed a new outside driver door handle. the old one was busted. because the truck didnt come with keys i ordered new door lock cylinders from napa and they should be here saturday, once they are here i will install those and then have a truck that is kinda secure.

saturday i plan to take the truck in for an emissions test and a front end alignment. after installing new ball joints and tie rods i just eyeballed the toe and it is close but needs to be done properly before i scrub the inside edges of the tires down to the cords.

the oil leak turns out to be the rear main seal... oh well, no need to ever change the oil, just keep topping it off, right? maybe after christmas or after i give the Z71 to SWMBO then i will worry about pulling the engine and installing a new rear main seal, for the time being it is like a good dog, it always marks its spot.

-Izzy