Vehical Inspection report

[R@nger]

Well today I took my truck to get safety and emissions testing done on it for the first time since I've had it.

Everything in the safety inspection passed except for the steering and suspension category. He said things wrong with it was: Idler arm, left outer tie rod, right upper control arm bushings. My question is, how much you think all of thats gonna cost me? Also since I've never had to change any of these before how hard is it? I'd also appreciate any tips that might help when working on this stuff.

Emissions went susprisingly better than I expected. The guy was impressed it did as well as it did...it still failed however. It did really good on the High speed test but on the Idle test it failed. For those of you who know how to read these things I'll post why it failed:
Standard, 700HC(ppm)
Reading, 1146
Deviation, -446

So I question there is how can I get this puppy to pass? The guy that did the testing said to call back monday and talk to the mechanic that fixes the failed cars there and talk to him about how I can get it to pass. The guy that did the inspection thinks that I might be able to simply retard the timing or possibly even adjust the idle to get it to pass...any thoughts?

Needless to say it was a great birthday present ...as today also happens to be my birthday .

[jku72]

Theres two problems you need to fix, the front end and the emissions. The front end part, well, you might as well just rebuild the whole front end, its not a big deal, but will consume a weekend. I dont know what a whole kit costs, 2-300? I say just rebuild the whole thing, because even if not all the front end parts are currently bad, they are starting to fail, and you'll be fixing it peicmeal and having the front end aligned over and over.
As for the emissions, the sure fire solution is to pour in a bunch of drygas before going to the station. Hoever, that will not save you if you have to do some sort of roadside check.
The real way to fix it is to tune the engine till its perfect, get that right and the bonus is better power and fuel mileage.

[R@nger]

My temp registration is only good till next monday, thats why I'm thinking replace the parts that I need to for it to pass. I would like to redo the front suspension but I just don't think I'll have the time. My finals week of this semester starts on monday and I'll be INCREDIBLY busy...next friday is my last day and I have alot of work to do before then.

The real problem is I need to fix all of this before next monday.

[jku72]

It's a big enough job for a home mechanic that I'd say if you haven't done much front end work, you'd be best to find a friend who has, or pony up some hard earned cash and get it done at a garage.
To change the upper arm bushings you gotta pull the whole arm out. Most folks'll say you need a spring compressor and a ball joint fork, as well as some big sockets to get at them screw in bushings. Oh yeah, and bandaids.
The outer tie rod end is fairly simple, once its jacked up and wheel off, remove the cotter pin and castle nut, then use the ball joint fork and separate the rod end from the steering knuckle. Then loosen the adjusting sleeve clamping thing, and carfully count the turns as you unscreww the tierod end from the adjusting sleeve. This is sometimes difficult as parts are quite often rusty crusty. But keep an accurate count of those turns, so when you screw the new one back in, it goes the same number of turns. This keep alignment ballpark same, usually.
Idler arm, separate it from the tie rod using the fork, (after denutting as was tie rod end), then unbolt it from the frame rail, and install a new one. Nothing to count here.
Those pesky a arm bushings require some care in the process, you've got to unload the spring COMPLETELY. How I do it: jack the truck up a good amount, put the front end on jack stands. Dont cheat here or you could end up squashed or worse. Actually, if you do this step before doing any work, you are smart. I just didnt think about it till now. Anyway, the jack stands need to be on the frame, not on any suspension piece. Take the wheel off. From the upper a-arm/steering knuckle, remove the cotter pin and lossen, BUT DO NOT REMOVE the castle nut. Loosen the castle nut so the top of the nut and stud are flush. Use the ball joint fork and loosen the ball joint stud from the steering knuckle. The reason that nut is on there is to prevent the whole lower a arm/steering knuckle from blowing out from spring force. The nut stops the stud from coming all the way out, saving your and anyone else who may be arounds life. Once the ball joint is loose, use a FLOOR jack to jack up on the lower lower a-arm at the ball joint. If necessary, remove the zerk fitting to avoid damaging it.
Just jack enough to take pressure off the upper ball joint. Once the pressure is off the upper ball joint, SLOWLY release the floor jack until the spring is just loose, not one bit more. By doing it this way, you aviod removing the shock absorber, and brake line. You've got to watch the rubber brake line, it should never be under any tension at all. If it is going to be under tension, even a little, unscrew it from the brake line. In my limited experience, you can just unload the spring and have enough length in the rubber brake hose.
Leave the jack under the lower a-arm, look in at the upper control arm inner bushing shaft. The inner control arm bushings are at the ends of the shaft. If you are tool short like me, you may not have a vise which you will need to do this job the right way. If you don't, like me, you should get a honking big wrench, box end that fits the hex heads on the bushings and at least loosen them in place now. It requires some serious grunt. Dont knock the truck off the jack stands yanking on it. If you have a nice big vise, dont bother doing this until the a-arms out. You can remove the arm bushings in place, but its very tight on one side or the other. Seems like it was anyway, somthing was in the way when I did mine. Shock mount maybe? There's two crusty nuts holding that shaft to the frame, and a bunch of u shaped shims. Keep those shims in mind as you proceed, keep track of them make sure the same ones go in where they came out if they come out. remove the two crusty nuts, and the whole upper a-arm should come out, possible with a little persuasion, and possibly dropping the shims all over the place. Dont let that happen. Pay attention to the orientation of the shaft at the mounting holes, one side is flat the other curved. Write it down or take a picture.
Once the A-arm is out, you need some sort of vise, or clever way to to hold the a-arm, unless you actually managed to get the arm bushings out while the a-arm was in the truck. The a-arm shaft is replaced with the bushings, they are a matched set, please dont try to reuse the old shaft. Its worn oval anyway, even if you cant see it. Trust me.
Lets see, unscrewed bushings, slide shaft out, slide new shaft in, carefully start screwing the new bushings into the arm and the bushing shaft. You have to screw the bushing all the way on until the hex head shoulder lands on the a-arm shoulder. There is a rubber neoprene (rubber) seal that goes in between the bushing and the shaft. It can be tricky, dont pich it, or it gets ripped and allows dirt in, and the bushing will wear out soon with dirt in it. Okay, so screw both the bushings into the shaft and a-arm with seals, you'll have to make sure that the shaft does not bottom out in either bushing. Once the bushings are screwed all the way into the a-arm, center the shaft in the bushings. If you did not cross thread the bushings in those lame a** a-arm threads, then the shaft should turn fairly smoothly. If it requires a big pipe wrench to turn the shaft in the bushings, you screwed it up. Lets not go there.
Assuming that everything is okay, install the zerks and grease those nice new bushings. not too much there slim, dont blow out the seals.
Now, bolt the a-arm back in the oposite way you took it outr, making sure you dont bolux up the shims. get them shaft nuts tight, and make sure the shaft is in the right direction. One side is flat, the other curved, at the mounting points. Get it right or you'll die a vicious horrible burning death. Hows that for drama?
At this point, looking at the upper ball joint, you'll wish you'd have replaced it, because the rubber is all torn, and likely full of gravel. because we are broke, we try to clean it up, straighten the rubber boot, and plan on replacing this in a few weeks.
slide the ball joint shaft into the steering knuckle, if it wont go, jack on the lower a-arm a little raise it. It should go in there. be extra careful, because now you have tension on the that big ol' spring, if that pops, you get a not so free ride in an ambulance. Where was I? Oh yes, screw the castle nut back onto the ball joint stud. Most books smugly say to tighten the castle nut and seat the ball joint stud in the steering knuckle. While this is technically correct, the reality is that that old nasty ball joint shaft is just going to spin as you turn the nut. I wish a knew a clever way to make it stop, but i dont, so all I can say it fiddle with it, try a few ways, but you'll get it.
Once it catches, tighten that castle nut just as tight as you can get it. Not getting it tight goes back to the burning death thing.
Replace the cotter pin, which is mangled, and the holes dont line up. I hope you read this before you work, instead of as you work. Because, I forgot to say make sure that the hole in the end of the ball joint stud in lined up in such a way that you will be able actually get a cotter pin in it with the nut on. You should use a new cotter pin because most likely you broke the old one when you yanked it out with vice grips. But, its late, and you didnt remeber to get one, so you hunt around on the ground for the cotter pin from the idler arm, because that one came out relatively easy because it was grease covered. Its bent, and barely lines up, but it'll work.
Make sure everything is tight. Double check. grease everything. Even the old stuff you were too cheap to replace.
Put the wheel back on, and your done. Except for the night time anxiety that you messed somthing up, which wont go away for weeks.
Hope this is a help.

[pritch]

Or, you could go to another inspector that ain't such a jerk. I've never had one even look at front-end stuff, they usually won't even pull the brake drums like they are supposed to. Find a guy that is really busy and doesn't own a lift. Most of 'em are happy if the lights work.

[laid67c10]

boy am i glad i live where i do we dont have any roadside checks...hell they dont even have emissions here i think the might in the d/fw area and suspension haha if the lights and horn work and you have good tires just show em proof of insurance and you'll be getting a sticker....

[R@nger]

Wow Jku72 thanks alot...thats going to be really helpful!

Pritch I had no idea they would look at the suspension! He got out his jack and cranked up the whole front end and then "looked for anything that could be a problem". That's when I said to myself...ohhh no picked a bad place to get this truck inspected. The whole inspection took a LONG time so he must have really given it a look over.

[krue]

I got an inspection sticker the other day with no bed and my taillights c-clamped to my bumper. the tech stared at them for a minute so I turned them on for him. After that he trusted me that the brake and turn signals worked. Emissions????What's that

[R@nger]

Krue...*BIG SIGH*, I need to find an inspection guy like that.

If you guys could see this truck you would be shakin your head at the guy that failed it. I put alot of work into it and it runs great, ALL the lights work, I installed a washer fluid system, got a brand new exhaust put on it, everything was going great...until today when I got totally shot down for some hardened bushings and two other totally made up things. I say made up because just after I posted this topic I got under the truck and saw that the idler arm was fine!...The control arm bushings did look a little hardened but booohooo , and the tie rod end was fine(its getting to the point were it needs replacing but for petes sake cut me some slack).

Anyways I'm not gonna waste my time fightin it, I'll just replace the parts and get it over with.

[69ChevyLB]

What's an inspection? Some counties (not mine) in Ohio have an emissions check but that's it.

[wxman1]

Wow!

Is this your 71 GMC Fleetside that you took in for testing? When did Utah start
testing 1971 era vehicles? In Tennessee, any vehicle manufactured before Nov
1974 is exempt from emissions testing. We don't have a brake check or anything
of that nature. Although...I notice that Tennessee recently added diesel vehicles
to the list of vehicles required to submit to testing. Oh...and get this...they also
test your gas cap to see if its "leaking vapors".

One bit of advice...My 86 Bronco 2 (yeah...thats right its a Ford!) failed twice last year.
The HC limit in Tennessee is 220 ppm. It tested at 280 and then again at 250.
A buddy of mine at the local parts store laughed and said to go put about 5 gallons of "hi-test" (thats premimum grade for the under 40 crowd) and run it down the Interstate for
20-30 miles and then go right to the testing station. I did. The HC tested out at 42.

Jim
Mt Juliet

[R@nger]

wxman, yes it was my 71 and I have no idea when Utah decided to be classic truck haters. UTAH =

I have the list here of things they checked:
Wheel lugs, E-brake, steering and suspension(where i fail ), exhaust system, windshield wipers/washer, windshield, other glass, mirrors, headlights, other lights, turn signals, tires, horn, fuel system, other(body, etc.), L/R primary brake measure, L/R secondary brake measure.
Thats just the safety.

That premium gas idea isn't a bad idea.

Thanks

[GloryHound]

As for the front end parts you might be able to get it to pass if you regrease all the fittings with a really thick grease. This might stiffen it up enough to get it to pass. As for the emissions, the dry gas could get you to pass or another solution is to use race car grade octane something above 100. Now since your engine is not built for or meant for this hi grade juice it could cause some damage in the long run. Another thing to look at are the spark plugs and their gaps, the distributor cap, and plug wires. You could look at a hi spark coil but if your distributor is not built for it the advantage gained would not be much and if your still using points you could end up in a world of hurt.

While Pennsylvania has emissions all vehicles built before 72 are exempt. That is one of the reasons I decided to go with the 69 for my restoration. I just have to pay an exemption fee (you know how government officials like to be paid off) and they put a sticker in my window that says exempt and it's good for 1 year.

That could be another way to get around emissions. look at your states laws concerning classic registered vehicles, Hot rod, antique... There could be several different types your truck could fall into. In PA a car with classic plates does not get a yearly inspection or emissions test!! But your mileage per year is limited, nothing a good hi-speed drill couldn't fix. Hot rods are only allowed to be driven on weekends and to shows but again emissions and inspection exempt, antiques are really limited mileage and can not be driven after dark, but again inspection and emissions exempt.

[R@nger]

Ok thanks Gloryhound, I don't think I'm far off however since my truck easily passed the High Speed test which they ran at 2379RPM. Its the Idle Test it failed on which was conducted at 567RPM. Ya think if I turned the idle up it would help?

[dtlilly]

Fill you gas tank with 93 grade, then pour a pint of pure isopropl alcohol in the tank (found at Walgreens). Run around the interstate and get her inspected at a different shop.

Virginia had a comprehensive inspection that actually took off the wheels to check the brakes and such, at an "approved inspection station". These stations were at auto repair shops that had approval by the State to perform inspections. I drove around until I found a shop that would inspect without actually looking at everything, then tipped the guy $20 for passing the vehicle without a real check.

Drive around and find a shop that is backed up with a lot of cars, and they will usually pass it quicker. The shop you took yours to must have been hurting for business, and hoping you would tell him to go ahead and fix the items he listed, so he could make some repair money.

[R@nger]

I think thats how they make all their money is by fixing the stuff they say is bad to make vehicals pass.

dtlilly whats the idea behind the "93 grade, then pour a pint of pure isopropl alcohol"?

[dtlilly]

The alcohol will create a higher temperature fuel burning situation, thus producing less hydrocarbons, (The HC on your sniff test.) [the hydrocarbon test is mainly a representative of unburnt fuels]. Don't do this too often, or it will burn your valves, but will allow you to pass easier. You might even want to refill your tank again every other day with 87 octaine to dilute the "special mix".

[68C15]

from a scientific standpoint you would be better off retarding your timing by about 4 degrees & running 87 octane. then set idle at about 750RPM. run down highway for 1/2 hour & then go for sniffer.
lower octane actually burns faster. retarding timing will help to burn fuel in exhaust. (temporary fix only)
this is of course if the CO is low enough. doing these things will raise that slightly.
I have done this many times on mine & also customer hot-rods with extremely good results. other shops couldnt get "problem" cars to pass so they were referred to us. we had a 98% pass rate. (this referes to first time tests. we never had to send people anywhere else)

[dwaite72lnghrn]

Question ? Did you just failed on the front end?
The Control arm bushings are sintered metal screw in on my '72 I think I paid about $6 at Chevy dealer for them. You shouldn't have to take the whole arm or shaft out to do them just clamp the control arms to take the tension off them. Also like said above the Idler arm is easy bolt on( when bad you will wander on the road, Hit a bump and head the other direction), Tie Rod ends like said above count, count ....count the turns. Then get an alignment.

[patrick66]

Oklahoma got rid of their BS "inspection" program in August '02. They were only $6.00 and was a safety inspection only...the "emissions" check was to see if you had a cat under the car and that everything appeared to be under the hood as it was supposed to be. A proper inspection (brakes, suspension, etc) took close to 40 minutes. With shop rates anywhere from $45-$125/hr, a shop wasn't going to spend much time inspecting to make a measly five bucks. So, with amazing logic being used by government (I know, that never happens!), the State got rid of the inspection program. They'd tossed around the idea about raising the inspection fee from six bucks to seventy-five bucks...none of them would've been re-elected had that happened, so that brilliant idea went away. Has the lack of a state inspection program made our roads less safe??? Hell, no! Not when there wasn't much of one to start with!

[R@nger]

Awesome Lefty thanks. The CO% they wanted to be under 5.00, mine was at 0.54 high speed and 0.25 idle.

I'll give that a go.

[Dean23]

being a mechanic myself. i think its good that you have to have your suspnsion fixed. its and integral part of your vehicle and bad thngs can happen when suspension and steering parts fail. If you dont believe the parts are bad take them to another qualified tech to inspect. personally i like having a solid suspension and steering linkage it gives you better road feel plus a peace of mind that nothing will break under normal usage.

[R@nger]

Dean I fully intended on redoing my suspension, as I agree with you.

I guess why I annoyed was because I just don't have the money right now to redo the whole thing and I do hate just replacing 2 or 3 little things when I know the other stuff will probably need replacing in the near future.

[R@nger]

Alright well I just got back from Pep boys and checker and I got all the parts I need.

I'm on my way right now to tear into this project. Good luck me .

[Dean23]

it always seems when one needs to work on the project he never has the money around for what it needs....i hate that. then when you have the money you have nothing to spend it on....wierd how it works.