I bought this truck in September of 2006 for $500. It needed some brake work, "at least" to fix the leaky brake line to the rear. It also had very little left behind the collector pipes coming off the headers. The frame looked solid, it ran well, and the body, while sporting some surface rust, showed no signs of cancer. It is a 3/4 ton, with a 350 and turbo 400 transmission. The bed is from the 80's. It has about a 4" chassis lift installed, and came with some silly 33 x 12 mudders which I will probably sell, since I have four nice work tires on 8 lug rims from who knows when. Here are photos sent to me by the previous owner. Upon paying and obtaining a temporary plate, I gingerly drove it home. One of the old rusty Flowmasters fell off on the way. The right front brake started smoking nicely as the eight mile drive progressed. I stopped along the way for a few gallons of gasoline, and when I was trying to restart it the battery to center support ground wire started smoking, as well. Luckily, when I came out of Liar's Paradise after paying and grabbing a slice of pizza, there was another truck, with an almost consecutive temporary plate, that not only looked even uglier, but had a louder "non exhaust" system. My work was obviously cut out for me. First project was to rebuild the front brakes. I picked up a pair of new rotors and pads, and rebuilt calipers. The calipers came with new caliper mounting bolts, which was nice, because they are weird. This job would have been a pretty straightforward hour or two, except that the lug studs hold the rotor onto the hub from the inside, and the locking hub parts need to be removed to get all this stuff off to take it inside and pound things apart. Once I had that explained to me it was just a matter of doing it. And finding the hidden magic c-clips and rings holding the locking mechanism in place.Next came the rear brake line. I went next door and put the beast up on a lift to do the job. I had sprayed the bleeders and connections with rust penetrant a few times over the previous two days in preparation. First we carefully, very carefully, loosened the bleeder screws. Then the old leaky line was cut close to the fittings (a union just behind the transfer case and another one to the flexible line headed to the axle) and they were gingerly undone. I selected a couple of new lines, 72" plus 30" with a union, out of inventory to carefully bend and tighten into place. Then I ran a liter of brake fluid through the lines, bleeding and flushing the entire system. Out with the air and icky black brake fluid, in with the new. While working on the brakes I had been researching and planning how to do the exhaust. An hour or two with meters and a test light showed that I needed to add a ground wire from the frame to the bed for the taillights to work. I also cleaned up the battery cables and grounds and sprayed the battery terminals with corrosion preventative paint. At this point I had just under $800 (not counting registration fees), and ten hours of work over a week, into the truck - and it passed the NH State safety inspection. Now it is street legal!  I also want to build a nice rear window guard, that hinges down for easy snow clearing. Due to the lift kit and my advancing age, I'd also like to buy or build a nice, neat, effective ladder or set of folding steps to make access to the bed easy. An escalator or at least set of stairs might be nice for cab access, too. Right now going on an errand with this beast is a pretty decent workout... |
