New to me Deuce with matching trailer - wrenching post

[banditt1979]

Since I had some alone time this afternoon without child to entertain, I started studying the air tanks. My original thought was to remove the inboard tank but realized if I could remove the outboard tank I could probably just lift the inboard tank out of the way to get to the brake line clamp. Worked out exactly like that, removed the old frame line, bent up a new one similar to it, reused the clamps and got the new frame line installed, not too bad at all. The 3 way junction block that it connects to twisted off of its bracket last week so I tried some JB Weld, that didnt work so I guess its a spider web of zip ties after I get the rubber lines installed. Which will be either tomorrow or Saturday, then start pulling wheels for hub service and wheel cylinder rebuild. Little by little its coming together. If I was single and no children I would already be driving this beast, some folks at work are pestering me to bring it in.

 

[Mullaney]

Since I had some alone time this afternoon without child to entertain, I started studying the air tanks. My original thought was to remove the inboard tank but realized if I could remove the outboard tank I could probably just lift the inboard tank out of the way to get to the brake line clamp. Worked out exactly like that, removed the old frame line, bent up a new one similar to it, reused the clamps and got the new frame line installed, not too bad at all. The 3 way junction block that it connects to twisted off of its bracket last week so I tried some JB Weld, that didnt work so I guess its a spider web of zip ties after I get the rubber lines installed. Which will be either tomorrow or Saturday, then start pulling wheels for hub service and wheel cylinder rebuild. Little by little its coming together. If I was single and no children I would already be driving this beast, some folks at work are pestering me to bring it in.

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Can't hug that truck on a cold night though

Glad you made good progress!
It is amazing what a little peace and quiet will do for your brain.
.

 

[banditt1979]

Yesterday after work I was able to install the rear brake lines. No more lines to bend and flare! Glad that's over with.

Today I removed the front wheels and hubs, rebuilt the wheel cylinders (both had leaks) and put it all back together - with a catch:

Both lock rings were toast. Passenger side was missing the tab that locks it to the spindle, driver side all the nut locking tabs have been used. So I will make a list of parts to order tonight.

Both wheel cylinders looked good on the inside so easy rebuild.

The brake pads look like new. I sprayed the hubs down and inspected the bearings. The inner bearings have a date of 1994. Edit: the number was 3994, I was wrong about the date. All are timkin and look good.

I did not repack the bearings since I need to get back in there and replace the locking rings. When I do that I'll go inside the knuckle and replace the axle seal and clean and repack everything. I wanted to focus on getting the brakes finalized today. The bearing grease was chunky and looked like vasoline.

 

[banditt1979]

After dinner I wandered outside and decided to try and remove a pair of wheels from the middle axle. Outer wheel came off fairly easy, the inner wheel fought me on the last budd nut. Took a bit of hitting it hard with the impact on the first 3 or 4 seconds of air burst but it finally came loose. Tomorrow I hope to do 2 wheel cylinders and repack two sets of bearings. Hopefully the lock rings are usable.

 

[banditt1979]

Had to do the family thing today with inlaws for Easter since we were out of town last week so I wasn't able to get after the hub service until around 4. Right middle hub is serviced, wheel cylinder rebuilt (leaking) and all back together. Again the brake shoes looked like new, nice and thick. Big thanks to tactical repairs for the video, I would never have known about sealing under the bearing in the keyway and the correct sealant to use. Followed his lead to the tee using the red n tacky grease. Thats a good product, even my 6 year old put on a glove and played with it lol. Did not snap off the tab on the new seal but I bought NOS seals. Which the first 2 I pulled out the rubber wasn't exactly level all the way around. May have to ask the seller about that. Third one was good to go. Only 3 more hubs to go!

 

[Mullaney]

Had to do the family thing today with inlaws for Easter since we were out of town last week so I wasn't able to get after the hub service until around 4. Right middle hub is serviced, wheel cylinder rebuilt (leaking) and all back together. Again the brake shoes looked like new, nice and thick. Big thanks to tactical repairs for the video, I would never have known about sealing under the bearing in the keyway and the correct sealant to use. Followed his lead to the tee using the red n tacky grease. Thats a good product, even my 6 year old put on a glove and played with it lol. Did not snap off the tab on the new seal but I bought NOS seals. Which the first 2 I pulled out the rubber wasn't exactly level all the way around. May have to ask the seller about that. Third one was good to go. Only 3 more hubs to go!

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You can skip your trip to the gym this weekend!

Hustling those tires will wear a body out. Using a flat bar and or standing and lifting with your legs with your back to the truck helps a lot. Glad to hear that you made good progress.

 

[HDN]

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You can skip your trip to the gym this weekend!

Hustling those tires will wear a body out. Using a flat bar and or standing and lifting with your legs with your back to the truck helps a lot. Glad to hear that you made good progress.

To mount and dismount my wheels i started with a big pry bar to get them off the hub. By the time I was done, though, I didn't need the pry bar anymore. Instead I made fine adjustments with the bottle jack and wiggled and scooched the wheel onto the hub. It may take some getting up and down to do this, but I needed the exercise anyway

 

[chucky]

You just cant beat a long handle round point shovel ! When i changed these 395/20 it changed the whole game from poping the tire off the bead to standing the whole thing back up on its tread then even on gravel sticking the round point under the tread and standing on the handle to lift the tire onto the studs/hub .

 

[banditt1979]

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You can skip your trip to the gym this weekend!

Hustling those tires will wear a body out. Using a flat bar and or standing and lifting with your legs with your back to the truck helps a lot. Glad to hear that you made good progress.

2 full days and 2 half days of crawling around under the truck and manhandling big tires definitely got the work out in. I used to jog for a few miles and train with a boxing instructor on a daily basis. I'm feeling like my 30 y/o buff self until I get out of bed and realize theres an extra 16 years on my bones

 

[Mullaney]

2 full days and 2 half days of crawling around under the truck and manhandling big tires definitely got the work out in. I used to jog for a few miles and train with a boxing instructor on a daily basis. I'm feeling like my 30 y/o buff self until I get out of bed and realize theres an extra 16 years on my bones

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An extra 16 years on the 30 year old bones does make a body a little slower than it once was. But, if you are enjoying yourself - More Power to You!

Mine is a set of 30 x2 +2 year old bones and some days it takes me a little longer than it used to too. What I have noticed is that most times I think a little more before starting a project. And doing it once slowly is generally faster than doing it twice fast.


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[banditt1979]

You just cant beat a long handle round point shovel ! When i changed these 395/20 it changed the whole game from poping the tire off the bead to standing the whole thing back up on its tread then even on gravel sticking the round point under the tread and standing on the handle to lift the tire onto the studs/hub .

Curious on how you used the shovel to pop the bead on your tires. I have one wheel that I ended up using a sawzall to cut the tire mostly off and still didn't get it off. Have at least 2 others I need to remove the old tires.

 

[Mullaney]

Curious on how you used the shovel to pop the bead on your tires. I have one wheel that I ended up using a sawzall to cut the tire mostly off and still didn't get it off. Have at least 2 others I need to remove the old tires.

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I'm not sure that @chucky used a shovel to pop the tire bead off the rim. I think he was talking about using a shovel to ease the rim and tire on and off the hub. Might be wrong.

Only thing I have seen to pop a bead off a rim is the hammer made for that job. Heck, I even saw a YouTube video where a fella left the rim bolted to the truck, then used one of those Duck Bill Hammers to break the bead. Part that I didn't see in that video was how they managed to get to the back of the rim for the other bead...

 

[chucky]

Curious on how you used the shovel to pop the bead on your tires. I have one wheel that I ended up using a sawzall to cut the tire mostly off and still didn't get it off. Have at least 2 others I need to remove the old tires.

I layed the tire on the ground let the air out used a garden hose and filled the lip around the bead then drove a tire spoon in the lip and stood on it so the water can get in a little further then i use the shovel the rest of the way around and they pop rite off and of course thats with all the nuts off the bead lock but the shovel made it a breeze from breaking the tire down to standing the tire back up to lifting it back on the hub

 

[banditt1979]

I layed the tire on the ground let the air out used a garden hose and filled the lip around the bead then drove a tire spoon in the lip and stood on it so the water can get in a little further then i use the shovel the rest of the way around and they pop rite off and of course thats with all the nuts off the bead lock but the shovel made it a breeze from breaking the tire down to standing the tire back up to lifting it back on the hub

Ok mines an A2 with the split ring. No bead lock. Dang it, was hoping you had a cure for me! These two tires have been a bear. Maybe I'll buy the tire hammer and try that.

 

[Mullaney]

Ok mines an A2 with the split ring. No bead lock. Dang it, was hoping you had a cure for me! These two tires have been a bear. Maybe I'll buy the tire hammer and try that.

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If you decide to buy a Duck Bill Hammer...

Get yourself a bottle and drill a hole in the cap. Maybe a 64oz plastic drink bottle and mix yourself some soapy water.

Maybe consider Johnson's No More Tears" for the soap because the first time you hit and miss and the soap flies up in your eyes - you will not be a happy guy when you get splattered in the face with soapy water...

The magic is hitting on the rubber and the soap makes the hammer slide toward the bead - with a proper angle - and the hammer knocks the bead loose or mostly so with one hit. An experienced tire man is amazing to watch work...

 

[banditt1979]

Managed to service the driver side "middle" axle drum and wheel cylinder this evening. The rain held off enough for me to mount the tires and get her back on solid ground

 

[banditt1979]

Another day, another hub! Passenger side rear hub is done. There was another budd nut that took forever to get off but finally I got it. Driver side rear wheels removed. If the rain holds off I'll get that one done in the morning and start bleeding brakes. Still need to grease pack the fronts and replace the locking rings. Got those Thursday and my replacement hub seals today. Big Mikes came through on the replacements, they have my total respect and I will most likely use them for any future orders. Also got new zipper boots and boot rings for the front. Maybe I can get it all done tomorrow? We'll see

 

[banditt1979]

Today I got the last hub repacked and wheel cylinder rebuilt. Hope to start bleeding the system this week. Anyone have any advice for bleeding a completely empty system? I built a pressure bleeder with a 1 gallon sprayer a while back and have 5 quarts of dot 5 on hand.

 

[Mullaney]

Today I got the last hub repacked and wheel cylinder rebuilt. Hope to start bleeding the system this week. Anyone have any advice for bleeding a completely empty system? I built a pressure bleeder with a 1 gallon sprayer a while back and have 5 quarts of dot 5 on hand.

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That should be enough fluid. Wouldn't hurt to start out on the far end (back axle) then work your way to the front. Then let it sit for a few hours under pressure and come back around again. You should be getting nothing but clean clear fluid with little or no bubbles on the second bleed.

 

[banditt1979]

Well I had planned it all out to start bleeding brakes today, was even going to break out the creeper so I could easily roll around to and fro. But life does get in the way, and after voting in today's primary my wife had an upper ball joint in the trailblazer pop loose. In the driveway of the voting station. With the large "Lets Go Brandon" sticker all across the back of the rear window there was no way I was leaving the vehicle there. Fortunately it was only about a mile from the house so I had it towed home and even more fortunately I was able to replace both ball joints before it started raining again. So alls well that ends well, hope to try again tomorrow.