73-87chevytrucks.com
General Site Info => General Discussion => Topic started by: Powerdriver1958 on August 31, 2013, 01:46:04 pm
-
My old one ton must have not have had a friend , Ever . I bought his thing a few years back for 450.00 bucks so I knew right off it wasn't the pick of the litter . I did however drive it home .
Had a brake hose collapsed . That meant every time you hit the brakes the right front corner would lock up and I would have to bleed the pressure off to get the brakes to release . Only 49 miles to the house so I went through a can of brake fluid on the maiden voyage . Also the only gauge that was working was the speedometer .
Steering was an adventure . Stopped twice on the way home to see what had to be ready to fall off . I did make it home . I waited until the weekend to take a closer look and froze for second . Fully realizing that some one had put 1/2 ton lower control arms on a one ton and stacked up washers to take up the slack from the way too small ball joints . A trip to the local salvage yard and 2 different trucks to get that fixed . Bought all the brake hoses to fix the locking up problem .
The gauge problem was another scary deal . Oil pressure line had broken . The previous owner used a section of 1/8 vacuum line , 2 hose clamps and a bolt to plug the line . From the looks of things it had been that way a long time . Heat gauge wire was plugged into the idle solenoid and vise versa . Heat sending unit was toast .
That was all in the 1st two weeks . Fast forward to today ....
Torque Converter in the transmission has been acting up for a long while . flashes hard above an idle . With 4.11 gears it should scoot pretty good away from a stop light but has been sluggish . I figured today would be a good time to do this . Been warm here with the heat index over a 100 for the last few days .
Got up this morning at 6:00 am . Poured a hot cup of coffee . Set here thinking I can be done by 11:00 am if everything go's right . Beat the heat was my plan . Gathered my tools , Was under the truck at 7:00 am . My plan was to take everything loose , slide the transmission back just enough the get the torque converter swapped then slip it all back together .
Then old truck syndrome hit . Very 1st thing I found a u joint that needed replaced . So know I know that all 3 u joints are suspect . Ok , I can deal with that . I had some cute little plugs for the oil cooler lines so that leak was stopped . But nothing for the dipstick tube when that was removed . I hunted around for something to plug that hole . Found a little plastic cap from some other project that almost fit . With some pushing it went in to the hole but just didn't fit like I wanted . Thought , Ahh it will be ok . Took the transmission mount off and both bolt holes in the mount were broken out . Umm this is not what I had planned .
The rear cross member for the transmission has 24 bolts . 25 if you count the transmission mount . Sooo It looked like I might have just enough room to sneak the transmission back and do this deal . but no , lacked at least an inch . Grrr . Ok next step . Some one had used an impact on the bolts in the cross member. broke one wrench . Stripped one bolt . Busted knuckle , Scratched arm .
Then it happened . The floor jack slipped . While I had be messing around getting the cross member bolts out , All of the wiggling around everything else had been doing had gone unnoticed . I made a grab for the transmission , bumped the plug that was in the dipstick tube hole . A 3/4 inch stream of fluid is running into my armpit , over my shoulder and down my neck . Can't turn loose of anything without a crash . After sucking it up I managed to get everything back under control , The jack back to where it should be but not before using the entire set of clothes I had on for an ATF sponge . Did I mention that I heard a pickup pull up after I got the mess to the ground ?
Let me paint a picture . Transmission fluid is covering nearly all of the concrete slab . My middle son , Jay had pulled up about the time I stood up . I was dripping with tranny fluid , grease from head to toe . Fluid in what hair I do have . A highly upset look on my face . When he saw me the WTH look on his face made me laugh .
It looks like a 55 gallon drum was turned over under the truck . I was wearing enough of that transmission fluid that it had run down my extreme lower back , There was no chance of me squeaking when I walked ......... It was 9:00 am by then .
Now I have to gather a new pile of parts and Clean up that mess before I can do anything else And still I'd rather drive that old truck than anything else I can think of .
So , How much do you love old trucks ???
-
You should write a book of your trials. I've been there on the transmission slipping/and 5+qts of reddish brown mess all over. I've worn my fair share of trans fluid and antifreeze. I've learned over the years to drain everything before removal...
-
LOL Awesome!
-
This is a great post!
-
Well , the converter made a big difference . Everything just feels like it works better . Leaves a stop light better , downshifts do something beside raise the noise level . Same hills I buried the accel pedal to climb are less than half now . I am happy with everyting BUT now the speedo adapter is leaking .
I'd pull my hair out but that's already been done ;) Or at least looks like it's been done .
-
That is one great story! I agree on draining the tranny before a job like that.
-
It's still much cheaper than buying a new truck. Trans fluid will wash out. How long and how much effort would it take for your to come up with the money for a new truck? So, yes i really love "old" trucks.
-
It's still much cheaper than buying a new truck.
I haven't spent in repairs in a month on my ride to equal some of my co workers monthly payments on the trucks they drive
-
Not to mention higher insurance. But the new trucks will get over 20mpg.
-
Not to mention higher insurance. But the new trucks will get over 20mpg.
While gas mileage is a concern It does not over rule everything , Being as that ton is my daily driver on an 80 mile round trip to work .