Axles, Suspension & Brakes

Brake Fluid Change A brake fluid change is required every 30K miles. This is to change out fluid but to flush out debris and water contamination. But I do suggest about every 60K to 100K miles you break down the calipers and wheel cylinder and inspect for debris and rust. The reason why you need to bleed the brake system often is that brake fluid is hydroscopic absorbs water) and reduces the boiling point of the brake fluid. So the next ti

Brake Hydrobooster Rebuild I have seen the question asked a million times on other forums. It usually comes down to someone claiming to be an awesome mechanic stating that hydroboost brake boosters aren't rebuild-able/resealable or that they are so complicated if you took them apart you would never get them back together. Well even though my hydroboost has been doing a great job keeping my undercarriage lubricated the constant top offs with power steering

I've been doing some monkeying with balancing my own tires.  I’ve got a tire changer and do almost all my own tire changing.  But if it’s for a truck then I still had to get it balanced.  So I researched a product called “dyna beads” some of you may already know what they are.  They are small ceramic beads that go in the tire and automatically balance the tire.  I was considering them, cause the cost for one tire worth was cheaper then the cost to get one balanced.  And tires apparently w

Thanks for the post EricPeterson on Cumminsforum So there's talk and talk and talk about the Thuren front toe-on specs ( zero or near zero ) vs. the stock toe-in specs ( 1/8" ). And there are tons of comments from guys who adjust toe themselves. And yet in the couple years I've been on here, I haven't actually seen an explanation of that. So let's address determining if you've got too much toe and then the pitfalls of having someone else try to set it for you, and then I'll post some easy p

Drum Brake Wheel Cylinder Upgrade I changed my rear wheel cylinders out yesterday since I had the day off for school. Since I had the camera on hand I snapped some shots to let other members see how easy it since. I bet there are a few people that have read about these and thought, "that might be too hard for me" when in fact it couldn't be farther from the truth. You will need at least the following: 10 mm tu

After replacing some front end parts, I found that my previously aligned truck was steering horribly and needing a re alignment.  I decided to try doing it myself rather than paying a local dude to do it for me.   There are three measurements and specifications for an alignment.  Caster, camber, and toe.  You can google those terms for information, but this article will outline a procedure to adjust toe.  Our trucks have a caster angle set which should be appropriate and as long as the cont

Jacobs Exhaust Brake This is probably the most used piece of equipment on my truck. I use the Jacobs exhaust brake to do about 90% of all my braking on the highway, city streets, and off-road. My service brake pads are still factory pads and I've got over 180K+ on the clock. The brake shoes have got 25% left. It's a vast savings to the brakes. I finally replaced my brake pads all the way around the the truck at 187K. I didn't need to replace ro

You can use this Spreadsheet to change the Gear ratio and tire size on your Cummins powered Truck  You will see the typical peak power RPMS in green on the chart.               To use this tool, enter your Trucks values into the Yellow Highlighted Fields.             Tire Size is inputted into Field B5-D5 Truck type should be inputted to match the truck ( not useful yet) Options are "4wd Quad" "2wd Quad" "4wd Single" "2wd

Just throwing this out there for those who do not know that all new brake pads must be "Burnished" or worn in for ultimate brake performance. Coming from the heavy mining, construction and ag equipment side of the world this is a common "Must Do" procedure on all dry brake pads be it drum or disc but you all most likely do not know that it should be done on ALL vehicles with drum or disc brakes. There are different ways of doing it but all have the same results. rather than typing it o

Proper Final Ratio This article is going to be about proper final ratio to the ground and the effects.    OPTIMAL FINAL RATIO TO THE GROUND 3.55:1 to 3.73:1   Remember when you have 3.55 axle gears you cannot swap to a larger tire without a huge impact on EGT's and loss of power. Cummins engines are not designed to be cruising at highway speeds at low RPMs. True 3.73 final ratio will be roughly 2,100 RPMs at about 65 MPH. Even what I'm set up for with my own truck with 245/75 R16 is a 3.69:1 fi