joecool911

Your picture reminded me. Does anyone sell new boots for the slider pins?

That happens to old dudes. Emaciated limbs. Lol.

I got in there this morning. Got close to a full turn more on the fittings. I think I'm good now, but will let her go for the day and do a leak test tonight. I smell nussing. Sgt. Schultz.

I understand. I have active hobbies. Hunting and I have packgoats for packing gear. I'd spend more time working them on hikes. I am about 300#. Been overweight my entire life. It's been hard this fall/winter to stay active and I made a pledge to get my weight down and do conditioning before next hunting season. But my hip doesn't allow me to get to an arobic speed. After surgery and recovery, I'm going to hit it hard! But because of my work, people are amazed at the ground I can cover. Not uncommon to do 8 miles a day while hunting. Elevation gain is harder. My conditioning a work is all flat. At any rate. I do plan on a transition. Cut back to my most profitable customers and allow for about half time work elsewhere. I can push myself harder on half the work and get a good workout.

Found a Kiddie brand battery operated CO detector that can be mounted on wall or table top. It's $35 and has a digital read out. My thinking is that since I have cabinets on either side of the bed with tops about head height, that would be an optimum location. I try to buy all battery operated devices with AA sized batteries. I buy them by the 48 pack at Cosco. Headlight, GPS, etc purchases are all influenced by battery size. I made the propane connection last night and it leaks. Going to get in there with two wrenched and crank down the flaired fittings today. It's in a tight spot and tried it with one wrench last night. Need to remove a couple cupboard doors to get both arms in there. It's a laying on the floor endeavor in the 3' wide walkway. Not easy access.

That would be cool. Let's try to make that happen. Joe

I can remember when homes in ND were very affordable.I hear what you're saying. On the other hand, people have been waiting for prices to recover. Sooner or later situations will require people to make a move regardless of the market. And someone has to represent the buyers of all the foreclosed properties. I don't know. I've got a mentor in his 70's with 40 years of experience. That's a plus.

I'm 56 and a landscaper. My body is beginning to remind me that I work in a young mans occupation. I really don't want to expand and have employees (been there and done that). Industry wages have remIned static for 20+ years. We were getting $35 per man hour in the late 80's. That's about the average now. We've seen expenses go up over the decades, fuel is one of my biggest expenses. So between narrowing margins and the reality of my body not being able to produce what it once did, I'm looking for a bit less physical occupation. We have some investments, a couple rental homes and about $100k in total debt including our home. I'm not on a path for complete retirement. Looking for something preferably self employed that I can transition into over the next few years and then dabble in past the age of 65. I'm thinking of getting my real estate license. We are pretty active in the field as landlords and keep up on property values and deals. Our rentals will provide us around $2,000 a month net income at today's values and rent seems to keep good pace with inflation. We are pretty tapped out on money to buy more property. Taking out a loan on investment property is not sound in my opinion. At our age we want to be debt free at 65. My dilemma is concern that our economy may not be very stable and that home sales may come to a grinding halt again as interest rates creep up and inflation takes a bigger bite out of our paychecks. Do you see real estate sales as a viable self employment alternative for the next 10 years or so? I could live off of one sale a month. Not like I need to set any records of be a mover and shaker. Any input would be appreciated. I'm not very positive about the direction of our country. Very difficult to feel positive about anything these days...other than life with God when we're gone.

I asked this before...but after 6 months of 2 cycle oil use I've still got ticking going on. Sound comes out of both front wheel wells. No difference one side to the other. I try to listen to other 24 valve rigs out there and some have the clicking sound and others don't. I adjusted my valves, but should probably look at them again. Maybe one was way out and I adjusted at 20 rather than 10? Other than excessive lifter noise, could a bad injector cause the sound? Idle is smooth, but power and torque seems lower than I feel should be, but that's not backed up with any kind of inpherical evedence. Oil pressure good, fuel pressure optimum, fuel economy around 14 when towing a 4,000# work trailer. Does white smoke a bit on cold startup, but smooth. Wondering if that is more steam than smoke. Nothing has changed. Been this way ever sinc e I've owned it. I've put 30k miles on it. Wish I had one of you guys local to compare trucks with. With stock exhaust. I got on this subject again after watching the high idle cold start videos with white smoke coming out the tailpipe. Figure my first thing is to re-check my valve adjustment. I love this forum! Much more responsive and reliable knowledge than any other forum on any subject. Kudos to Michael! I'll send more money when I can. Money tight now as my hip is scheduled for replacement and I've been working at about half pace and therefore- half revenue. I am not only slow, but am limited on how long I work before pain becomes intolerable. I'm taking 12 asprin a day to maintain some level of comfort. At least my blood should be thin enough. Lol.

It's not catalytic. Ceramic.

And you're still alive to tell about it. Some guys on other forums really bash anyone who considers sleeping with the unit on. Glad you're still here! Thanks.

Enjoying this so far, but as to my primary concern...run overnight while sleeping with CO detector and a window and roof vent cracked?

Wife got me a Big Buddy Heater for Christmas. Got the Hose/Line to tap into the house propane system. 12' hose and quick coupling. I know this has been beat to death...literally. What do you guys think about running it all night with all the proper precaustions? Ventiliation, CO detector. I figure this is a forum full of guys that are sound minded. I am leaning towards doing it. I want a CO detector with digital read out. Maybe a cheapo and a digital units. I ordered a PlatCat over a year ago and no dice. Called him once and he said he'd get on it. Now I'm thinking of saving the money and just going Buddy.

I had mine replaced a year ago. Would be nice to have them service-able. My mechanic replaced the whole hubs with Timken hubs. He claims that anything with bearings should be American made or factory. China has not a good track record with bearing life. Is it a big job to do this mod?

Interesting concept. Any chance of discussing tapping hubs for grease?

There was very little friction material left on the other side of the caliper. Maybe 5%. So maybe not as bad as it seems as far as the pins not sliding. But I'll get them addressed soon. And rebuild calipers. You mentioned intervals for rebuiing calipers and changing out fluid. Might as well change out fluid each time you crack into the system that requires bleeding. I want one of the Motive pressure bleeders. That should make it eAsy. One comment I've heard about the Motive system is that the clear hose breaks down pretty fast. But that's pretty easy to deal with. Just change it out.

Nothing was seized. But I'll clean and lube them when I do the calipers. Just had to get it back in the road. Hip replacement surgery in February and I'm not very mobile for very long. Getting up and down is hard. I knew they were toast. That one side is 1/3 the thickness of the other. This was right rear. Left rear was fairly even on both sides. Rotors were only $35 each. Fine China.

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz83/joecool911/C2BDFF2E-E6B7-42A6-8668-D9F795DDC78B.jpgAnyone think this rotor is salvageable?

Anyone use the gravity bleed method? Crack open the bleeder screw for like 20 mins and use the jar method. He says if you work on the front that you do not need to bleed the back because of the isolator valve will keep air from getting to the rear brakes.

If I'm going to start the process of rebuilding my calipers, sounds like a may need to start off with new calipers. I bet mine are pitted or scratched. 175,000 miles and no known maintenance. Would I have to get dodge calipers or would any from a parts store be rebuildable?

http://m.summitracing.com/parts/mvp-0103/media$58 for a Mopar system.

What about an air conditioning timer? You can get extra pins and run a couple cycles if desired.

I want to get a parts washer. Recommendations appreciated. Cheaper 5 gallon? Solvent or water based? I'm thinking solvent for intermittent use so it doesn't form rust.

What tools are necessary for breakdown and maintenance of the calipers? I watched your video. Looks pretty simple. If you follow this procedure, is there a point at which you have to get new calipers? Where do you get the supplies?

When I do my brake calipers, should I replace the rubber brake lines? If so, stock or upgrade of some kind. If I'm going to flush the brake fluid, might as well in my opinion. What's the difference between various brake fluids? Any upgrade advisable?