Quote from: NT2C on May 23, 2024, 08:35:07 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 23, 2024, 06:10:05 PM

Quote from: NT2C on May 23, 2024, 04:38:11 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 23, 2024, 03:50:31 PM

Quote from: MacWa77ace on May 23, 2024, 03:34:36 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on May 23, 2024, 02:47:18 PMSpeaking of falling windows, the back passenger windows on my mom's Explorer are probably going to do that since the motors are borked.

Each motor assembly is like a couple hundred bucks, so fixing them is out of the question for the moment.

In the meantime, I'll probably end up getting my brother Pete to pop a bolt underneath the window glass and have it held up that way until I can get two new motor assemblies and do a proper fix.

IIRC that's two different things so if they haven't fallen yet and the motors don't work, they should stay up. Also since that is a Ford, you can buy just the motor and its easy to put in [relatively compared to #BMWsucks] The window clips/brackets that hold them IIRC can be bought separately if your window falls and your motor works.

That happened on my 88 Monte Carlo once and I didn't need any parts, just put it back on the clip and the clip back on the scissor lift mech. Bingo, power window works.

Yeah, both windows have fallen and the motors don't work. Motors went out first and then the windows fell.

The right side passenger window went first and that's now got a bolt holding it closed. The left side passenger window is being held up with a couple 2x4s, but those slipped and now there's nothing holding it up. So the window likely will slip down at some point.

Gonna move this discussion...

Moved

What year Explorer, @12_Gauge_Chimp?

It's a 2004 Explorer, NT2C.

Let me see what the local scrapyard has in the way of parts.

Ok.

I doubt any of the scrapyards out here would have anything like that. If they did, they'd probably want a bit for them.

I finally was forced to replace the front brakes/rotors and brake lines on my S10. Last month I had a rear caliper lock up due to a collapsed brake line, resulting in a complete restoration of the rear brake system, and last week I was forced to do the same with the front end brake system. Buying an older truck that sat for a long time has shown me what little things can and will go wrong out of no where. But now I have a truck that stops really well, and won't have to worry about old brake lines collapsing any more.

Just picked my car up from the mechanic after nearly a week in the shop (several days of which was just having the car sitting there, as he'd gotten behind schedule).  It's been on the lift since Monday morning and only finally got wrapped up today. 

I tend to "save up" smaller issues and have them all addressed at once, so there were a few items which have been wrong for a while (failing O2 sensor for the past 3 years and a minor exhaust leak that's about 2 years old).  But when the front hub / wheel bearing started making noise a couple of weeks ago, I finally took it in.

That corner was a mess.  The axle was essentially bonded into place and they had to torch it in half just to get the whole mess out.  One hub, hub bearing, axle half-shaft, and a trip to the machine shop to press the bearings onto the spindle, plus the exhaust (which required them to fab up the whole front portion to avoid having to replace the catalytic converter), O2 sensor (by far the most expensive part in the whole repair, but which he didn't even charge me any labor on because it's a 5min install), and an oil change and I'm back in business!  

Given how little the car is worth (probably less than $2500), spending almost 3/4 of the value on a single trip doesn't appear to make sense.  But now everything is working again and the car is ready to continue to give me reliable transport for the foreseeable future.  I've got my eye on a replacement vehicle (Mazda CX-50), but I want to wait a while for the price of a used one to drop some more.  

Besides, it's been about four years since I've had any repairs on my current car, which is a pretty good track record!  If I split the cost of the repairs up across that time, it works out to only about $400/year.  Not bad on a nearly 20 year old car!

I've got a list for the truck too, but I'll hold off on those for a while, since there's nothing critical at the moment.

Ordered one of these brackets:



One of these brackets:



And this light kit:



For the Jeep.

I may put these lights on the back:



Or these:



Or these:



Or maybe even these white/amber ones:

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Whatever ones I pick for the rear there's a matching lightbar for the front:





And I know that @12_Gauge_Chimp is looking at this, remembering the lights I have now, and thinking I've gone 

The daily driver is a 1996 Accord. It's most likely going to be the vehicle that I'm in if I have to get home and one if the vehicles I'll be taking to bug out because of the simplicity. It's for 160k on it has been a great reliable transport for the last 2 1/2 years.

Anyways, I redid the brakes on it about a year and I've had issues ever since. I finally broke down a bought Orileys rotors for 3x the price of the online slotted and drilled I bought, but they apparently warped. And I've had a slight vibration that's gotten worse and worse. Well, replaced the rotors and it's amazing it doesn't shake anymore. But when doing the brakes I noticed a lot if the bushings, ball joint boots, and the power steering rack boot are torn. Further inspection some parts were bent on the suspension. So I bought and entire replacement kit. New controls arms, new shocks/struts, all new bushings, ball joints, etc.

Got one side done and started on the other side today when grandma dropped the kiddo off and then it was playtime. So back at it tomorrow.

Adter those get replaced I'll bring down to the tire shop and have it lined and new rubbers put on her. Hopefully that'll take care if the rest of the vibration issues I've got.

Really do love these 90's Hondas parts are so cheap the entire replacement was $450 from an online retailer I've trusted in the only aftermarket brand I trust on Hondas (TRQ). The rotors I took a chance on and went another direction and apparently that was a mistake so only TRQ from here on out.

Ended up buying these for the rear:



They arrived defective with the holes to attach the brackets only partially threaded.  The company is sending new parts to fix the problem but I have no confidence they new parts will be any better, or even correct, as there seemed to be some kind of barrier to getting them to understand the issue.  This despite multiple emails (don't you just love when a company sends you back a question, and quotes a previous message that answers the question) and many photos.

Accordingly, I purchased a set of these that I'll use instead:



The second set is the same brand as my ditch lights, so I have confidence in their quality.

Got the new slide blocks today.  Almost as bad as the originals except threaded just slightly deeper.  Still not deep enough to clamp down the elevation adjustment but a little closer.  Debated if I wanted to order a bottoming tap (M6x1 for half the cost of the damn lights but realized they'd sit on a shelf in my workshop for the next however many years, bugging me, until I got them fixed.  Ordered a $9 tap for a pair of $18 lights.

In other news...

The light bracket that goes behind the front plate on the Jeep is so heavy, and the weight of the light sits so far forward, that I don't think it'll stand up to much use before ripping the screws out of the plastic fascia.  I'm looking into bull bar /nudge bar options but they get pretty pricey for ones that will actually work with the sensors on the front of the Jeep... $700 kind of pricey.  I can cover maybe $500 of that but the rest is out of my reach.  Ah well...

On the back of the Jeep. the bracket for behind the rear plate will work fine... except the bean counters at Jeep decided to eliminate two mounting screw places, leaving just two in some sketchy nylon blocks at the top, and two pieces of foam glued to the bottom.  And, of course, the foam comes right through the bracket holes.  My current plan, such as it is, will be to take off the inner plastic trim, remove the sound insulation blanket, remove the foam blocks and nylon blocks, drill two 1/4" holes where the blocks are and take for 1/4" SS cap head bolts with 1" SS fender washers, put them through the holes from the inside, add black oxide SS washers and SS nuts to the outside and tighten them down with thread locker.  That will given me four strong 1/4" SS studs sticking out to mount the bracket and plate onto, finished with black oxide acorn nuts and washers to hold it all on.  The four fender washers will hopefully prevent the bolts from making the metal flex and crack around the bolt heads.  As a bonus, because the nuts will hold the bracket off the metal surface I don't need to worry about marking the paint and will allow me to put a waterproof grommet behind the bracket to run the light wire through.

Got the tap and ran it down the four holes on one of the original sliding blocks, cutting threads the rest of the way to the bottom, and the four screws went right in and tightened right up.  Grabbed one of the new blocks and started to run it but quickly realized that these holes were positioned too high in the block and actually broke through into the hole for the main mounting bolt.  Both blocks were like this and are unusable.  Dug out the other original block to thread but decided to wait a day as my hands hurt like hell now from doing the first one (ran the tap dry since it was already partially threaded but will run the next with some kerosene as lube) and I can get a wrench to hold it better from my shop.

Bought this for the Jeep:



A little pricey at $675 but it should work well with my eventual total plan for it.  Next will be a bash plate for the oil pan, then replace the lower front fascia with a steel bumper, then do the same with the rear.  About $5,000 total.  Oh, and a winch.

Ooooo, I like that!

Quote from: Beowolf on June 24, 2024, 06:43:12 PMOoooo, I like that!

It shipped today in two boxes, one with the bar weighing 26.5 lbs. and one with just the recovery points weighing 18 lbs.

This thing is SOLID 

Put 3.5 oz of Seafoam in the crankcase of the Corolla and 12.5 oz in the gas tank which had about 10 gallons in it.

Going to do an Oil and filter change this weekend, so that'll be about 400 miles on the crankcase treatment before the change.

Has anyone heard about or ever tried putting kerosene in the gas tank to clear a catalytic code?

So, I bought a set of these to put on the Jeep:



And while they looked awesome and I love the sequential turn signal, the factory in China making them went too cheap with the plastic housings.  They were far too brittle, both lights came with snapped-off mounting tabs, and while I could have mounted them with 3M trim tape, for $25 per light I should not have to.  They both got sent back to Amazon for a refund.

Today, I bought these:



They're twice the price of the others, don't have sequential turn signals, but they use OEM DOT and SAE approved housings, so should be much sturdier.  They arrive Monday, along with my bull bar.

 

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Looks good with a bull bar.  I'll get the light mounted next and my flag mount.

Very Nice.
Is it me or does it need a snorkle?
And a UFoZS.com sticker on the upper windshield.

If it's any deeper than the top of that bar I ain't going. 

The engine air intake is about 6" above that.  The Jeep is rated to handle water to the tops of the tires but that's my absolute limit.

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In other news, I got my rear fogs installed with only a mild concussion, a sprained back, and broken thumbnail... and they look freaking sweet.

Having trouble mounting the light bar.  First, the bull bar diameter was different from advertised.  It's 2-3/8", not 2-1/2"  Nor was it the 68mm they said it "could" be.  All the clamps fit too loosely. 

I also had trouble getting the clamps on without hitting the bumper.  Very tight space there, so when I couldn't find thinner clamps at a price I can afford I opted to replace the little 12" light with this 22" model:



It and the clamps arrived today and I'll pull the Jeep in tonight and install the light tonight.  The extra length of the light gives me more clearance with the curved bumper.

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I'll do wiring tonight.

Spent several hot & sweaty hours last night working on wiring.  Made a few mistakes that had to be undone, but the bar is now functional.

Bought this:



It does this: