Some progress, some questions.

[bobstrat]

Hey guys, it's been a while. Now that the hustle of summer overtime is drawing to a close, I've had some time to start addressing some of the suspension issues of my 95 XLT. Namely the spring hangers/shackles and the radius arm bushings/brackets were all shot and in dire need of replacement. While I should have been taking photos step by step, I am barely a truck mechanic, so my photo taking is sporadic, to say the least. After removing the fuel tank (also gives me the chance to fix the fuel gauge float) I cut the leaf spring free of the brackets and removed. Then ground the rivet heads off the brackets and punched them out. It then occurred to me that without all that stuff attached, I had pretty good access to the inside and outside of the rusty frame. ( this photo is from the assembled side as I am going to need to turn the truck around and lift it back up to work on this side, but it shows the condition of the frame.)





I decided I would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to at least clean it up a little so maybe I wouldn't need a face shield to crawl under the truck. So I bought some of this stuff:



Somehow I got it in my head that this would dry black, maybe it was my mentor, RatA$$ Mechanic, I don't know.

As it turns out, it does dry black, on surfaces previously painted black. On rust, it dries what we affectionately referred to as "Hershey Squirt Brown".





That was not going to do, so I purchased a quart of Chassis Saver Antique Satin Black to top coat it. Much MUCH better. That stuff isn't exactly cheap - $35/quart but the coverage is good and it seems to be a quality product. The only thing I would do differently is to use the primer made by the same manufacturer, as it claims to fill in some of the pitting associated with rusty metal. I am just happy to protect it, but with the time I've invested, I would suggest to anyone else, may as well get it looking as smooth as possible. Anyway, here's how the Chassis Saver looks after 24 hours of dry time:





I did the body cross members and all splash areas in the wheel wells. This pic is the fuel tank area. I am going to go back and coat the bottom of the body, but I wanted to double coat the area where the body and frame cross members meet. Unfortunately it was raining on and off most of the day today.



Now for the questions:

does anyone out there have any experience with this Chassis Saver paint? Can I use it (or any paint, for that matter) on the leaf springs? Can I use it on the rear?

Also, when removing the front shocks I broke the stud on the shock forward of the axle. Can I repair this, or do I need to replace the whole bracket? I'd rather not remove any more parts than i have to, so if I can apply some heat and punch the old stud out, I think I'd rather go that route. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Elmo]

As for the paint on the springs and rear(rear differential???)yes you should be able to paint them with any quality paint and expect good results. Now about the front shock stud I think jeffs has a stud replacement for just such situations.

 

[bobstrat]

Now about the front shock stud I think jeffs has a stud replacement for just such situations.

i searched JBG, but couldn't find a replacement stud. i guess i'll try to pop mine out and take it from there. if it comes out easily enough, maybe i can take one from a donor truck. worst case, i'll replace the bracket.

 

[Seabronc]

I was relieved to see that you had that stud sticking out of the bottom of the frame. I had the suspicion that someone had put them on my truck to gouge my head and back on when I'm under the truck ( :blush: .

 

[bobstrat]

I was relieved to see that you had that stud sticking out of the bottom of the frame. I had the suspicion that someone had put them on my truck to gouge my head and back on when I'm under the truck ( :blush: .

it may not be there much longer.

(!!)

 

[bobstrat]

well she's finally turned the corner. hopefully i'll have her back on the road this weekend.

can someone tell me how to make it so my gallery pics don't hog the front page. i was hoping to just store pics i wanted to post on this topic in my gallery, they are clearly not worthy of the front page.

now for some progress:

the broken shock mount stud(?):



napa sells a bolt on replacement, i'll edit in the part number later, which means the old one must be removed. i opted to grind it off. disconnecting the tie rod end makes it much easier to gain access. once the original stud was ground flat to the bracket i used a torch to poke a hole through the bracket from the wheel side, as you can clearly see where it comes through. then i drilled out the hole in increments to accommodate the replacement.

here is the finished result, fresh paint, new radius arm bushing and bracket and some new shocks.



as for the frame painting, i ended up painting nearly the entire frame and bottom of the truck. i did it on a "as i could reach" basis. meaning the first time the transfer case comes out, i need to do some more painting. i post this not as a "this is the right way to do it" but just to show the route i took and the results one can expect using an angle grinder and wire cup, a wire brush and a couple of days flat on your back with a paint brush.



that cross member has since been painted.



now on to the other side.

the nut on the end of the radius arm on the passenger side came off quite easily. i'm sure you can imagine the joy i felt when the other side displayed the ultimate act of defiance,



maybe the heat wrench was the ticket, the pipe i used over the breaker bar made this feat too easy. that's gonna add a couple days to the project.

part of this project included replacing the stock auto hubs with a set of warn premiums. for those that contemplating the same, here's all the parts that need to come off with the auto hubs (clockwise from auto hub cover) all these parts were removed with the two picks you see in the pic. you will also need a conversion kit or a donor truck with manual hubs to steal the spindle nut from. unfortunately my donor truck loaned one set of hub guts to my 90, so i was stuck ordering the kit from warn, which added another $76 to the cost of the swap. ($150 for the premium hubs)



i'll edit in the installation later, as i needed to disassemble this in preparation for the radius arm swap. hopefully i'll remember to take some pics of that procedure as it was a ton of fun taking it off the donor truck.

 

[Seabronc]

Bob, don't worry about hogging the front page. They move out as someone else adds pictures to their gallery. That just lets people see what's been added lately. Do you have the brackets and arms to replace the rusted out and broken ones?

God luck,

>-

 

[bobstrat]

Do you have the brackets and arms to replace the rusted out and broken ones?

God luck,

>-

yes i do. the bracket is stocked by mercer spring. the radius arm came off a 90 that my buddy has for scrapping.

pulled the axle tonight and left the radius arm bolts soaking. . i'll go tomorrow after work and hopefully get the radius arm off my truck and cut the bushing bracket out.

 

[miesk5]

yo Bob,

Nice work!

Looking FWD to seeing more, esp the hub swap because many other swap articles do not include the manual hub's Wheel Bearing Locknut Torque Settings

Here is some info to look @ and to consider including;

for 80-96 MANUAL HUBS, NOT Factory Auto Hubs; Ford Pickups and Bronco; "...Using a lockout spanner (ford # T59T-1197-B or equivalent) and a torque wrench, tighten the inner bearing adjusting nut to 50 foot pounds while rotating the wheel back and forth and seating the bearing. Back off the adjusting nut approximately 45 degrees. Assemble the lock washer by turning the inner lockout to align the pin with the nearest hole in the lock washer. To lock it, install the outer lock nut and tighten it to 150 foot pounds. Grab the top of the tire with one hand and the bottom of the tire with the other. Move the tire in and out on the spindle. End play should be less than .006 – inch.).." Thanks to 90beater (Topher, Chris)!!!!

Operational Test; "...To CHECK FOR PROPER ENGAGEMENT, dial both hubs to LOCK and raise the front left corner of the vehicle off the ground. Spin the lifted tire. The drive line will turn if the Hub is engaging properly. TO CHECK FOR PROPER DISENGAGEMENT, dial the lifted wheel hub into FREE and spin the lifted wheel. If the drive line does not turn AND you hear NO ratcheting sounds, the hub is disengaging properly. Repeat step 5- 6 with the right wheel & hub. NOTE: The hubs are not required to seat against the wheel housing when installed, they may move in and out quite easily. This “float” is normal and will not affect performance..."

Source: by Warn®

miesk5 NOTE; these instructions are similar to original Warn's, but diagrams are clearer Source: by Warn® via streetsideauto.com

Be well!

 

[bobstrat]

yo Bob,

Nice work!

Looking FWD to seeing more, esp the hub swap because many other swap articles do not include the manual hub's Wheel Bearing Locknut Torque Settings

thanks.

i am definitely going to include the torques specs and the necessity of a torque wrench. my buddy and i each tried torquing the bearing adjustment nut with a regular ratchet. neither of us was within 10 ft/lbs of spec.