I’m back with an Esky this time

[Tonyrodz]

I honestly don't know how you do it Jim!! You are a motivated madman! Take care of yourself, and get better! Gotta take care of that family. I hope everyone is on the mend, and on their way to a speedy recovery. Like you said--at least your getting paid.

 

[Snowbound]

I didn’t get back on this vehicle until 7pm. I really gotta stop staying up all night. I got the new intermediate steering shaft so I started with that. I had to beat the old one apart and then cleaned up the inside with some sand paper. The replacement is a much heavier duty unit.

Put some antiseize on the end and put the shaft together. Then installed it back on the truck.
Next I removed the top engine cover and air intake then hooked up the engine hoist to the passenger side head bolt.


With all the ac lines and coolant overflow tank in my way I decided it would be easier to go thru the wheel well to get this side out.

I had a better vantage point from here but it was still a pain in the butt because the angle of the bolts on engine and the limited amount of space to get socket, swivel, and short extension in there and then attach the ratchet. You can’t get it all in there at once.

 

[Snowbound]

I decided to take the bolts out of the frame side first and lift the engine to give me a little more room. I think that helped but it still sucked. My engine bolts were not tight on this side. I don’t know why these things loosened up or why 2 fell out on the other side, that has me scratching my head.
So once mount was free I twisted, turned and fought like mad to find a way to get the mount out but it does fit between the manifold, starter and frame rail when it’s turned and tilted the right way. Don’t ask me how, it just worked.


I grabbed the new mount and hurried up and got it in while it was fresh in my mind how I got the old one out.


With the engine still raised I used a liberal amount of Loc-tite on the bolts and fought them back in. Set the engine back down and the frame bolts go in easy.


After that I put the ride height sensor back on, the inside splash guard and then the tire back on.
This engine mount wasn’t bad but this side usually isn’t the one that goes bad. I’m glad I did it though just because the bolts were loose and knowing both are new now.

 

[Snowbound]

By this time it’s 1am and I should have called it a night but I wanted to be done with this thing so I started on the front diff mounts. The 4 bolts holding the diff up were easy to get out after supporting diff with floor jack. The mounts themselves are held up by 2 bolts and nuts. The bolt goes in from the top and are inside these pockets that only serve to catch debris and water which cause them the rust out like my sway bar perch that I had to replace before. Thankfully they weren’t rusted out but you still have to use a 15mm socket and small breaker bar or ratchet on top and then hit the nut underneath with an impact. It actually went surprisingly smooth and the old bracket came out from the back side and the new one went back in without issue.


The drivers side is the same story but this time the rear bolt was seized in the steel collar of the mount. I beat on it a few times and it wouldn’t budge. It’s after 2am so I wasn’t gonna use an air hammer and have my neighbors hate me so I grabbed my 32” long 1/2” extension, an impact swivel and 15mm socket and tried using a breaker bar from the top to bust it free. No luck. So I put my impact on it and it wouldn’t budge. At that point I’m thinking I’m making way too much noise for 2am so I cleaned up, supported the diff with a jack stand incase the jack leaks down and called it for the night. I’ll get it with an air hammer when I get back out there and this thing will be done. For now. This small pile of parts were a chore to replace to say the least. And my new struts should be here this week too.

 

[Fosscore]

Machine!! Impressive diligence and grit man. Good read and technical abilities not withstanding the sickness at the start.

Stay warm and safe out there this winter.

Give us some sled action shots if you get a chance.

 

[Snowbound]

Machine!! Impressive diligence and grit man. Good read and technical abilities not withstanding the sickness at the start.

Stay warm and safe out there this winter.

Give us some sled action shots if you get a chance.

Thanks, I appreciate that. And yes, yes I will get some sled action shots, heading back up on Wednesday morning.

 

[Snowbound]

So I went straight for the air hammer today when I got out to garage. Took a little more than I thought it would to get it to come out but I got it. The bolt was pretty nasty and there’s no way I’m putting this back in.
The front bolt compared to the rear.


So now what? It’s 6:30pm on Sunday and I need a metric m12 bolt that has a 10.9 hardness rating. Wait, I might have something. This sucks because I’ve never organized my garage since I’ve moved in because I plan on adding on to it so why bother and I’ve been too busy with everything else so I’m digging thru boxes and pulling stuff off shelves and bingo! I found the body mount bolts I pulled off my Duramax when I installed the nerf bars. It’s a little longer but it’s the right size besides it having an 18mm head instead of the 15mm that the originals have.


I’m a lucky you know what for saving stupid stuff like this. Little trim with the cut off wheel and a little buzz from the grinder and I have a bolt!


Now getting the drivers side mount out was a different story. The bolt was a walk in the park in comparison. It still came out the backside but I had to slide the diff to the drivers side as far as possible, drop it down as far as it would go getting wedged between steering rack and engine crossmember, then I needed just a little more by tilting the yoke up and getting just enough clearance to get that mount out but still had to use a hammer and pry bar for a little extra persuasion. Same going back in, tap here, pry there and it barely gets thru.
Sorry no pics, I barely had enough room to see what I was doing wedged between tire, floor Jack and Jack stand. This is why I cannot wait until I have my lift this summer!
Here is the complete pile of parts that beat me up the last few days. I sure hope these struts go on and off easy.


Took the vehicle for a ride and I gotta say, what a world of difference. That clunk is gone and the entire front end just feels so much tighter. Worth every cuss word!

 

[Snowbound]

Little bit of extra info, I stopped at my brothers house to see if he was gonna have his sled ready to head up this week since he brought his down last time so he could do his control arms and change his jackshaft. This S O B couldn’t stand it that I put a turbo on my sled. He went out and bought himself a Hurricane turbo kit, 190hp non intercooled and laughed when I walked in and said, “W T F !!!!” This rivalry is gonna get expensive!

 

[adventurenali92]

I don’t know how you can keep up with all this stuff! I work way less than you but I’m still on the go constantly and barely have time to get anything done outside of work… get yourself healthy!!

 

[Snowbound]

I don’t know how you can keeP up with all this stuff! I work way less than you Dow be I’m still on the go constantly and Barry have time to get anything done outside of work… get yourself healthy!!

I know, I’m lucky if I eat once a day. You’d think I’d be a skinny S O B but I think my metabolism is way out of wack because of it. I’ve been taking balance of nature fruits and vegetables, super beets, vitamin C and D4 on a daily basis thinking I’m actually doing something healthy. These past few weeks has been a nice break besides being sick for 8 days, running up north, working on this vehicle and the sons sled. I guess it wasn’t really a break. Maybe one of these days I’ll slow down.