1999 F-250 #54

[Basement Paul]

Since the S10 rearend needed to be driven to Richfield this week, I figured I better deal with the sticking rear brake issue on the F250. After a drive last weekend I touched both rear rims and the driver's side one was hot to the touch, so I knew that was where my problem was. The initial issue is that under a hard brake, it would pull to the right slightly, there was a pulse in the drivetrain after driving a little while, and when on a hill, it wouldn't roll backwards at all.
Upon disassembly Friday night, I found that it needed pads and a caliper as one of the pistons wouldn't collapse.
Luckily this was a simple job on this truck. I got the driver's side done Friday night and just did a pad slap on the passenger's side Sat morning.

[Maverick]

Twice the left rear brake has been dragging on my 2002 Explorer. First time, when I stopped at a light not far from home I saw smoke coming off that wheel. Got that one fixed under warranty. Dealer replaced the rotor, pads and caliper. Second time, years later, was off warranty and all that was replaced again. Never have found the problem but I wonder if it's related to the ABS/traction control. Hope it doesn't have to be done again.

[Basement Paul]

I have to imagine they had defective calipers on the Explorer causing that to happen. The ABS only senses and shouldn't have anything to do with the mechanical end of it. Maybe you're just doing to many holeshots and the rear brakes can't handle it...

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Now that I find myself with a little more spare time, I'm tackling little projects. The latest is painted the ugly bumpers on the F250. I first used Rust Oleum rusty metal primer, then put on a satin black. I brushed it all on so it's nice and thick, and looks good from 10'.
If I can get another couple nice days, I'll try to get it touched up and waxed before winter.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

It was a little chilly today, but sunny and dry was all I needed to wax the big truck. I'm sure it's been at least 10 years since this thing was waxed, if ever. I've never had to rub so hard get the wax to stick. But there's still a good amount of shine left. I also touched up the bare metal scratches.
This will never be a "nice" truck, but it's still amazingly rust free on the body, so I figured I'd try to keep it that way.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

This has been a pretty tough truck so far. Here's yesterday's top-heavy 2750lb load. No freeways for me on this one. It was pretty sketchy.

-BP

[wxo]

Very impressive! How far did you have to tote that load?

[Basement Paul]

It was a little over 20miles. The freeway is longer by about 5 miles, but way faster. I was city streets the whole way. Never got over 40mph.

-BP

[wxo]

Did you do any wheelies along the way? I remember as a teenager, my dad would overload his '55 Chevy pickup and then invite me to drive. What an experience! It was tough to keep that thing going in a straight line.

[Basement Paul]

I always get a little anxious when carrying that kind of weight. But it's cool having to pay that much attention when driving so slowly.
I've carried more weight than that before, but it was all low. This load had so much weight up high so it was pretty unnerving. I was sitting on top of it and felt like I could tip it over by rocking it. I might actually invest in new shocks for it after that load.

-BP

[Maverick]

Did you do any wheelies along the way? I remember as a teenager, my dad would overload his '55 Chevy pickup and then invite me to drive. What an experience! It was tough to keep that thing going in a straight line.

Had a similar experience with my '75 Ford pickup. Put as much horse manure in it as it would hold. Very nearly went in the ditch on the way home. The steering was so ineffective the crown in the road almost did me in.

[Basement Paul]

After all this heavy weight discussion, I ordered new Gabriel commercial shocks for the F-250 tonight. The shocks that are on it right now I believe are original and after really paying attention to how the suspension was reacting under load, I think I could cut down on the lean and sway with some dampers that are actually doing something. Even though they're not leaking, I'm sure my original shocks aren't doing anything at this point. And now that I'm using the truck more regularly, the time is now.
I ordered them from Summit cuz they're way cheaper than anyone else, but they're shipping direct from Gabriel so I won't have them for a couple weeks.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Since it was so nice out today, I took the time to change the oil in the Super Duty. I also greased up the front suspension, rotated the tires, lubed all the hinges and key locks, and put in some injector cleaner. While doing the tire rotation I noticed both front wheel bearings have a little top to bottom wobble, so I'll get to those in the next few weeks most likely. I may pull one of the caps just to see if I can take up a little on the nut and squish some grease in there.
I also received my front shots this week, so I was able to get those installed. It's definitely less clunky up front. I expect to get the rear shocks this week sometime, and the next nice day, I'll swap those out.
66081 miles.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Today the Two Fiddy got new front wheel bearings. I ordered Timken ones from Summit because all the local stores carry only cheap one for almost the same money. No pictures since this is a boring, and pretty simple job. The only hangup was that there was an inner seal that needed replacing and I didn't have. Luckily AutoZone had them in stock.
Next up is a tranny filter and new tranny pan. The one that's on there looks pretty ugly right around the drain plug and I expect it will come out, but not go back in so I bought a new pan.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Another good load. Only around 2000# this time. I did leave a machine at HGR today that wouldn't fit in my truck but would have if I had a flatbed. It has me thinking I might convert to an aluminum flatbed in the not too distant future. It would make all my machine hauling, loading and unloading, SO much easier. The truck only has 66k miles, so it will be around awhile.

-BP