TireSmoke.org

I had started to detect a slight shudder when braking, so I decided to take a close look at the brakes. It had been 56K miles and 7 years since they were last serviced. The pads, both front and rear were down to 1/4 inch thickness. I decided that this was a good time to tackle the job. I measured the thickness of the front rotors since they had been resurfaced before and saw that It was too thin to remove more metal safely. I was surprised that the front rotors on this truck have the Bosch brand cast into them and was able find replacement Bosch QuietCast units at O'Reilly's. Since the pads I had used on the last brake job did so well, I ordered the same Raybestos ATD1169C Advanced Technology Ceramic Disc Brake Pad Set from Amazon. I also noticed that my front sway bar end links were worn out. I found some MOOG end links from Amazon Warehouse for half price.
So now the front brakes are new and the rear brakes have been cleaned and lubed (they still have at least another 20K miles on them) and the brake fluid has been changed. The Moog end links have just arrived so a few more hours and I will be done. 122k Miles and still going strong! For future reference, this is the brake bedding procedure I used:
Bedding In Brake Rotors

Anytime you install new brake rotors, brake pads, or both, it's advantageous to bed in your new brakes. Bedding in your brakes is just an industry term to explain breaking in your new brakes. Bedding in your brakes helps transfer an even layer of brake pad material onto the brake rotor which assists in smoother brake operation and improved braking power.

Having a uniform layer of pad material on the brake rotor is essential to minimizing brake squeal and vibration. For this procedure, you will need a good stretch of road and no traffic.

Use common sense and don't wreck.

Perform 3-4 medium stops from 45mph. Slightly more aggressive than normal braking. You don't need to come to a complete stop for each pass. This brings the brake rotors up to temperature so they are not exposed to sudden thermal shock.
Make 8-10 aggressive stops from 60mph down to 15mph. For this set of semi-stops, you want to be firm and aggressive, but not to the point where ABS activates and the wheels lock up. It's important to note that you don't come to a complete stop but rather a semi-stop (~15mph). Accelerate back up to 60mph as soon as you slowed down to your semi-stop.
The brake pads and brake rotors are extremely hot at this point and sitting on one point will imprint the pad material onto the surface unevenly. This can cause vibration and uneven braking.
You may notice that your brakes will start fading, and sometimes smoke, after the 6th or 7th pass. This fade will stabilize and will gradually recess once your brakes have cooled down to normal operating temperatures. Drive carefully as your brakes may feel softer for the next few minutes.
Try not to come to a complete stop and find a stretch of road where you can coast for 5-10 minutes, preferably without using your brakes.

After the break-in procedure, there may be a light blue tint on your brake rotors as well as a gray film deposit. The blue tint shows that your rotor has reached the appropriate temperature during the bedding process, and the gray film is some of the pad transfer material.

Some cars and trucks require two cycles of the bedding in procedure. This may be the case if you are using old brake rotors with new brake pads, or new brake rotors with old pads. This may also be the case if you don't think you fully heated up the brakes in the initial bedding procedure. In any case, it's required that you wait at least 10-15 minutes between each cycle as you don't want them to overlap.

Love the clean undercarriage and original parts stickers still visible. And, 3/10 faster than the Lincoln.

Those end links are crazy looking.

-BP

Are you referring to the spacer?

looks like they are finned for cooling, but really probably for rigidity

I didn't realize they were remarkable. I've been looking at them for about 9 years now. They are sturdy plastic and provide good support to the link assembly.

The new front sway bar link bushings made a noticeable difference in cornering. I didn't realize how bad they had gotten. The brakes are now perfect again, too. It's like driving a new truck!

those little things can go a long way. at 12 years old might be a few other little things that could use some preventative maintenance

MostMint wrote:those little things can go a long way. at 12 years old might be a few other little things that could use some preventative maintenance

Yes, I'm certain the cam shaft is good and worn, time for a newer bigger one. While you're at it,
might as well rebuild the whole motor... and change the gearing to something better... and then.......

This is how it starts.

GM

Back to the AC leak again. I used Jim's new sniffer tool and found that the low pressure port schrader valve is leaking when the cap is removed. So I waited until a cool morning and enlisted the intrepid Randi to help. Her job was to put her gloved thumb over the port after I remove the valve. I knew that the low side pressure was 20-30 psi according to the gauges, but I forgot that the pressure from both sides equalize when the compressor is not running. So when I removed the valve, Randi had some difficulty holding back the pressure. We were both wearing PPE so no harm was done. I was able to quickly slip in the new valve and tighten it down without losing a huge amount of R134a. Last, I recharged it to a measured 31° at cabin the outlet. It took one can of R134a and the gauges read 30psi low and 155psi high which is right where it should be for a 65° ambient temperature. In addition, the sniffer now confirmed that the leak had been stopped. I'm not overly optimistic, but I sure hope this fixes the leak. 123,200 miles now.

OK!!!! Would that I would be so lucky with the Lincoln AC leak.

Need to borrow your sniffer.

Still no resolution. I had to add about 1.5 cans of R134a to top off the AC system. 123,700 miles now, so I'm adding refrigerant about every 500 miles now. I guess it's time to get serious and do some hard looking for signs of the leak.

My left side windshield washer got clogged and I tried air pressure, but it didn't work. So I set about rectifying the situation. This involves removing both wiper arms and then the big plastic cowl cover. While attempting to remove the nozzle from the rubber hose, it broke in half. I thought about just trying to glue it together and go on, but decided against it because of the complexity of getting at it if it doesn't hold up. I found a Dorman replacement on Amazon ($21 and change), but a guy complained that the one he received did not have two orifices like the original. I searched and searched for hours hoping to find an alternative. No luck. All bad reviews and besides how could I be sure I would get the right nozzle. I then decided to use Amazon Prime and order the Dorman part in hopes that the reviewer was wrong or got the wrong part by mistake. Three days later it arrived and it did not look like the original with two orifices, but I decided to try it anyway. I did a temporary assembly of the cowl etc and tried it out. Foiled again. It only sprayed the lower part of the windshield. Unacceptable!. Then I thought I'd try my local O'Reilly's where I would be able to verify that the part was correct. They had the same Dorman item, but theirs was almost $40. No way I'm paying that for a small plastic nozzle. I called Dorman to see what they had to say, but they never returned my call. FINALLY, I reconsidered my original decision and dug out my SuperGlue. It worked like a champ on the broken nozzle. After the glue had dried sufficiently, I tugged and twisted on the broken seam and it survived so I installed it. Getting the wiper arms installed in the precise position to allow them to park correctly really taxed my patience. It took many tries to get it right. It, again, now sprays a beautiful pattern the same as the right side. Now I have to wait and see if the fix holds up to the temperature extremes of winter and summer here. I think it will.

If the glue fails in the cold, this is a part that should be on any wrecked Trailblazer maybe there is a local pull a part type junkyard.

Yes. Maverick is on the problem at the time of this writing. He just emailed me about joining me in an outing to find the nozzle. Time to do it. I haven't been to a junk yard in a long time.