# No sawdust, only rust.



## JerseyHighlander (Oct 16, 2021)

Keep seeing the "What did you do in your shop today" thread pop-up but there has been no sawdust in my life lately, only rust & metal shavings. 
Everything on my GMC Sierra 2500HD has been rotting at a rapid pace for years now & I've been mostly playing triage replacing all the brake lines when one of them blew out going down a mountainside taking my son to school... Replacing all the fuel lines when it started spewing diesel all over the place... Last year or so I've been horrified every time I crawl under and look up at the frame. Decided it was time to get ahead of the curve. 

I plan to be pulling a heavy trailer in the near future and have had no confidence in my hitch for some time, mostly because it's partially dependent on the bumper which had a facade of chrome and plastic with nothing under it. Was also getting a new vibration on the highway with a weird clanking/grinding noise at slow speeds, cause the upper shock mount on one side completely rotted away & one of the mounts that holds the fuel tank strap was on the verge of failure, haven't been able to get the spare tire down for years so, off came the bed, new bumper was ordered, bought a pneumatic needle scaler to go with the rest of the war chest. Time to assess the issues.










Where a shock mount bracket once was, along with rotting exhaust mount brackets.





The underside of a leaf spring bracket, with part of the trailer hitch spanning around it. Looks like it's been on the bottom of the ocean for 200 years...

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## 2feathers Creative Making (Oct 16, 2021)

not a fan of mechanical work. Can do it but hate the busted knuckles and little red leaks that I tend to spring on the back of my hands. Sawdust brushes off, steel chips have to be dug out, and oil must be patiently worn off over time. Much prefer sawdust. Best of luck and all.

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## JerseyHighlander (Oct 16, 2021)

Been making good progress. Have removed almost all the heavy scale and began cutting away rotted sections, taking off all the rust and treating the metal to prevent any further corrosion. I was afraid I was going to be replacing the large X-brace cross member in the rear, along with the entire cross member that lost the shock & fuel hanger brackets but with a bit of surgery, they are salvageable. 

Removed the rear bumper, in three pieces. Took off the old trailer hitch, which looks salvageable but I'm replacing it, had to remove the passenger leaf spring to re-arch it. 

The leaf spring bracket cleaned of rust and coated to prevent any future rust. 







X-Brace cross member looking a lot better.




Getting there.




What's in the mail for me lately has been a 50' extension cord for my TIG welder. Tomorrow it moves to the lower yard for welding.

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## JerseyHighlander (Oct 16, 2021)

2feathers Creative Making said:


> not a fan of mechanical work. Can do it but hate the busted knuckles and little red leaks that I tend to spring on the back of my hands. Sawdust brushes off, steel chips have to be dug out, and oil must be patiently worn off over time. Much prefer sawdust. Best of luck and all.


I grew up dirt poor. If I wanted to drive, I had to know how to fix the car, which was often a weekly affair. Been very multi-disciplinary all my life. I make a hobby of restoring old vintage chainsaws like brand new, when I have time, which these days is never.
Funny thing is, the worst "red leak" I've ever had came from cabinetmaking, but yah, I'm in the busted knuckles club.


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Oct 16, 2021)

Paid 300 for my first. It was a worn out van. Put motor in it and traded it for a 80's Plymouth grand fury 2. Put motor and trans in that. So yeah, been there, done that. Pulled fuel tanks, water pumps, timing chains, and even a camshaft or 2 in the process of "growing up". Still prefer sawdust

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## JerseyHighlander (Oct 17, 2021)

2feathers Creative Making said:


> Paid 300 for my first. It was a worn out van. Put motor in it and traded it for a 80's Plymouth grand fury 2. Put motor and trans in that. So yeah, been there, done that. Pulled fuel tanks, water pumps, timing chains, and even a camshaft or 2 in the process of "growing up". Still prefer sawdust


I won't argue, woodworking is definitely my first love. But I'll never stop enjoying metalwork, welding & restoring vintage machinery. This project is more a matter of survival and putting a stop to the nightmare of rot but there is a vintage pickup truck in my future somewhere and I intend to restore it from the ground up. 

Maybe one of these. I'd be scrounging wood in style...

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## 2feathers Creative Making (Oct 17, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> I won't argue, woodworking is definitely my first love. But I'll never stop enjoying metalwork, welding & restoring vintage machinery. This project is more a matter of survival and putting a stop to the nightmare of rot but there is a vintage pickup truck in my future somewhere and I intend to restore it from the ground up.
> 
> Maybe one of these. I'd be scrounging wood in style...
> 
> View attachment 217470


Now that, I could get greasy and a bloody knuckle for!

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## JerseyHighlander (Nov 2, 2021)

Well, the saga continues. I'd be getting further, faster if I'd stop opening up new cans-O-worms... and if the weather would stop screwing with me, but I'm planning to be pulling a heavy trailer long distances in the near future and I need to know everything is solid.
Got the missing shock mount replaced with the one I purchased. While descaling everything I realized the other upper shock mount was thin as paper and the replacement version was for some reason way more expensive than the other one so I just grabbed some 3/16" steel plate and made one, along with a new bracket for the rear fuel tank strap.










That large X-brace rear cross member had a bit of rot that compromised connections to the frame so those sections got cut off and new angle iron welded in. Not the prettiest welding as the angle I was putting in was 1/8" and the original steel was stamped 1/16" with areas stretched and worn thinner than that, but it's solid again.



















While the incessant rain was preventing me being outside, I had the spare tire winch in the basement. Damned thing never worked after the first winter's rust made a crappy design worse. It was all still solid and functional under the rot, just needed actual lubricant in the gears/mechanisms and de-rusting.
Better now than new.

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## JerseyHighlander (Nov 4, 2021)

I clicked on this thread and saw the first few "before" pictures, the contrast between that and what I'm working with daily is nearly jolting. I've had a tarp under the frame as I've been descaling, dumped nearly 50 lbs of rusted metal into a bucket yesterday. 
Had a little setback. The tubular crossmember at the center has been in question since the beginning though I was pretty sure it was solid enough, I've been leery about what is being concealed by the fuel tank that is partially formed around it. Dropping the tank has had to be put off as I needed to move the truck between certain stages but finally dropped the tank yesterday to confirm what I think my subconscious has known all along. Need to replace the entire cross member. 





Ordered the new one from Safe-T-Cap yesterday and it should be here in a few hours. Hopefully have the replacement done by tomorrow. 

Having the fuel tank out let me descale and wirewheel the rest of the rear frame area. Went over the rest of it for the third time after the rain & condensation set things rusting again. This time nearly everything was coated with undercoat to finally put a stop to the corrosion. 



Couldn't resist doing the differential pumpkin while I was in there. At least part of it, still need to replace the diff cover and rotted bolts. Was nice to feel forward progress taking place though.

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## JerseyHighlander (Nov 27, 2021)

Been a bit since I've updated this. Weather has been kicking my butt.. Have to keep stopping to tend to other things. 

I ordered the replacement crossmember and it was on my door less than 24 hours later. Hooked up the plasma cutter & got to slinging molten metal. 

Cut out the pipe first to make room to work at the frame without that in my way.









Too bad these don't count as trophies. 





Getting new pieces in position.






Everything aligned where it belongs and tacked up, first weld was encouraging.





Finished and coated with rustproofing
Pretty sure it's not going anywhere.






Exhaust hanger back on get's my prettiest weld yet.






Happy happy!

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## Karl_TN (Nov 27, 2021)

Wow, I would have given up on this a long time ago. Got admit that it sure is a lot of fun watching somebody else do all this work though. Keep the pics coming.

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## JerseyHighlander (Nov 28, 2021)

Karl_TN said:


> Wow, I would have given up on this a long time ago. Got admit that it sure is a lot of fun watching somebody else do all this work though. Keep the pics coming.


When I think about having to plunk down another $45k at a stealership, it gives me strength to carry on. Though I would be having a lot more fun if I was doing it inside a heated garage or, even an unheated garage. I am certainly looking forward to it being done and getting back to my woodwork.


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## Mr. Peet (Nov 28, 2021)

I'm also amazed to see plants with green leaves this late into the year, but Jersey is a world away...


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## JerseyHighlander (Nov 28, 2021)

Mr. Peet said:


> I'm also amazed to see plants with green leaves this late into the year, but Jersey is a world away...


There are a lot of Azalea & Rhododendron here that retain leaves all year round. Also a profuse amount of Burning Bush that stays green later than most things. And, being that I'm catching up on this thread, most of those pictures are probably two weeks old by now. Woke up to everything covered in snow this morning, not happy.

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## T. Ben (Nov 29, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> covered in snow


Lucky!!!!!


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## Mr. Peet (Nov 29, 2021)

T. Ben said:


> Lucky!!!!!


Not enough to ride, just a few inches of lake effect to create annoyance.


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## T. Ben (Nov 30, 2021)

Mr. Peet said:


> Not enough to ride, just a few inches of lake effect to create annoyance.


I still like to see snow.


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## JerseyHighlander (Nov 30, 2021)

Mr. Peet said:


> Not enough to ride, just a few inches of lake effect to create annoyance.


Few inches? You apparently got more out of that than we did, maybe an inch. Temps went up and it was all gone by afternoon. 



T. Ben said:


> I still like to see snow.


Me too, just not yet. 

Too me it just looks like trouble and grief right now. Like this. 
Still leaves on that Burning Bush behind... not quite so green now. The other green to the left is a Fir tree. 

Fuel tank is obviously back in, fuel cooler troubles sorted out, fuel lines re-plumbed and leaks resolved. Replacing the bag on one of the air lift springs today, put the wiring back where it goes and it's back up to the driveway to drop the bed back on it.

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## Karl_TN (Nov 30, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> Few inches? You apparently got more out of that than we did, maybe an inch. Temps went up and it was all gone by afternoon.
> 
> 
> Me too, just not yet.
> ...


Curious what you plan on using to prevent further rust decay?


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## JerseyHighlander (Nov 30, 2021)

Karl_TN said:


> Curious what you plan on using to prevent further rust decay?


I've been waiting for someone to ask that question. I've been doing the rustproofing as I'm going, you can see a few of the pictures show the application in process. This is the best part, an age old Scandinavian product... it's essentially Linseed Oil, with some charred bone powder for a black pigment.










Vehicle Rust Proofing


Vehicle rust proofing preserves vehicles for generations. Harmless for the environment.



solventfreepaint.com





I discovered this and the company I got it from several years back while looking for something else. I'm a fanatic about finishing wood with oil and have been wiping it on certain metal tools like my handsaws for years to keep them from rusting, so this really caught my attention. First tried it a couple years ago doing a few sample areas on the wife's Subaru. It works exceptionally well. After I used it in limited areas of the truck last fall, I was totally hooked. Now, if I'm working on a car/truck, there is a jar of this nearby.

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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 5, 2021)

Progress or, lack thereof... Bed should have been back on the truck and the truck back on the road by now, but I had to stop for a couple days to tend to this...








 %&**&$#@!!!!!

It was supposed to have a lifetime warranty so I get on the phone... Couple arguments and some cussing later, I'm at the plumbing supply house.

So, of course, not one of the pipe fittings is even close to the old position for the new tank.




The Mrs. went without hot water for the entire day before, couldn't let it go a second day. I got the piping sorted out and after disregarding the manufacturer's wiring directions for the controls, fired it up at 1:30am. 






Another half a day to clean up and put all the tools & supplies away, now I can get back to the truck before the snow storm in a few days. I'll put the insulation back on the pipes while it's snowing.

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## 2feathers Creative Making (Dec 5, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> Progress or, lack thereof... Bed should have been back on the truck and the truck back on the road by now, but I had to stop for a couple days to tend to this...
> View attachment 219058
> 
> View attachment 219059
> ...


Don't know which little non English area those directions come from but 'just like it was' usually works better than the Instructions!


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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 5, 2021)

2feathers Creative Making said:


> Don't know which little non English area those directions come from but 'just like it was' usually works better than the Instructions!


You're certainly not wrong but, the new one is a digital display, thermostatic control, nothing like the old one, six terminals instead of two. I'd be happy if they'd just stop coming up with new, "creative" ways to label the terminals. In the end, it just came down to what makes sense and what doesn't...hey! it works.

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## Mr. Peet (Dec 5, 2021)

Kyle,

Don't you have a domestic coil in the oil fired furnace? We ran ours with a bypass so if the boiler mate died, we still had a way for easy hot water. Had a secondary line as well to an electric water heater. When that crapped out after only 27 years, did not buy a replacement. Never bought the boiler mate to start. 

Down to 1 kid at home, no reason for large volumes of hot water anymore. Plus, using the furnace hot water coil runs the unit all year. Being used year round keeps the unit cleaner without chance of condensation issues, thus service every 2 years but fuel filters at least once a year. Year round also reduces chances of birds and bees building in the chimney. The extra heat helps moderate basement humidity.

Which pipes get insulation wrap and why?


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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 5, 2021)

Mr. Peet said:


> Kyle,
> 
> Don't you have a domestic coil in the oil fired furnace? We ran ours with a bypass so if the boiler mate died, we still had a way for easy hot water. Had a secondary line as well to an electric water heater. When that crapped out after only 27 years, did not buy a replacement. Never bought the boiler mate to start.
> 
> ...


You had the trifecta of redundancy huh?
This boiler doesn't have a domestic coil. The water heater is an indirect that runs off a zone from the boiler but has storage, like the Boilermate. When I built this system back in 04, the Boilermates were having a lot of issues with the plastic inner tank cracking, so went with the Weil-Mclain given it had a stainless steel tank in tank design but it turned out to have design & manufacturing flaws. Apparently the factory wasn't passivating the welds and the tanks rotted through at the weld seams. No anode rod to stop corrosion, it was just a matter of time. It should have lasted a lot longer than 17 years.
You got 27 years out of a regular electric water heater... Not bad. Let me hazard a guess, Bradford & White with two anode rods?
The indirect keeps the boiler running all year too but I put it on a timer during the summer, only letting it run from morning to early evening, to keep the basement cooler. I run a dehumidifier down there anyway.

The hot pipe from the water heater gets insulation just for efficiency and the zone pipes to/from the boiler get insulation was well. I also took a bit of insulation off the primary/secondary piping for the radiant floor in the house, so I didn't set it on fire with the torch while I modified the water heater zone.


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## Mr. Peet (Dec 5, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> You had the trifecta of redundancy huh?
> This boiler doesn't have a domestic coil. The water heater is an indirect that runs off a zone from the boiler but has storage, like the Boilermate. When I built this system back in 04, the Boilermates were having a lot of issues with the plastic inner tank cracking, so went with the Weil-Mclain given it had a stainless steel tank in tank design but it turned out to have design & manufacturing flaws. Apparently the factory wasn't passivating the welds and the tanks rotted through at the weld seams. No anode rod to stop corrosion, it was just a matter of time. It should have lasted a lot longer than 17 years.
> You got 27 years out of a regular electric water heater... Not bad. Let me hazard a guess, Bradford & White with two anode rods?
> The indirect keeps the boiler running all year too but I put it on a timer during the summer, only letting it run from morning to early evening, to keep the basement cooler. I run a dehumidifier down there anyway.
> ...


I don't remember the make, had a light blue top and white side. Think it was an 80, about 6' tall and 20" diameter. It had a very slow leak the last 2 years of service, floor drain was within 2 feet so I was slow to act. I've though about wrapping some of the pipes for either heat or condensation, just never did it. Have for customers, you know the deal. They get taken care of, home can wait. 

Well-trol screwed a bunch of folks too.


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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 6, 2021)

Mr. Peet said:


> I don't remember the make, had a light blue top and white side. Think it was an 80, about 6' tall and 20" diameter. It had a very slow leak the last 2 years of service, floor drain was within 2 feet so I was slow to act. I've though about wrapping some of the pipes for either heat or condensation, just never did it. Have for customers, you know the deal. They get taken care of, home can wait.
> 
> Well-trol screwed a bunch of folks too.


I do know that deal, all too well. Like the story of the Shoemaker's kids... But I do get more motivated when the price of fuel triples.

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## Mr. Peet (Dec 7, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> I do know that deal, all too well. Like the story of the Shoemaker's kids... But I do get more motivated when the price of fuel triples.


That is why we have the "emergency" wood stove set up next to the oil fired furnace. You know, "in case the power goes out".

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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 11, 2021)

Getting back from the tangent of the water heater issue... 

The actual work on the truck is far ahead of the upkeep of this thread. I had a bit of an incident, now several weeks back. In some ways the welder's equivalent to a slip with the power saw. Welding those crossmember plates to the side of the frame, the bottom edges on three of them were relatively easy, the last, inside the frame on the passenger side, not so much. Being able to position the welding torch and my feed hand at the right angles and being in a position to see what I was doing required my laying underneath what I was welding. A TIG welder having a major advantage of not throwing spatter everywhere, I was complacent, mistakenly so. Wedged and contorted up between the driveshaft and the exhaust system I got kind of stuck in one area too long and the short of it is, I've got a shirt with several large holes burned through it and a couple serious bruises from doing a sort of hyperfast horizontal merengue. I'll leave you with that visual, the crossmember is done and I bought a new fancy TIG torch that can articulate at different angles. Unfortunately, part of that thrashing under molten steel resulted in a pinched nerve in my neck that took several days to get through. 

The truck being a diesel engine it has a fuel cooler on the return line. It's been a ceaseless source of aggravation and I had at least one fuel leak from around that area, just forward of the fuel tank I was determined to sort out. The fancy college edumucated Engineers GM is paying way too much money don't seem to grasp the concept of corrosion from dissimilar metals and the aluminum cooler, essentially a small radiator, clamped between two steel guards and into steel brackets that bold to the frame, had completely rotted away the aluminum flange. More welding. 

I got on a rant and did a little video, if for nothing else as an entertaining way to vent. 








GMC Sierra - Duramax - Fuel Cooler Issues. Why is it rotting and leaking?


Bit of a rant to vent from a disturbing discovery taking apart the fuel cooler from my 2007 GMC Sierra. Severe decay from galvanic corrosion. This was repaired by welding in new aluminum flanges and r




rumble.com





Pretty grungy to begin with, impossible to work on or near it without rust raining down on me. 





Sample of the corrosion with the aluminum fin expanded so much it bent the steel brackets around the mounting screw. 





Had aluminum sheet on hand, welded new strips across the entire flange on both sides. Cleaned up all the rust on the steel parts and put it back together with rubber in between the aluminum and steel. Shouldn't have to touch this again for a few more years. 








Last time I did this I apparently grabbed a couple hose clamps that weren't stainless and two of those complete rotted way. I've always despised those clamps anyway, especially on small diameter fuel lines. A while ago I found a way that uses a high tensile wire to make the best hose clamp money can't buy.

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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 11, 2021)

So this turns out to be one of the better things I've discovered over the years. I finally made a homemade version of the tool and ordered some good stainless steel wire from McMaster-Carr & put it to the test. Why didn't somebody teach me this many, many years ago???

To save myself some 'splainin, there are already plenty of videos out there. But the history, as I know it anyway, is that this is in very common use with the Experimental Aircraft Association people and these people have a commercially made version of it that's been on the market for a while. Commercially made version with videos explaining the use here. https://clamptitetools.com/ (I have no affiliation with any of these companies) A bit pricey but now that I've tried it, I may splurge for one. 

I've seen several videos on the tube regarding DIY versions and made one up pretty quick. Took a few tries to get the hang of it but I'm sold.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 12, 2021)

Jus found this thread, interesting red. Wow, a lot of work. But very cool to watch someone else doing it, lol. I'm just not that into cars and trucks to do that kind of work anymore. I do a little booger welding from time to time and I'm pretty competent turning a wench but I much rather enjoy working with wood nowadays. Great job on the repair though and I like watching the progress.

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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 12, 2021)

woodtickgreg said:


> Jus found this thread, interesting red. Wow, a lot of work. But very cool to watch someone else doing it, lol. I'm just not that into cars and trucks to do that kind of work anymore. I do a little booger welding from time to time and I'm pretty competent turning a wench but I much rather enjoy working with wood nowadays. Great job on the repair though and I like watching the progress.


I know what you mean. This is very much a creature of necessity for me right now, the alternative being to scrap it or watch it decay down into oblivion, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. Always going to have my feet in multiple worlds but my first love is woodwork. Few weeks ago my bladesmith boy asked to take a section off one of the Black Cherry logs in my carving stash, he agreed to carve a bowl for his girlfriend as a gift to her mother. Watching him with my carving axes, adze, drawknife etc, was like watching another kid eat a Chocolate Sunday while I had a bowl of porridge in front of me. Well, maybe bacon and eggs instead of porridge, but certainly not a Sunday. I go in the basement and the smell of fresh/green Black Cherry displacing the smell of grease & metal grinding was intoxicating. I'm looking forward to carving again but it's going to be a while yet.

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## Mr. Peet (Dec 12, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> I know what you mean. This is very much a creature of necessity for me right now, the alternative being to scrap it or watch it decay down into oblivion, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. Always going to have my feet in multiple worlds but my first love is woodwork. Few weeks ago my bladesmith boy asked to take a section off one of the Black Cherry logs in my carving stash, he agreed to carve a bowl for his girlfriend as a gift to her mother. Watching him with my carving axes, adze, drawknife etc, was like watching another kid eat a Chocolate Sunday while I had a bowl of porridge in front of me. Well, maybe bacon and eggs instead of porridge, but certainly not a Sunday. I go in the basement and the smell of fresh/green Black Cherry displacing the smell of grease & metal grinding was intoxicating. I'm looking forward to carving again but it's going to be a while yet.


Anything you ate today, you could still say it was a Sunday...

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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 17, 2021)

The new rear bumper is mounted, truck moved back to the upper driveway and reunited with it's bed!



The bitter irony here being, except the bumper & barely visible trailer hitch, with the bed back on, you can hardly tell it's any different from before I started. Physically it's a world apart and sliding underneath and looking up makes me happy instead of making me cringe so I guess it is what it is.

The new trailer hitch arrived two days early and after all my chastising of UPS... In comparison to the factory hitch that came on the truck, it's a night and day difference. 












No more worries about a heavy trailer tearing loose from the truck!

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## Mr. Peet (Feb 8, 2022)

Kyle,

Know any Chevy nuts that want a pig-tail, Z82 glove box jumper for wiring a power brake unit? Found one by the freezer. It has a 4-way adapter taped to it.









Edit: just found a second Z82 pig-tail without 4-way adapter.


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## JerseyHighlander (Feb 10, 2022)

Mr. Peet said:


> Kyle,
> 
> Know any Chevy nuts that want a pig-tail, Z82 glove box jumper for wiring a power brake unit? Found one by the freezer. It has a 4-way adapter taped to it.
> 
> ...


Nobody comes to mind. I'm pretty sure mine is still in the pocket of the passenger side door, where it's been since I got the truck. Never have used it yet.

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## djg (Feb 10, 2022)

Wow! I just noticed this thread today. Amazing work. Can I bring my truck over and have you redo it? I had a shock mount break off and luckily there's a local machine shop that I trust. They beefed up the frame's cross member and reattached the shock mount. I have a new sound in the rear that I've inspected for several times but I can't see any structural damage. Hopefully it's just the shocks which will be replaced when it warms up.

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## JerseyHighlander (Feb 12, 2022)

djg said:


> Wow! I just noticed this thread today. Amazing work. Can I bring my truck over and have you redo it? I had a shock mount break off and luckily there's a local machine shop that I trust. They beefed up the frame's cross member and reattached the shock mount. I have a new sound in the rear that I've inspected for several times but I can't see any structural damage. Hopefully it's just the shocks which will be replaced when it warms up.


Thanks Dan. Your truck is also a GM? Virtually all of them are suffering the same issues as I pointed out and detailed in the above posts. Both upper shock mounts, cross members, fuel tank straps & hanger brackets and the exhaust system hangers rot to hell on all of them. If your repair shop didn't drop your fuel tank when they did the repairs, they very likely missed the worst part of the crossmember.

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## djg (Feb 12, 2022)

It's a Dodge. It was a machine shop not necessarily suited for auto work. I didn't know where else to take it. My new mechanic wouldn't touch it. When it warms up, I'm going to check everything out again.


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## JerseyHighlander (Feb 15, 2022)

djg said:


> It's a Dodge. It was a machine shop not necessarily suited for auto work. I didn't know where else to take it. My new mechanic wouldn't touch it. When it warms up, I'm going to check everything out again.


I can't claim an familiarity with the Dodges 'cept they tend to be... dodgy  . I'd be willing to wager most of the failure points are very similar across the brands, as I posted above.

edit. Just checked the Safe-t-cap site, though it could provide some insight, they only have one part, a spring plate, for one model of anything Mopar, then refer to classic industries for any additional frame repair parts. Maybe worth a look punching in your make/model and key words "frame repair" and see what is there.

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