Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, here is what I use to do the cardian joint and the u joints. Says its for the f;lush type fittings but it will work on the zerts if you get it lined up good.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/performance-tool/performance-tool-4-inch-needle-adapter/pfm0/w54216?q=w54216&pos=0

Thanks, Bruce. I actually have a needle fitting but had forgotten about it until talking with my brother yesterday. He said he has one and then I remembered I do as well. I think it would work w/o removing the driveshaft.

We'll know in a few weeks as when I get back from the OOAT I'll want to grease everything again and will give it a try.

Thanks!

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Bruce. I actually have a needle fitting but had forgotten about it until talking with my brother yesterday. He said he has one and then I remembered I do as well. I think it would work w/o removing the driveshaft.

We'll know in a few weeks as when I get back from the OOAT I'll want to grease everything again and will give it a try.

Thanks!

Still haven't gotten the new grease gun. In fact, I've not even gotten notification that it has shipped. But that's not a problem as I'm not going to be ready to use it until we get back off the trip to the OOAT.

However, I did get the new BlueTooth dongle in today and it works very nicely with DashCommand, as explained in this post in the OBD-II Scanner, Dongle, & App Thoughts thread. So now I need to learn how to config DashCommand the way I want it to work.

Also, I made a significant improvement in the brakes. Since doing the transformation the truck has initially pulled to the right when you first hit the brakes. Initially, meaning when you hit the brakes the steering wheel turned right a bit and you needed to correct that.

I've been trying to work out what would cause that and finally decided it had to be the rear brakes out of adjustment. So today I put it on the lift and found that both rear brakes were "loose", but the right rear was a lot tighter than the left one. So I did as Dad taught me and tightened them down until the adjuster stopped turning, beat on the backing plate with a rubber mallet, tightened again, and then backed off 10 clicks. That left the brakes touching slightly on both sides, meaning you'd hear the drums touch the linings as you turned the wheel, but they still turned easily.

Boy, did it WORK! Now the wheel doesn't even twitch when you hit the brakes and you stop straight. In fact, the brakes seem to take effect much more quickly, and you stop NOW.

So I had a great day!

[1986F150Six]

I've been trying to work out what would cause that and finally decided it had to be the rear brakes out of adjustment. So today I put it on the lift and found that both rear brakes were "loose", but the right rear was a lot tighter than the left one. So I did as Dad taught me and tightened them down until the adjuster stopped turning, beat on the backing plate with a rubber mallet, tightened again, and then backed off 10 clicks. That left the brakes touching slightly on both sides, meaning you'd hear the drums touch the linings as you turned the wheel, but they still turned easily.

Boy, did it WORK! Now the wheel doesn't even twitch when you hit the brakes and you stop straight. In fact, the brakes seem to take effect much more quickly, and you stop NOW.

So I had a great day!

And someone would say, "if that is meant as a compliment, then I thank you"!

[Gary Lewis]

I've been trying to work out what would cause that and finally decided it had to be the rear brakes out of adjustment. So today I put it on the lift and found that both rear brakes were "loose", but the right rear was a lot tighter than the left one. So I did as Dad taught me and tightened them down until the adjuster stopped turning, beat on the backing plate with a rubber mallet, tightened again, and then backed off 10 clicks. That left the brakes touching slightly on both sides, meaning you'd hear the drums touch the linings as you turned the wheel, but they still turned easily.

Boy, did it WORK! Now the wheel doesn't even twitch when you hit the brakes and you stop straight. In fact, the brakes seem to take effect much more quickly, and you stop NOW.

So I had a great day!

And someone would say, "if that is meant as a compliment, then I thank you"!

Yes, he was wont to say that, with a wry smile on his face. I miss that guy. He would really have had fun working with me in the shop.

But his training has paid off, many, many times. And this time the truck now stops straight. And quickly.

And speaking of straight, I've been playing around with tire pressures and have discovered that it seems to like 60 psi. Below that the ride is a bit better but the tires apparently are trying to follow grooves or ridges in the pavement. And above that the ride gets noticeably harsher. But at 60 psi it tracks straighter and rides reasonably - for a heavy truck.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, he was wont to say that, with a wry smile on his face. I miss that guy. He would really have had fun working with me in the shop.

But his training has paid off, many, many times. And this time the truck now stops straight. And quickly.

And speaking of straight, I've been playing around with tire pressures and have discovered that it seems to like 60 psi. Below that the ride is a bit better but the tires apparently are trying to follow grooves or ridges in the pavement. And above that the ride gets noticeably harsher. But at 60 psi it tracks straighter and rides reasonably - for a heavy truck.

In prep for the OOAT trip I put my clamp-on ammeter on the lead between the aux battery and the inverter. Initially when I turned the inverter on I saw about 12 amps of current and then as the many things being charged settled down it dropped to just below 10 amps.

Then I kicked the air compressor on and the current jumped to 135 amps and then started slowly going higher. I turned the compressor off when the current reached 150 amps as that's the size of fuse that's currently in the holder and I don't really want to blow it.

So I went to visit DeWayne at Skiatook Auto Parts and bought 150, 175, and 200 amp fuses, and they'll go in the spares bag.

Edit: I should have explained that I didn't start the engine for this test. So I'm sure the battery voltage was headed south and the current had to head north to keep the wattage constant. For instance, if the voltage on the battery was down to 11 then the wattage at 150 amps was 1,650. But had the engine been running and the voltage stayed up at 14 volts then the current should have been 118 amps.

[Gary Lewis]

In prep for the OOAT trip I put my clamp-on ammeter on the lead between the aux battery and the inverter. Initially when I turned the inverter on I saw about 12 amps of current and then as the many things being charged settled down it dropped to just below 10 amps.

Then I kicked the air compressor on and the current jumped to 135 amps and then started slowly going higher. I turned the compressor off when the current reached 150 amps as that's the size of fuse that's currently in the holder and I don't really want to blow it.

So I went to visit DeWayne at Skiatook Auto Parts and bought 150, 175, and 200 amp fuses, and they'll go in the spares bag.

Edit: I should have explained that I didn't start the engine for this test. So I'm sure the battery voltage was headed south and the current had to head north to keep the wattage constant. For instance, if the voltage on the battery was down to 11 then the wattage at 150 amps was 1,650. But had the engine been running and the voltage stayed up at 14 volts then the current should have been 118 amps.

Well, so much for Plan B - the Ozark Overland Adventure Trail. Bret, our son, is very ill and can't go, so we are now going back to Plan A - New Mexico in late April.

But, that gives me time to do a couple more things to Big Blue. First is the seat base, and I've come to realize that I need the new base to not only angle the seats differently but also to give more fore/aft movement of the seats in order to provide better access to the storage behind the seats.

Second, the vendor for the mirror/camera system, Pormido, has let me know that they plan to come out with a waterproof front camera and that it'll be available in late March. So hopefully I can get that on as well and do away with the goofy-looking and optically-distorting box.

And, in the interim Janey and I plan to go to western OK on a loop called Sugar Creek.

[grumpin]

Well, so much for Plan B - the Ozark Overland Adventure Trail. Bret, our son, is very ill and can't go, so we are now going back to Plan A - New Mexico in late April.

But, that gives me time to do a couple more things to Big Blue. First is the seat base, and I've come to realize that I need the new base to not only angle the seats differently but also to give more fore/aft movement of the seats in order to provide better access to the storage behind the seats.

Second, the vendor for the mirror/camera system, Pormido, has let me know that they plan to come out with a waterproof front camera and that it'll be available in late March. So hopefully I can get that on as well and do away with the goofy-looking and optically-distorting box.

And, in the interim Janey and I plan to go to western OK on a loop called Sugar Creek.

That looks like fun!

[BigBrother-84]

...the vendor for the mirror/camera system, Pormido, has let me know that they plan to come out with a waterproof front camera and that it'll be available in late March. So hopefully I can get that on as well and do away with the goofy-looking and optically-distorting box.

That's interesting, good news!

[Gary Lewis]

...the vendor for the mirror/camera system, Pormido, has let me know that they plan to come out with a waterproof front camera and that it'll be available in late March. So hopefully I can get that on as well and do away with the goofy-looking and optically-distorting box.

That's interesting, good news!

Yes, it is really good news. I've checked back with them several times over the last year or so and they kept saying they are working on it. Last time they said they have it and it'll be shipping to Amazon soon and will be available late March.

That's going to be great, and work out well for our trip. The trip to AR would have been crossing stream after stream and there was no way I could remove the cover on the box. But it distorts things so much that it makes it hard to really see what is going on. The waterproof camera should fix that.

And that makes the video that's shot a good record of the trip. We'll have that plus the GPS data that shows on a map, so we'll know exactly where we've been.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, it is really good news. I've checked back with them several times over the last year or so and they kept saying they are working on it. Last time they said they have it and it'll be shipping to Amazon soon and will be available late March.

That's going to be great, and work out well for our trip. The trip to AR would have been crossing stream after stream and there was no way I could remove the cover on the box. But it distorts things so much that it makes it hard to really see what is going on. The waterproof camera should fix that.

And that makes the video that's shot a good record of the trip. We'll have that plus the GPS data that shows on a map, so we'll know exactly where we've been.

This is to document a test I just ran - over two weeks. I've been gone a bit over that time visiting the kids and decided I needed to put a battery charger on Big Blue just to make sure the batteries are up when I get back. But I don't have a "smart" battery charger since the HF one cratered and really did a number on the starting battery. And since I have the smart battery isolator that both parallels the batteries when one of them gets to something like 13.2V and then pulls significant current itself via its coil I wasn't quite sure what charger and settings to use.

In the end I opted for this charger and its settings, meaning the 2A mode:

And when we got back today I found that my guess had been spot on: