Rear drum breaks
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Excellent point
Originally Posted by HeyYou;[url=tel:3513974
3513974[/url]]When I did that kind of thing for a living, I would take a couple thousandths off of NEW rotors as well...... I hated doing the job twice, and you never know how long those rotors have been layin' on the shelf.....
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Safety first
Originally Posted by ol' grouch;[url=tel:3513976
3513976[/url]]Your boyfriend better be careful before Penelope or you slaps him. (Why yes, I DO have an odd sense of humor. 
) Seriously, you can pull the wheel and drum and bolt the drum on inside out and watch it. Just don't touch the brakes. You can see the wobble if there is one. One thing about rear shocks, there isn't much weight when empty so they may seem fine until under load. I always replace all 4 shocks at the same time. This way they are all the same brand and all the same age.
A bit of digression here, the 1993/94 Ford Explorers were the point of numerous lawsuits because of tire failure roll overs.I had a ;93 Explorer. I don't think it was either Ford or Firestone's fault as a single cause for the crashes. The few photos I saw had roof loading. Numerous TV shows and magazines tried to recreate the crashes. None could do it. The reason, at least in my opinion, was the testers were experienced, it was under controlled conditions and they were expecting the blow out when the tire was punctured. In the field, the crashes were usually the result, again in my opinion, of a combination of too much load high on the roof, maybe going too fast, inexperienced drivers, distracted drivers (texting, talking to people on the phone or in the car) and so on, not being trained to recover from a mechanical failure and numerous other factors. My 1993 Explorer had bad shocks when I got it. They looked okay, but it was a hand full for me to drive before replacing them. I've had my license for 50 years and drove long before that on tractors and farm trucks. When I replaced the shocks, it became a docile and well handling car.
I'm well known as a cheap skate. I even bought a Mazda CX-5 because it has Scottish Brakes. (It'll stop on a dime, and pick it up). Don't cheap out on shocks, tire or brakes. The fact that your boyfriend is chea...er...thrifty, is good. There are some things you pay a little more for safety. I know how it is when you don't have much money. He may prefer to spend the money on you. Safety is more important.
) Seriously, you can pull the wheel and drum and bolt the drum on inside out and watch it. Just don't touch the brakes. You can see the wobble if there is one. One thing about rear shocks, there isn't much weight when empty so they may seem fine until under load. I always replace all 4 shocks at the same time. This way they are all the same brand and all the same age.A bit of digression here, the 1993/94 Ford Explorers were the point of numerous lawsuits because of tire failure roll overs.I had a ;93 Explorer. I don't think it was either Ford or Firestone's fault as a single cause for the crashes. The few photos I saw had roof loading. Numerous TV shows and magazines tried to recreate the crashes. None could do it. The reason, at least in my opinion, was the testers were experienced, it was under controlled conditions and they were expecting the blow out when the tire was punctured. In the field, the crashes were usually the result, again in my opinion, of a combination of too much load high on the roof, maybe going too fast, inexperienced drivers, distracted drivers (texting, talking to people on the phone or in the car) and so on, not being trained to recover from a mechanical failure and numerous other factors. My 1993 Explorer had bad shocks when I got it. They looked okay, but it was a hand full for me to drive before replacing them. I've had my license for 50 years and drove long before that on tractors and farm trucks. When I replaced the shocks, it became a docile and well handling car.
I'm well known as a cheap skate. I even bought a Mazda CX-5 because it has Scottish Brakes. (It'll stop on a dime, and pick it up). Don't cheap out on shocks, tire or brakes. The fact that your boyfriend is chea...er...thrifty, is good. There are some things you pay a little more for safety. I know how it is when you don't have much money. He may prefer to spend the money on you. Safety is more important.
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Simple shock test - On each corner, lean all of your weight onto the truck, then push off. If you're a lightweight, this may be a better job for the boyfriend. The truck should go down when you lean on it, come up when you let off, then settle, once. So, down, up once, down just a bit once. If it bounces up and down more than this, the shock is likely worn out. I always recommend Bilstein shocks, they are excellent for the job and last a long time. The plain yellow 2600s are pretty good for most drivers that aren't lifted, overly lowered, or who are offroading or doing competition level driving for which you need specialized shocks.
When you redo the brakes, make sure they're bedded in after. Bedding in brakes means accelerate to 20mph, then brake, coming almost to a complete stop. Repeat about 5 times. Do the same to 30MPH, 40MPH, and 50MPH. Don't come to a complete stop while doing this (unless you HAVE to) and this will ensure smooth stopping going forward. You can get plenty of information on what it does by searching "bedding in brakes" on the internet.
When you redo the brakes, make sure they're bedded in after. Bedding in brakes means accelerate to 20mph, then brake, coming almost to a complete stop. Repeat about 5 times. Do the same to 30MPH, 40MPH, and 50MPH. Don't come to a complete stop while doing this (unless you HAVE to) and this will ensure smooth stopping going forward. You can get plenty of information on what it does by searching "bedding in brakes" on the internet.
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Thank you
Originally Posted by Vimes;[url=tel:3513990
3513990[/url]]Simple shock test - On each corner, lean all of your weight onto the truck, then push off. If you're a lightweight, this may be a better job for the boyfriend. The truck should go down when you lean on it, come up when you let off, then settle, once. So, down, up once, down just a bit once. If it bounces up and down more than this, the shock is likely worn out. I always recommend Bilstein shocks, they are excellent for the job and last a long time. The plain yellow 2600s are pretty good for most drivers that aren't lifted, overly lowered, or who are offroading or doing competition level driving for which you need specialized shocks.
When you redo the brakes, make sure they're bedded in after. Bedding in brakes means accelerate to 20mph, then brake, coming almost to a complete stop. Repeat about 5 times. Do the same to 30MPH, 40MPH, and 50MPH. Don't come to a complete stop while doing this (unless you HAVE to) and this will ensure smooth stopping going forward. You can get plenty of information on what it does by searching "bedding in brakes" on the internet.
When you redo the brakes, make sure they're bedded in after. Bedding in brakes means accelerate to 20mph, then brake, coming almost to a complete stop. Repeat about 5 times. Do the same to 30MPH, 40MPH, and 50MPH. Don't come to a complete stop while doing this (unless you HAVE to) and this will ensure smooth stopping going forward. You can get plenty of information on what it does by searching "bedding in brakes" on the internet.
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If the shocks have 40,000 to 50,000 miles, or more. They need replacement. Ditto is he sees any oil on the shock that isn't from something else. Bouncing the front end is a good test but the rear is so light when unloaded, it may seem good but the shocks might not be that good. The old shocks were pretty blatant when worn out. Gas charged (1980's on) are slower to wear out but I've seen them with no damping at all.
Keep in mind they are misnamed. They don't really absorb road shocks. That is what the tires and springs do. What everybody calls shock absorbers are actually rebound dampers. Left along, the tires would bounce down the road. The dampers hold that down for control and smooth ride.
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Not really. My truck (2003 3.9L 2WD club cab) weighed 4000lbs before I started pulling it down (probably weighs 2000lbs now,) and with a full tank of gas and centered on a CAT scale it was 2320 on the front and 1680 on the rear for a 58/42 front/rear balance. But, if you don't trust the bounce test for the rear, shocks should be replaced as sets of 4 so if the fronts are shot you're going replace them all anyway.
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Right
Not really. My truck (2003 3.9L 2WD club cab) weighed 4000lbs before I started pulling it down (probably weighs 2000lbs now,) and with a full tank of gas and centered on a CAT scale it was 2320 on the front and 1680 on the rear for a 58/42 front/rear balance. But, if you don't trust the bounce test for the rear, shocks should be replaced as sets of 4 so if the fronts are shot you're going replace them all anyway.