Installed the new passenger side ball joints today, so got all new ball joints on both sides. And installed new brake pads, the back pad on the passenger side was gone and would make a grinding noise when you slowed to a complete stop, NOT anymore!!

It steers like a brand new truck! No more noise, the passenger side started squeaking about 2 weeks ago and recently when you turned the wheel in either direction it sounded like something was breaking.

In my experience on this truck and the OEM ball joints the bottom's are the one's that get the worst. It had up and down play just like the driver side, the top still had grease in it, but it was shot too. The bottom had NO grease and was starting to rust.

And besides getting the rivet's off, getting the spindle off the bottom ball joint is the next biggest PITA! Had air tools for the rivet's, it went a lot faster then before, still had to drill a little before they would punch out.

Brakes are nice and quiet, pedal is still a little squishy, hopefully it will firm up some.

Next on the repair list:

Alignment
Plenum (sticking with stock design - had wanted to go with Hughes AirGap)
Timing Chain and Gears - Double Roller
Exhaust - cat and O2, thinking out ditching the cat and getting a MangaFlow GlassPack muffler, which from SummitRacing is cheaper then the CherryBomb. Thinking about dual exhaust too, been reading and it seems that dual with either an X or H pipe is better then straight dual.

 

Just got back from a ride into town, gonna have to bleed the brakes, they go to the floor a bit too much for my liking.

 

Bleed 'em out REALLY good. Replace ALL the fluid. Also, re-adjust your rears.

 

Got them bled. Didn't go through all the brake fluid though, about half, maybe a little more. And adjusted the rears with the reverse then stomp on the brake pedal trick. Feel much better!

 

Alright guy's got an update and it's not very good.

After bleeding and adjusting the rear's yesterday night everything seemed good.

Wife drove it today said it stops good but pedal goes a long way and is soft. I drove it into town and she's right, pedal goes almost completely to the floor before you can feel the truck slowing down.

If you pump the brake's while driving or slowing down it will build pressure, but driving from A to B and just slowing down at B the pedal is soft.

We replaced passenger ball joints yesterday and installed new brake pads, I for whatever reason could not get the brake caliper off the metal piece (name?) it bolts to so, I took it off all as one piece, got everything done, compressed the caliper a bit to get them on and all was good.

Driver side, brake replacement only, caliper came off easy peasy and we compressed it (using C clamp and old brake pad) to get it onto the new brakes, upon doing that brake fluid came gushing out of the brake fluid reservoir (the cap was on and tight), gushed all the way to the bottom control arm.

Now I was hoping I could get by just bleeding the front's but I'm guessing not.

Looks like I'm in for a full brake bleed, all 4 tires, and go through all the fluid?

What we did yesterday was open the bleeder a bit, press down on the brake pedal till we felt it was all fluid coming out no air, mashed down again HELD the pedal down and tightened the bleeder screw back.

Same for both sides.

Should we be doing anything else?

 

Either still got air in the lines, or the rears still need adjusting, or both.

Trying doing the 'finger method' on brake bleeding. (you may already have done this, but, just being sure here...) Open the bleeder a bit, hold your finger over the end of the valve, to kinda 'seal it off'. Pump the pedal slowly, with firm pressure, until you don't feel any more air bubbles coming out. Do that all the way around. (keep track of fluid level...... otherwise, you get to start all over again.)

Once you have done that, go back to the passenger rear, have your partner pump the pedal three times, and hold pressure on it, crack open the bleeder. Do that a couple times, see if any more air comes out. Repeat on each wheel. Keep going round and round until you don't get any more air.

Readjust the rears manually. Pump the brakes a couple times. Check the adjustment again. Keep doing that until the rear shoes remain in slight contact with the drums. (you should be able to hear them scrub, and get a bit of resistance to rotation.)

Take it for a drive. See what ya think.

If the pedal slowly sinks to the floor while you are stepping on it, you have a leak somewhere.

 

Ok thanks. Too dark now, will do it tomorrow. I don't think there are any leaks, but that doesn't mean there aren't any.

I thought I had a leaky rear wheel cylinder, but upon further inspection I don't think there is.

Manual adjustment for the rear's is in the service manual I suppose?

 

Just jack up the back of the truck, (put it in neutral if ya want, have to if you have a posi.....) on the bottom of the backing plate, toward the rear of the truck, there will be a port in the plate.... you can use a flat bladed screwdriver to do the actual adjusting. (I have the neat tool specifically designed for the purpose..... actually, I think I have three or four of them......) you can either poke it in their and try to 'explore' around and find it, or, just shine a bright flashlight in there so you can see where its at. You can't turn it very far at a time (which is probably a good thing....), so, crank it a couple times, spin the wheel. Keep doing that until you get it where you want it. Step on the brakes a couple times, and check it again. (the shoes move around in there... and just when you think you have it 'right', after stepping on the brakes once, it ain't any more.)

Just as an aside.... It is REALLY hard to type when 60 pounds of puppy decides its time to play......

 

Nope, no posi here, 1 wheel drive

Thanks for the info. Will post my results tomorrow.

 

the old girl needs new shoes and pads. just wondering what brand brake pads yall use.

thanks