The "Donkey" build/rebuild

[Bracket racer]

I'm laying in bed and I'm thinking.....I don't like that front skid plate...it looks unfinished....maybe tomorrow I'll add wings or something to fill it in or "finish it off"

So;

Then I decided to start the light bar. I need a relay..I wonder how bad that fuel pump relay is, why buy new when you can fix old right??
I pulled the top off the relay and the points were burnt like I thought. So I grabbed a points file (it's for filing the points in an older vehicle for you young 'uns lol)
Anyway, filed the points and tested it and voila! it worked. 12v in and out on the large leads (the small leads run the coil) wired a light to it and it flows amperage as well, all good!

Next was the light bar, I was concerned that with my height restriction (to get into the back of the toy hauler) I couldn't go above the roof. So I decided to grab a couple of old hasps I had laying around and make a "drop down" type of mount. Then I could drop it down for transporting and then raise it up and bolt it solid to wheel. Take the bolt out and the bottom part hinges down (with the light) and the top part is welded solid to the cage.

I was concerned with the wires getting caught and ripped off as I drive a lot in the woods with very tight clearances. So, I used brake tubing to make an armoured wire protector. Now the wires can't get ripped off!

Wow, that was a crappy picture...anyway, you can see the tubing hose clamped to the cage and entering between the hood and the firewall. (I thought I would have to cut/fit it but the truck was tweaked quite well in the accident and the tubing slide right in. LOL!!)

And here's a picture from the front. I tried with the light on, holy crap is it bright!

Oh yeah, I did some hacking and slashing and got the headlights bolted in and hooked up too. Now I have high/low beam plus blinker/4 ways for driving on the side of the road. I have to put tail lights on next as well as a box/flatbed/something. For now though, I gotta get it out of here as my kid is coming home from his helicopter course in another province which means I won't be allowed at work. (must self isolate at home)
So the next pictures will be from my own garage at home. (once I decide what I'm doing next...)

 

[Bracket racer]

Just realised, I have to have a heated shop to paint it! So, I'll be painting tomorrow then take it home the following day. Nothing fancy, just brushing on tremclad rust paint. It's a woods truck which WILL get scratched up so brush (roller???) it is.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I used tremclad gloss black with a cheap air gun. No filters. It was so humid out that it came out flat black, which I liked better anyway. Was my first attempt at using air to paint.

 

[sgtsandman]

Air holes in the skid plate for cooling? Otherwise, I think the skid plate looks good. You can't make it go back any more with the axle design.

 

[Bracket racer]

Air holes in the skid plate for cooling? Otherwise, I think the skid plate looks good. You can't make it go back any more with the axle design.

Actually, the rad (out of an explorer) only sticks down an inch or so cooling won't be affected. I was more concerned with clipping the bottom rad support on something more than cooling. Thanks for the feedback though.

 

[Bracket racer]

I used tremclad gloss black with a cheap air gun. No filters. It was so humid out that it came out flat black, which I liked better anyway. Was my first attempt at using air to paint.

Well I had a choice of a brand new HVLP paint gun or my old electric gun I use for sealing decking/etc. In the end, I should of used a brush! LOL!!
Every time I use it to try and paint something metal, the same thing. BRAAAAAAAAAP, sputter, sputter, blob, blob brAAAAaaaaAAAAaaaaap…. Crap....oh well, keep going... LOL!

Anyway, I painted the truck and used a clip board to keep the overspray off the windows (and you think YOU'RE redneck??) and this is how it turned out;

and of course, since I got help in here I had to give credit where credit is due...

and a side pic

 

[Bracket racer]

Oh yeah, I forgot, I was moving it around in the shop and noticed a bit of axle wrap when I popped the clutch. So, after seeing how bad it appeared to be, I decided to make a set of simple "slapper bars". On cars they go underneath and come up and stop the axle from twisting the spring/axle wrap/wheel hop. On a 4x4 you want clearance so I went on top and to the rear. I gave about an inch or so clearance so the suspension would still function normally. A couple of rev's/popped clutches and yup, it works! Oh, it's just 2" square stock with a hole drilled in it for center bolt clearance and welded to the top of the saddle. Nuts are still accessible.

Not sure why the picture came out sideways, but anyway. Oh, and the plate with the two bolts in it at the front are not connected, just an optical allusion.

 

[Bracket racer]

Cleaned the interior out and took mama for a cruise up the power line. 1st gear low, crawling along as it was a "test drive".
I heard a cracking noise once in a while (sound of a bad joint) but I checked them before bringing it home. So I'll have to find that. (Pronounced when changing direction) loose u joint strap on the front yoke? Anyway, have to see what that is.

Second, now that the snow is going away and we're back onto the rocks....those short springs really limit travel and make a rough ride. So, long arm suspension in the future! Love how maneuverable it is with the short wheelbase!

So I took a pic but can't load it with the iPad. Have to figure it out though as I'm quarantined for the next 14 days.

 

[Bracket racer]

Well, been out cruising in the woods and have deduced a couple issues.

1) The rear suspension has very little travel due to the short springs and more so, the lack of weight on the rear. So, the ride is Very rough when crawling over 1-2ft rocks. Rear end slams down, little articulation.

2) Inner wheel bearing on the right side is getting bad. Was on a two hour cruise in the woods and 1/2hr from home heard the dreaded screech..screech...screech of metal on metal. I was idling in 1st low range and there was no way I was walking/leaving it on the powerline. So, idled home pulled it apart and the inner was clean and greased, but there must be a bad roller or two as when I tighten up the adjustment, the wheel would become choppy to turn. Imagine turning a clock where every minute grabs a bit before letting go. Anyway, can't go downtown right now so cleaned and repacked and put it back together. When for another 45 min cruise and its fine. (still going to replace the bearing eventually obviously)

3) Got home and the wife went in the house, I was cleaning stuff out and heard a weird gurgling sound. It sounded like water boiling in a kettle and started burping. I listened and while the rad hose was tight, I could feel coolant splashing against the inside as its boiling. I was wtf?? Temp never moves off of the N of normal. Got a rag and cracked the cap and lots of air/steam went in to the overflow but no coolant. Took the cap off and there was no coolant!! Put 4 liters in and fired it up, still on N or maybe O of normal, circulated the coolant for a minute and noticed a pin hole leak in the top of the thermostat housing! So, it pissed out 4L of coolant with no smell! Normally it would be very obvious, but maybe it was because of the next issue.

4) Valve cover leaking oil. The right one was wet and making a mess so I used engine cleaner and pressure washed it a week or so ago. I think it took this long to build up again and start going on the exh manifold and start smoking/stinking. I see the coil pack is mounted over it as well as the air filter/fording system is in the way. So...there's that too...

Over all, hit the key it fires up, idles all day and doesn't burn much fuel. Its quiet as stock as I have an exh system with zero leaks and a stack to get it up and away from the cab. The light bar is incredibly bright!! All said and done, I'm very happy with it and more importantly, mama is happy!

I'll get on the issues (except #1) and in the summer when I have time, I'll go long arm on struts for the rear. I'm trying to get the pictures to post...

 

[Bracket racer]

Another day, another repair... I decided to fix the thermostat housing, top bolt came out, bottom bolt...uhhh....uhhh...nope, that's twisting off. Steel bolt in aluminum intake = seized bolt. Well if I twist it off, that will be a real pain in the arse to drill, tap, chase, etc. So, got some two part epoxy, kneaded it up and stuck it on. 1 1/2 hrs later...leaking. Found three different tubes of seal-all....all 3 were hard. Arrrrg!
Ok, time to go old school. Grabbed a metal screw, put Teflon tape around it and made a big wrap at the head. Screwed it in the hole and cranked it right down so the big wrap or wad under the head compressed into a Teflon washer. (The only bad part was the last two turns of the screw it was scraping on the thermostat)
Anyway, fired it up....no leak. Topped up the coolant and still no leak. Put the cap on and idled it until it hit n of normal and there was heat coming out of the defroster.( good thing, it's -5 and snowing right now) and still no leak.

Taking a test drive shortly. Oh, and adjusted the passenger door because it was rattling when closed. It's closed tightly now.

 

[Bracket racer]

Finally some pic's!

Me checking out the mud depth before attempting...

This sign was funny because it's 10 miles out in the middle of nowhere! Somebody stuck it up as a joke obviously.

The next one, same thing, maybe people working on the trail at one time??

Following a snowmobile trail, the donkey loves the snow!! (windshield got busted in the previous "mishap"...)

Break trail for the snowmobiles and side by sides? NO PROBLEM!!

The vast majority of the cruising is at idle, foot off the throttle just letting the IAC keep it from stalling. 1st gear low range at 900rpm is SLOWWWWWW. But, I don't spill my drink that way and mama's happy that I'm not driving like every other off road truck I had. (no exh, flames shooting through the rust holes in the floor boards from the manifolds, wide open pretty much everywhere and beating off tree's and through mud) She's much happier to cruise along and get to see nature instead of screaming and implanting in nature and then walking home.... but I digress... lol!

 

[Bracket racer]

And yet another issue has reared its ugly head...sigh...
Out wheeling for about 5 hours last night and I had both lightbar and backup lights on for a while. They are both on the same 20Amp fuse. (yeah I know) Anyway, the light bar went out as did the back up spot lights. (light bar LED but the two back up spot lights are incandescent) So, popped the hood and replaced the fuse. Got back up lights but no light bar?? Diagnose and the relay was burned out. Ok, switched wires and used the back up relay for the light bar. Another couple hours later, light bar goes out again. WTF?? Touch the fused power wire to the light bar lead and they come on...so the relay is gone again!! These are regular black plastic 12V automotive relays with the four pins marked 85/86/87/87a. Not sure how many Amps they're rated for but I've never seen one burn out before either. That said, I don't know how many Amps the light bar draws either. I have the fuel pump relay I fixed, I'll try that next as I'm assuming it should be pretty stout to run an electric pump for hours on end, day after day....

Here's a couple of pictures from last night. -6 and snowing like a b**ch.

told the wife to take a picture....this is her view I guess, maybe she's trying to tell me something?

Followed snowmobile trails, cross country ski trails, at the end we were on a trail that only rabbits had gone! Donkey will go anywhere! Got to a point where I was concerned about tearing the light bar off due to wind felled trees blocking the path. I kept going under them or around them but at the end, we were way in the middle of nowhere, alone, and I would of had to cross frozen swamp to get around. Logic prevailed and we turned around. (on a dime as the wife says due to the donkey being so short)

 

[Bracket racer]

More to update on the thermostat housing as well, the screw I put in is holding, but I see a wet spot on the SIDE of the housing now!! It looks like if I flicked off the rust flake with a fingernail, it would start pissing out. So...at SOME point, that has to come apart and either be repaired or replaced. Which sucks as I know that bottom bolt will snap off....dang it...

Oh, found another picture I didn't know the wife took. This is on a 4 wheeler/side by side trail about 10 miles from home.

They went ripping by at about 30-40 mph and the wife looked at me and said "NO WAY". I said I have no interest in spending $20-30,000 on something just to do what we are doing now with a $500 truck! Actually they can't even crawl like the donkey does without burning up the belt.
Anyone ever see the mahindra roxor? diesel 5spd with a real clutch? If..IF I was going to get a "side by side" then that's what I'd get. But, Ford doesn't build them so I wouldn't let it in my yard. LOL!!!

 

[Bracket racer]

Was out bashing around last night and lost a outer brake pad!?!?!? Stepped on the brake and heard metal to metal, was wtf??? Pulled the tire and saw the pad is missing.....so, went to car quest and got front pads and since I was there, grabbed a wheel bearing and then an impulse buy, bought a 30 amp relay. Through everything at it and found the rear right tire leaking, around a previous plug. Pulled the plug and doubled them up, stopped the leak. Ready to go cruising but my oldest is home so we're playing monopoly...crap....
Didn't stop me from getting into my homemade beer. (Can you tell? Lol!)

Ol' donkey just aching for a cruise and mama is playing a freaking game.

 

[Bracket racer]

Anybody else enjoying the time off because of the freaking out over corona virus? I'm paid to sit home, drink and eat and off road. Can't imagine retiring in June if this keeps up! Lol!!!