What did YOU do today?

[racsan]

Working on the F150 some more, I knew I had a obd-1 scan tool but haven’t used it in years. Found it! unfortunately I never took the battery out. Hopefully it aint fried, putting a new battery in & giving it a try. Last vehicle I recall using this on was a 84 tempo that I got rid of in 1994.

 

[SenorNoob]

I'm guessing the battery is for the beeper?

The rest of that you can do with a jumper wire and the check engine light.

IF you're gonna use it much, maybe an upgrade?

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ino-3145

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

I'm about to run out of the little bit of PLA filament that I got from my roommate so I need to figure out where to get more of that.

Got a MicroCenter nearby?

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

This weekend was supposed to be about swapping out the steering rack, but since the front end is still shaking left and right because the alignment is still nonexistent, I figured it was best not to introduce a new part that would get jackhammered every time I feel the need for cruising speed.

I know. It's not the best situation. I'm still waiting on the refund from RA about my LCA's before I order more, and that's when I'll get the other camber bolts. They said store credit was the fastest way to go, but I only got one credited back. Apparently there was a shipping issue. I may just be out $150... I plan to chase this down, but it's really delaying things.

I found a set of tires online that will do what I need. These Ironman All Country AT/2's on here aren't pretty, but they're damn sure dealing with the abuse they're getting. Still, I want white lettering, so a set of Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme in the 235/75R15 fit the bill. It was kinda frustrating last night. I got in an argument with my friend over tires. He insisted I needed mud tread because it would improve my fuel mileage, and the heavier weight would also improve mileage. This goes against all my experience, and physics itself, though he said to trust him over all that. No. 143 hp and 3.73 gears will not appreciate the increase in rolling friction and 40-lb weight increase overall at the point of contact could drop my fuel economy by 3mpg. I said the Hankooks I found were actually lighter than my Ironmans. I can't believe he doubled down on it...

Anyway, I did get to spend time with my 3-y/o nephew, and that makes everything better.

Today looks like a good day for a motor mount swap... Maybe trans mount swap, too.

 

[sgtsandman]

A day late but.. shit went haywire shortly after I left with it so.. forgot to update.

Picked the bronco back up from getting serviced from the garage in town yesterday.


I wanted a pretty thorough servicing.. and VERY EARLY on some of the fluid changes.. doing them so early ended up being a reeeeally good idea too.. I'll get into that in a second.. anyhow.. Engine oil& filter, cabin filter, tire rotation, change the gear lube at both ends, change the t-case fluid, and a spill&fill for the trans. 45.5k miles.

It was supposed to be done on Monday.. buuut napa didn't have any trans pan gaskets, rear diff cover gaskets, merc ULV, OR trans filters. Classic small town napa. So had to wait for the closest dealer to deliver them yesterday morning.

My rough estimate was ~800, ended up being 1250 there were a few surprises on how much Ford charges for some of their crap.. like.. 120 bucks for gear lube and 110 for the trans filter "only" 40 for the trans gasket though.. I was expecting a solid Benjamin for that.. anyhow.. results..


Tranny filter was absolutely disgusting apparently, and the fluid was filthy as well.. dipping relatively deep into brown territory.. slight stank to it as well but not bad enough where anyone there or myself considered it burnt. They were gracious enough to take a sample of it for me to send to Blackstone for analysis. Sample will be dropped in the mail tomorrow... I intended on dipping a napkin in it and taking a picture so you guys could see its color but.. things going haywire after I picked it up made me stressed AF and I totally forgot before I sealed it all up in the shipping package.

Regardless, Ford's supposed 150k mile ATF was quite obviously only 40k mile fluid in my case. I was surprised how crappy it had gotten so quickly, as I really try not to be toooo hard on equipment. I'm a saint to my vehicles compared to 10 years ago lol. Full disclosure on my tranny treatment.. shortly after purchase I got the trans temp a couple bars away from the red line on the temp gauge... Ive forgotten what the exact temp was when I checked it but yeah.. it was right up there. Too high for comfort but seemingly not toooooo hot considering I wasn't in the "danger zone" yet. A 2 mile slog up-hill through 8" of mud in 4H was the cause of all that heat.. but I really had no choice but to be in high.. this was baby-shit early spring mud sitting on top of still very solidly frozen (& slippery) ground.. I needed that wheel speed or I was gonna be stuck in the woods for at least a week. Other than that.. I don't tow anthing that weighs even half as heavy as it's rated for.. I generally drive pretty conservatively.. but I WILL occasionally let er eat quite a bit through its lower gears (10-60mph type runs) just to hear the glorious wail of it's tiny little turbo.. and leaving the toll booths that are in the middle of the highway I'll hammer on it once it hits second gear all the way to 80mph or so. These events are pretty far and few between though.. I only leave those toll booths a small handful of times a year and it's usually only once a week (if that) that I'll rip that 10-60mph. There's also a small handful of times during winter where I'll go out and drive around town in a snowstorm as sideways as I can in 4wd and create enough donuts to feed homer Simpson for a week in the middle of big empty intersections.. but naturally it's cold then.. and I'm not out for too too long because eventually johnny law is gonna come around lol so.. not a lot of heat there.

It was a calculated risk putting 10ply 35s on a 3.73 gearset as far as tranny longevity is concerned, but considering how deep it's first and second gears are.. 4.5:1 and something like 2.93:1 for second.. I was willing to take that risk. Thats a very healthy level of reduction after all.

I'm very interested to see what the results are & see how much premature wear i may have introduced to it thanks to the subpar axle ratios.


The gear lube was "VERY obviously used" according to the tech, but no signs of water intrusion.. which was my main concern after spending so much time in water up to the doors while wheeling last year. Good seals. I'm sure it helps that 99% of my wheeling is done in 1st gear low.. moving that slow isn't gonna really put a ton of heat into the diffs so.. sucking water past the seals is wayyy less likely. Either way... Ford's 150k mile axle lube? NOT good for 150k if you like to have fun with your rig..

Tech didnt say anything about the t case juice.. I'm sure it definitely looked like 50k mile fluid but not dirty enough for him to comment on it so... That's nice


Seriously guys, if you own a new Ford and you drive the thing harder than a 90 year old woman... Consider your drivetrain fluid intervals as being the same as anything from the 80s through the 90s.. 50k miles tops for the drivetrain. Id recommend not doing 10k mile engine oil intervals either... I aim for 5-6k between changes personally.. which IS probably overkill... But 7500 feels like way too much to be ideal... Especially with something that makes a boat load of boost.. that shit shears oil down at a surprising rate.

I whole heartily agree. Ford's maintenance recommendations are geared toward minimizing perceived maintenance costs to the owner during the initial lowing period and just soone enough to make sure it will more than likely last past the warranty coverage period. Since many vehicle owners don't keep their vehicles much longer than the warranty period anyway, it's a win for the manufacturer, most of the time. Not to say Ford is the only one doing it.

With these turbo charged engines being as hard on oil as they are and the transmissions being hit or miss on reliability, they need all the maintenance at the right time as much as one can do them.

For those wondering what he is referencing concerning 1970 and 1980s mainetance intervals, here is a general break down.

Every 30,000 miles, change the transmission fluid and filter (drain and fill, not a flush), the transfer case fluid, and the rear differential gear oil.

Every 60,000 miles change the front differential gear oil.

Engine coolant 5 years for when it is first new and every 3 years after that. Adding Water Wetter isn't a bad idea but not required.

Brake fluid is a tough one. The synthetic DOT 5 seems to be holding up way better that the old DOT 3. DOT 3 is every three years. If the brake fluid is dark or black, it needs changed, regardless of how long it has been. If you have a manual transmission that uses brake fluid for the clutch, the same rules apply. Back to the DOT 5, the 2019 has not darkened much at all, if any. It's kind of driving me nuts. I flushed the brake system last year anyway, just because.

Engine oil should be half of what Ford recommends and twice a year if you don't meet that mileage. Especially if you drive short trips or do a lot of stop and go driving because of traffic jams and/or city driving.

If you tow heavy or haul heavy a lot or off road, mainteance needs to be done even more often. Those are situation dependent, so there isn't really any hard numbers to go by.

EDIT: I forgot about power steering fluid. Like transmission fluid, it does wear out. Being that it is a closed system, changing it all can be tough. The best method I've found is to use a turkey baster or fluid pump to empty the resorvoir and refill it every three years.

 

[sgtsandman]

I messed with the tire bubble balancer and manual tire changer I got from Harbor Freight. I mainly got both for the trailer tires more than anything. While most people just slap some tires on the trailer and call it good, they should be balanced, for the same reasons one would balance tires on their car or truck. Three of them weren't too bad. The fourth was way off.

The tire changer will get it's first use when I go to dismount the old trailer tires off the old rims. I upgraded from 4 lug to 5 on the new suspension and load C instead of load B for the tires. So, the old ones need to go. The rims to the scrap yard and the tires, probably to a tire dealer for recycling or whatever ends up being done with old tires.

I just need to get the right concrete anchors to bolt down the tire changer. I tried one type and guessed incorrectly. So, I need to try another type.

 

[sgtsandman]

I’ve never had them. I never knew what wild mushrooms were safe and what were not. Ended up making friends with a local couple and they’ve had experience with Morels so I’m interested. Apparently they typically like a lot of the trees that grow around home like ash, tulip poplar, etc. Oddly the local couple has more conifers than anything which are not supposed to be ideal habitat and they’ve found around a pound the past couple years. I’m interested in trying them. The real Morels are completely hollow, of there is any fibers or anything inside, it’s not a Morel.

All mushrooms are edible once. Finding the ones that you can eat more than once is a skill and knowledge set I don't have yet. I know there are several edible kinds, I just don't know what to look for.