So some much needed attention is finally getting attended to on Motorbug.
The engine build is on hold due to recent discoveries... not all of them are even remotely related to my truck(well... that depends entirely on perspective).

My cylinders I think, are fine.
The blowby i was seeing out the ccv reroute hose is not too big of a concern at this point.
My oilpan seal is blown so bad I would be caught in a Tugnundrum if chasing it down was a high priority on my agenda... so im gonna just let it ride. I pulled out and dusted off my trusty AE and now dedicated "Carputer". Checked cct and perdel #s and my worries have subsided.

As for what else has prevented furthering the Zombieheart build...
A deal on a house fell in our lap. Nuff said eh?

On the current maintenance agenda:

A brand new set of front springs, front hubs, seals, rotors, and a steering box are on their way.

To prepare for the new hub assemblies, I decided to ensure my locking hubs are good to go.

Problem...
How do you check to make sure the locking hubs hold a vacuum with them out of their homes in the hub assemblies?

This is how:


Its exactly what it looks like.
Cut the bottom off a Gatorade bottle right at the seam of that ring near the bottom.
Its just enough to get over the oring on the locking hub and creat a good seal.
I dug a big enough hole in the cap to shove an end of hose in, slathered some thick gooey "shoe goo" glue around it for an absolute seal... and voila!

This will test wether or not the actual diaphragm inside the locking hub has been compromised.

 

Dang!!! That is ingenuity. at it's best!!! Awesome!! what else can I say. Impressed, if you couldn't tell.

 

I ran myself out of stuff to do at the shop today so i cut out around 13:30 and rolled to the house.
When I arrived, my new springs were waiting for me along with the box containing my new hub assemblies. Still waiting on the seals... but that was for the best in hindsight.

I loaded the new springs in the bed and stuffed the box-o-hubs in the cab and scooted right back up to the shop. Its nice working on my truck over nice smooth concrete floor vs. the driveway rocks.

I did have to remove the front bumper to have room to access the front shackle bolts/nuts.
I had to apply a minute quantity of temperature grease to each of the 4 shackle nuts, then a wee bit of the magic tranny fluid/acetone penetrating solution, and they came right out.

The ubolts were a breeze. Nuts came off nice and easy.

It was a little bit of a fight to get the drivers side rear shackle bolt out all the way, since there was a front driveshaft in its way. The nuts on both bolts were facing outward...

The new springs fought me all the way in. Kept having to reset jacks and stands for more height... things did not want to go where they belonged...

After much profanity, and coworkers gathering around in gawker mode... i staeted delegating tools to be put in places with the pushing and pulling and "no dont whack that!"...

Finally got everything in place and back together... about 4 hours from start to finish.
Im glad its finished.

I felt the difference as soon as i backed the truck off the concrete and onto the rough yard surface.
Why , oh why! Did I put doing that off for so long!?

 

Great. I was hoping to contribute to the FTE lexicon... not be part of it. "Tugnumdrum"... clever.

Very clever locking hub test. I vacuum-tested my Hutch mod, but not the hubs - they never gave me cause to. Where did you get your hubs? I got mine on Amazon for about $225 each.

Since I'm in front-end mode right now, I have questions. Why did you feel the need to replace the front springs? What did you swap to? What was the gain from the swap?

 

Great idea. I need to test mine once I get the rest of the tubing sealed/replaced. They don't always lock or unlock. Once I do that, I'll try this. Is the 20 psi of vacuum OEM spec?

 

My springs were quite literally back bending... every bump included the scraping sound of the front hanger eye scraping against itself on both springs. Constant ping pong to keep the truck straight... the springs I put in are Pro-Comp 2" lift springs off ebay. The improvements have been an exponentially smoother ride, better steering, much less ping pong. And of course... now the front end of Motorbug doesnt look like its trying to eat the ground. I had to pull my batts this morning and tote them up to wally world so their idiots can put them on the machine to tell me what i already know... but i definitely noticed the extra height lol.

20 is enough to actuate the diaphragm. Im not sure right off the top of my head what the spec is...

 

Old and busted...



New Hotness...

 

And a wet & dirty picture of Motorbug... (about time for a truck bath)

Im kinda digging the new stance.

 

Your story sounds exactly like mine when I swapped my springs last year. A difficult task to under take by yourself I must say. Took me about 6 hours to do it in the drive and half way threw had to get the wife in on the job...... I went with pro comp 2-4" lift and then put in the f350 blocks as well as all 4 new shocks. It was a nice improvement for sure.

Your truck looks nice! Man I want a crew cab!

 

Those old busted springs look about like mine. Do you have photos of the old ones while they were on the truck?

 

I agree the new stance is Great!
Looks more aggressive to me.