Modern cordless impact wrenches can literally bust a lug nut off tightening if you try. A few 100lbs of Torque will easily stretch the threads and often the bolt appears cross threaded when you try to take it off.

If you attempted to use an impact wrench to tighten my lug nuts, I would lose my temper!! I snug the nuts up on low Torque setting (60-80ft lbs) with impact wrench and then tighten them with torque wrench.

 

Ah okay. I'm like you with the impact except mine is an old-fashioned air-driven model. Then tighten to final torque with a manual torque wrench.

 

Im not cool enough to have one of those new fangled battery impacts - yet. But I know people that exclusively use them to bust lug nuts on big trucks. Those things are BEASTS!!

 

It was probably drawn in with the lug nut.

 

I got one last year when I was a mechanic on the drill rig. I can attest that the thing is a BEAST and I would NOT be zipping lug nuts down. It has 4 settings that each have their own torque value. Milwaukee....and I waited years to buy one and finally did when using it daily justified the price. Now I am REALLY glad I have it for changing flats on the road if needed. I highly recommend them if you feel the need. Oh, it weighs about 10 pounds LOL. It makes me kinda laugh every time I pick it up.

 

That type of impact gun has to be on the tool short list.




Or I get a decent air-powered one. Mine is pretty anemic, so it does not get used much.

Given I don't have a press handy, what's the best way to move this stud the rest of the way home? Will a C-clamp do it? Or do I grease up some flat washers and the stud itself, and use the lug nut against the flat washers to pull it in the rest of the way ? I could also push it out and coat the stud with some anti-seize or grease and try to pull it in place with one of these methods. What do you think?

 

Do you have a ball joint press? It might work. The flat washer and lug nut thing runs the risk of stretching the stud like what SSJ was talking about.

https://www.harborfreight.com/ball-j...les-63279.html

 

That tool set should do it. Agree I don't want to risk stretching the stud.

 

While waiting for parts to arrive for the axle job, I'm chasing down the last few codes. I've cleared the codes and these come back:

===PCM DTC P1105===
Code: P1105 - Dual Generator Upper Fault
===PCM DTC P1106===
Code: P1106 - Dual Generator Lower Fault

===ECS DTC B1869===
Code: B1869 - Lamp Air Bag Warning Indicator circuit failure

I see the PO replaced all of the bulbs in the instrument cluster with LEDs. I wondered if the airbag indicator circuit needs to see more resistance than that provided by an LED. I'm going to pick up a few 74 size incandescent bulbs to test that theory. Could the airbag issue be related to the alternator codes?

There are LED's in the front turn signal housings - they blink too fast. Need to find the resistors needed to fix that, or go back to incandescent there.

For the alternators, the voltages I read at both batteries while the engine is running appear to be good, at 14.5V. The PO told me the alternators are recent replacements.




My cigarette lighter voltmeter is happy as well. I'm not sure how to further troubleshoot this one. I could pull the alternators and have them tested individually.

 

Are the alternators running super hot? Where did the replacement alternators come from? Parts store alternators do not do well in our trucks. National Quickstart sells good alternators.

I tried to look up the pinpoint tests for you but there appear to be none.

 

Ultima is an Oreilly's brand. I'm not sure if they get hot. Will keep an eye on that. I wouldn't mind learning how to rebuild these with the right parts if needed. Thanks for the link. I know DB electrical was popular when I had my first truck, as was finding a rebuilder for the OEM alternator.

I don't see a case ground wire on the upper alt. Must be grounding through the mounts. I'll take a closer look at the lower alt.

 

Removed the seats to do some cleaning. I found a buck in change and an old ipod - can deduct that from the purchase price!




Also removed and cleaned the dash cupholder - so sticky with spills it would barely move. All cleaned up now.

 

When re-assembling the cup holder, I noticed the cartridge is still hard to push in. The pin marked with the arrow below needs some type of lubrication. What would you use to lube this plastic to metal interface?

 

Silicone grease.

 

Are silicone grease and dielectric grease the same thing? Can't believe I've gone this long without having this stuff in my shop. I'll get some.