I'm so happy to have a centered steering wheel again! Now it's time for a set of tie rods and ball joints..... After hitting that giant pothole on the interstate and knocking my hub practically off, my truck has been eating tires so fast its flat out absurd. I put good looking used tires on and in the span of a month I darn near have wires poking out. I mean from 60-80% tread to bald on the outer corner in a month. It's terrible. If I'm gonna bring my boat to the GTG I need to fix that big time. I still have work to do to the boat. It's getting hard to come up with enough funds for all of this. I have another set of tires I can throw in but, I should fix front end first. It wasn't wearing tires before the pothole. But now I can physically see my tires leaning. But what's weird is they are leaning inwards on the top but the outer of the tire is wearing. I think it's time for ball joints. My tie rods are worn out and bent from the wreck so I need that to. Could it just need to be lined back up? I did the ball joint test by getting the truck off the ground and putting a big board under the tire and trying to pick up on the tire and see if the ball joints moved but, they felt tight.

But the problem is, I can't find the Detroit axle tie rod/ball joint set in stock anywhere anymore. If I'm going to be able to bring my boat with me I need the spare cash to fix it. If I buy xrf tie rods and ball joints for 500$ I won't be able to fix my boat. Some of you may remember that I have been on 40-50% of my regular pay since October and I still haven't beem able to get caught up on everything like I want. All the important stuff is caught up. (Bills and the like) I just don't have spending money to fix the boat, the front end of the truck, buy tires, and haul the boat to Georgia with my current budget. So, try and see if I just need an alignment at a shop and see what they say and go from there is what I think I should do. Any other ideas?

 

Bring it to a shop to see what it needs, besides an alignment.

your boat is not a need. Do that last

 

^^^ This...

 

I know it. I just really wanted to bring my boat to this GTG at Jack rabbit national park. I don't know yet. It might happen. It might not. We will see. I will get to a shop this weekend if possible. Thanks for the advice

 

There will be many, many, many more GTG's in the future sir. Your safety and livelihood are paramount when considering boating at a GTG sooner rather than later.

 

Right you are! And I will attend as many as I can! And I hope to see you and all of our other FTE family members and friends there for some fun times!

 

I will never doubt your wisdom on pullers! I went ahead and bought a non-adjustable puller off the shelf that I believe was a 1 and 3/8' opening and although it fit over the pitman arm, it wasn't wide enough to go all the way on to the pitman arm next to the splined output shaft of the steering gear. I only paid $15 or $16 for it and I had coupons for $5 off so I went ahead and bought it instead of paying the $80 up front to rent it although I would have gotten it back. I figured for $15 I should add another tool to my reservoir. I trimmed the fingers on the top shorter so that it would pass by the sector shaft on the steering gear and not fits on there good. And oh my goodness, when I compare to how much beating I did the first time I pulled my pitman arm off, I will never go back for that specific part that is anyway. The hammer still works good for tie rod ends and whatnot. But the polar took that pitman arm off in seconds. The last time I took it off it probably took me an hour of beating on it and using a torch to heat it up and penetrating fluid. It was hell. Puller pulled it off like it was nothing. Of course, the time I was beating on it with a hammer, who knows how long the pitman arm had been on at that point. Maybe even 20 years. There is no telling but, I now have a custom only in LA (lower Alabama) home fixed puller for my pitman arm if I ever need it again!

Thanks again for your and everybody else's help!

 

Did somebody say hammer?

 

Tristian,

Now is the time to get thee a credit card. It takes years to build up your credit, and you will might have to start with a secured credit card.

So to get a $500 credit limit, yep, they will hold YOUR $500 in an interest bearing account (a few pennies per year) and might also will charge you a $35 annual fee.

But you have to start somewhere. Search out deals and you may qualify for a better deal.

The important thing to remember about having a credit card, is to learn to use them without paying any interest. So that means paying it off EVERY TIME. Don't carry a balance.

If you only use it for something that you have the cash in hand for, then you know you can pay the bill when it comes. Paying on time or early is important to building your credit.

Credit cards are also far safer to use than debit cards since a hacker is not going to drain your entire account.

So the day comes that you need to use that $80 puller or $200 ball joint puller. Go to the store, rent it by paying for it with your credit card. Return it promptly and the store credits it back to your credit card.

If you don't damage or lose anything, and I'm confident that you are very careful with tools in general, then there's no sweat off your brow when it comes to loaner tools.

A good source for advise on building your credit, both personal and for your business is your branch manager at your bank. Sit down with them and talk it out with them. What your future plans are and they can help steer you in the right direction.

 

I never really thought about getting a credit card but I guess I should. Now would be the time to do it. While I'm young that is. I do kind of like the idea that you can use the money and then pay it back at the end of the month. And like you said for renting tools they will put the money back on the card so you can essentially rent tools with no qualms whatsoever. I'm with PNC for my debit card so I will see what they have to offer before I check anywhere else. I'm going to play with my new head unit for a little while! I got some gesture controls to figure out!

 

I remember the days when I first decided to build credit. For me it was a Gulf gas card and Serious and Roebuck. The first time around, I filled out the Serious app honestly and they denied me. Then, at the store this one day, they had a table and were giving away a free Rand McNally Atlas with every application. I filled it out, doubled my salary figure and viola, got my card. As a yute, it is good to get yourself started on that as early as you can. It might not matter right now but it will soon enough. And getting a loan for my first car took a co-signer for me.

 

Absolutely what runningman said. You have to be diligent about it though.

Credit Card is not for fronting money to pay for something you can’t afford. Only use when you already have the money to pay for it already.

Pay the balance in FULL every month to avoid any interest charges. The interest on those are high and can compound quickly. I’ve known a lot of people who made good money but we’re head over heels in debt with credit cards etc. It’s a hole you can’t easily dig out of.

I use mine for almost everything. But always pay it completely each month.
Reasons for using the CC
1- safer way to pay online or at pump etc. This is the bank’s money. If someone steals the # or you get false charges then it’s not your money that’s missing. The bank will fix things but it takes time. Who do you want to be missing the money until it’s sorted out?
2- rewards. I get cash back to my checking account fairly regularly. It takes a lot of spending to get the rewards but luckily (🙄 I say in jest) I have plenty of expenses each month.
3- builds credit
4​​​​​​- I prefer to not keep track of all my gas purchases etc in the checking account at each point of sale. I pay them all once a month and write it in the check book at that time.
5- who carries cash anymore? Ok I’m joking but my work does direct deposit so getting to the bank machine for cash is more difficult than using electronic money.

I repeat though, do NOT use it as a means of getting something you plan to have the money for later. Have the money set aside FIRST. CC’s can be fine, but they can also be the complete downfall of someone’s finances if not careful.

 

I will save everything you just wrote as a screenshot for my notes. I thank you for your information! I will keep it in mind and at heart!

 

To take that further for example.

$100 carried over @20% = $120. Not bad.

$500 carried over @ 20% = $600. Ouch

$1,000 = $1,200.

I showed this to my son. He put his CC away instead of using it as an extension of his bank account.

 

Tristan, do you have the part number of the puller you bought and the modified? Also, do you have a decent picture showing the modification area?

Work smarter, not harder is something I have tried to stick with. Although it is becoming more important as I get older. Just today I was helping bust up some concrete and installing a garage door. Having the proper tools and techniques instead of making other tools work and just going at it makes all the difference.

Each time I have done the steering gear or helped with it, the pullers made the job a lot easier. I have a sledge hammer and a 3 lbs hand hammer, but those are reserved for proper uses.