You get a truck, never worked on a truck before....

The parts all look familiar, but the ins and outs are different than anything you have ever messed with before.

Wheels don't look like they fit, until you torque them down, drive a mile, and retorque them....

Things you thought were all the same suddenly change in the middle of a year group, and you find your pants down around your ankles (for those who drive SUV's - substitute "SLACKS" for "PANTS").

All makes are the same - you have to build one or live with one to get it down finally. Eight bolt lug patterns on wheels are a trial and error nightmare when you've never done them before - they fit tight as hades and won't look right for the hub when you bring them home.

Over and over doing the torque sequence in series until it all snugs up and doesn't loosen anymore. I heard about that but conveniently forgot about it. Theo and I went to a scrap yard today and got single wheels for the back of my problem child today, and my first impression was "THIS STUFF AIN'T RIGHT!!!"

But it fit, came off the same year group truck and axle, bolt spacing all the same, all of that and a bag of chips....

It didn't fit down until the third or fourth time around tightening the bolts in sequence.

I drove it a mile, and got to tighten them again - I think the eight bolt pattern is made this way for a reason. It takes a lot to make it fit right.

And that's just a stupid wheel and tire...

Tools we need and never heard of, junk we collect because the last time we didn't have it life was REAL BAD until we just got the right tools....

I firmly believe it is necessary to own a complete pile of crap the first time around in order to learn the truck from one end to the other before you can call yourself an expert and relax because you've seen it all before, even if everyone told you exactly what was going to happen.

It just works that way.

And you never forget the feeling of getting everything right after you get through (if you did a good job).

I'm not going to reccomend to anyone to get a butchered pile of junk the first time around just for the "Experience", but once you go there, everything is so much easier forever after that you laugh when you hear about someone going through the same stuff you did, DON'T WE?

A truck or any motor vehicle is a learning experience. I hate the damn things, but I love them so much I just can't quit.

Funny about that isn't it?


~ Wolf

 

LOL!! I couldn't help but laugh reading that Greywolf - I guess if you haven't been there, it doesn't seem as funny...

Even though I've got the SUV, I hope you don't mind me keeping the PANTS version...

 

Yeah, but you probably bought the SUV knowing a truckload more than the average knucklehead. Consider yourself forgiven, and I hope you modify the living daylights out of it!

(I bet it still makes you stop and think when you work on it though)

 

Are you using a lug wrench or a pneumatic impact gun? You won't be able to get enough torque on them with just a lug wrench.. They may eventually stop slipping off, but until you can get an impact driver they will never be truly tight.

 

Considering this is the second one I've built for myself - yeah - I unfortunately knew what I was getting in to...

I've never been one to buy something because of what it already comes with - but get it because of all the things I see I can do to it...

"Well, this Explorer has a 302 - I bet I can really build this thing up... Guess I need to go ahead and put that supercharger on now..."

I've become very familiar with the 'Been there, done that' phrase...

And I still scratch my head every now and then - let the choice words fly - then figure out the next thing on it I've never seen before.

"Who came up with this lame-brain design?!?!?!?"

 

You know it seems like no matter how manytimes we have been around the block fixing our trucks, there always seams to be those few time that makes us think "what the where they thinking"

 

Me and Bubba are still getting aquainted. I'm sure he was somebody's little brother in a past life (if you are or have a little brother, you know what I mean!) It's like a work of art or a fine marriage: the agony and the ecstacy.