I agree,but he should have told us he was coming through here.We could have bought you a
Safe travels brother.

 

Alex

That wheel bearing assembly is close to gone. How close? Close enough to get it changed quick.

If you choose to do it yourself (hard while on a road trip, I know), here is a write-up that will tell you what you need to know: Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Needle Bearing Maintenance Web Page

Your locking hub has a bad o-ring from the sounds of it. Here is a write-up that you can use to clean it up and change that o-ring: Welcome to guzzle's 4x4 Autolock Hub Lubrication Maintenance Web Page

The new wheel bearing assembly should rid your truck of the pull that you are feeling while braking.

Have fun and enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

I sopke with Clay last night, next time you are so close to me let me know I'll come down and hang with you.

Ed


Alex, where you at right now?

 

Alex,

I just wanted to ask you where in Alaska are you headed to? I use to live in Alaska and I know of some very reputable truck stores if you need any parts or just advice. If you are heading to the Anchorage area there is two places in town; Custom Truck and Northern 4x4. And just outside of Anchorage heading north on the Glenn Highway is a town called Eagle River (where I use to live) there is a guy who runs a place out of his home called Northern Diesel Performancewww.northerndieselperformance.com
This guy is a wealth of knowledge.

I can't remember all the guys from that area that are on FTE but just do a search for them, and they would be happy to help you out.

I see you are driving up through OR. You will eventually hit the ALCAN highway, unless you are taking the ferry up. That is one of the most awesome drives you will ever do, especially when you drive through British Columbia. But it is also pretty rough at times. Make sure you have a good spare tire or two and plenty of extra fuel with you. Fuel stations are far and few between on that road. Keep your eye out for critters! Moose frequently come out and so will the bears since they are starting to wake up. Just be very cautious of them especially the Moose, they will total a truck in a heartbeat!

If you don't already have one there is a book called the Milepost. You can find them at a book store like Barnes&Noble. That book will safe your butt driving up through CA and into AK. I highly reccomend you get one if you don't have it.

If you have any questions on where to stay along the way please let me know and I can give you some advice. I've driven the ALCAN 4 times. Or any other questions for that matter. Good luck and keep the pictures coming.

Jason

 

Do I have wheel bearing on the rear axle as well? Looks like I may have to do a 4 wheels off inspection. Should have probably done this to begin with but didn't have time.

 

Yes, they are on the rear as well, but are of a different configuration.

Guzzle discusses those as well: Welcome to camodown's Rear Hub Seals and Parking Brake repairs

HTH

 

If you want to wash it. There is a wash/spray it yourself on Monterey RD just before Dunne RD next to Taco Bell.

 

If you want to cross the mountain (I-80 Donner Summit), I have everything you might need to service the truck (including AE and a pressure washer)...and a cab-over camper to stay overnight . Easy shot back to I-5 N via Rt 395 & 89.

 

You guys are awesome!

I don't know how I missed some of the earlier posts but I will go ahead and try to address the questions.
I apologize for not letting you guys know where I was heading but I was only in AZ for about 24 hours. When I post up my pics and share the road trip you will see that I haven't sat anywhere long enough to even scratch my own butt! Who knows when I make my trip back down from Alaska, but I can make sure to plan that one better!

I am in Morgan Hill, Ca right now and will be here for another day or two. I will then head up to Salem, OR where I have family and I hope to stay there for about a week or so. Ideally this is when and where I would slap some wheel bearings on since its a somewhat immediate service and I would no longer be rushed for time. I do have some tools with me, along with my large jack but I don't have any torque wrenches or jack stands. I had 4 jack stands but a college friend borrowed them and I never got them back when I graduated.

I would be happy to meet up with any of you while I am near or around Salem, I will be there until maybe April 20th when I will head up the Alcan to Alaska.

For the summer I will be in the wonderful little town of Talkeetna, where I worked and played last summer. I also drove the Alcan last year with a friend but we did it in late may and in a Honda Pilot (pretty crappy MPG actually). This year I am going up on my own and in my wonderful rig. Just how much diesel should I carry with me? I have 1 5 gallon tank but maybe I should pick up another 1 or 2 5 gals cans?

 

Not sure how close Salem is to where Clay at Riffraffdiesel.com is but I would hook up with him and get the repairs done or assisted by him. I'm sure he would make you a deal.

Ed

 

Andy (username Fat Diesel) lives in Morgan Hill. He might be able to help you out with the wheel bearings.
Its about 650 miles to Salem from Morgan Hill.

 

Alex,

didn't know you've already been to AK. So,at least you know about the ALCAN and have some experience driving it. I've been to Talkeetna lots of times, great little town.

If you already have one 5 gallon can I would just pick up another 5 gallon, and that should be good. If you get one of those Mileposts it will tell you where all the fuel stations are at and which ones have diesel.

Wish you luck with the wheel bearing issues, I'm sure these guys are going to help you out.

 

Thanks, I loved Talkeetna so much last summer I decided that I should worry over the economy and head back up again. I did spend some time in Atlanta looking for a real post-college job, but alas if I can afford to live and have fun I might as well do it before sitting down for a woman, tons of kids, a house, and more bills.

Had a big day today and got a lot done. Called Ed (FTE Parts Guy) and he is sending me a serpentine belt, a hub assembly and one of the little o-ring kits on Guzzle's site to appears to be my vacuum leak on my left hub. That is all being sent to Clay shop where I will probably spend a long day with him working on all of this stuff.

Then after a week or two of phone tag I actually had a nice long chat with Clay at RiffRaff. I had already decided that I wanted to get some gauges since on a serious note they are rather good at detecting when things are going hit the fan or when they have already begun hitting the fan! But after talking with him we went over some of the other things I had wanted but was thinking about waiting on, and he pointed out that I would save quite a bit on shipping since I would be at his place vs Alaska. I was wanting to order this stuff later but now I may end up doing it now because of the obvious cost savings.

Basically, it looks like PMS is going to slap me hard. But I am pretty sure the smile on my face all summer will be well worth it.

 

This is going to be like buying a new truck.. again..

 

Alex, I'm in Vacaville. That's between SF and Sac on I-80. If you need a place to work on your truck send me a PM. I'll give you my # and directions. I'm working a 24 hour shift tomorrow then going to Clay's (Riff Raff) on Tuesday. I have some tools and a large oil catch tub you can use. Auto Zone is just around the corner to get rid of the old oil.