So where to start this time. Driving home today down the interstate once i hit 70mph i got a wicked vibration. the kind of vibration that makes it hard to hold on the steering wheel and you are sure that a tire is going to fall off and going bouncing down the road next to you. Slowed down to 60mph and it went away so i limped the 5 miles home. once home i jumped under the truck and checked u-joints All u-joints seemed very tight but on the drives side i could move the axle back and forth perpendicular to the vehicle about a half inch. i had loaned my floor jack and stands to a buddy so i was unable to pull it apart but i am guessing something in the hub is out. Next, while I was under the truck i noticed a pretty good oil lead coming from what the oil filter attaches to. I this something that i can pull off and put a new gasket on or does this require pulling the motor. Third. how do unhook the speedo cable it is driving me crazy, it bounces and ticks and vibrates and doesn't read the correct speed anyway. And last for tonight. My steering wheel is about a 1/4 turn off. can i just unhook the linkage turn the wheel to straight and hook it back up. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Answering one at a time:

1) There should be no play in any wheel bearing on these trucks, if it were a halfton with a C-clipped 8.8 rear you'd get some in-out play but even a semi-floater Sterling axle will not have that. My guess is something in your hub let go, investigate and repair as soon as tools are available, and you may need to rent a nut socket from a parts store for the big nut that holds the hub on the axle.

2) the oil filter attaches to the oil cooler, which is a liquid-liquid heat exchanger that uses engine coolant returned from the radiator to cool down the engine oil. It's possible that your oil filter just ain't tight enough, or it could be the cooler sprung an external leak. Keep an eye on both the coolant and the oil, usually when the cooler fails you end up with oil in the radiator, but it's possible you get some coolant in the oil pan too. From what I gather fixing the cooler is a bear of a job with the exhaust manifold in place, never done it myself tho.

3) there should be a retaining screw with a clip, screw takes 8mm or 5/16" socket IIRC - pull screw, cable should slide right out. You can try lubing the cable once it's out, it's probably all dry halfway up to the cab hence the speedometer behavior you experience.

4) in one word, no, cause it ain't that simple. When you let go of the steering wheel, does the truck keep going straight, or pulls to one side (and if so which side it pulls to)? Which way is the wheel turned 1/4" turn when you drive in a straight line - left ot right? Does it feel like you have to fight it to keep it there, or it just kinda sits there on its own? Answer these and I'll be able to tell you how to fix it

 

The wheel is turned to the right and the truck pulls pretty good to the right as well. not on that you want to let go of the wheel on.

 

generally a wheel off to the side with no pull while going straight is just a result of some tie-rods replaced at one point and not adjusted properly. With a strong pull there is more going on, maybe ball joints going out throwing the caster and camber off. Take it to an alignment shop and see what they will say, obviously don't let them replace whatever is damaged as you can do it yourself much cheaper, but their preliminary inspection will be a good starting point.

 

The ball joints are bad. I have them ready to go in it has just been raining for 3 days and i have no garage right now. I did ask the alignment shop and they wanted $800. I think i am going to do u-joints at the same time even thou they feel tight. I hope it quits soon i have a 6 day camping trip coming up on wednesday.

 

and where is the retaining screw with a clip for the speedo cable located at.

 

Ball joints, u-joints, front end alignment before Wednesday ... you like cutting it short don't you!

Sure hope it all goes smooth.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Festus, that's all doable within a day if he starts working on it early in the morning (so he can get to the alignment shop before they close), so he has plenty of time.

Jayme, working in the rain sucks, but in the end it's just water, so nothing a hot shower and a pair of dry clothes and a cup of coffee can't remedy - I'd start working on it as soon as the rain slows down some, the sooner you finish the job the more time you'll have for test driving the truck before your camping trip. The speedometer clip and bolt should be where the cable goes in the trans or the transfer case, depending on if the truck is 2wd or 4x4.

 

Yup, easy, IF NOTHING goes wrong!

Done more ball joints than I care to count.

Anytime working on stuff one should leave room for problems, they happen plenty!

There is also the test drive factor, I prefer to run things a bit before taking off on a trip, fixing and leaving has caused many sore feet!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Now this lovely rain has turned into snow and the temp is dropping. What ever happened to spring, tomorrow is supposed to be lots nicer so i will start early in the a.m.

 

Festus, well ain't that just what I said? lol

Jayme, where the heck do ya live man, that you still see snow in the end of May?

 

Gotta Love Montana, right at 5000ft

 

my guess woulda been michigan lol

 

That was last weekend tho, ain't it back to nice now?

 

yea it aint bad now, but it wasnt that many years back that we had a regular old blizzard in May.