Anything mechanical is going to break down, said my granddad. Though this is true for all moving parts, for some it is later rather than sooner. At 375,000 miles, I haven't even put a U-joint in White Horse. Her drivetrain is tough. That being said, eventually parts need to be replaced.
What I love about Chevys is their independent front suspension. Smooth ride. Tough bounce. And long lasting parts. Though I have replaced the short-axles, I have never had to change a frontend joint, bearing, or steering component, until now.
Mid-October I started to feel something funny upfront. The tries were making road noise like Grandpa's old 82 Ford. Taking a looksee one day, I noticed that the inside of the front tires were starting to wear pretty good. Knowing that it was time to do some frontend work, I jacked her up. To my surprise, there was about 1" of play at the top of my tire. This was an evident ball joint problem, but the upper A-arm bushings were shot as well. With other obvious parts that needed attention, like the shocks, we parked the truck and came up with a game plan.
I knew this day would come, and my plan has been to rebuild the entire frontend with GM parts. They lasted this long, I think it's worth investing in them again. I also knew that this was going to be a bigger project than I wanted to tackle. Thankfully, Jim Solberg stepped up and offered his services. He's worked on our stuff before and was happy to help get White Horse back on the road.
And a great job Jim did! He replaced the upper A-arms on both sides, as well as the front shocks.
He also replaced the lower balljoints, both tie rod ends, and the sway bar connecting rods and bushings.
While we were there, he put in new wheel bearings.
As well as a new pitman arm and idler arm for the steering.
In the rear, he put on new shocks. We also put on all new rotors and brake pads.
With all this work done, a gave her a good bath before putting her back into commission.
Let's ranch.
It feels like we got us a new truck. Rides smooth, doesn't rattle, and stops on a dime. Good work, Jim. I appreciate your time, effort, and dedication to doing the job right. I am committed to making White Horse the last truck I buy. To do this, good parts make a difference. Factory parts got us this far, no reason they can't get us another 375k. The only major parts we didn't replace with GM components were the shocks and brake rotors. In those cases, Carquest aftermarket parts will do just fine.
A cowboy without a ranch truck is like farmer without a tractor. It's necessary equipment! The town's folk are happy White Horse is back in the driveway. I think they just feel safer. I'm glad too. With winter coming, we need a truck we can count on. White Horse to the rescue! Occasional Mom will say, you need to get a new truck. I tell her, I can't. I told Dad I have to see how far this one will go. We'll find out. I plan to live to be 100, so that's another 53 more years. Ranch on.
Wow, 375,000 miles. That's amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'm 63 and while in better health than a lot of my contemporaries, my family doesn't live all that long and I figure I'm doing good, I guess, if I make it through the week, by and large. I'm hoping my 06 Dodge will carry me through until the end, but I don't have the mechanical skills you do. Something is going on with my front end and I think I know what it is, but the mechanics haven't found anything going on. I may have to tackle it myself.
You are quite correct about the GM ride. It's nice. Dodge's (mines a 1 ton), can't say that. Straight front axle. I used to always prefer that as they didn't get out of alignment easily, but that's easier to appreciate when you are 43, rather than 63.