First , first gen ... for me that is.

[-gtsm-]

Hi , I haven't posted here in ages ... Was very active when I bought my second gen (99) ... and then again with my 3rd Gen (07) not so much with my 4th gen (17) ... Finally got me a well seasoned 1st gen and I love it ... she's a 91 D250 .
First repair will be lower ball joints , driver side is pretty shot . I haven't bought a manual for this truck yet ... so I have my first question ... how do I determine which ones to get ... apparently there are three options at the part store , pressed in , screw in and for trucks with Heavy duty suspension ?
looked at them today while changing the oil and couldn't tell if they were screw in or not ... going to jack it up in the morning and take wheel off , clean the ball joint and hopefully figure this out .
What's up with the "Heavy duty" suspension option ... figured these all were heavy duty ... what am I missing?
Thanks in advance ... glad to be back on the TDR .

 

[AnonEd]

My '92 manual doesn't mention different choices (I too would think HD) nor any screw or thread-in parts, just presses. FYI, torque on the "lower ball stud nut" is 135 ft-lb for a 11/16-18, 175 ft-lb for 3/4-16.

 

[NIsaacs]

What's up with the "Heavy duty" suspension option ... figured these all were heavy duty ... what am I missing?

It mostly has to do with aftermarket parts. A gasser D-250 is light duty v/s a gasser D-350. They don't know that a Diesel D-250 is basically the same as a Diesel D-350.

It is very common for a Diesel D-250 to sag in the front. At about 300k miles I replaced my front coil springs with the best Napa had to offer. It brought it back up to snuff.

 

[GSP7]

Didnt happen without pictures of the 91

 

[-gtsm-]

Thanks for the responses , door sticker says front suspension rated at 3830# ... see references online elsewhere to 4000# axles and haven't had a chance to check yet due to having to go out of town for work but apparently HD suspensions have 7/8" dia. tie rod ends which I guess would be easy for me to check but I am fairly certain I will get the heavy duty ball joints which are press in . GSP7 here is your picture ...she ain't pretty but runs like a sewing machine . It needs a Borgeson steering shaft , a spare tire ( came with new firestones on it) , some air conditioner crush washers so I can recharge system, odometr works but not speedo and maintenance to fluids and such ( changed oil so far but that's it ) pretty sure the original color was white but previous owner thought it would be a good idea to slather bedliner over the whole truck ... fortunately it was ****ty bedliner and it is flaking off ... unfortunately they tried sanding the front clip and that surface rust there is the only rust on the entire truck (ok, the battery tray is rusty) the undersides are immaculate , the truck has 194000 miles on it and I paid 3500 bucks for it. View attachment 138714

 

[petersonj]

It needs a Borgeson steering shaft

I highly recommend to NOT use the Borgeson steering shaft.

Here is what I wrote in my maintenance log after I removed the Borgeson steering shaft and replaced it with a Dorman OEM style 153,000 miles later:

Replace Borgeson steering shaft (still operational). This shaft is poorly designed with 10 set screw / jam nuts to hold parts together, which makes it a high maintenance item. Set screws are difficult to inspect or to tighten after the installation of steering shaft. The slip joint offers too much friction and has to be disassembled to grease. After driving a few thousand miles, the slip joint gets sticky and affects steering performance and needs to be cleaned and re-greased - not a simple task. I also feel that set screw type clamping pulls the clamped components off-center, which is felt in the steering wheel.

The Dorman replacement steering shaft appears to be of very good quality. Only two OEM style clamps for installation (keeps components centered) which makes for very easy installation / removal and is virtually maintenance free. The rag type joint removes vibrations transmitted from the road. This shaft is quiet and very smooth - far better than the Borgeson steering shaft.

The Borgeson shaft cost $270.00; the Dorman shaft cost $127.00. Sometimes I learn the hard way.

- John

 

[NIsaacs]

If you have some slack in your steering shaft it is most likely the coupler. This kit will fix it right up.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NPS73064

 

[-gtsm-]

Thanks again for the tips ... I'm surprised you had trouble with the Borgeson shaft John ... I bought a 93 4x4 Ramcharger new off the lot and after putting mud tires and a lift the factory coupler got sloppy in no time at all so I replaced it with the Borgeson shaft and never looked back. I considered it a quality product at the time .Does the dorman piece use the factory style coupler?
NIsaacs it most definately is the coupler , rag joint is fine and steering box looked tight ... didn't realize the coupler was rebuildable ... at 30 bucks that is the budget option for sure ... until it wears out again.
Another thing this truck is missing is the spare tire holder ... I believe it may have been a bolted on beam that went under the tire and between the frame rails ... I don't think it had the more common nowadays cable and crank arrangement .

 

[petersonj]

Does the dorman piece use the factory style coupler?

Yes, and also the factory style clamps at both ends. Of course, I am talking about my '02 truck, but I believe they are similar.

- John

 

[RedD250]

When I had my ball joints done, the upper ones were screw in, and the lowers were pressed in. According to the research that I did, the front axle is the 4,000# one, even if the sticker under the hood says 3,8xx. Hope this helps.

If you are already tearing the front suspension apart, I would highly recommend putting in a set of Moog 7226s springs. It'll bring your front end up nicely, and make it sit almost level.

 

[-gtsm-]

Thanks RedD250 , that's good to know , I just got home from offshore yesterday and today I bought a ball joint and got a loaner press from the parts house ... got the heavy duty one ... press in . Will install it in the morning and report back afterwards on how it went .
While I would like to change out all the components in the front suspension while doing this repair ... I can only afford ( at this moment) to tackle the ones that are failed / and or unsafe.
Another project that I will need to tackle and didn't mention before is the killer dowel pin fix. Oh and the tappet cover on the side of the block leaks
gonna eat this elephant one bite at a time .

 

[RedD250]

Good luck, I hope it goes smoothly for you. Make sure you have a BFH too. The guy who did mine had to beat the hell out of one of them to get it out lol. An air hammer helped.

Yeah, these old trucks are a never ending project. Whether it's stuff that needs fixed, or mods, there's always something to do. I need to do my KDP one of these days. But that's just so much work. And if I'm gonna tear everything off to get at it, I might as well upgrade the intercooler, and if I do that, I might as well upgrade all of the plumbing, and if I do that, I might as well swap the turbo, and if I do that, I'll pretty much HAVE to upgrade the fuel system, and then....

 

[-gtsm-]

Yep "mission creep" I'm guilty of it more often than not .... I'm trying to be practical on this project , as I bought it to replace my current work vehicle eventually as it should be more fuel efficient and have better towing capacity ... I've already caught myself trying to decide whether it would look better painted white or F8 green , or how bout white/green two tone ... yeah , that's the ticket

 

[RedD250]

White/green 2 tone would be sweet. These trucks are essentially from the '70s anyway, so why not paint it a '70s color scheme? I think it'd look good. Chevy/GMC had a color scheme like that on the 67-72 trucks. Color was pretty much the same as the F8 green.

 

[-gtsm-]

I repaired the Ball joint today , It was destroyed ... the sintered bearing cups came out in pieces ... the clips that hold the brake caliper together were also shot allowing the caliper to rub the inside of the wheel and the rotor hub . Mission creep activated and I bought a new caliper and pads and cleaned and painted the inner rim where it had rubbed . The test drive went well , I'm heading back to work now ... look forward to tackling the next issue on my next day off .

 

[RedD250]

Glad to hear it, keep it on the road!

 

[-gtsm-]

Will do ... glad to see people that care on the TDR still . Y'all were always a good bunch.

 

[-gtsm-]

Update on the truck progress ... So far repaired ball joint , had to replace a tire / got a spare ( used rim off of my old 99 ) fixed steering slop by rebuilding coupler as NIssacs suggested , changed oil/filter , transmission fluid/filter and fuel filter . I have driven almost 400 miles so far and she really is a highway star ... no problem keeping up or passing traffic on the interstate . I have all the gaskets and parts to repair the KDP and the side tappet cover and to adjust my valves but here is the latest development ... the injector pump is leaking ... I am researching the path forward now ... I am guessing it's an o-ring seal that is leaking possibly at the rotor head ? I just cleaned it real good and will run it in the morning to try to pinpoint the source of the leak .
Questions ... any tips on finding the leak ? if it is an o-ring , if I take the pump off and do the repair myself , do y'all have a link to a good video or online tutorial ( I haven't got a repair manual yet , and I'm not sure the pump rebuild is in it anyway ) I am going to search myself , but if y'all have a good link please let me know.

 

[NIsaacs]

Mine started leaking at the head so I bought a seal kit, then chickened out and bought a new aftermarket pump. The venders I contacted did not have any pump cores so the turn around time was significant, to send them my pump.

It is probably this o-ring.

Seal kit: https://www.dieselautopower.com/ve-cummins-injection-pump-seal-kit-29906.html

I am not sure on a 1st gen, but on my '01, I had to pull the VP injection pump off to do the tappet cover gasket.

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