New Owner - 1st Question

[Fastback67]

Finished up the King Pin assemblies and removed the old brake hoses.

 

[Fastback67]

Picked up the axles at the shop this morning. The frozen side of that U-Joint had to be burnt out with a torch, it wasn't giving in to nobody. All new universals in there now though.
No time for anything today... just stuck the axles back in the holes, and started cleaning up one of the spindle sets and associated caliper bracket. Should have those finished up tomorrow, then it's on to the hubs and rotors.

 

[Fastback67]

Finished up the spindles this morning... Spindles are mounted, caliper brackets and shields installed, all bolting has been torqued to spec, everything has been greased. Next up is the hubs and rotors. Cleaned up the hubs this morning as well, so I should be good to go for tomorrow. The outside of the hubs were fine, but getting all that old grease and grime out of them was a chore.
Just have to pick up a set of bearing seals for the hubs and a couple of new brake hoses.... easier said than done of course. Parts for these heavy duty axles are not exactly common place around these parts. That said, I've had to order all of the parts so far on-line from various shops. Hoping to get the seals and hoses locally though.... hoping.

 

[ofelas]

Looking good Mike.

I usually get Timken/National bearings & seals local from a Dana driveline shop.

 

[Fastback67]

Howdy Chip

I called around this afternoon... nobody had anything in stock, and the only auto parts outlets around here that would even order them into their store was NAPA, all the rest were ship to home ONLY, with several days lead time.
That being said... NAPA will have the seals ready for me to pick up in the AM... Hoses the following day. That keeps me on schedule... Thank You NAPA!
In retrospect, I should have ordered them in with all the other parts. I just figured the seals and hoses wouldn't be a big deal, but I guess I was wrong there...LOL!

 

[Fastback67]

Picked up those new seals at NAPA this morning...
Pressed the new rotors onto the hubs, popped in the bearings and new rear seal, and mounted them on the spindles. I still have to set the outer bearing nut & tab lock, then torque the lock nut down before it's 100%, but there's always tomorrow.

 

[Fastback67]

Almost done now... Set and torqued the bearing nuts this morning. Installed the locking hubs, and mounted the big giant calipers and pads. Just waiting on a brake hose from NAPA... They ordered the right ones, and the the right ones came in according to the part numbers on the box. Inside the boxes however were two left feet. It happens... in fact it happens all the time to me.

 

[MLee]

One things missing--BIG RED BOWS

 

[Fastback67]

Montana is back on all fours again now...
Finished up the brakes and stuff this morning, but didn't have time to test anything. I had to leave for work...

I'll bed the new pads and rotors in tomorrow morning, and get the old boy out there for a test run.
All new brake fluid up front now of course, but I still have to hit the rears first chance I get. The stuff I drained out of the front brake lines was nothing short of nasty, so I can only imagine how bad the fluid is out back.

 

[Fastback67]

Finally got a chance to take Montana out for that test drive.
I'm pleased to announce that all is well... so far anyway. Initially the new disc brakes were pulling slightly to the left after bedding them in, but that appears to be clearing up now after putting a few more miles on the old fella. I drove the trunk to work this morning, and will continue to drive it every chance I get for the next few days... Then it's my turn to go north, and yes, I'll be driving the truck. My wife has been up there enjoying the foliage at our home in NH, while I stayed behind here in CT to get the truck squared away.

 

[Fastback67]

Santa brought Montana a set of Power Side mirrors, so I can finally get rid of the half baked towing mirror arrangement that's on there now. I also picked up a mirror controller from a late 90's Dodge off eRape. Just have to decide where I want to mount the controller now, and hope for a free day with good weather so I can get the system installed on the truck.

 

[Fastback67]

Well, I finally got a chance to install those new power side mirrors that I had picked up in December.
I cut off the connectors that came with the mirrors and the Durango controller, and made up my own wiring harness for the job. Mirrors are mounted & tested and working perfectly. I used the original OEM mirror mounts though. The new ones that came with the mirrors were good, but the originals were a better fit. No surprise there of course.
Either way, the new mirrors are a huge improvement over the floppy towing mirrors that were on there before. I tapped the power for the circuit off that little accessory fuse panel I installed on the face of the heater box earlier.

 

[Fastback67]

I also mounted a Heatsink to the face of my fender mounted VR... just because I can. Hey, every little bit helps eh!

 

[EDankievitch]

Looks awesome nice job so far

 

[Fastback67]

Thanks brother!

 

[Fastback67]

Pulled Montana's Deep Drop Cowboy Bumper the other day for a little preventive maintenance, and perhaps a lighting mod. At the moment I'm just knocking the loose rust off the back and getting few good coats of Rust Bullet on there. This will protect and preserve it for many years to come.
I've only got one coat on there right now, which is sorta okay, but I'd feel better knowing there's two or three.

 

[Fastback67]

Got a second coat on there this morning... I think I'll call it done there.
Now to flip it over to the chrome side, and think about maybe adding a couple of backup lights while I have it off the truck.

 

[Fastback67]

Finished my little Bumper Project this morning... It's ready to mount back on the truck now. I may still add a set of lights at a later date, but I'm calling it good for now.

 

[Fastback67]

Put the bumper back on the truck this morning. I'm going to add a couple of double pin stripes on either side of those Metallic Grey panels, but that's a project for another day.

 

[Fastback67]

Question?...
Does anyone know how to pull the A/C compressor off one of these things?!?!
At the rear side of the compressor, I"ve removed the support bracket for the compressor, and removed the bracket itself from the compressor.
I have unbolted the compressor from the front cooling system support bracket, and removed the drive belt.
The compressor is now dangling free with hoses attached. I can twist it, I can rotate it a bit, and I can almost slip it out the bottom... almost... The clutch won't slip past//between the front support bracket and the frame.
Is there some trick I'm missing here? The information in the service manual is a joke in this case.
Thanks for any help, much appreciated!