Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Our '97 failed to start a couple of weeks ago, it just had a good clicking sound. My son turned the key and I tapped on the starter with a piece of wood, truck started. I have seen the posts about the wear point on the starter solenoid terminals and I thought this would be a good place to start.
With the starter removed and the solenoid cover off, I eased out the plunger assy and one of the terminals was a bit worn but the other was flattened out, eroded away at the contact area. This was a weekend and Geno's was a couple days out and I really didn't want to spring for a new starter just yet.
I looked closely at the burned up eroded terminal and started looking for a piece of copper to make a new one out of, nothing at hand in the shop. A trip to our hardware store and I had 2 copper repair crimp lugs in hand 3/8" hole by 3/0 wire.
I smashed one of the terminals in the vise, then started tapping on it with a hammer to continue flattening it out. Next, I bent it into a 90 degree angle and matched to old good terminals profile on it with a scribe. Out came the hacksaw and file collection. In a few minutes a new terminal took shape.
Installing the homemade terminal, no problem, install the starter and we got a couple of weeks worth of starting out of it. The following week, I talked to Brandon and ordered the Larry B starter solenoid kit. The installation, no issues, just a bigger set of matching terminals and a new plunger. Starter sounds great.
I installed the Larry B's before my homemade ones crapped out, it is a cost effective repair with professional parts, mine was a get it running until we could fix it correctly, but I thought it might get your truck running in a pinch.
Larry, nice parts, nice fix, thanks.
With the starter removed and the solenoid cover off, I eased out the plunger assy and one of the terminals was a bit worn but the other was flattened out, eroded away at the contact area. This was a weekend and Geno's was a couple days out and I really didn't want to spring for a new starter just yet.
I looked closely at the burned up eroded terminal and started looking for a piece of copper to make a new one out of, nothing at hand in the shop. A trip to our hardware store and I had 2 copper repair crimp lugs in hand 3/8" hole by 3/0 wire.
I smashed one of the terminals in the vise, then started tapping on it with a hammer to continue flattening it out. Next, I bent it into a 90 degree angle and matched to old good terminals profile on it with a scribe. Out came the hacksaw and file collection. In a few minutes a new terminal took shape.
Installing the homemade terminal, no problem, install the starter and we got a couple of weeks worth of starting out of it. The following week, I talked to Brandon and ordered the Larry B starter solenoid kit. The installation, no issues, just a bigger set of matching terminals and a new plunger. Starter sounds great.
I installed the Larry B's before my homemade ones crapped out, it is a cost effective repair with professional parts, mine was a get it running until we could fix it correctly, but I thought it might get your truck running in a pinch.
Larry, nice parts, nice fix, thanks.
