Another Day Another Set Back

Well there goes the plans for this week. I was planning on doing a video driving the truck through some trails and mud but I guess all the other playing in the truck took its toll. Anytime you take a truck mudding or trail riding there is a big risk of damage being caused. This past week I got back from driving through a storm and crossing a ditch or two where I apparently was a little hard on the truck. Honestly I floor-boarded it in about 18 inch deep mud and it pretty much destroyed the front hub. Mud can cause all kinds of damage on a vehicle cause it gets everywhere if you don't believe me read this forum http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2181.

The parts are not going to be cheap to fix this one. I first will check on the warranty of the Warn Premium Hubs but most likely those are gonna cost over a $100 to replace. Then I will have to replace both front wheel bearings on the driver side (yes the same ones I just re-did in the Ball Joint replacements) because of the metal shaving that are the only remaining traces of all the steel ball bearings.

New Hubs                   $115.00
Front Wheel Bearings   $35.00
Synthetic Axle Grease $15.00
-----------------------------------------------
Total                            $165.00

There should be ball bearings in each groove of this
hub assembly, nothing but shavings remains.

The notch in the axle is where the clip below should have been which is what
hold the hub assembly in place.

The clip is laying between the outer spindle nut and locking washer and the hub
assembly at the top with the cap assembly on the right.

There appears to be a rock in there which is not a good thing and
could have actually contributed to the hub failure.

All the shiny flakes are all that remains of multiple marble size
ball bearings. These shavings pose a threat to the remaining
bearings which means it will all be cleaned and replaced.

All this damage comes with the territory of using your truck as an off-road toy. The abuse is sometimes too much for certain parts to handle. Well another day another dollar. In a week this will be repaired and I'm sure this won't be the last of my broken parts cause I don't plan on slowing down or doing anything less than pushing this truck to the limits anytime soon.

A little update

I'm still a little short on money so I'll use this week for an update. In my last trip from Jonesboro to Smithville the truck got an impressive 15.5 miles per gallon which is almost double its old average. Of course this extra mileage came with driving and accelerating a little slower. I noticed that I still haven't uploaded a video of the sound of the new exhaust so here you go. 

 Here is a picture that I'm doing for another class assignment. I thought it made my truck look cool. Other pictures like this will soon be available on my photography website rehtulphotography.com which is currently under construction. 

No Time This Week

Well I didn't really have the time nor the money for any major project this week. With gas prices soaring my money to be getting devoured by the gas tank in my truck. One of the biggest things with driving a Full Size four wheel drive is that they get horrible gas mileage. With the large amount of work I have done to my truck recently it has improved from a dismal 8 mile per gallon to a respectable 13 miles per gallon which is a pretty substantial increase when talking about an over 60% increase in fuel efficiency. So with that said check out the tips at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml for some other ways to get better mileage. If I followed a few of the driving tips I'm sure I could see a little more improvement myself. But for now I think I'll just walk a little more since the last fill up cost me $110.00 and the price of gas has went up since then. Maybe with payday coming up I'll have a little more next week.

Time for an Oil Change

Every vehicle needs routine maintenance and my truck is a little overdo for an oil change. So I decided that I would do that this week plus it was relatively cheap.  I video taped this but the video could not be understood do to the ridiculous wind that was blowing so I'm just gonna use some pictures.

I purchased 6qts of 10W-30 Havoline oil, 1qt of Lucas oil treatment, and a Motorcraft
FL-1A filter from the local O'Reilly's Auto Parts store for around $30 dollars.

You want to start off by loosening the oil drain plug which should be located on the
lowest point of the motor. (Wait till motor is cool to do this or the oil will burn you)

Once you get the plug removed the oil should come out quickly and you
can see here that the oil is black and as thin as water, which is not good.

You will need some kind of container, just make sure its big enough for the amount in your
truck, to catch the oil in and this can be challenging if the wind is blowing very hard.

The oil filter is located in many different spots on different vehicles but are usually
pretty visible. I used a Motorcraft filter which is what comes stock on any Ford vehicle.
You should be able to remove the old one and put the new one on just using your hand.
Be careful not to over tighten or cross thread the filter. 

You can see here how black and burnt the old oil was, it had 4500 miles on it.

After everything is drained make sure you tighten the plug back up
and be sure not to over tighten or cross thread it.

Find the spot where the oil goes on top and pour it in. Mine takes 7qts but
you will want to check your manual to see how much any other vehicle will hold.

You can dispose of the old oil at many locations including Wal-Mart as long as you follow their instructions. O'Reilly's also offers many 5qt and Filter combinations at a significant discount. Here are some other links describing oil changes. eHow , AutoRepairHelp 101 , edmunds.com.