Co-MAAAN-cheee

Guys: After some research I believe I could do the work myself, and would like to, but, I hurt my knee replacing the leaf springs, so.... I've been kind of obsessive about maintaining original parts. This is a street truck. Interior and exterior nicely restored. I'm going to die with this truck. The drive train is all original with 135k miles. My plan has been to have it all rebuilt as needed or cash is handy. I have $2k budgeted to cover maintenance and repairs for the first 1/2 of 2015. I'm considering having them just rebuild the entire axle. Go ahead and do the wheel bearings, stuff like that. They do all the hard stuff and things that benefit from overlapping labor. Then I do a complete brake overhaul. Based on this, do you have thoughts on what I should ask them to quote?

The Shop first said nothing was wrong. After chatting for a while they decided to open the differential. Said it was shot and needs a new carrier. Rough guess before pricing parts was $800 parts a labor. Based on my investigation I believe something is wrong with the differential. They have been a reliable shop. What should I expect?

Swapped wheels. No change. When I had it open I saw uneven wear on the brake pads. I'm convinced its the bearings. Thinking I'll take it to the shop. Thoughts?

Put the truck up on stands, put it in to neutral and turned the wheels by hand. Moved the around to check free play. Passenger side felt tight abd when I pushed inboard or pull outboard while rotating I didn't notice any difference. On the drivers it felt to me like the bearings are loose. And when I pushed inboard and rotated I could here and feel what seems like gears rubbing together to hard. I'm thinking the bearings have gone bad and are causing the spines on the axle to get to far into the differential. I'm still going to swap wheels anyway just to he certain. If I'm right about bearings what should I check next?

I put trim from a 2000 on mine. It requires some cutting. I had to peel away all the rubber from the back of the trim where it installs over the wing window. Then I ground off a lip of metal so the back was flat.

I'll swap wheel to the front. That should eliminate tire, wheel, and hub cap right away. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm definitely not a pro.

I checked that and found rubbing on the ebrake cable. I zip tied both out of the way and still getting the noise.

I'm getting a clicking sound that tracks speed from the left rear wheel. Confirmed using a multi point chassis listening device. It gets most pronounced between 25. And 35 mph. I don't hear it on acceleration only coasting. I've been doing a slalom on a down hill grade testing various scenarios. There is no clicking when turning right. Sometimes I can hear when driving straight. Gets quite loud as soon as the truck starts veering left. Sound the same with our without brakes applied. With the listening device it sounds like something hitting the drum. I haven't taken our apart yet. I'm thinking maybe the bearing are loose and allowing thing to shift around. Anybody deal with the same thing?

I inspected those. Sanded them clean a greased when changing the pads. I don't think that's it. But, i'll check them again.

I'm wondering about a couple of things. 1. Could it be the tire and wheel. I'm tempted to rotate tires just to see if anything changes 2. How likely is it to be the hub. Tempted to replace just to see. 3. Could it be the splines are worn and the shaft is banging around in the hub? They looked good to me. I'm grasping.

Two things. 1. Put it up on jack this morning. spun the wheel by hand with wheel straight and turned. Noticing a metal on metal sound at same point in rotation. Sounds like pads on disk, but, I seem to recall this same sound on any car I've done brakes on. I'm reminded that last week I changed just the pads and disk. The sound stopped for a day then came back. during todays inspection of week old pads and disk revealed rubbing on the inner most part of the disk. it left a strange wear pattern on the corners of the pads and discolored the inner most portion of the disk. As a results this week I changed the calipers. I decided to replace the u joints since i was going to be in there anyway and moved the affected disk and pad to the passenger side. BTW, during todays inspection I noticed the new u joint has grease pushed out around the rubber seals. 2. Also, took it for a test drive. Coasting down hill between 30 - 40 mph. Engine off I can hear the sound clearly throughout a slalom. Loudest in full turn and seems louder turning left. Not so much a click as a dull wap wap wap wap. The only other thing I can think to try at this point is the hub. I sure appreciate some advice before I just give up and take it to a shop. D

Yesterday

I'm getting an intermittent low click/pop coming from my front end. Seems like the drivers side. Only notice it below 30 mph. Tracks with speed.,Braking doesn't seem to affect it other than slow the pace. Louder when turning. I've replaced; brake disk, caliper, pads, and u joint on both sides. Guys at the autoparts store think the hubs are fine. I'm really frustrated. I'm not a solid mechanic so worried I messed up the new u joint, but, doubt it. Starting to think its the axle u joint. What should I look for.

A multi meter is a much more reliable way to perform this test and I think everyone should have one.

I replaced both front turn signal bulbs. Cleaned with electronics cleaner and Scraped the connections real good. Same problem remained. Several days later the dash light is normal. So, I don't know what caused it or fixed it. I'm going to do the cleaning for the rear lights and do crusers number 3 anyway.

Oops

I took my truck to the body shop for straightening and paint. When I got it back the entire inside of the cab was covered in a thick paint dust. they completely sanded the hood. Now when I turn my head lights on the drivers side turn signal indicator light stays on. Everything else seems to be working fine. I'm wondering if some dust got into a connections. Does anyone know why this would be happening? What I should look for? Thanks, D

I bought from general in dec 2014. Told him I heard they would give a Comanche club discount. I bought standard springs. He gave me $9 off per spring.

My truck is in the body shop getting fixed up and factory original paint. I'm super exited!!! I'm killing myself maintaining the original look. If you have a rear bumper in excellent condition I'd be very appreciative if I could buy it. I live in Bremerton WA but, willing to drive. My bumper is banged up but is solid. We could swap my bumper + cash. Or ??? I'm desperate, let me know.

I used a blend of ideas with excellent results. I bought some wipe cloths at lowes. Very similar to tshirt material. Wrapped it around a small block of wood. Applied a very slight amount of mineral oil then used it to apply a light coat to the chrome surface. Then a light coat of spray paint. Wait a minute. Then wrap the block with dry cloth. Then rub off the paint. Let paint dry. Then repeat. Quick, easy, excellent results.

Don, often my lack of patience and budget beat out my obsessive nature. I've been paying close attention to you and cruzer54's advice since Jan. In practical application you guys have me beat as it relates to ocd. ;) thanks for all the great advice btw

I picked up some of the liquid mask. Cool stuff, but, dang, I spent 30 mins trimming to finish masking the c and o in Comanche then the mask peeled up on the edge of the m. If someone wanted to use this stuff you'll need to really make sure the surface is 100% clean, the mask is applied evenly, your blade is sharp and you have lots of patience. Not for me. I tried don's technique. I need a bit more practice, but, way easier with quick results. Btw - when I was trying don's technique I laid a cloth on my table and rub the emblem on it to remove the paint. Worked pretty god except my figures marred the edges. I'm going to adhere some tshirt material to a 1"x3" block of wood to use as a float to remove the paint from the letters. I'll post on how it worked.

In my opinion the fey bumpers look nothing like the original. But I have considered bolting one on while I wait for a better option. Have also considered using a jack to straighten it enough where it doesn't rub the paint. Then do a nice paint job. It would be an homage to what a challenge it is to get a nice one. I imagine people confused by a nicely restored truck with a dented up bumper. Lol.

I'm going to ask the body shop that's doing my paint. Will update this post.

Body side Molding is the strip of material that runs down the side of a vehicle to protect from door dings. See here http://comancheclub.com/topic/40083-side-molding-or-no-side-molding-need-your-help/