Carl'sMJ

On my way home today I blew out the metal break line going to the driver side rear wheel... I was able to limp it home on the parking break and that was an adventure in itself during rush hour traffic with my 5 spd. Anyway, now I need to get it fixed. I had a feeling this day was coming because all the lines have seen better days and replacing them has been on my to-do list. I priced getting all new lines from a local shop and they wanted $200... The brake shop wants $350-$400 to do the job. Doest this sound reasonable? I'm leaning toward having the shop do the work... If I was to do the job myself how hard is it?

Same problem here with our kit! :mad: We saw the same thing and are trying to get the upper out first too. It's looking like some more heat, a cheater bar, and alot of muscle are going to be the ticket to success.

We tried a cheater bar, no luck.... I'll try rapping on the yoke with a hammer while it is under pressure. It may just be the press we have but the threaded end where the wrench attaches to is way up in the wheel well and tough to use a cheater bar on.... I couldn't use an impact on the upper if I wanted to. We tried alot of heat and alot of heat while under pressure... no luck there either.

Yeah, we're using the press and have been rather liberal with the of PB Blaster. Not sure what you mean by "crush" them :???:

Well, I spent the day helping my Dad replace... or attempt to replace... the upper and lower ball joints on his '91 XJ 4WD. Everything went fairly smooth until we started trying to press the ball studs out of the axle yoke. Both the upper and lower must be rusted in something fierce because even the removal/installation tool we bought wouldn't even budge them. :headpop: Sound familiar to anyone. Anyone have any good tips for getting them out??? :help:

Are you asking about do it yourself stuff? :???: I've used the duplicolor and it's pretty good stuff. Most recently I used it to coat the inside of my new front fenders. I'm not sure I would use it on my bed though... seems like it would chip pretty easy. I opted for the Herculiner for my bedliner. Whatever you choose... if you do it yourself... proper prep is the key.

What about mineral spirits??? I heard of it being used to clean aircraft engines. I also have heard of using dishwashing detergent. Any input?

What's everyone using to clean off the engine??? It's time for me to clean out my engine compartment and I was wondering what was a good product. Any tips on getting the job done are welcome too.

Yeah, no kidding... the metal screen backing on the filter was still intact though so, even if I had started it I think the pieces may :dunno: have stayed out of the engine.

Well... I've been away for the better part of the past year and was doing some clean up on the truck this afternoon. I was under the hood checking things out and I popped the airbox open and found that there was no paper left on my air filter just the gasket and metal screen. :grrrr: The paper was all shredded laying in the bottom of the box. Upon further investigation it seems like some critter, probably mice, made a home out of my airbox while I was gone. I'm guessing they chewed off all the paper and made a nice place to bed down away from the Michigan winter. It all started to make sense when I started to clean out the airbox and it smelled like piss. Needless to say I spent some time cleaning up under the hood this afternoon... Good as new now though! :D

I ditched the metal pieces and attached the flares with nylon hardware (1/4"-20). I opted for the nylon hardware after I had to grind off the rusted 1/4"-20 screws I used to reattach the flares the first time I had them off a few years prior. No problems with warping and the flares are well attached.

Not to hijack this thread... but on the same note... Has anyone switched over to a service body or dump body?

I was comparing the Mossberg 500 vs. the Remington 870... The Mossberg safety is more user friendly to lefties than the Remington.

Do you shoot left or right hand? The safety on the Mossberg 500 is more user friendly for lefties. Small detail... that being said I have used and like both the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500.

Not sure what you mean by "there is no War on Terrorism." The War on Terror is very real. You may not like the name or whatever but the fact is that these jihadists mean business. They will take the fight to us on our turf if given the opportunity. They do not care about being left alone, their whole mindset is based on annihilating their enemies and they will stop at nothing to achieve this ... they look at this fight in terms of decades and centuries... it is up to us to cut that short.

TK, you brought up alot of good points, but I would just like to clarify something here... The point in focus is our involvement in the Global war on Terror as an "unconstitutional war where war was not declared" The United States has deployed its military forces abroad to protect its interanational interests and the safety of the nation without a formal declaration of war ever since it was formally recognized as an independent nation by the British in 1783. The First Barbary War (1801-1805) is an early example of U.S. forces deployed to fight not a nation but a group (in this case Islamic pirates) without a formal declaration of war made by congress. As it relates to our current state of affairs, in all reality a declaration of war has been made and it has been made many times. Not by the U.S., but by our enemies, numerous communities of Islamic jihadists, a declaration of war on us until we are wiped off the planet. Just a couple of points to ponder. :USAflag:

There have been a couple of threads lately on oil filters... in particular Fram oil filters... and I learned some things I didn't know before. Along the same lines... what brands of oil are you guys using? What are some of the ups and downs of the different brands or are they all very similar? And how many here run synthetic motor oil? I currently have been using Quaker State 10W-30... Thoughts???

How did the mount install go?

If it is what I'm thinking... then the tack on the stud has broke free and it is spinning on the metal plate it was tacked to. If you can't snap it you might want to look at cutting it with a grinding wheel.

My bad... didn't see the link at first :oops:

What's wrong with Fram? Who makes a better product and why?

Not to stir the pot on the platinum issue, but... I've been told in the past that platinum plugs are recommended on everything '92 and newer (not sure why :dunno: ) and that they are stock issue with all new models rolling off the assembly line... any truth to this? Thoughts??? For what it's worth I run Champion Platinums in mine. I guess I went with the platinums under the impression that it was a better quality plug.

Does anybody do this? I was doing some reading this past week and came across this subject. I couldn't find any negatives... except that it mentioned converting the vertically positioned filter to a horizontal position... Not sure why, there looks to be plenty of room for the larger filter regardless, I'll take another look though. I currently have been using Fram filters (PH16)... according to the book the oversize Fram equivilant is a PH8A... Thoughts???

DEFINITELY went back on easier. What did you do to protect the paint when you put them back on... you know how it is up here in the rust belt, you've gotta protect everything. I tried coating the little clip things with some white lithium grease to help it slide back on without chipping the paint... I think it worked OK.

New bumper looks great! Now it's time to trim up the lower part of those fender flares :brows: