haha- all my fault. knew my puller just hooked the cage and kept crankin' anyway.....
much better with the other side, and pressed it on the modified carrier.
mabe i can find a new one tomorrow.

re:smog..... i thought mabe you were far enough from civilization. didn't consider "the valley" effect... are you once a year?


btw- just looked to see if u were "online"- what is a spider?

Smog is bi-annual, as elsewhere in Cali.

Nice press!

tuesday was productive, and a nice day to play.

found that a hf magnetic dial indicator bracket can screw directly to the differential case, and a few blocks make a diffmount out of a wheel.

ready to go back in place.....

currently working on motor mount repairs(right mount is wasted again-#3?), and steering straightening.
have another new centerlink, and expect to overhaul the idler arm(replace bushing, at least?). also need to fix what holds the steering box to the chassis, so that it doesn't keep coming loose....
mabe this weekend, but not mother's day.
better get some flowers.
planning a test run in a couple of weeks(ef carson?)

both motor mounts were toasted. ratchet straps can help "for temporary". yay fordyce

another trailtough fix c/o brent/linda.

much stronger.
not strong was the failing bodymount(r). it was torn off of the body, and very difficult to remove.
still deciding what kind of steel to use for mount repair- mirror copy for the left side...... and some "hard facing"of things, before putting the axle back in....
ushallc

Suzi's doppelganger in K-Falls!

mabe her twin brother? haha.
currently, suzi the psychic looks like this......

figured out how to put the axle in place. seems to fit.
monkeyed with the bodymount that used to be here:

chewed out some sheetmetal and glued some angle in place with some xtra stuff inside.


figure on running a bolt thru this arrangement, with some modified stock rubber dognut in the middle.
could work. standard crappy gluewelding, but probably buttered it up enough to hold together. the other side is not so bad(hmmmm), and i may do nothing about it yet.
suzi and i have a date, and she's not dressed up yet.

bolted the mount, and it will probably work for now.
removed the bent centerlink and have the new one in place.
put oil in the front axle.
looking like we will make our date, if i torque my way out from downunder, "fix" the loose steering box, and change the engine oil/filter, the wheels can go back on.
then put the rest of her back together(some things must be left for another time), clean out and repack for a run.
haha. it could happen.

managed to button it all up.
total failure in trying to press a new bushing into my idler arm, so i serviced a good used assembly, and finished the steering repairs by adding some metalglue to the captive nuts(in the chassis)for the steering box bolts.
still no skid plates- the front and tcase skids are just bolt backs, but the center skid lost a strut mounting tab. minorfix.
changed the motor and rear diff. oils- that was original oil in the rear.......
recap of this service run:
drag link, rear shock mounts(and new shocks),rightside bodymount repair, transmission/tcase/motor mounts, centerlink replacement- these could be considered aggravated sierra challenge repairs.
other attentions were paid to suzi, and she was fondled all over.
the front locker is going to be interesting.
i have the wheels back on, and expect to move her about a bit tomorrow. see if anything falls off or locks up.
i should take some pictures.

spent most of the day hacking brush that keeps trying to grow like crazy- uncovered a lot of the back deck. regular jungle around here......
did move suzi back and forth a bit, and the locker locks, and nothing snapped when i bound up the drivetrain.
should be interesting to try it for real.
put the front skid on, and the tcase skid, but the tranny skid needs some repair. not gonna happen for this run.
still need to clean her out, organize spares and tools, and repack.
miss bitchy is getting ready to play also. her first run since the butte fire.

poor suzi the psychic......
so the first run of the season did not unfold as planned.
miss bitchy required extra fondling to be run, so we didn't start over the hill until Saturday. carson pass was pretty nasty- rain turned to snow, and it was heavy at altitude, and not where i was planning on "testing" a new front locker.
disappointed to find hwy89 to monitor pass closed.

interested to see some of the damage from the fire that forced us to flee last year.........
spent 2 nights at markleeville, and planned a june return.
caught no fish.
speaking of fire damage, my brother's house used to be here......post butte fire debris clearing.

nothing broke or fell off(at first look), and it was just a road trip.
the front locker felt weird going over carson pass, but what did i expect? it felt weird in the driveway.