My second M715 build. What was I thinking?

[jeeper]

I found the speedometer connection on the transfer case today and connected the cable. I thought I'd take the truck for a test drive in to work to gauge time and reliability.

If it seemed reliable I was planning to drop it off at the muffler shop near work in the morning and have a co-worker pick me up.


The first thing I noticed was the speedometer went all the way around to the stop and stayed there while I was moving forward.

The second thing I noticed when I got to the end of my driveway was I had no brakes. I live on a hill and my driveway is a downward slope to the road. The speed limit is 55 on the road and there was a car coming.

I had a similar problem when I first installed this master cylinder on this truck. I pulled it apart and put it back together and it seemed fine after that. This time it is getting replaced. I can't have that happen again. Luckily I didn't have a problem on the road.

So back to my speedometer. Has anyone else reading this had a speedometer go all the way around as soon as you moved forward? I'm wondering if maybe a spring is missing on the needle that holds tension so that doesn't happen?

[jeeper]

I stopped after work and bought a new master cylinder. I also bought some Ford wheel cylinders just in case.

I got home, bled and installed the new master cylinder. It isn't the problem.

I did some searching about hard pedal but little stopping ability. Many posts say it is likely a problem with the brake booster. I don't think I have a problem with my hydro boost but decided to take the master off the booster and see what happened. I had easy pedal and could see the push rod extending as it should.

I then moved on to a front wheel. I took off the front left wheel and drum. I could watch the brake shoes extend as I pushed the pedal but didn't think they were moving very far. I decided I'd adjust the shoes out with the adjuster. I turned the shoes out quite far and was still able to get the drum on easily.

I decided to test the brakes again after adjusting it out further. I pressed the brake pedal and wedged a steel pipe between the pedal and the seat to hold pressure on the brakes. The pedal had quite a lot of pressure on it but I could still turn the drum by hand. With the amount of pedal pressure that wheel should have been locked up even with the truck going 50 MPH.

So I think I need to replace the rubber line from the frame to the cylinder. It doesn't look bad but it isn't new either. Also I need some new shoes.

I am planning on replacing everything at this point. I will do the Chevy brake shoe modification and the Ford cylinders too. The steel lines look pretty new and the previous owner did say he replaced a bunch of brake parts.

I'm not taking any chances. My last truck stopped as well as my Duramax and I want this one to do the same.

[jeeper]

After doing some searching I found a part number for the rear rubber brake hose but am not finding a civilian part number for the front brake lines. Does anyone know of a civilian part number that will work for the front rubber hoses?

[jeeper]

I stopped by NAPA on my way home. I was going to buy some new shoes. I asked for TS60 brake shoes. It isn't a valid part number anymore. I think it has been replaced with TS320 but am not sure. I didn't buy them because they were almost $80 per axle.

I will be calling a local shop tomorrow that can reline my existing shoes. The front shoes are about down to the rivets. The rear shoes have lots of material left but will get replaced (or relined) anyway.

As much as I hate to admit it I think my original brake problem is really as simple as very poor adjustment of the brake shoes. I think the pads were just worn down far enough that it was time to adjust them. I adjusted them all out quite a bit this evening and could lock up the tires easily afterwards.

I'm still going through them though. I'll just feel better about it knowing everything is new.

[67smith]

I stopped by NAPA on my way home. I was going to buy some new shoes. I asked for TS60 brake shoes. It isn't a valid part number anymore. I think it has been replaced with TS320 but am not sure. I didn't buy them because they were almost $80 per axle.



I will be calling a local shop tomorrow that can reline my existing shoes. The front shoes are about down to the rivets. The rear shoes have lots of material left but will get replaced (or relined) anyway.



As much as I hate to admit it I think my original brake problem is really as simple as very poor adjustment of the brake shoes. I think the pads were just worn down far enough that it was time to adjust them. I adjusted them all out quite a bit this evening and could lock up the tires easily afterwards.



I'm still going through them though. I'll just feel better about it knowing everything is new.

It's a good time to go through them. I don't think there are any civilian lines for the front-best case you measure out the lines and make a comparison.

I always check brake adjustment every other oil change-if not every change. I also keep a little notebook that has a list of all the minor repairs, like oil changes and tire rotations, and all fuel stops and mileage.


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[jeeper]

I didn't suspect brake adjustment because I expected it to be a gradual decline in brakes not a sudden failure. Lesson learned (I hope).

I drove the truck to work today and dropped it off at the muffler shop. Since they don't have a drop box I called them when they opened to let them know what I wanted and actually talked to the guy who gave me the quote a few weeks ago. He remembered the truck and assured me it would be done by the time I was done working.

When I got to the shop after work the truck was up on the lift but nothing had been done to it. The tech who was going to do the work called me back and asked me who built the truck. I smiled and told him Kaiser did in 1968. He scowled and waved at the bottom of the truck and said "No, who did this?" He was waving at the transfer case area.

I could see in his eyes he didn't want to install an exhaust for me...I asked what the problem was. He said "I can't fit a 3" exhaust through there!" (I didn't tell him this but I have a piece of 3" exhaust pipe at home and verified that it will indeed fit.) I asked him "what needs to be done to make it fit?" to which he replied "lose the transfer case." I then asked him "Will a two and a half inch exhaust pipe fit through there?" Again he scowled but agreed it would. I told him to install that then and went back to the waiting room.

About fifteen minutes later the manager comes and tells me he couldn't do the work for the originally quoted price. I politely informed him I wouldn't pay more than he quoted. He then told me he couldn't do the work. I said okay and went outside to wait for my truck to be pulled out of the building. The tech frogged around for another fifteen minutes and then drove right by me and pulled my truck around to the back of the building and parked it after squealing the tires. I calmly told him that was an a**hole move. I almost want to sign up for social media just to badmouth that muffler shop.

I guess I need to find another option for my exhaust.

After I left the muffler shop I went to Autozone because it was close. I looked at their exhaust parts but was disappointed to see they don't have any 3" bend pieces. A piece of 3" straight at that store was about $28 for an 18" piece. But that price by itself is useless to me because I need to have bends which they didn't carry.

I also looked at the wiper blades there. They don't have anything that will work without some modification.

I forgot to call about getting my brakes relined. I hope to remember on Monday.

It's supposed to be nice here this weekend. I hope to get a coat of paint on the truck.

[jeeper]

I put a coat of paint on the truck today.

[jeeper]

I'm starting to think about painting the wheels different. I'm wondering how it would look with the center black and the beadlock ring Marine Corps green to match the truck.

[Von]

Oh man... That crap at the muffler shop would of chapped my ass.

Been through similar situations over the years with various oddball projects. Now if a shop owner or "tech" starts complaining I just tell them to forget it and go somewhere else or figure out how to do it myself. Once the in starts then their heart isn't in it and I'll get crappy work. And if they're a decent "tech" they'll offer real options instead of complaining.
... I used to go round and round with the local Harley dealer... wants me to leave my bike in the shop for 2 weeks waiting for a $60 fuel line because they don't replace O rings... Kiss my @$$... .... sorry, bad memory rant.

My muffler guy had a time with that same spot too, ended up downsizing pipe. neither one of us were real happy about having to do that. But I didn't want the pipe going down the other side by the fuel line and wiring harness or have the exhaust hanging down.

That cross member probably doesn't really need to be that big... could probably cut a big hole in it and not hurt anything, or maybe cut and then brace it.

When I swap in the 390/T18/NP205 That whole cross member is coming out.

[jeeper]

That cross member probably doesn't really need to be that big... could probably cut a big hole in it and not hurt anything, or maybe cut and then brace it.
.

I don't (and didn't) have that cross member installed. It came out when the automatic went in and never went back in. That tech was complaining about fitting the exhaust between the transfer case and the frame rail. I double checked when I got home and a 3" exhaust pipe fits through there with room to spare.

I'm disappointed I didn't get the exhaust done but I'm looking at it as an opportunity. I'm going to have an exhaust system on this truck and I'm going to do it myself for less anyway. So I'll have more money in my budget to do other things.

So don't make fun of me for this but I'm going to attempt using 3" EMT conduit as my exhaust pipe. We had a 10' piece of pipe at work and the boss said I could have it. What I see right off the bat is exhaust pipe is sized differently than electrical conduit. EMT conduit is sized by the inside diameter and exhaust pipe is sized by the outside diameter.

When I put my calliper on it the I.D. of the exhaust pipe measured about 2.84". The I.D. of the conduit was 3.32". The wall thickness of the exhaust pipe was .1 and the wall thickness of the conduit was .095. By my math the 3" conduit is about 15% larger internally but should be similar weight. (Not that weight is a concern on this truck.)

But before I start on that I need to figure out why my clutch went out on my way home from work today. It started getting hard to shift while I was still on the outskirts of town but became apparent when I got to the first stop sign outside of town that the clutch was not disengaging the transmission. I was able to get started again and was lucky to only have two more stop signs before home. I made it without grinding at all so I don't think I did any tranny damage.