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What did you do to your Ram today???
- Thread starter 19BlkRam
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a life saver on the struts
Duralast 3/8in Drive Pass-Through Ratchet and Socket SAE and Metric Tool Set 20 Piece
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Ready Go
Ram Guru
Years ago I made a shock/strut nut "tool"..and I had to use it on my nearly new Ram struts last year...
It's a 3/8" deep well socket (18mm/0.75") that I drilled out the center hole just enough for a 1/4" drive extension to fit through. A 1/4" 10mm socket or other then is used and it can slip up into the socket..holds the strut shaft still, then use a large crescent wrench to turn the shaft nut lose..I used a hand held grinder/cut off to put two notches onto/into the socket..I can't remember if I sized for a specific wrench but a crescent works.
(** Also..put your spring compressor on the spring and tighten a bit..but do not take all the spring tension off the top hat..leave some tension on the top hat and it will help to keep the shaft from rotating..once you get the nut close to the end of the threads, you can tighten the compressors a bit. At the end though, the spring won't have much tension left**)
Works every time..Just soak with penetrating fluid (maybe torch heat if needed).
See pics below...
**modified quote from Ron Burgundy movie..."100% of the time, it works every time"
Last edited:
Very impressive! It would have taken some time me some time to figure that one out. I'll have to save that in my memory bank.Years ago I made a shock/strut nut "tool"..and I had to use it on my nearly new Ram struts last year...
It's a 3/8" deep well socket (18mm/0.75") that I drilled out the center hole just enough for a 1/4" drive extension to fit through. A 1/4" 10mm socket or other then is used and it can slip up into the socket..holds the strut shaft still, then use a large crescent wrench to turn the shaft nut lose..I used a hand held grinder/cut off to put two notches onto/into the socket..I can't remember if I sized for a specific wrench but a crescent works.
(** Also..put your spring compressor on the spring and tighten a bit..but do not take all the spring tension off the top hat..leave some tension on the top hat and it will help to keep the shaft from rotating..once you get the nut close to the end of the threads, you can tighten the compressors a bit. At the end though, the spring won't have much tension left**)
Works every time..Just soak with penetrating fluid (maybe torch heat if needed).
See pics below...
View attachment 209935View attachment 209936View attachment 209937View attachment 209938
View attachment 209939
**modified quote from Ron Burgundy movie..."100% of the time, it works every time"
Its better than it was... I baked it so its cured
Ready Go
Ram Guru
I like your commitment to cleaning and painting parts as you do your projects..commendableVery impressive! It would have taken some time me some time to figure that one out. I'll have to save that in my memory bank.
View attachment 209943View attachment 209942
View attachment 209941
Its better than it was... I baked it so its cured
That's what the pass through sockets sets allow without having to modify anythingYears ago I made a shock/strut nut "tool"..and I had to use it on my nearly new Ram struts last year...
It's a 3/8" deep well socket (18mm/0.75") that I drilled out the center hole just enough for a 1/4" drive extension to fit through. A 1/4" 10mm socket or other then is used and it can slip up into the socket..holds the strut shaft still, then use a large crescent wrench to turn the shaft nut lose..I used a hand held grinder/cut off to put two notches onto/into the socket..I can't remember if I sized for a specific wrench but a crescent works.
(** Also..put your spring compressor on the spring and tighten a bit..but do not take all the spring tension off the top hat..leave some tension on the top hat and it will help to keep the shaft from rotating..once you get the nut close to the end of the threads, you can tighten the compressors a bit. At the end though, the spring won't have much tension left**)
Works every time..Just soak with penetrating fluid (maybe torch heat if needed).
See pics below...
View attachment 209935View attachment 209936View attachment 209937View attachment 209938
View attachment 209939
**modified quote from Ron Burgundy movie..."100% of the time, it works every time"
Ready Go
Ram Guru
Yep, I didn't have any at that time, so necessity became the mother of invention, and I sacrificed an old socket to get the job done.
boogielander
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i had those two on my list last year when i went up to alaska but summer was over triple digits so i said F that lol
then the Revere Overland video reminded me I still need to do those two spots and since my friend needs to get his truck to Oregon i figured might as well haha
That is impressive stuff. I guess if I wasn't cleaning and painting I'd probably have figured it out or at least I'd like to think I would
I don't have any but I did pick up a set for my father on his birthday. He's 10 hours away so I couldn't grab them. I should probably research a good set.
Thank you! I have the time but I do work slowly anymore. I have an obsession with knowing the condition of every part and how it preforms. It drives me nutty sometimes so I do take meds for thatI like your commitment to cleaning and painting parts as you do your projects..commendable
boogielander
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The saga continued...well the saga continued today.
took the truck on a 40 minute commute to work. Going there at around noon time was fine, but in the evening when I drove home the cab side power cut out again (this is for the loop I added: breaker, dedicated power & ground to cab to run DC-DC charger for Delta 2 and HAM radio).
Checked all work done last week, nothing was loose or appear to be cause of breaker tripping.
Decided it may be the Victron DC-DC charging continuous draw and the Start/ Stop not playing well together. Turned off Start/ Stop and no more tripping for the 30 minutes drive home.
So... I made a label and stick it under the ign switch to remind myself to disable Start/ Stop
we shall see how that goes tomorrow.
edit:
don't want to make another separate post but I sat in the truck planning the Christmas - New Years trip since I have ~10 days off...
View attachment 209916
Meeting friends in LA, go to Gold Butte NV and then Grand Canyon North again, then take Highway 50 ("The Loneliest Road in America") then make my way to Leslie Gulch, then back to LA.
a whopping 2253 miles (more for sure) round trip... Don't know how northern NV will be this time of the year...
open to camp suggestions, attractions, things to see, etc north of St. George and along the route to Leslie Gulch.
turned off start/ stop and after 20 minutes of driving, breaker tripped again.
thought the ground cable was loose so checked it, not an issue.
since the breaker trips after ~20 minutes of driving, I am now considering the possibilities that the victron's micro-cycles combined with the new AGM batteries cause enough heat to trip the thermal breaker. Another possibility is that the current grounding point is not ideal but the old battery, due to its age, masked the issue that the current grounding point is not ideal.
tonight I'll swap the grounding point and see what happens, but I also have a MEGA fuse and fuse holder coming tomorrow that I can swap in if all else fails
The set I have is from Harbor Freight. Nothing I use a lot, so don't need super higher quality
KichoRebel
Active Member
oh yeah! they loook great!!
jl13
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Same here.
Its a good place for cheap stuff that you don't need it to be high quality. Has safe me a couple of times and a good chunk of money
boogielander
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well just did some more digging...
all the connections were fine, but i still moved the grounding point.
BUT i found the ring terminal connecting the breaker for Victron and the fuse block had some play so i went and tried to retorque it. then... it broke off.
so that may be the culprit... after 8 years of high vibration from high speed offroading (i realized I took that fuse block from the 4Runner when I took everything out) the stud gave up. Hopefully after I replace it tomorrow it will fix the issue for good.
I ordered replacement this morning and should be here tomorrow. It was one of those "i'll just order it in case it's the issue, but if it's not I can just return it." I guess I'll order another one as spare. Doing all these high speed runs really put parts to test lol
msnyder1112
Ram Guru
Today was a sh!t day for me. I must have pi$$ed someone off.
Took the truck to the local carwash that I use in the winter. Their self serve bays are pretty good. I usually use an app for it but my card expired and didnt add the new one. So i swiped my card. Washed my truck then went to click the stop button and… Nothing. The dimes keep on rolling. I was done at around 6 bucks. I’m at 10 now. Found a number to call and the guy answers and said someoke will be there to asap and I can just send him my info and get refunded. I waited around until its at 20 bucks but I had to go.
Then!!!!!
Long story short? Favorite pizza is closed on mondays so we decided to get it today. Placed my usual order online and got a confirmation number and a notification of payment… ready by 5:07. Get there and theyre closed for the holidays. I try to call their number and its a janky ivr that says to order online. Fun
Took the truck to the local carwash that I use in the winter. Their self serve bays are pretty good. I usually use an app for it but my card expired and didnt add the new one. So i swiped my card. Washed my truck then went to click the stop button and… Nothing. The dimes keep on rolling. I was done at around 6 bucks. I’m at 10 now. Found a number to call and the guy answers and said someoke will be there to asap and I can just send him my info and get refunded. I waited around until its at 20 bucks but I had to go.
Then!!!!!
Long story short? Favorite pizza is closed on mondays so we decided to get it today. Placed my usual order online and got a confirmation number and a notification of payment… ready by 5:07. Get there and theyre closed for the holidays. I try to call their number and its a janky ivr that says to order online. Fun
Ready Go
Ram Guru
Hey boogielander,
Just a thought, when chasing a potential bad connection there is the voltage drop method. Essentially trying to find where there is unwanted resistance in a circuit. Give the topic a quick google search and it will produce quite a good explanation. I searched "chasing bad connections with voltage drop". Also another great source for automotive repairs in general but specifically electrical issues I would refer you to the South Main Auto LLC youtube channel. Eric O is an amazing teacher and extremely entertaining to watch. I have followed him for many years even though I do minimal work on vehicles. Here are a few videos he does explaining voltage drop. He also does a lot of good videos on chasing parasitic draws.
Now I understand we all don't have an expensive scope (with clamp on DC ammeter & pressure transducer), scan tool or fancy Snap On multi meter with trending data and such but a lot of what he does can be done with a basic multi meter with min/max memory.
Best of luck! Merry Christmas
MotorcycleBoy
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I'd like to balance a little bit "the sentiment".
After three days of not using the truck, this is the battery test of the Rebel 2025.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and never have some battery problems (including me!)
PS: This is the situation after the small battery replacement 15 days ago (it was a bad battery).
After three days of not using the truck, this is the battery test of the Rebel 2025.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and never have some battery problems (including me!)
PS: This is the situation after the small battery replacement 15 days ago (it was a bad battery).
