What did you do to your Ram today???

[jiffi]

Got some new shoes for Christmas. Took me 2 years to decide on rims, love the look.

Ceramic coated as washing them won't be fun.

Vossen HFX-1 20x9
295/55R20 Toyo Open Country

 

[1791]

added CDT imaging tweeter's on to my CDT satnet 560 crossovers on the dash mids

 

[1791]

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View attachment 209888
got her a part finally. The vice grip didn't work as I planned but did work. I was actually able to tighten the bolt up so I ran the nut back and forth while spraying it with PB blaster and it came off

a life saver on the struts

Duralast 3/8in Drive Pass-Through Ratchet and Socket SAE and Metric Tool Set 20 Piece

Shop for Duralast 3/8in Drive Pass-Through Ratchet and Socket SAE and Metric Tool Set 20 Piece with confidence at AutoZone.com. Parts are just part of what we do. Get yours online today and pick up in store.

www.autozone.com

 

[Ready Go]

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The front is fighting bad. First the upper control arm would not disconnect from the upper ball joint. I tried a 2 different forks and it was a no go then I went to my ball joint kit. The bolt was so long I had to cut in order to use the tool.
I got my new kit for spring tool and I'm really surprised how well it works for a cheap tool. Now I can't get the shock bolt off the top hat its all rusted and jacked up. Impact isn't working and I cant hold the shaft in place. Do I just cut the dust shield so I can grip the shaft and keep it from spinning?

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"

 

[RAM REAPER MAN]

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"

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.


Its better than it was... I baked it so its cured

 

[Ready Go]

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.
View attachment 209943View attachment 209942
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Its better than it was... I baked it so its cured

I like your commitment to cleaning and painting parts as you do your projects..commendable

 

[HSKR R/T]

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"

That's what the pass through sockets sets allow without having to modify anything

 

[HSKR R/T]

Used chatgpt to make a cartoon image of it.

 

[Ready Go]

That's what the pass through sockets sets allow without having to modify anything

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]

I just added those two Oregon locations 2 days ago in my 'want to go' after Revere Overlands video

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

 

[RAM REAPER MAN]

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.

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

That's what the pass through sockets sets allow without having to modify anything

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.

I like your commitment to cleaning and painting parts as you do your projects..commendable

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 that

 

[boogielander]

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.

The saga continued...
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

 

[HSKR R/T]

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.

The set I have is from Harbor Freight. Nothing I use a lot, so don't need super higher quality

 

[KichoRebel]

Got some new shoes for Christmas. Took me 2 years to decide on rims, love the look.

Ceramic coated as washing them won't be fun.

Vossen HFX-1 20x9
295/55R20 Toyo Open Country

oh yeah! they loook great!!