93 RC Trail Rig

[workgoats]

Here's a video of the ball joint press in use, removing a u-joint from a Cherokee drive shaft.  I lost the audio in the resizing of the video but you didn't miss anything.

The ball joint press was very economical (translated:  Harbor Freight).

vimeo.com/55690996

[rjtx667]

Thanks,

I am doing pretty good.. I had to go buy a new vise.... the old one I had was very small and I had bent it a few times 

New ones is a 5" and is way heavy duty, should be good for a while 

I have the u joints replaced, they were in decent shape but defiantly dry and looking for a replacement. After looking at the bearings more both inner bearings look good and are Timiken so I am going to keep them, but both outer bearings don't look good and I am going to replace them. The spindle needle bearings also looked ok, I added some grease to them and replaced both seals.

I forgot the lug nut bolts that I need, so I am running to the store to get those. My last issue I have is the passenger side had bad ball joints (I am sure the driver side could use replacement too but not just yet). I got the old out and the new in, but my issue is that the new ball joints don't seem to line up like the old ones and the axle is hitting the lower ball joint nut 

I am not sure whats going on, there is clearly a gap where it looks like the knuckle could move higher but I can't get it to go.

[rjtx667]

well I messed up and it was the sleeve that I did not set right. Seems to be ok now, but that cheap lower ball joint is just too long, I am sure I will end up replacing it before too long.. would not hurt to do the other side as well I am sure.

I messed up the outer axle shaft spacer, so I have to track a new one of those down.

I got it back on 4 wheels and did a quick trip around the block and it seemed to do pretty good. I still need to get the tranny going better, but its going and hitting all gears with a little persuasion. Once I get it on insurance I will put some transtune in it and drive it around a bit see if that helps any on possible sticking valves.

the next few things I see going on with this truck:

fixing floor that driver seat is bolted to, some of the spot welds appear to have broke free.... which is strange as I don't recall the 91 or 92 having a spot welded section there under the driver seat I will have to take pics.

Fixing the heat - its "warm" but barely and it should be hot, so I don't know if a valve is closed or what but that is my guess.

swap bumpers... both bumpers are jacked and the ones off the 91 are better than that, they will have to do until I get around to trying to fab my own.

tires/ rims. The tires have decent tread but are serious dry rot. I also have the rims from the 92 I would like to put on it since these are just steel.

leak down test. The engines seems to be doing better, but I would like to know what kind of shape its in.

[rjtx667]

Well I figured out the heater issue, not that its fixed yet.... the valve on the heater hose does not have a vacuum line connected to it. Someone apparently decided it did not need one and broke it off, so I now have to do a repair and see if I can get the old broken line out to fix it.

I did take it yesterday to get an inspection, it passed with flying colors... I was Shocked!!!

So I have all my paper work and managed to get it registered and new plates today. Not real sure about the plates yet lol

BJ***93   

it is funny though the 93 ramcharger plates end in 93 and the 91 ramcharger plates end in 91

Now if I can adjust the TV cable some more maybe the transmission will start acting right... get that and the heater fixed it won't be too bad.

I don't think I mentioned it, and I am not sure what is causing it yet, but it feels like riding on ballon tires on this thing... very very bouncy. I don't know if its shocks/ springs or tires or combo of both. I did noticed where the 33's are a little too wide for the wheel wheel right now, its rubbing every once in a while on a spot in the back but a little lift should fix that right up.

[minionsram]

My 90 is bouncy as hell too. I had the springs re-arched with an AAL on it. It settled down some but still its bad.

[rjtx667]

this is way worse than my 92 or 91 so who knows. I think the tires are part of the issue but time will tell as I get things replaced.

I am just happy it is now "road worthy" according to the state of TX. Ice and snow bring it on 

[rjtx667]

So I was digging around again this weekend tinkering on the 93 a bit, wanted to try and work on the TV cable some more. I found something very very bad.... the TV bracket on the tranny was missing 

No wonder it had issues. I have not had time to make it to the JY, so I just borrowed the bracket from the 91/92 (its not drivable yet anyways).

Got it put on read the book and attempted to adjust the TV cable, did not work real good so I eye'd it and got it better. It still seems to want to start in 2nd vs 1st, but otherwise its shifting better.

I will hook it upto the MT2500 sometime and see if I can figure anything else out, but I am not sure the MT2500 will tell me much as its not a 46RE. My guess is I might have to drop the tranny pan and clean a few things/ maybe replace a solenoid/ governor that could be clogged from sitting for so long. Supposedly this is a fairly recent rebuilt tranny, but it was parked just after it was rebuilt. The fact it was way low on fluid and missing the TV cable does not impress me.

But you know what... I can stick it in 1 and it sure the hell can go climb a hill 


I need to get some better tires for it (I like the 33's, these are just dry rot), fix the A/C (I like to crawl in style in the summer), and I want to try and fab some bumpers/ find a winch.

I may have to find a way to bribe Ron into coming up for a weekend, or me coming down to his place so that he can bestow on me some of his great fabing skills and get help for the bumpers.   

[SixGun]

Just make sure you have some old electrical boxes and ocean scrap ready.   

[workgoats]

Just make sure you have some old electrical boxes and ocean scrap ready.   

Don't forget the bathroom wall panels for the hood and doors and I did buy something new once.

[rjtx667]

Well it was snowing and cold today, so instead of driving the 2000 as planned I figured I would drive this as the roads may be bad. They were not, some spots on bridges but not bad(not that you would know it from the number of wrecks out there)>

Anyways I learned 2 very important things that are now at the top of the list for this.

1) the heater suxs
2) the driver door not closing correctly suxs


The transmission is still not liking first, so I have to research that but I need heat and warmth fast lol.

[crazzywolfie]

you got snow down there? that must be were all the snow went. all the snow up here has almost melted but it was suppose to come back hopefully not too soon.

did you even flush the heater core when you replaced the water pump and thermostat. if the heater core is as bad as the water pump, thermostat or rad then it is no surprise you are getting no heat. the heater core is probably plugged up good with water pump rust bits.

your truck would not be the only one that hates first. my RC seems to take off in second gear a lot. you never normally notice it unless you stomp on it. i guess that is the price you pay for using a cable instead of mechanical kick down linkage. 

[rjtx667]

your truck would not be the only one that hates first. my RC seems to take off in second gear a lot. you never normally notice it unless you stomp on it. i guess that is the price you pay for using a cable instead of mechanical kick down linkage.

Is there another way to take off that I don't know about? 

I think its either a stuck valve or a bad sensor/ governor. I will prob have to drop the tranny pan and do an inspection.

I did not flush the heater core because I did not realize the valve was broke/ stuck. I got that kind of fixed, but now I need to take the heater hoses off and force some air/ water through it. You can feel it hot on one side and not on the other side lol.

[crazzywolfie]

with the way the water pump looked i am guessing you are going to see a lot of nasty crap coming out of that heater core.

[rjtx667]

I can only agree with that. 

[SixGun]

   So when you talk about hot on one side and not on the other are you talking about the hoses going in and out of the heater core?  Check your diverter valve also.  I've seen quite a few break or get crudded up.  It won't cost anything to force some pressure through the heater core with a high pressure fitting on your water hose. 

I just fixed mine yesterday and oh boy is it nice and toasty in there now.  Slim chance of sleet or snow tommorrow morning.  Texans just don't know how to drive in snow - me included.  Just don't see enough of the stuff.  Did you get any pics of the 93 in the snow.  If not - shame on you.