ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

The small two-track popped out right above the lake, opposite the Fish Lake Lodge and the highway.


After scrolling through the maps on the tablet, I found one that looked like it would take us down to the pavement and pop us out right near the lodge. As we dropped down in elevation from the mountain top, we came across this old "homestead", complete with exhaust in the front yard.


And sure enough, it took us right to the pavement near the Fish Lake Lodge.


We aired back up at the lodge and hit the highway back to Torrey for the evening.


The next day we headed south out of Bicknell, UT and headed up and over the Boulder Mountains towards Escalante. Shortly after airing down and climbing in elevation, we found another street sign. These were kind of cool and not something we had seen in the area before.


As we continued to climb well above 11k feet on the last day of our trip we came across another snow drift that looked a bit deceiving. Looks like it is across the trail and we might be turning around.


Until we made it around the bend to find the road just skirted around the drift. Again, a week or two earlier and this may not have been passable.


The road was starting to get a bit wider giving us the impression we were nearing a slightly more traveled "major" dirt road.


But we turned up a lesser road and it took us back up over 11k feet again to a series of kettle ponds. I lost count after about 20 of these small kettle ponds dotting the terrain as we passed by.


More kettle ponds.


Just as we dropped below 10' feet, we saw the first deer of the day. At least the ones that would stand still long enough for me to grab my phone and get a picture.



Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on with the last of our trip.

Just as we were dropping in elevation towards Escalante, we came across a few areas that seemed like we could see for hundreds of miles. Not really, but sure seemed that way.


Breathtaking views.



We ended up hitting the pavement right were we left the pavement several days earlier when we ran Hell's Backbone trail.


On Friday morning we headed for home with the intent of arriving home early enough in the afternoon for me to wash the coach, get it parked and then do yardwork before relaxing for the night. I kind of like the idea of coming home on Friday's once in a while so it gives us the weekend to get yardwork done, vehicles washed and still relax before the next work week begins.

We had a pretty uneventful drive all the way home until we were about 20-miles from home when a truck lost a 6' piece of aluminum siding out of his truck and the semi in front of us ran it over crumpling it and tossing it up in the air right in front of us. I had nowhere to go as we had another semi on our right and a f**king mini-van on the left, so I stabbed the brakes just as the sheet of aluminum hit the pavement directly in front of the coach. I drove over it with the left steer tire and it got caught under the coach just in front of the left drive tires dragging along the pavement and sticking out about two feet.

I was able to turn the hazards on and work my way to the shoulder when I saw the next exit coming up which I took. Fortunately people weren't complete assholes and let me over. Upon stopping on the offramp I was able to bend and pull the aluminum siding out from under the coach. It had wrapped itself around my Aqua-Hot exhaust which is what prevented it from going under the drive duals. It jacked up the exhaust and the heat shield a bit but that may have been a blessing in disguise because it didn't go around the drive tires and possibly cut an air spring, air lines or the many wires under there.

So now I need to pull the Aqua-Hot exhaust and straighten it as well as remove the heat shield and straighten before the next trip.





With the delay in getting home due to having to extract road debris from under the coach, we were still able to arrive home before 2pm. We got the coach unloaded then I went to work for the next 3 hours washing and cleaning the coach before backing it into the shop. I then spent the next several hours edging, trimming and mowing the lawns and just before going in for the evening I hung the flag on the deck railing in preparation for Flag Day on Saturday.



That was enough for the day I was beat and headed into a wonderful dinner that the wife had prepared and we sat outside on the deck until well past dark enjoying the yard.

I love traveling via the coach and seeing all of the places we like to explore, but there's something about being home too.

Thank you for following along on our adventures.

 

[zmotorsports]

That hells backbone is one beautiful section of road. Been a few years since I was down that way but that entire area and Boulder is beautiful.

Agreed. This is one of our favorite areas to visit and explore. The scenery is just breathtaking in every direction.

 

[zmotorsports]

With the wife and I coming home on Friday, we were both of the belief or feeling that we were "technically" still on vacation so we made the most of it well into the weekend.

I had a few things to take care of Saturday morning and then the wife wanted to take the car and go for a drive in the afternoon. I pulled the cover and gave it a once over while the wife ran a few errands.

The kids stopped by Saturday afternoon and we were able to see them and our grandson for a bit which we both were missing.

We then hopped in the car and headed east to Evanston, WY and over the Mirror Lake Highway stopping to take a poser shot at the top of Bald Mountain in the Uinta Mountains.


We then dropped into Kamas, UT and ate at another one of our favorite diners. Being Saturday evening they had their normal specials which the wife has their lemon crusted chicken with steamed split peas and au gratin potatoes and I had their surf & turf.




Sunday morning was cleaning day so I washed and vacuumed the wife's daily as well as our Camaro as it was now plastered with bugs.




Bugs washed off and grille area blown dry.




Under hood blown off and dried as well.


Detailed and ready to cover back up for another week or so.



Last night the kids came by for a nice Father's Day dinner as well as we invited my FIL over. The wife made all the fixins and I threw some pork chops and onions on the grill.



Thanks for looking and wishing everyone a belated Happy Father's Day.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Mike, looks like a great trip, I enjoyed the pics!

I'm with you on taking a win with the aluminum siding. I've seen it where it goes WAY worse the other direction. I once had a bull elk run into the side of my semi on I80 in WY. Let me say that again, he hit me...not I hit a bull elk...he hit ME. Hit me between the drivers on the tractor and ended up getting caught under the tool box between the drop deck axles....not fun.

The Camaro is looking good, don't let it sit for 2 weeks at time, put some miles on that thing

I've been driving mine more this year, trying for 1-2 times a week.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, looks like a great trip, I enjoyed the pics!

I'm with you on taking a win with the aluminum siding. I've seen it where it goes WAY worse the other direction. I once had a bull elk run into the side of my semi on I80 in WY. Let me say that again, he hit me...not I hit a bull elk...he hit ME. Hit me between the drivers on the tractor and ended up getting caught under the tool box between the drop deck axles....not fun.

The Camaro is looking good, don't let it sit for 2 weeks at time, put some miles on that thing

I've been driving mine more this year, trying for 1-2 times a week.

Thanks Marc. I am just so disgusted with the number of people along the Wasatch Front here who simply cannot (or will not) secure their cargo or loads. The Utah Highway Patrol keeps making these empty threats on social media saying that they are going to start to hold people accountable for unsecured loads, but the amount of **** on the roads is increasing.

They need to catch these assholes and throw something harder at them than a stinking fine, let alone empty threats. I think a minimum of 50-hours community service picking up **** on the side of the road wearing a sign that says "I lost my load on Utah's highway". That's just for the first offense.

 

[Xti04]

Looks like another amazing trip Mike!

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks like another amazing trip Mike!

Thank you. Yes, it was. Very relaxing and scenic.

 

[zmotorsports]

When our kids and grandson came by for dinner on Sunday afternoon, they gave me the nicest gift. My grandson calls me "Papa" in the sweetest voice. When he walks into the shop he says "Hi Papa" and just smiles, it melts my heart.

This was my Father's Day present.


So first things first when I arrived home yesterday. The new shop sign had to be hung before any work was started.

 

[aka Larry]

That is awesome Mike!

 

[ScepterToad]

Nice trip Mike! I really need to start writing down the places you go and create a log of places to visit. You really have soe great places to go see out there!

I really dig the sign as well. That's a really great gift!

 

[zmotorsports]

After hanging my new shop sign, I could begin work for the evening.

In addition to having to repair my Aqua-Hot exhaust from the trash on the highway coming home, I also noted when we arrived at our campsite in Torrey that when I pulled the power cord out of the service bay on the coach it was wet in a couple of spots, not dripping wet, but damp in a couple of areas on the power cord as I pulled it out. It wasn't water and felt and looked like hydraulic fluid so after poking my head around a bit I could see a drip hanging off the end of the rear hydraulic cylinder for the curbside slideout room. Well ****! That's not what I wanted to find the first day of vacation. There wasn't anything to do about it at camp as the slide was already extended so we just went about enjoying our vacation, but the wife knew it was weighing heavy on my mind the whole week. Don't know why I can't let things go but I hate not having things just so even though there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it so far from home.

I was extra cautious about bringing the slide back in when we departed as I have seen and heard of these things racking themselves at angles and damaging components as well as interior trim and panels, but it came in just fine without issue.

Last night I tore into the coach and removed the hydraulic cylinder so I could take the seals and packings to my local hydraulic shop and match them up. Fortunately, this is the easiest of the cylinders to remove but I plan on getting enough parts as I want to rebuild both cylinders on this particular slide right now, then have enough parts on hand to rebuild the two cylinders on the other slide when I have the time to pull it apart.

It's always something with these things, but I guess the passion requires the work.

Depending on the style of HWH slide mechanism there are different procedures for removing any component of the hydraulic system. Mine is a Type A as per their definition. So I started by extending the slideout on the curbside after removing an access panel in the power service bay. I removed the light and switches, then the access panel and could see the end of the hydraulic cylinder immediately inside.


The hydraulic cylinder resides inside a square tube that runs across the chassis and has a mounting cap that bolts it into the tube and the hydraulic hoses connect at the end of the block.


The cylinders can then be disconnected from the slide out room. The nuts on the end of each rod are accessed through these small cutouts in the extending tube.


With both cylinders now disconnected from the slide out, they could be retracted.


Grabbed my assortment of hydraulic plugs and caps that I have collected over the course of my 35+ year career.


Hydraulic lines disconnected and capped/plugged. Also, note the 1/2" nuts and washers removed so the block is free from the tube.


I couldn't quite get the block past the frame of the compartment, so I had to loosen the nut slightly and rotate the mounting plate about 90-degrees. Then it slid right out.


Rear hydraulic cylinder out and on the floor. This part went relatively quick and I had the cylinder out in about a half hour from the time I started.


The inside of the tube had a little residual fluid in it. Fortunately, it didn't completely blow the seals out like I have seen and heard of some doing, this was just starting to leak and I caught it in time before it had the chance to damage the slide room. Maybe that's the key to these, catching them when they're a drip vs. a full-blown seal failure. From my experience working on hydraulics, it can be a hit and miss scenario. Sometimes seals just blow, but usually they leak a bit first as the seals wear enough to allow fluid past and then if let go long enough they completely fail. This should be an easy cleanup by just pushing and pulling a couple of rags through the tube before reinstalling the cylinder. The front cylinder shows no signs of leaking yet so it shouldn't have any fluid in the tube, just remove, rebuild and reinstall. The front cylinder will be a bit more cumbersome to remove because it has the opposing slide to contend with upon removal.


Cylinder on the workbench and ready to disassemble.



Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

The nut at the end of the cylinder was still pretty tight to I had to incorporate a helping hand to completely remove it. I don't like clamping the cylinders in the vise too tight as they can deform the tubing. Just enough to help hold the cylinder in place.


HWH covers these thing with a layer of paint and one thing that helps to soften the paint is to hit the parting area with some brake cleaner. The block on the end of the cylinder threads off.


Removing the block.


At the end of the rod is an adjusting nut. This adjustment is to fine tune the slideout's position in relation to the sidewall of the coach. My slideout is perfectly aligned so no adjustments are needed so I wanted to measure and write down the measurement so it can go back exactly as it was.


With the block removed, the rod can now be extracted from the cylinder shell.


Completely disassembled.


I was curious as to the component on the block. It appears to be some kind of check valve. Upon a bit more investigating I can now see why. It looks like HWH uses this "check valve" to hold the room in place without pressure, such as in once the slideout is extended during a stay or retracted during travel mode. There is a small port leading to the check valve directly from the pressure supply line so it looks like it must need pressure to release the check valve before the fluid flows and moves the ram. Kind of ingenious by using simple hydraulic principles. With nowhere for the fluid to go, it basically "hydraulically" locks the rod in place.

The O-ring sealing the block to the cylinder shell was removed as was the wiper ring.


Next I removed the packing from inside the block. This style uses an O-ring inside the packing for support. Kind of common, but I hope my local shop has one in stock.




Stay tuned for more.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

With all of the seals and packing removed from the block, I turned my attention to the rod packing. This one uses a simple O-ring seal with two backing rings. Many times the backing rings are split at an angle to aid in installation, but these are a solid nylon backing ring.


O-ring removal is pretty straight-forward. The backing ring being solid, can be a bit more tedious at times to remove without breaking. Normally, when I had a seal kit sitting right next to me with all new hardware, I simply cut the backing rings. However, I took a bit more care to remove one of these to match.


O-ring and backup ring removed and ready to match.


All parts wiped off and bagged so I can stop by my local hydraulic shop this afternoon to match them up.



Thanks for looking

 

[zmotorsports]

About the time I got the cylinder disassembled, the next job rolled in the shop.

This one is hard to swallow, it's a comeback job. The guy I did axles for last winter informed me that he had a rear pinion seal starting to leak and asked that I take a look at it. In all of these master rebuild kits that I have been using from Motive Gear, I have never had a pinion seal leak. They generally provide name brand seals and bearings and I have not had one of these leak in the past. This is embarassing and kind of pisses me off if I'm being honest. I don't like it when parts fail or do not perform as they should as it makes me look bad.


After a test ride with the owner, we racked it to get a better view. The Jeep sure rides and handles nice though. Nice and quiet and smooth.


Sure enough, the rear pinion is beginning to weep, and with only just a little over 4k miles on it.


While it was on the lift, I walked up front to look at the truss I welded on and noticed the front pinion seal was actually leaking worse than the rear. Well ****! Not one pinion seal leaking, but two.



This is definitely not normal so some more investigating will be in order. We also noted that his front driveshaft Rzeppa joint has failed as the boot has torn and the clamp has been contacting the tube. Getting prices on new driveshafts for the owner to see if we can upgrade at this time while the yokes are removed anyways.

These factory driveshafts usually don't last this long so I am impressed actually. These have just over 190k on them.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Mr.zippy]

About the time I got the cylinder disassembled, the next job rolled in the shop.

This one is hard to swallow, it's a comeback job. The guy I did axles for last winter informed me that he had a rear pinion seal starting to leak and asked that I take a look at it. In all of these master rebuild kits that I have been using from Motive Gear, I have never had a pinion seal leak. They generally provide name brand seals and bearings and I have not had one of these leak in the past. This is embarassing and kind of pisses me off if I'm being honest. I don't like it when parts fail or do not perform as they should as it makes me look bad.


After a test ride with the owner, we racked it to get a better view. The Jeep sure rides and handles nice though. Nice and quiet and smooth.


Sure enough, the rear pinion is beginning to weep, and with only just a little over 4k miles on it.


While it was on the lift, I walked up front to look at the truss I welded on and noticed the front pinion seal was actually leaking worse than the rear. Well ****! Not one pinion seal leaking, but two.



This is definitely not normal so some more investigating will be in order. We also noted that his front driveshaft Rzeppa joint has failed as the boot has torn and the clamp has been contacting the tube. Getting prices on new driveshafts for the owner to see if we can upgrade at this time while the yokes are removed anyways.

These factory driveshafts usually don't last this long so I am impressed actually. These have just over 190k on them.

Thanks for looking.

Can't really give this one a thumbs up Mike. Irritating as hell when new parts fail or are DOA before you even use them. Seems odd both seals failed. Customer abuse the Jeep maybe?

 

[Jayman17]

Glad you enjoyed your latest trip, thanks for posting those great photos. Looks like that chicken fried steak could have fed 4 people!

 

[zmotorsports]

Can't really give this one a thumbs up Mike. Irritating as hell when new parts fail or are DOA before you even use them. Seems odd both seals failed. Customer abuse the Jeep maybe?

Yeah, it ***** and I wish I knew what happened to have both leak. While I don't think the owner babies his Jeep, I really don't see how it could be abused to the point of both failing in only 4k miles. I doubt it was abuse, can't really see how personally. All they do is seal a void between the diff. housing and the yoke.

I guess I'll eat this one, maybe I missed something. It does have high miles on it @ 190k but I checked for wear grooves because I have had to Speedi-Sleeve these in the past, but I don't recall these yokes having deep grooves.

 

[zmotorsports]

Glad you enjoyed your latest trip, thanks for posting those great photos. Looks like that chicken fried steak could have fed 4 people!

Thanks. The chicken fried steak was actually pounded pretty flat and we split it, but it was surely tasty. I remembered it from a couple years ago and it did not disappoint. One of the best chicken fried steaks I have ever had, and they even put brown gravy on it for us. I'm told by our Texas RV friends that we should be shot for putting brown gravy on chicken fried steak, so now I do it whenever I can just to send them pictures and rub it in their face.

 

[madison069]

Thanks. The chicken fried steak was actually pounded pretty flat and we split it, but it was surely tasty. I remembered it from a couple years ago and it did not disappoint. One of the best chicken fried steaks I have ever had, and they even put brown gravy on it for us. I'm told by our Texas RV friends that we should be shot for putting brown gravy on chicken fried steak, so now I do it whenever I can just to send them pictures and rub it in their face.

Being born and raised in Texas, it's white gravy that goes on chicken fried steak!

But I say eat it how you like it cause it's your food.

 

[zmotorsports]

Being born and raised in Texas, it's white gravy that goes on chicken fried steak!

But I say eat it how you like it cause it's your food.

That has been the consensus from our Texas RV friends. To be honest, I never really gave it any thought as it usually comes with a white country gravy. However, about 12 years ago we were with a large group in Ouray, CO during a rally that the wife and I were hosting and we all went out to eat during a run one day in Lake City at a small place and one of our group ordered theirs with brown gravy. Holy cow!!! You would have thought she shot the owner the way the Texans gasped. Sucked the air right out of the room.

Then the HUGE debate came on of brown vs. white gravy. Ever since then the joke amongst the group has been sending photos via Facebook of those having chicken fried steak with the two different options and everyone weighing in on the other's poor taste.

Personally, I am less particular about which gravy, but I order the brown when available just to poke the bear(s).

 

[zmotorsports]

Question for the fellow gearheads. What are fellow member's thoughts on Autozone's Duralast seals? Good? Bad? Experiences?


I ask because I tried to locate a couple of pinion seals today for this Jeep in the shop and my local NAPA didn't have either the CR or National in stock (shocked the hell out of me) and seeing as how I'm eating this job I didn't want to spend the extra cost to ship either in special. If they bring them in on a stock order there wouldn't be any freight, but they wouldn't be here until first of the week. I could probably find them elsewhere but where I don't have an account, I would surely pay more for them.

I found the local Autozone had the pinion seals in stock but in their Duralast line and I am not familiar with them as I have never used them. I ultimately ended up buying OEM from my local Mopar dealer as I do have an account. They were a few bucks more each, but I already have them in hand and less concerned about quality. Just curious about other's experiences with the Duralast line of seals in case I run into this scenario again? I hate to experiment with things I am unfamiliar with. I like to stick with what I know.

 

[madison069]

Wish I had insight on Duralast seals, but u usually try to source from major names on seals and gasket. Duralast is usually my last, got to get it running type of parts.

 

[Jehannum]

Question for the fellow gearheads. What are fellow member's thoughts on Autozone's Duralast seals? Good? Bad? Experiences?


I ask because I tried to locate a couple of pinion seals today for this Jeep in the shop and my local NAPA didn't have either the CR or National in stock (shocked the hell out of me) and seeing as how I'm eating this job I didn't want to spend the extra cost to ship either in special. If they bring them in on a stock order there wouldn't be any freight, but they wouldn't be here until first of the week. I could probably find them elsewhere but where I don't have an account, I would surely pay more for them.

I found the local Autozone had the pinion seals in stock but in their Duralast line and I am not familiar with them as I have never used them. I ultimately ended up buying OEM from my local Mopar dealer as I do have an account. They were a few bucks more each, but I already have them in hand and less concerned about quality. Just curious about other's experiences with the Duralast line of seals in case I run into this scenario again? I hate to experiment with things I am unfamiliar with. I like to stick with what I know.

I've found them to be low quality.

The application I used one for was the cam seal for a VG30DETT. The result was an oil leak from the cam, that I had to dismount the cam belt for, after mere months of service.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Does AutoZone give them a “Lifetime” warranty? If so, I’d use them and never look back cuz they’ll pay you to swap them out if there is a problem. My F350 has a O’Reilly’s alternator, I carry a spare cuz it dies on a regular schedule! I can now swap it out in about 5 minutes if the engine is cold, 10 minutes if it’s smoking hot!

 

[zmotorsports]

I've found them to be low quality.

The application I used one for was the cam seal for a VG30DETT. The result was an oil leak from the cam, that I had to dismount the cam belt for, after mere months of service.

Thank you. I appreciate the feedback and kind of goes with what my gut was telling me. But sometimes my gut and head don't agree on everything.

Does AutoZone give them a “Lifetime” warranty? If so, I’d use them and never look back cuz they’ll pay you to swap them out if there is a problem. My F350 has a O’Reilly’s alternator, I carry a spare cuz it dies on a regular schedule! I can now swap it out in about 5 minutes if the engine is cold, 10 minutes if it’s smoking hot!

Sterling, I realize lifetime warranty is advantageous in many scenarios, and even my local NAPA provides me with that on many parts whether the manufacturer states it or not. That is why I try to stick with my local NAPA for majority of my parts, plus they carry mostly name brand parts and the couple I have had issues with over the past couple of decades, they allowed me to file a labor claim to recoup some loss.

That being said, even if they were lifetime warranty and would replace it, I still want and expect a higher quality product for the main reason as my name is on it when it leaves my shop and whether I have to redo it and can recoup some labor or not, it still doesn't look good when I have to redo something. I'm embarrassed as it is about this one.

When I had my speed shop I had a mission statement posted above the door that stated I would use only the highest quality parts and materials available and if I can't proudly show and stand behind the products, I don't want them in my shop. I hope you understand my position.

 

[Cane]

Does AutoZone give them a “Lifetime” warranty? If so, I’d use them and never look back cuz they’ll pay you to swap them out if there is a problem. My F350 has a O’Reilly’s alternator, I carry a spare cuz it dies on a regular schedule! I can now swap it out in about 5 minutes if the engine is cold, 10 minutes if it’s smoking hot!

I had the same problem on a astro van.....and got real good at changing them. Always on the coldest day of winter.

I finally went across the street and got one from Arnold's.....never changed it again.

 

[Just Fishing]

Mike, if you find sage wrapped around the seals.
It's 100% my fault!

The good news, it should have purged the "Evil" spirts.




(I have been using the Jeep like a tractor to clear sage from my property )

 

[tyyost]

I had the same problem on a astro van.....and got real good at changing them. Always on the coldest day of winter.

I finally went across the street and got one from Arnold's.....never changed it again.

For me is was the Duralast brand wheel bearings on a Pontiac Grand Am. Pulling a wheel bearing off and swapping it a new one seemed like changing a tire. Young and poor, I never thought that it was just junk parts with a good warranty.

 

[ntsqd]

La Cueva? Ate there with Mr. & Mrs 'Yeller' and liked it a lot. The Mrs & I like the Broken Spur too. We've stayed there twice and eaten there both times. I don't know that I could live in Torrey, but I sure do like the area. Last time we were there the summit of the pass over to Boulder had ~6' of snow on it, and their plows aren't very wide so the slot cut thru the snow wasn't very wide!

 

[Swanny1953]

Mike, thanks for again sharing the pictures of your latest adventures. It's a privilege to be able to live vicariously through your travels! Some beautiful scenery, for sure!

 

[PugetDude]

That has been the consensus from our Texas RV friends. To be honest, I never really gave it any thought as it usually comes with a white country gravy. However, about 12 years ago we were with a large group in Ouray, CO during a rally that the wife and I were hosting and we all went out to eat during a run one day in Lake City at a small place and one of our group ordered theirs with brown gravy. Holy cow!!! You would have thought she shot the owner the way the Texans gasped. Sucked the air right out of the room.

Then the HUGE debate came on of brown vs. white gravy. Ever since then the joke amongst the group has been sending photos via Facebook of those having chicken fried steak with the two different options and everyone weighing in on the other's poor taste.

Personally, I am less particular about which gravy, but I order the brown when available just to poke the bear(s).

Order the next one with chicken gravy. You will blow their minds...

 

[madison069]

Order the next one with chicken gravy. You will blow their minds...

What is wrong with you!!!!! You ain't right boy!

 

[zmotorsports]

La Cueva? Ate there with Mr. & Mrs 'Yeller' and liked it a lot. The Mrs & I like the Broken Spur too. We've stayed there twice and eaten there both times. I don't know that I could live in Torrey, but I sure do like the area. Last time we were there the summit of the pass over to Boulder had ~6' of snow on it, and their plows aren't very wide so the slot cut thru the snow wasn't very wide!

Thom, it was called Chak Balam (yeah, odd name for a Mexican restaurant), it looks like it is in a converted double wide but it's clean inside and the food was excellent. Ate there for the first time a couple of years ago when we ran into my brother and his wife while down there. Funny, live about 6 miles apart, we hardly see them throughout the year and run into them the same weekend a couple hundred miles from home.

As for living there, yeah, I don't think I could either. My wife and I have that conversation a lot when we travel to various places. We ask ourselves if we could live "here". We quickly determine they are great places to visit, emphasis on visit, but we love where we're at and always seem to find something that we don't like about the places we visit. Especially when the conversation comes to "bet it gets hot as hell here in the summer", or "they get a ****-ton of snow in the winters" as we are generally visiting during their "prime" time in our eyes.

Another thing I like about where we are living, and was demonstrated again yesterday, is that we are far enough away from "the city", yet I am less than 10-minutes from the middle of Ogden. I am also very, very close to businesses that I need and utilize a lot in order to perform the work I do in my shop. I have a Motion Industries, Grainger, House of Hose, Industrial and Automotive Paint & Supply, Bolt & Nut Supply, Tractor Supply, Surge Hydraulics, plumbing supply store, Codale Electric, a sheet metal supplier and Boman & Kemp steel supplier all within two blocks of one another and within a 5-minutes drive from my doorstep. I can throw a rock from one of those businesses and almost hit another in any direction. The furthest I have to drive is my local NAPA which is about 10-12 minutes away.

Yesterday on the way home from work I stopped by my local hydraulic shop (Surge Hydraulics) to order the packing and O-rings needed for my slideout cylinder and when speaking with the president of the company (Stu) he asked where I was living now, as he didn't have the parts in stock but would have them the the next day and wondered if I wanted to stop by or if he wanted me to ship them to me. He was shocked when I pointed and said we're living about 3 miles that way.

Hell, the furthest I have to drive on a daily basis is the 16-mile commute to work and the 44-mile commute for the wife. Once we retire I see the mileage on our daily's dropping significantly.

Mike, thanks for again sharing the pictures of your latest adventures. It's a privilege to be able to live vicariously through your travels! Some beautiful scenery, for sure!

Thanks Gary. Yes, some absolutely amazing scenery.

 

[Xti04]

Question for the fellow gearheads. What are fellow member's thoughts on Autozone's Duralast seals? Good? Bad? Experiences?


I ask because I tried to locate a couple of pinion seals today for this Jeep in the shop and my local NAPA didn't have either the CR or National in stock (shocked the hell out of me) and seeing as how I'm eating this job I didn't want to spend the extra cost to ship either in special. If they bring them in on a stock order there wouldn't be any freight, but they wouldn't be here until first of the week. I could probably find them elsewhere but where I don't have an account, I would surely pay more for them.

I found the local Autozone had the pinion seals in stock but in their Duralast line and I am not familiar with them as I have never used them. I ultimately ended up buying OEM from my local Mopar dealer as I do have an account. They were a few bucks more each, but I already have them in hand and less concerned about quality. Just curious about other's experiences with the Duralast line of seals in case I run into this scenario again? I hate to experiment with things I am unfamiliar with. I like to stick with what I know.

I have not been a fan of Autozones parts in general for years. I have my commercial accounts with Napa and Advance. Advance stocks a lot of National branded seals which have done well for me. From Napa I have always had good luck with the Altrom branded seals. ***** you had leaks from those pinion seals, the crank seal job I just ate the other day was no fun. Would much rather do 2 pinion seals than 1 of those crank seals anyday.

 

[zmotorsports]

I have not been a fan of Autozones parts in general for years. I have my commercial accounts with Napa and Advance. Advance stocks a lot of National branded seals which have done well for me. From Napa I have always had good luck with the Altrom branded seals. ***** you had leaks from those pinion seals, the crank seal job I just ate the other day was no fun. Would much rather do 2 pinion seals than 1 of those crank seals anyday.

Thanks for the feedback, kind of supports my gut feelings. I have not used many parts at all from Autozone throughout my career and to be honest, other than going in to buy a turn signal bulb for the wife's car a few weeks ago because my local NAPA was closed (being 8pm), that was the first time I stepped foot into an Autozone in probaly 7 or 8 years.

 

[larry4406]

Our local NAPA shut down permanently just recently.

All we have now are Autozone, O’Rileys, and Advance Auto Parts…..

 

[zmotorsports]

Our local NAPA shut down permanently just recently.

All we have now are Autozone, O’Rileys, and Advance Auto Parts…..

I'm sorry to hear that, but of those three remaining choices, I have had better luck with Advance the few times I've used them. They seem to a good selection of name brand parts.

 

[Jehannum]

I'm sorry to hear that, but of those three remaining choices, I have had better luck with Advance the few times I've used them. They seem to a good selection of name brand parts.

In general, Advance seems to stock more Timken/National/SKF, which are much higher on my list of desirability than Duralast.

Between that and the better reliability of order online/will call in store at advance, I do most of my shopping there now.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I try my darndest to stay away from The 'zone.