ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[signcrafter]

Yes, I have often considered an ultrasonic cleaner. However, I think it would have been more valuable about 20-years ago when I had my speed shop and working on a lot powersports equipment which involved doing a LOT of carburetor work. Back then I just used a 5-gallon bucket of carburetor cleaner with the metal basket that submerged into the pail. It worked well, but nothing like the new ultrasonic cleaners.

Every time I consider one, I discount it solely because I don't do much in terms of carburetor work these days and it would be hard to rationalize the purchase as well as the bench space given up for it. I know they work on things other than carburetors, but who knows, maybe one day.

Does your wife have any jewelry? I bought an ultrasonic cleaner a long time ago, the small hf one and it worked great on a lot of stuff. The first day I got it I put one of my wife's necklace in it that hasn't been cleaned in forever. I had a jewelry cleaner solution in a little jar and just threw the jar with the necklace in it in the ultra sonic machine with water in the machine. Came out looking brand new and shiny. Now you have your justification.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I bought a big ultrasonic for cleaning snowmobile clutches.
Since I don't have a fancy parts washer it does double duty.
My MIL is kind of a coin collector and brought some coins over the had. Some were so nasty they didn't look like anything more than a metal plug out of a panel. This is the worst one, but I was able to identify it as roughly an 1805 Irish Half Penny, about the size of a 50¢ piece.
I'm no "Mike the axle guy" but I was able to clean a differential carrier pretty well too.
I just use LA's Totally Awesome cleaner. I'll have to get some jewelry cleaner as I got my wife a countertop cleaner for Christmas for small items.

 

[zmotorsports]

I bought a big ultrasonic for cleaning snowmobile clutches.
Since I don't have a fancy parts washer it does double duty.
My MIL is kind of a coin collector and brought some coins over the had. Some were so nasty they didn't look like anything more than a metal plug out of a panel. This is the worst one, but I was able to identify it as roughly an 1805 Irish Half Penny, about the size of a 50¢ piece.
I'm no "Mike the axle guy" but I was able to clean a differential carrier pretty well too.
I just use LA's Totally Awesome cleaner. I'll have to get some jewelry cleaner as I got my wife a countertop cleaner for Christmas for small items.

Out of curiosity, what size is this one? Liter? Could you send me a link and are you happy with the quality. Not sure if I'll get one but I keep telling myself that if/when I do, I want it large enough to put some larger items in it. Nothing like a cylinder head size, but I would like an axle carrier or similar size to be able to fit in it. Usually the solvent tank is good enough, but there are times good enough isn't good enough.

 

[WoodsTruck]

30 liter

Pardon Our Interruption...

I think most of these cleaners are all the same, typically sold under different names and most on eBay or the Jungle are likely made in the same plant as usual.
That was the largest I could find in this style. Otherwise, you bump up into commercial style units and they were out of my price range real quick. I use a plastic irrigation adapter to a 0.600" black flexi pipe for surface sprinklers as a drain tube so I can dump it into a 5-gallon bucket. That hose unthreads and stores in the tank. I have some small baskets to contain small items like bolts that I can set in there as well.
Only issue I have had is the tiny fuse for the whole thing is hard to source. My local Ace has some, but usually only 1-2 at a time so I try to clean them out when I'm through there. The cleaner has a heat setting which I like to run on the hot side so I dump hot tap water into the tank so it doesn't have to work so hard getting the water up to temp.
It has a timer with a max of 30 minutes and the thing is kind of noisy, so I try to have something else to do while it is running. So far, I haven't been dissatisfied with anything I've tried to clean with it though. I could always bump up to a more caustic solution but the aluminum clutches can be sensitive to that so the LA's cleaner has done me well.

 

[larry4406]

30 liter

Pardon Our Interruption...

I think most of these cleaners are all the same, typically sold under different names and most on eBay or the Jungle are likely made in the same plant as usual.
That was the largest I could find in this style. Otherwise, you bump up into commercial style units and they were out of my price range real quick. I use a plastic irrigation adapter to a 0.600" black flexi pipe for surface sprinklers as a drain tube so I can dump it into a 5-gallon bucket. That hose unthreads and stores in the tank. I have some small baskets to contain small items like bolts that I can set in there as well.
Only issue I have had is the tiny fuse for the whole thing is hard to source. My local Ace has some, but usually only 1-2 at a time so I try to clean them out when I'm through there. The cleaner has a heat setting which I like to run on the hot side so I dump hot tap water into the tank so it doesn't have to work so hard getting the water up to temp.
It has a timer with a max of 30 minutes and the thing is kind of noisy, so I try to have something else to do while it is running. So far, I haven't been dissatisfied with anything I've tried to clean with it though. I could always bump up to a more caustic solution but the aluminum clutches can be sensitive to that so the LA's cleaner has done me well.

Why is it going thru fuses so much so that you need to constantly clean out Ace's supply of them?

 

[WoodsTruck]

It's a tiny fuse.
I think the combination of trying to heat that much water and then run the piezo's create a fair bit of heat in the fuse. That is one reason I try and use pre-heated water to take some of the strain off the system. That, and Ace may not be open when I pop a fuse.

 

[zmotorsports]

30 liter

Pardon Our Interruption...

I think most of these cleaners are all the same, typically sold under different names and most on eBay or the Jungle are likely made in the same plant as usual.
That was the largest I could find in this style. Otherwise, you bump up into commercial style units and they were out of my price range real quick. I use a plastic irrigation adapter to a 0.600" black flexi pipe for surface sprinklers as a drain tube so I can dump it into a 5-gallon bucket. That hose unthreads and stores in the tank. I have some small baskets to contain small items like bolts that I can set in there as well.
Only issue I have had is the tiny fuse for the whole thing is hard to source. My local Ace has some, but usually only 1-2 at a time so I try to clean them out when I'm through there. The cleaner has a heat setting which I like to run on the hot side so I dump hot tap water into the tank so it doesn't have to work so hard getting the water up to temp.
It has a timer with a max of 30 minutes and the thing is kind of noisy, so I try to have something else to do while it is running. So far, I haven't been dissatisfied with anything I've tried to clean with it though. I could always bump up to a more caustic solution but the aluminum clutches can be sensitive to that so the LA's cleaner has done me well.

Thank you for the information. In the past I must have been looking at more commercial units because the prices scared me off. This one isn't too bad priced, especially for the size and if it works well.

 

[rd65]

Yes, I have often considered an ultrasonic cleaner. However, I think it would have been more valuable about 20-years ago when I had my speed shop and working on a lot powersports equipment which involved doing a LOT of carburetor work. Back then I just used a 5-gallon bucket of carburetor cleaner with the metal basket that submerged into the pail. It worked well, but nothing like the new ultrasonic cleaners.

Every time I consider one, I discount it solely because I don't do much in terms of carburetor work these days and it would be hard to rationalize the purchase as well as the bench space given up for it. I know they work on things other than carburetors, but who knows, maybe one day.

I pulled the trigger on one this week. I plan to use water in the machine with cleaner in plastic bottles. That way I can dump the water after each use so that I can store the unit more easily. Got a 10L Vevor unit. Time will tell. https://go.skimresources.com/?id=16...fc056d8f46c3a4&xjsf=other_click__auxclick [2]

 

[WoodsTruck]

On a 'Yota project, I used the cleaner on the door hinges, heater control, door latches, plastic body clips, etc.
Otherwise, I didn't have any other good way to get these pieces clean.

 

[madison069]

So my reading on these ultrasonic cleaners, there is 2 frequencies and they both do well for different things. 28khz is more for greasy tough caked on oil, while the 40khz is for jewelry and such.

I ordered the dual frequency model it wasn’t much more than just a 40khz unit. My little harbor freight special has worked for 10 years almost. Been great for small engine carburetors, but as I getting more and more into cleaning the capacity is limiting. I went with the 30L size, i don’t have to fill it up completely if I don’t need the full capacity which will help with the cleaning and heating part. I’ll see how it goes once I get it.

 

[T444e]

I hope everyone brought in a safe and Happy New Year and is looking forward to 2026.


The wife and I just had a nice simple New Year's Eve dinner at home. Threw some meatage on the grill along with some grilled mushrooms and onions and enjoyed a nice quiet meal, but didn't quite make it to midnight.



The wife made a smaller version of Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas Eve when we had our kids over, including a spiral cut ham. Not wanting to be wasteful, she kept the ham hock and made a pot of ham & beans for us on New Year's Day. Mmmmm. I love her ham & bean soup, but she doesn't make it often enough.



On Friday we were able to knock another item off our list of vehicle repairs for my son. He has had a couple of high pressure fuel lines fail over the past couple of years and all were purchased from Merchant Automotive several years ago when we did injectors. Having issues with some of Merchant's parts over the years and having two high pressure fuel lines fail leaving my son stranded, we opted to purchase new OEM lines for his truck several months ago when his second one failed. We had replaced three on the driver's bank, but still had the hardest ones to do as we were short on time. Friday morning with the wife having to work, we opted to tackle the four on the passenger's bank, cylinders 1, 3, 5 and 7 along with cylinder # 2 on the driver's bank and get them over with.


With the FICM removed and all fuel lines disconnected from it, then the bracket loosened and moved out of the way, we were able to snake a crow's foot socket down into the recess and disconnect the line from cylinder #1.


If anyone is looking for some awesome crow's feet sockets, these are the cat's meow. I've had the SAE version from Snap-on for several years now, but I couldn't justify the cost of their metric ones so I purchased a set from Martin that I read good reviews about.


These really work well, especially on fasteners or lines where you can't get a full 60-degree range of motion to go to the next flat.


Cylinder #1 removed, matched up and ready to continue on installing the remainder of the new OEM lines.


Right bank completed, FICM reinstalled and buttoning the passenger's side up.


Then moved on to the front high-pressure line, cylinder #2, on the driver's bank to repeat the process.


Completed, ready for a road test and check for leaks. All good, but with it raining hard on Friday, we opted to leave it in the shop until Saturday as his truck was shined up and clean.



Thanks for looking.

I procured some corwfoot(s) from. HJE. I received a Martin and the quality immediately stood out. I don't use the enough to justify the cost of a set, but...

 

[T444e]

Mike, I enjoy following your thread.
We have different aspects of the industrial world ( contractor vs end user,). I wish I had the discipline you have. Unfortunately I get bogged down in the mundane details of my projects, I tend knowing more things about structial steel and whatnot than I should know about, and usually forget most...

 

[jon72vega]

If it leaks oil its got oil....

I like that!

 

[bigdave_185]

WOW!

Thank you everyone. I am overwhelmed with all of the B-Day wishes and comments.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with loved ones.

The wife and I had a great Christmas Eve as she made a fabulous dinner for our little family and afterwards we watched our grandson and kids open gifts. Then Christmas Day we were invited to our kid's house for breakfast and to watch our grandson open his gifts from his parents and Santa.

I could tell something was off with my wife when I got home from work on Christmas Eve as she didn't act normal, but she wouldn't say anything as I helped her cook dinner for the kids. She didn't sleep well that night and then late morning on Christmas day she passed a kidney stone. I'm sure that was not the most comfortable, but she never complained and just pushed through. I am in awe of my lovely bride each and every day how she puts others before herself and doesn't complain. Makes me feel bad though, but at the same time, I was glad it wasn't something I had done.


On Saturday I met our kids and grandson for breakfast. It was nice, but I think my grandson would have rather stayed home and played with his toys. Then after breakfast we worked on my son's WJ for a bit before closing up the shop for the weekend. I was able to get a couple items marked off my "to do" list over the holiday weekend though, which was nice.

I was able to hang up the new calendar that the kids got us for Christmas as well as a wood shop project that my son had made in Jr. High School that the wife found while starting to put away Christmas decorations so I hung both up in the shop.





Stay tuned for some pictures.

I see my truck in the background lol love it

 

[ntsqd]

Might have a look at Citranox for use in an ultrasonic cleaner. Previous employer used it to great effect in cleaning copper contacts prior to product assembly.

 

[zmotorsports]

I see my truck in the background lol love it

Yep, displaying it proudly Dave.

 

[zmotorsports]

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I was able to spend some time in the shop Friday night and Saturday getting some work done on the coach.

Friday night before the wife got home from work I wanted to get the rear frame rail cleaned off from the leaking hydraulic filter and then thoroughly clean the frame rails and hitch area as well as scuff/sand it a bit and get a good coach of paint on it so it could dry overnight and I could put it together on Saturday. Took a little more work and time than I expected, but the end result was worth it.

What took particularly long was getting the tow bar removed. I broke my own rule of not removing hitches routinely and coating with a lubricant and I don't think I've had mine removed for at least two years now. While the hitch itself come from with some rocking and persuasion once I removed the anti-rattle mechanism, the hitch pin itself was a ****** to get free. About 15 years ago I machined inserts and TIG welded them in the receiver hitch to more than double the thickness of the receiver hitch wall thickness to address some elongation of the holes. While it worked fantastic and has held up amazingly well, there isn't much clearance between the hitch pin and ID of the holes. I really need to make it a point to at least remove the hitch pin once a year or so and apply some lubricant.


With the tow bar out of the way, it gave me much better access to the hitch and the hydraulic filter location so I probably should have done that from the beginning. I began by scraping the inside of the hitch and the frame rail where oily buildup and debris had gathered and then sprayed it all down with brake wash and gave everything a good wipe.


Once everything was thoroughly cleaned with brake wash, I wiped it down with Wax & Grease Remover, then quickly went over it with 80-grit on a DA where I could reach and everywhere else with a red Scotchbrite pad to scuff up the surface followed by a couple coats of Seymour Big Rig Gloss Black paint and then called it a night.


Saturday morning after breaking bread with the boys, I returned to the shop to pick up where I left off from Friday night, beginning by mounting the hydraulic filter base. It was much easier to install than remove.


The base is installed and hoses connected, gasket installed and a light application of Sil-Glyde on the gasket.


Filter installed.


While I had my drain bucket out, I went ahead and continued on with the last maintenance item on the coach which was to replace the 3 fuel filters beginning with the third one in the system in the engine bay.


Moving forward, I prepped to replace the two filters on the FASS manifold at the front near the fuel tank.


FASS filters replaced and ready to primed. I didn't fire the coach until I had the 6 gallons of hydraulic fluid added to the system. Then fired up the coach and let everything run for a few minutes to build up pressure in the air system.


Hitch painted, air coupler installed for the final time and ready to accept the tow bar again.



After building up to governed pressure, I shut it down and watched the gauges. ****!!! The primary needle was dropping at about 2 PSI a minute. I have a leak somewhere. I felt so good and confident in all of the fittings I had replaced so I thought maybe while moving lines around I disturbed another one that needed to be addressed. I donned my raggedy coveralls and with soapy water spray bottle I crawled underneath the coach and began spraying all of the areas that I had been messing with or replacing components. Nothing, not a single bubble. WTF? I also couldn't hear any leaks, but according to my gauge there was a definitive leak somewhere in the primary system. The secondary (front) seemed to be holding for the moment.

As I was crawling out from under the coach for about the fourth time I looked up and saw the desiccant cartridge and purge valve and although I put a rebuild kit it in about 4 years (20k miles) ago, I thought I'd hit it with some soapy water and sure enough, big bubbles and then I could hear it hissing through the moisture. Well ****. I reached up and barely touched the end of the purge valve and it quit. I ran up to the dash and took note of the pressure gauge's reading then looked at the clock to track it. After about 10 minutes I came back and noticed both needles had only dropped about 1 PSI. I can live with that so it looks like I need to pull the purge valve back apart as it must have a spec of debris or something in the seat that needs to be cleaned. Not a terrible job, just access is not the greatest, but I think once I address that, the system should he fairly tight again.

 

[zmotorsports]

With most everything on the coach's punch list addressed I thought I'd cut the fuel filters apart and see how well the filtrations system is working.


Right to left is how they appear in my system. The far right FASS filter is a 144 micron filter (primary), the middle FASS filter (secondary) is the 2-micron filter and water separator combination, and the tertiary filter (far left) is on the OEM filter housing that also has the WIF (Water In Fuel) sensor, which I also run as a 2-micron filter in my system, just before the CAPS injection pump.


Cutting the first filter apart.




A few small specs of debris present, but not much and much better than the last time I changed filters.


Secondary filter has nothing detected in the filter pleats.


And the tertiary filter is clean as well. I would say the FASS system is working well.





Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

As I was crawling around under the coach I noted some black soot at the rear near the passenger's side and upon looking a bit more, I discovered that the rear of the muffler appears to be blown out. At first I thought ****, another thing to replace, but upon going through my notes, I remember the muffler being one of the first items I address when we purchased the coach in February 2007 because the original owners had hit something and damaged the first 90-degree elbow after the turbo and smashed it. While I was replacing that section of exhaust, I remember looking at that massive muffler and seeing the heat traces through it and figured I may as well put something a bit less restrictive on it while the exhaust system was apart. My notes showed that was 19 years ago and almost 95k miles ago, so I really can't complain about having to replace another muffler.

I found the exact same Dynomax muffler and ordered it so when it arrives, I will swap it out and then be able to lower the coach down off the jackstands.

With the wife still not home from running her errands, I figured I would work on the Wheel Horse for a few minutes and see if I could knock a couple things off the list.

The tires are so hard and not pliable at all and after struggling for about an hour to get the first one off the wheel, I just dug out the air saw and cut a slit in each sidewall to slip over the rim of the wheel.






The inside of the wheels are going to require some cleaning up before I put the new tires back on. They are a little rustier than I thought they'd be.


I then moved on to the fuel filter, which looked to be in poor condition.




And lastly, to buy me some time, I installed some new battery connectors. I really despise these clamp style of battery connectors, but these will be temporary as when I restore the tractor, I will make new cables with crimp on lugs/ends.





Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

I fixed the last of my air leaks last night on the coach and she's holding fantastic. None of these things are leak free, which is why the DOT and each manufacturer have acceptable leak rates as a pass/fail allowance. DOT states a loss of 2 PSI per minutes is acceptable, which is sometimes hard to see so I generally try to shoot for less than 20 PSI in a 10-minute period and set a timer. That is usually easier to see on a small gauge than 1 or 2 PSI, but if there's a large enough leak it is quite easy to see on the gauge. With my purge valve leak I was losing about 15 PSI in a 10 minute period which is 1.5 PSI per minute and although acceptable by DOT standards, it isn't by mine. After pulling the purge valve last night and giving it a thorough cleaning, reinstalling and airing the coach back up, it now holds amazingly well. I couldn't see much needle deflection last night in the hour and a half or so I worked after completing the purge valve removal and installation, but this morning it showed about 15 PSI loss in a 12-hour period. That is more than acceptable, in fact, I don't know if I can get much better than that.

I was surprised it was leaking to be honest, there really wasn't anything that jumped out at me upon removing the purge valve from the air dryer. Yes, it had some residual oily substance, but very little and totally normal. I only put a rebuild kit in this dryer about 20k miles ago and the first one had nearly 130k and still wasn't leaking, I rebuilt it solely as preventive maintenance after seeing a rash of coaches over the previous couple of years having air pressure issues in our group. It had small chunks of debris and buildup and although I was glad I rebuilt it, it showed no signs of leaking. I even used an OEM Meritor rebuild kit and not an aftermarket, even though there is quite a price difference. So imagine my surprise when I sprayed soapy water on it the other night and saw it leaking.



All cleaned up in the solvent tank, Sil-Glyde applied to the O-rings and ready to be reinstalled.


Bore of the dryer wiped out with a rag and some brake wash, although nothing other than a little oily substance. O-ring cleaned and lubed with some Sil-Glyde and installed. Ready for the seat and valve.


Valve and seat reinstalled.


The cover and snap ring are a bit difficult to install due to the location. The air dryer is quite a ways up alongside the frame rail and it is difficult to get any leverage on the discharge body in which to push up and compress the spring enough to install the snap ring. By using a length of 1.5" diameter tubing and a floor jack it is quite easy to install.


The key is to use your head and not put too much pressure on the body with the floor jack or you can break the composite body. Just enough to clear the snap ring groove is all that is needed. Also, remember to put the snap ring around the tube BEFORE you put the jack in place. Once the body is pushed up into the dryer, the snap ring can be installed. I found using some 45-degree snap ring pliers works the best.


Installed and ready to fire up the coach and test.



It is holding perfectly.

Thanks for looking.

 

[zmotorsports]

Once the coach was brought to operating pressure and shut down to observe for leaks, I figured I would throw the tow bar back on seeing as how most of the work is completed at the hitch area. I still need to replace the muffler once it arrives, but the tow bar shouldn't interfere with that at all.

I sprayed some Fluid Film up inside the receiver tube and then a little more on the stinger itself to ward off any seizing from corrosion in the hitch. I put on my maintenance checklist to remove this at least once a year to ensure it doesn't seize in the hitch. I also double checked all of my steel inserts that I machined and welded in about 15-years ago when I fixed the elongation issues in the hitch as well as my adapter and there appears to be no wear at all. In fact, the hitch pin must be aligned perfectly and is a bit "snug" going in still. I was hoping that repair would buy me some time back when I did it, but it appears to have been a permanent repair and well worth the time spent on it.


Installed and excess Fluid Film wiped off.


Hitch pins reinstalled and anti-rattle clamps reinstalled. I also removed the pin and tube from the adapter to ensure it was given the same treatment. Then cleaned the electrical connection and applied a small amount of dielectric grease to seal off the connection from moisture. I despise seeing lights from fellow travelers that are flickering going down the road due to either bad grounds or poor electrical connections at the junction between toad/trailer and coach.


Completed.



Once the muffler is replaced I can lower it back down from the jackstands, pull it out and clean up the mess in the RV bay as I have some scrubbing to do.


Thanks for looking.

 

[duc916]

Mike,
Can I get more information on the anti-rattle clamps? Did you make them or are they off the shelf?

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike,
Can I get more information on the anti-rattle clamps? Did you make them or are they off the shelf?

Those are purchased ones. They could be easily made, but they're readily available and they come zinc coated for corrosion protection. There are several versions of them commercially available, I just bought the most basic which work great.

Here is a link to the ones similar to what I have.

https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Anti~Rattle/Roadmaster/RM-061.html

 

[duc916]

Thanks for the link. I have used some in the past, but it looks like you have them mounted opposite of what I am used to, I was not sure if it was a new type of clamp. It appears like you have them pulling the hitch up into the receiver and holding any downward load with the clamp. I am used to pulling the hitch down into the receiver so the clamp is not supporting any trailer tongue load. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

[aka Larry]

Mike,
Can I get more information on the anti-rattle clamps? Did you make them or are they off the shelf?

I know Mike doesn't shop at HF, but this is the one I use on my Jeep hitch and it works just fine.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for the link. I have used some in the past, but it looks like you have them mounted opposite of what I am used to, I was not sure if it was a new type of clamp. It appears like you have them pulling the hitch up into the receiver and holding any downward load with the clamp. I am used to pulling the hitch down into the receiver so the clamp is not supporting any trailer tongue load. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

I've tried them mounted both ways. My experience was mounting to where the U or strap holds down on the top of the stinger and angles forward to where the cross tie is under the receiver part of the hitch kept loosening up and bending the strap. I couldn't figure out why, but thinking it was maybe an upward bounce causing extra force and allowing the movement. I even tightened one so tight to keep it from loosening that the U broke right at the threads. So, I just opted to give the other a try by holding the stinger up into the receiver and I don't seem to be chasing the tension on it any longer. Just my experience anyways.

 

[ScepterToad]

Thanks for the reminder on the hitch Mike! I'll have to add that myself as I've now had my tow bar on 2 years.

Really got to get some of that big rig paint you're using. That looks like some good stuff.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for the reminder on the hitch Mike! I'll have to add that myself as I've now had my tow bar on 2 years.

Really got to get some of that big rig paint you're using. That looks like some good stuff.

I've been quite pleased with the Seymour Big Rig paint thus far Keith.

 

[Boosted1]

Drop those mower wheels in a 5 gallon bucket of Evapo Rust and they will come out looking clean. I recently did some bumper brackets. It worked well although I did a few cycles of taking out and going over with a scotchbrite, then back in for more soaking.

 

[Boosted1]

Before and After

 

[duc916]

Mike,
Thank you for your feedback on the hitch clamps.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike,
Thank you for your feedback on the hitch clamps.

You're welcome. I think the thing to remember with the anti-rattle clamps is more that they "lock" the stinger into the receiver to prevent movement. I don't necessarily think it is quite as important how they accomplish that by mounting direction. I've seen them installed both ways while out and about, but I remember in the paperwork that was with the clamps they showed it mounted opposite as I have mine. I still don't fully understand why mine were bending or loosening over time/miles when mounted that way, but inverted they seem to work perfectly.

 

[zmotorsports]

Drop those mower wheels in a 5 gallon bucket of Evapo Rust and they will come out looking clean. I recently did some bumper brackets. It worked well although I did a few cycles of taking out and going over with a scotchbrite, then back in for more soaking.

Thank you. May have to give that a try as I was dreading having to clean them via a wire wheel or bead blasting.

 

[WoodsTruck]

A buddy of mine had sights on a sled in the next state over one June and hit me up to see if I was up for a road trip. Planning on the trip, we decided he didn't need the drag of the front salt shield so he removed it to reduce drag. In doing so, the 2-place open trailer was a bit more balanced over the axle and see-sawed over every bump in the road. This was exaggerated through the slop in the hitch/receiver connection and amplified into the cab of the Jeep Grand Cherokee unibody construction. Since we were leaving at 5:30 a.m., there were few stores open to explore options. Wouldn't you know it, we rolled by a Walmart that opened at 6. We were both getting tired of the noise and had about 500 more miles to go before we could put a load on the front of the trailer and quiet it down. We both wandered the aisles of Walmart looking for anything that could be used. Last resort? paint stir stick. We were wondering how the heck we could purchase a stir stick, since they don't have any bar codes and are handed out free with a purchase of paint. We really didn't need a gallon of paint so we figured we'd tell the clerk we had bought the paint the day before and forgot to get the sticks. It must have worked. We were able to use my pocket knife to cut and sharpen the leading edge of the stick, pull the stinger and jam it back into the receiver just enough to line up the pin. Utter quietness out of the trailer for the remainder of the trip, thus the nomenclature of the "Trailer Muffler". He has since purchased a U-bolt style clamp like yours. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Finallygotit]

FWIW, I drilled and tapped my receiver for a 1/2"-20 bolt (what I had in stock) on the bottom. I put the hitch in, put the hitch pin in then snug the bolt down with it's lock nut.

YMMV

 

[zmotorsports]

FWIW, I drilled and tapped my receiver for a 1/2"-20 bolt (what I had in stock) on the bottom. I put the hitch in, put the hitch pin in then snug the bolt down with it's lock nut.

YMMV

I've heard of that as well. Basically you too are pushing upward on the actual stinger in the receiver.

On my Rock Guard mudflaps I did similar, but rather than directly on the bottom, I put mine in the lower two corners biting in at an upward angle to keep the rock guards from moving about on the stinger.

 

[PugetDude]

FWIW, I drilled and tapped my receiver for a 1/2"-20 bolt (what I had in stock) on the bottom. I put the hitch in, put the hitch pin in then snug the bolt down with it's lock nut.

YMMV

Put it on a lower corner on a diagonal and you'll eliminate play in both directions.

 

[Finallygotit]

I've heard of that as well. Basically you too are pushing upward on the actual stinger in the receiver.

On my Rock Guard mudflaps I did similar, but rather than directly on the bottom, I put mine in the lower two corners biting in at an upward angle to keep the rock guards from moving about on the stinger.

Put it on a lower corner on a diagonal and you'll eliminate play in both directions.

Interesting idea. But since this was done, there is total silence from the hitch area, at least as far as our experience goes. Inside the SUV cabin heading out for our fishing trip is a whole nuther thing! Yap yap yap yap yap yap yip yap.......

 

[zmotorsports]

Interesting idea. But since this was done, there is total silence from the hitch area, at least as far as our experience goes. Inside the SUV cabin heading out for our fishing trip is a whole nuther thing! Yap yap yap yap yap yap yip yap.......

Sorry Dan, I don't think we can help with that problem.

 

[Finallygotit]

Sorry Dan, I don't think we can help with that problem.

I'm sorry too...........