Above 1200 Sq/FT My new garage build! 30x50 !

[Xti04]

This week has been wild already and its only Tuesday! Yesterday a girl dropped her car off for service and was waiting on her boyfriend to pick her up. He got there and a truck pulled in behind him. I was not home yet, so she calls and asks if I know the truck. I look and it looks like my wifes cousin truck. He stops by every now and then if hes out my way so I call and asked him if he was at my place. Its not him. Now my doorbell cam is going off and there is a huge guy on my porch. I got on the cam to talk to him and apparently he wanted to give me a heads up about this girls boyfriend who supposedly ran him off the road because he was on his phone. We talked for several minutes about it and I assured him I would address it because these kids are barely 18. If that boy had mouthed off to this beast of a man it would not have ended well and I didnt want to have to hose blood off my driveway. i called the girl back explained the situation and the truck finally left and they were able to get out of the driveway. They were both very apologetic for bringing this kind of drama to my house and for me having to deal with it. Luckily I have had plenty of deescalation training over my nursing career and was able to talk the guy down and keep it respectful and cordial. What a mess though!

Up next was a massive F 350 dually. Had a seized rear caliper , but due to the giant service bed and tools in the truck I was not willing to put it on my lift. We did the job out in the driveway due to size of the truck. @madison069 I got to use my new brake line clamp which worked great. No dripping brake fluid on the driveway. The rear rotor is captured, so it required a trip to get the proper 4wd socket, and then seals which I had ordered already. Having never done one of these on a Dana 300 rear axle, it was a chore just due to weight and location. I try to avoid heavy work like this, but I also charge a premium for this kind of work. We got it back together, all torqued to spec and endplay checked. No pics as it was a greasy nasty mess with lots of gear oil and grease everywhere. The rest of the week is some small jobs that need completed before we leave for vacation on Saturday. Hoping to clear all these jobs off the list and be ready for a camper install when I return!

 

[zmotorsports]

I had bid a job on a 2500HD GM years ago, a transfer case leak, and I suspected immediately based on the owner's description that it was caused by the infamous "pump rub". When the truck arrived it was also on a work truck weighing well over what my 10k pound lift would handle. I thought "damnit", I hate working on a creeper as the lift really spoils a person. When I crawled under it, I ALSO discovered he had a 52-gallon Titan fuel tank which made transfer case removal even more fun. I now make sure to inspect the vehicles before offering up quotes and refuse to give estimates over the phone. Plus, after that job I also learned that I needed to steer away from flat rate quotes and just work by charging time and materials. That one job was an educational one for me.

 

[Xti04]

I had bid a job on a 2500HD GM years ago, a transfer case leak, and I suspected immediately based on the owner's description that it was caused by the infamous "pump rub". When the truck arrived it was also on a work truck weighing well over what my 10k pound lift would handle. I thought "damnit", I hate working on a creeper as the lift really spoils a person. When I crawled under it, I ALSO discovered he had a 52-gallon Titan fuel tank which made transfer case removal even more fun. I now make sure to inspect the vehicles before offering up quotes and refuse to give estimates over the phone. Plus, after that job I also learned that I needed to steer away from flat rate quotes and just work by charging time and materials. That one job was an educational one for me.

Luckily I accepted this job as a no quote as he needed it back asap. I was able to charge my increased rate plus I added in the tool I had to stop and purchase and still made out well on it. I have been trying hard not to accept any work without loooking it over to keep from screwing myself over. Most vehicles have been thru my shop before so I know their general condition well enough to not get myself in trouble.

 

[Xti04]

Apparently its truck month here at my shop. Now thru the end of July you can stop in and stress me out with your big heavy diesel truck and its wonky issues. Last night we pulled in an F 250 with a " brake vibration" this thing is so violent, its like a death wobble but only when braking at high speed. I dont doubt there is some brake pulsation/ vibration, but the shake coming from the truck is awful. We replaced all the steering components on this truck a few months ago except the track bar. The track bar bushing has now developed a tear in it so I am going to retorque all steering fasteners and replace this bushing and see how it does. My reading on this condition yesterday also mentioned caster if all steering and suspension parts check out. Hes not in a rush but I wanna get it figured out or its going to haunt me all next week.

 

[SilverJimmy]

You might want to check the front rotors for uneven hardness and/or glazing. I had one of my tool trucks that I swore the front suspension and tires were fubar’d cuz it would shake so badly at times that it was almost an accident about to happen. Balanced the tires multiple times, replaced shocks and checked alignment, still shook like a wet dog!
Finally out of desperation I replaced the front rotors (which I had checked with a dial indicator, perfectly round and not warped!) and miraculously the truck drove like brand new! In hind site we realized that my employee had to panic brake when a huge herd of elk had run out in front of him one night coming home from the Grand Canyon. He had to stand that truck on its nose to not hit any of the 100 elk that ran in front of him.
That panic stop must have put so much heat into the rotors that they would slip and then grab while braking that it almost ripped the steering wheel out of your hands….. Death Wobble from Hell!
New rotors and pads, fixed! YRMV!!!

 

[Xti04]

You might want to check the front rotors for uneven hardness and/or glazing. I had one of my tool trucks that I swore the front suspension and tires were fubar’d cuz it would shake so badly at times that it was almost an accident about to happen. Balanced the tires multiple times, replaced shocks and checked alignment, still shook like a wet dog!
Finally out of desperation I replaced the front rotors (which I had checked with a dial indicator, perfectly round and not warped!) and miraculously the truck drove like brand new! In hind site we realized that my employee had to panic brake when a huge herd of elk had run out in front of him one night coming home from the Grand Canyon. He had to stand that truck on its nose to not hit any of the 100 elk that ran in front of him.
That panic stop must have put so much heat into the rotors that they would slip and then grab while braking that it almost ripped the steering wheel out of your hands….. Death Wobble from Hell!
New rotors and pads, fixed! YRMV!!!

We replaced the track bar bushing that was separating tonight and retorqued all the steering we had replaced previously. The bushing had to be done on the press but I had gone around it and tried to loosen it a bit but I didnt quite have a driver to push this out. I had to use a socket to get it out which worked well, but that ATM bearing driver set @zmotorsports keeps suckering people into buying here might have just gotten bumped up the list. It did not fix the shake and pull unfortunately. I ran out of time tonight to get it figured it out, but will try and dig into it some more tomorrow.

 

[madison069]

I had the death wobble on my f250 and I changed the steering stabilizer and front shocks with Bilstein, the original stabiler was toasted. No more death wobble since I did that. But it didn’t need the brakes start the wobble so it could be a different issues. Just something to check into.

 

[M.Brane]

It's not much more $ to replace the whole bar. Saves enough labor to make it worth it IMHO.

Owning an OBS Ford truck taught me to avoid cheap pads/rotors, and use the parking brake. If you don't the rears fall out of adjustment so then your only using the fronts, and they will glaze/warp from the added heat rapidly especially if they're cheapies.

 

[Xti04]

It's not much more $ to replace the whole bar. Saves enough labor to make it worth it IMHO.

Owning an OBS Ford truck taught me to avoid cheap pads/rotors, and use the parking brake. If you don't the rears fall out of adjustment so then your only using the fronts, and they will glaze/warp from the added heat rapidly especially if they're cheapies.

Normally I would have gone that route, but being unsure that the bushing was the solution I opted to just press a new bushing in since a bushing was under 10 dollars.

 

[zmotorsports]

that ATM bearing driver set @zmotorsports keeps suckering people into buying here might have just gotten bumped up the list.

 

[zmotorsports]

Apparently its truck month here at my shop. Now thru the end of July you can stop in and stress me out with your big heavy diesel truck and its wonky issues. Last night we pulled in an F 250 with a " brake vibration" this thing is so violent, its like a death wobble but only when braking at high speed. I dont doubt there is some brake pulsation/ vibration, but the shake coming from the truck is awful. We replaced all the steering components on this truck a few months ago except the track bar. The track bar bushing has now developed a tear in it so I am going to retorque all steering fasteners and replace this bushing and see how it does. My reading on this condition yesterday also mentioned caster if all steering and suspension parts check out. Hes not in a rush but I wanna get it figured out or its going to haunt me all next week.

Not much to add as it looks like you are doing your due diligence with the investigation.

Two things I've found to exhibit "almost" death wobble symptoms are ball joints and/or wheel bearings beginning to fail with play which can cause a rhythmic braking pulse which then turns into a steering wheel shake when braking. Usually this can also be felt in brake pedal pulsation, but not always as evident as the steering wheel dance. Again, not as violent as full blown death wobble, but enough to be intolerable by the driver. Not sure if that's it or not, but thought I'd throw that out there as I have had a few of these over the years result in similar conditions to what you've described.

 

[Xti04]

Not much to add as it looks like you are doing your due diligence with the investigation.

Two things I've found to exhibit "almost" death wobble symptoms are ball joints and/or wheel bearings beginning to fail with play which can cause a rhythmic braking pulse which then turns into a steering wheel shake when braking. Usually this can also be felt in brake pedal pulsation, but not always as evident as the steering wheel dance. Again, not as violent as full blown death wobble, but enough to be intolerable by the driver. Not sure if that's it or not, but thought I'd throw that out there as I have had a few of these over the years result in similar conditions to what you've described.

We have brakes on hand in case thats the issue, but will also check wheel bearings tonight before replacing the brakes. Its not a full blown death wobble, but man it will pucker your **** when it happens. Customer wanted to try brakes and see if we had any improvement.

 

[Xti04]

Brakes ended up being the culprit, bearings were tight, steering good even temps on brakes side to side, but I could not believe how bad this thing shook and pulled when braking. After replacing pads and rotors, brakes were smooth and no pull. Truck picked up this morning and my vacation can officially start. Of course,as I prepare to leave town my tracking on the truck topper shows delivery driver has been dispatched to pick it up. Nothing I can do about it until I get back though.

 

[Xti04]

We made it to Florida uneventfully, which was great! Our flight had some crappy weather to go thru, but still arrived early. I had booked a rental car thru my work corporate account and had just picked a compact car. I should have read a bit better as to what qualifies as a compact car. I expected a Nissan sentra or corolla, but apparently those are now considered mid size cars. We got this

This lil hood rat Mitsubishi mirage. No hubcaps, no power, hell the engine is missing a whole cylinder. I might as well be driving my Kei truck with a family of 4 in it. We hit the interstate and I had the pedal matted trying to get up to speed. I dont think I will go small again. This thing is darty and was really sketchy with cross wimd as we got on a toll bridge across Tampa bay. We made it to our house finally and it is awesome. Looking forward to a week of relaxing, but I also have a couple of small projects to knock out for the owner. I got up bright and early to start them and was greeted by this
It was absolutely pouring when I got up. No coffee and nothing to do but watch it rain, so I decided to knock out some projects for the owner. I had her buy a tool kit and send it here so I opened it up and started my first project.
This is an end table/ lamp that matches one she already had. I tore into it and in about 10 minutes I was done and bored again. By this time my youngest was up and the rain had slowed so we got out to explore. Anna Maria island is a predominantly golf cart style island so we set out on foot. We made it to the beach, and then back across the island to the bay side. Stopped for a double espresso coffee and some Philipino lumpia for the wife and headed back home. We spied a few good fishing spots along the way, and after breakfast hit the pool and the big project for the week.
The fancy ploywood table broke down under the Florida heat and she had a warranty replacement sent out. We assembled the new one amd it went well until we found the instructions were backward and the wrong screws went into the feet.
They popped out immediately when we flipped it over, so I had my older son pull the screws from the old tables feet. about 3/4 of an inch longer and with solid grip into the legs, we got it together and back upright right as it began to rain again. Wondering if stormy skies are gonna be the theme of the week.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

When we have to do rental cars now, I've switched to Turo. Generally much cheaper and you know exactly what you're renting.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Blackbyrd]

Looks like a great spot! Enjoy the trip!

 

[Xti04]

When we have to do rental cars now, I've switched to Turo. Generally much cheaper and you know exactly what you're renting.

Enjoy your vacation!

After working on my buddies 20 plus Turo cars I am not sure I would feel comfortable in a turo car. I have seen and smelled how they get returned and have no interest in a contact high from a rental car. Watching it rain and makong plans for a visit to the tackle shop to restring the rods here at the house. My son is gonna drive me mad if he doesnt get to fish soon.

 

[Chrisb62]

Wondering if stormy skies are gonna be the theme of the week.

Probably …
This is the stormy time of the year for Florida, but on a higher note , no Hurricanes this week
Been a resident for 40ish years and a hour south of where you are staying…an hour south if you had a helicopter maybe 3 hours driving during the day.

 

[Xti04]

@Chrisb62 Yeah we wanted to come back in June but I couldn't work it out. Explained to the kids how rain is a part of life on the coast, but when it cuts into their plans they dont like it. If I had brought my helicopter instead of this mirage I would blast down there for a beer with ya!

Put the grill to use tonight, hoping to slap some fresh caught fish on it this week!

 

[SilverJimmy]

Down at the store I’m sure they sell “Fresh Caught” fish!
I admire you when you’re able to fish in the ocean, I’m not really willing to try doing that when something I might drag outta the sea could kill me!

 

[Xti04]

Down at the store I’m sure they sell “Fresh Caught” fish!
I admire you when you’re able to fish in the ocean, I’m not really willing to try doing that when something I might drag outta the sea could kill me!

We have options here Sterling! Im 500 feet from a canal, 1 tenth of a mile from the bay side and 8 tenths from the gulf side. Im hoping for redfish or sheepshead, snapper and worst case theres a seafood shop about a mile from here !

 

[kj_mustang]

Anna Maria Island is great. Spent a week there in the summer before Hurricane Milton. The hurricane took out some of the piers and restaurants. North Shore Cafe is great for lunch.

 

[Xti04]

Anna Maria Island is great. Spent a week there in the summer before Hurricane Milton. The hurricane took out some of the piers and restaurants. North Shore Cafe is great for lunch.

Im like a 5 minute walk from North shore cafe. Its had a line around the building every morning so far so its been hard to get in there.