I haven't updated this thread for a couple of years. I've watched Randy Merritt post updates to his truck in his "build thread" and I enjoy reading, so I'll do it too. I've been restoring the broken pic links too. They should all be fixed in a few days. Takes time to fix them.
I've driven DesertSy about 10,000 miles since October 2012 when I finished it. Mostly interstate travels. It hasn't needed a lot, but it hasn't been trouble free either. Mostly jankey replacement parts wearing out prematurely. I enjoy blasting around in it, I beat the crap out of it, and it keeps on ticking.
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I noticed it developed a LOT of slop in the steering over the past thousand miles. It was the outer tie-rod ends. I found this surprising, as in almost 750K miles of S-10 ownership, I've never replaced tie rod ends. They don't go bad on me. These did. Turns out they were installed wrong-way around. The inner were outboard, and vice-versa. I may have installed these backwards, or a previous "tech" did. I don't remember. But the geometry is different, and the outer joints really wore quickly because they were binding because they were installed in the wrong position..
I set the toe-in using string to project the rear wheel track forward, and a tape measure for the toe itself. There was another thread recently about the accuracy of using these methods, vs a 'professional' with laser heads. I don't know, I must have done something right because the steering wheel was
perfectly centered on the very first drive, and toe is slightly toe-in, and tracks well. Way good enough for this pile, plus I have to add some negative camber anyway. I drive it hard enough that the outer edges of the tires have worn with 0º Camber. It needs a little negative to improve tire wear. I'll reset the toe when I re-do the camber.
Here's the worse of the two "outers"
Here's the true "outer" joint. The one with the long shank is on the wheel end of the assembly:
Here's the inner end. The one with the offset, and the short shank is installed on the relay rod. Not the wheel, like mine was:
I also replaced the rear pads today. This truck has Baer kits that were installed in the late 90's. Turns out the rear pads are "413's". Pads have generic numbers, regardless of manufacturer. Paul-Z once told me they were "LT1 brakes" as used on LTx-powered F-car. I also thought they looked like the rear calipers on my C4 Corvettes. We were both right. F and C4 Y car all use 413's on the rear. Same rear brakes. I'm unimpressed with the un-even pad wear. The right outer was down to 10%, the inners were both >75% remaining. Not sure what this is about, but I don't really care. It stops well, I got 10K miles out of the pads, and they weren't new when I began driving it.
Right side:
Left side:
Compare the most worn to the least worn:
Anyway, that's it for now. DesertSy hasn't needed much since I got it running, and has been very reliable and not needed the services of a flat-bed. The way it should be. Thanks for reading.
