When a hammer won't work on Labor day.

I was driving down Crowchild Trail in Calgary the other day on my way to work. There has been a lot of work getting done on the high ways and by ways of Calgary the this road is not exception. There are areas where the pay\vement is stripped back so repaving came be started. I hit one of these stipped areas and right away my front end started wobbling. I turn the wheel back and forth quickly and that seamed to smarten up the issue. Then on the next bump,the same thing. Ok,now it's time to have a look at this damn thing before it kills either myself ,my daughter or both of us. Saturday comes along and I decide it's time to get started. I get under the front end of the truck and find that the Pitman and the Idler arm are toast. Which I find very suprising. I really thought that there was an issue with a Tie-Rod end or a Ball Joint.

  When you are removing the Pitman Arm,you have to remove the nut holding it on and "Tap" the side of where it mounts to the relay rod. Never smack the end of the attachment bolt or use the nut. That's just an open invitation to grief and creating a money pit out of your hot rod. Getting the Pitman arm off of the output shaft of the steering gear was a little costly as well. I ended up going down to the neighborhood parts store and getting a Pitman Arm puller. That was another $40. The plus side is that it works for both the Pitman arm and the Idler arm. Sometimes it's a good thing when you have to get under your ride to do some work. I noticed other things that need attention and made a note of it for future referrence.

  I also decided to change my rear end gear oil as well. When you do this,it's probably best to change your axle seals at the same time. After all you have to take the differential cover off anyway and it's just aniother few minutes to remove the locking screw from the pinion shaft. By pushing in the axle shaft from the outside of the rear end you can see where the C-lock will come out. Then its just a simple matter of removing the axle and pulling out the axle seal from the axle housing. Now is a good time to inspect the axle bearings. It's cheaper to do it now then find out the hard way that they need replacing. After you've put the new seals in be sure to install the axle slowly back to where it goes. Watch the inside of the spider gear assembly to insure that you can slide the C-locks back into place properly and re-install the pinion shaft and lock screw. Be sure to use a seal installer or a block of wood to make sure that the new selas install straight and flat against the axle housing. Now is also a good time to inspect your rear brake shoes or pads. New ones should be installed at this time if it's required. There are a couple of ways you came seal up the rear duifferential cover. One is by using a new gasketanother is by using gasket maker. Either way works however the gasket maker is more cost effective and you should also give the silicone time to cure. so that would mean not driving the vehicle for a few hours after you have re-assembled it. This work was done on a 96 Chevy pick up with 320,000 Klicks or right around 200,000 miles on it. With a little know how and an excellent referrence book.Chevy S-Series Pick-Ups, SUVs, GMC Sonoma, Jimmy, Envoy, Isuzu Hombre, Oldsmobile Bravada Chilton Manual (1994-2004) is an excellent manual and is very discriptive with ecellent picutres and diagrams.

Chevy dumped for Chevrolet?

Ok,lets ask ourselves something. When you were a kid and you first saw the word Chevrolet,was it easier to understand than Chevy? I know I may be gettin on the soap box here but,let's get something straight. It's takes a lot less energy and sounds a hell of a lot sexier to say Chevy. I drive a Chevy,I buy Chevy parts. I Hotrod my Chevy's. I insure my Chevy. We all know that yes,it is a Chevrolet however when you say Chevrolet you sound like a dork. With the exception of the odd Speed channel announce that can actually pull it off and sound good doing it.

  When you see a Bow-Tie the word Chevy comes to mind. People relate to the word and they love it. Chevy built the most popular engine in our planets history. They may not have been the first of the GM divisions to do it but,that doesn't mean squat when they did it the best. The world loves a winner. The small block Chevy is and always has been one of the sexiest phrases ever coined. And lets not forget that when Chevy developed the 265 back in 1955 we found ourselves able to have an ago old rivalry with the big block boys. Ok,enough of my rant. What it boils down to is that I like the word Chevy more than Chevrolet,it doesn't mean that I will quit buying and hot rodding "Chevy's". It just means that somethings do not need to change. If GM just has a sick sense of humor and is bored and looking to piss die-hard "Chevy" fans off like me then they succeeded. More than likely it's simply because I'm a "Chevy" guy and uhh..hey GM board of directors...your "Chevy" division with it's engineering know how helped me convert many a Ford owner into buying and falling in love with a "Chevy".Our Chevy's have seen us through the good times and the bad and for the most part have never let us down. And if there was a temporary set back,the engineers that designed the SBC had their act together and made it extremely easy for the small block to be worked on. Try working on a Ford with just a 3/8",7/16",1/2" and a 9/16" wrench on the side of the road.

  One final word, we as North American grew up with the Chevy,we all know it's actually Chevrolet but,we really don't care what you say as long as the guy behind the parts desk doesn't correct us when we ask for a Chevy part. It's a Chevy first,last and always. Anyway,these are my thoughts,not yours.

Keeping the grocery getter cost effective

It was time to fix up the grocery getter a little bit. After all it got used the most and got the least attention. I figured a set of decent rims and tires were in order. I got a decent deal on them so I went with it. Now this truck has been through thick and thin with me and there has been times where it has been on the back burner when it came time for maintenance. I've done the trial and error with car parts and tested some ideas to improve my fuel efficiency. And I'll tell you right now that the best fuel economy tricks were the ones I designed or re-designed my self. The are some "kits" out there that are supposed to give you gains of up to 20 horsepower and improve mileage by 10%. I'll tell you right now,there are no simple fixes like that. All those "kits" will do is separate you from your hard earned cash. They are promoted by marketing companies that probably have no idea what an internal combustion engine is. Their exec's get the mechanic to check the oil.

Anyway, there are little things you can do to keep the grocery getter together that are very economical. Instead of spending $80 for an interior door handle for your chevy truck, spend $14 or $15 on a Dorman Handle. I've spent $240.00 on interior handles and none of them have lasted as long as the one I spend $14.00 on. Now,a cost effective way to eliminate most wear inside your engine is to use synthetic oil. Most synthetic oils are actually made in the same place believe it or not. They all test virtually the same. Now,you might think the cost is too much but,think of it this way. When you use synthetic oil you can go twice as long between oil changes,sometimes longer depending on the brand. Synthetic also dissipates heat much better,doesn't break down like conventional oil does and it seals compression better. You will also notice that your engine will run better and your gas gauge will stay in one place longer.All for just under twice the price of conventional oil. And one other thing, less oil changes means less cash out of your pocket at mister lube or minute lube. It wouldn't be a bad idea to use synthetic in the transmission and differential as well if you are really interested in making your daily driver last.

 Now this might sound a little nuts but,believe me it's the truth. I had a crate motor in one of my trucks and believe it or not when I used high octane fuel,the gas mileage improvement offset the extra cost because it was a higher compression engine and it ran more efficiently with the better quality fuel. Other things like having your tires filled to proper psi also helps,proper wheel alignment as well. Now,one thing to consider is when an engine is operating close to the begining of it's torque curve you get better mileage. When you use a spacer plate it actually brings down the torque curve,as in brings it closer to the lower RPM range not lowering your overall torque.That means when you step on the gas,your not stepping on it as much as you would without the spacer plate. That translates into less fuel used to get the same job done and therefor better efficiency.

  One final thought. Don't believe for a minute that you can just jump in,fire it up and go. Your engine needs a warn up period,more so for any modified or crate engine. Everything on the planet expands with heat so it would stand to reason that the internal parts would need that as well. Let's imagine metal on metal grinding .Nuff said. Any mechanic or so called "tech" that says other wise better get his butt back to school.
I remember watching a television show with my girlfriend and a "professional" mechanic stated that you do not need a warm up time. Needless to say,when the girlfriends small block spun a bearing I wasn't fixing it.