Was looking for a shop in or near Milwaukee to work on M1008; then did it all myself!

[cucvrus]

Loosen the 2 M10 15 mm nuts under the hood and the 2 M10 nuts under the dash. You may be able to shift the column a little. I think it may be just the black bezel because it can not seat completely onto the idiot light filters with the clear plastic cluster lenses. That was my observation when you first posted but I didn't want to rain on your parade. The bezel was basically designed to be seated darn near close as touching to the idiot light filters. Check it out. Good Luck. Report back.

 

[retro_life]

Loosen the 2 M10 15 mm nuts under the hood and the 2 M10 nuts under the dash. You may be able to shift the column a little. I think it may be just the black bezel because it can not seat completely onto the idiot light filters with the clear plastic cluster lenses. That was my observation when you first posted but I didn't want to rain on your parade. The bezel was basically designed to be seated darn near close as touching to the idiot light filters. Check it out. Good Luck. Report back.

Thing is it’s been like that since I got the truck. I just started to look at stuff with a little bit more scrutiny since I started repairing everything. I will investigate it and see if it can be shifted over a bit. My guess is that people have been using the steering wheel as a handle to pull themselves into the truck over the years and perhaps that’s what caused it to shift over to the left.
Here’s a pic from last year when I first picked up the truck from the surplus yard. You can see that the column is shifted to the left even then.




Also having another issue right now too with my alrernators. It seems that truck isn’t charging properly when driving. Usually the voltage gauge is up towards the top of the green bar and my cigarette lighter adapter reads ~14.4V on the built in gauge while the truck is started. Today I noticed my volt gauge is at the bottom of the green bar near the yellow and my cigarette lighter adapter is reading ~12.5V while driving. It seems like the alternators aren’t functioning properly.

 

[retro_life]

Ah jeez… found the problem

 

[chevymike]

Ah jeez… found the problem
View attachment 841277

That will do it. Hope it did not fry the alt, as alts do not like being disconnected from the battery while running. It spikes the electronics inside and kills them.

Fingers crossed just a simple terminal replacement.

 

[retro_life]

That will do it. Hope it did not fry the alt, as alts do not like being disconnected from the battery while running. It spikes the electronics inside and kills them.

Fingers crossed just a simple terminal replacement.

Luckily I think the wire broke just this morning when I went to get some coffee, so I don’t think I was running it like that too long.

I crimped a new terminal onto the wire and just took it out on the road and all seems to be fine now. I’m in the green on the voltage meter and reading 14.4-14.6 on the cigarette lighter.

I’ve put about 600 miles on the truck in the last week or so trying to catch any issues before I hit the road. My gear vendor will be here on Wednesday, so I am getting ready to leave soon!

 

[frank8003]

Ah jeez… found the problem
View attachment 841277

You got the Sticktoitniffness! Another Attaboy

 

[frank8003]

You keep lookin in at everything that will let You down, slightly wigglement on things. Nice work

 

[retro_life]

You keep lookin in at everything that will let You down, slightly wigglement on things. Nice work

Yeah I agree, especially since I’m kind of crazy about things. I gotta remember the truck is 35 years old and just enjoy it. When I get back home I will mess with it more on the small stuff, but I don’t wanna make more work for myself right as I’m getting ready to hit the road for a couple thousand miles. Glad that wire broke now tho because on the road I definitely wouldn’t have terminal fittings and a crimper tool. Thanks for the pats on the back I appreciate it! I really did a ton of stuff in the last 2 months and I’m ready to enjoy the ride!

 

[retro_life]

Unrelated but I thought I would mention I got one of those Thexton 383 power steering belt tighteners in the mail today. I found it on Amazon for only $11.99 shipped and it arrived today in all of its NOS glory. I love how they offer you 5% for your tool idea on the back of the packaging lol. If you want one of these I suggest jumping on it on Amazon ASAP as there are only 2 left at that low price.

 

[retro_life]

Loosen the 2 M10 15 mm nuts under the hood and the 2 M10 nuts under the dash. You may be able to shift the column a little. I think it may be just the black bezel because it can not seat completely onto the idiot light filters with the clear plastic cluster lenses. That was my observation when you first posted but I didn't want to rain on your parade. The bezel was basically designed to be seated darn near close as touching to the idiot light filters. Check it out. Good Luck. Report back.

I tried what you said to do and it helped a lot. I loosened those 4 nuts and was able to push the steering column over a good amount. It’s not perfectly centered but its pretty good, and now has clearance on the left side to no longer rub on the bezel. Good enough for now!

 

[ezgn]

Unrelated but I thought I would mention I got one of those Thexton 383 power steering belt tighteners in the mail today. I found it on Amazon for only $11.99 shipped and it arrived today in all of its NOS glory. I love how they offer you 5% for your tool idea on the back of the packaging lol. If you want one of these I suggest jumping on it on Amazon ASAP as there are only 2 left at that low price.
View attachment 841303View attachment 841304View attachment 841305

Just saw your post and got the last one, Thanks!

 

[ezgn]

I tried what you said to do and it helped a lot. I loosened those 4 nuts and was able to push the steering column over a good amount. It’s not perfectly centered but its pretty good, and now has clearance on the left side to no longer rub on the bezel. Good enough for now!

View attachment 841313View attachment 841314

Looks good to me!

 

[ezgn]

Yeah I agree, especially since I’m kind of crazy about things. I gotta remember the truck is 35 years old and just enjoy it. When I get back home I will mess with it more on the small stuff, but I don’t wanna make more work for myself right as I’m getting ready to hit the road for a couple thousand miles. Glad that wire broke now tho because on the road I definitely wouldn’t have terminal fittings and a crimper tool. Thanks for the pats on the back I appreciate it! I really did a ton of stuff in the last 2 months and I’m ready to enjoy the ride!
View attachment 841297View attachment 841298

Truck is sitting proud.

 

[retro_life]

Just saw your post and got the last one, Thanks!

Awesome! It looks like a handy tool to have when doing the belts!

 

[retro_life]

Btw looks like I’ll be getting the GVOD tomorrow! I’m gonna try to get it installed ASAP so I can measure for the drive shaft and get that going. I will be posting a lot of pics of the process of throwing one of these on.

 

[ezgn]

Awesome! It looks like a handy tool to have when doing the belts!

Yeah, and almost impossible to find. Turns replacing the P.S. belt into a one man job! .Good find.

 

[retro_life]

The gear vendors overdrive just showed up! Box was a little banged up and there was a little damage to a little brass fitting on the new tail shaft. It’s a little bent but looks like it should still work just fine. They probably shouldn’t install that piece at the factory since it’s gonna just protrude in the corner of a box with no padding. Here’s some pics of everything in the kit.

 

[retro_life]

going to have some lunch and then I will start crankin!

 

[Mullaney]

The gear vendors overdrive just showed up! Box was a little banged up and there was a little damage to a little brass fitting on the new tail shaft. It’s a little bent but looks like it should still work just fine. They probably shouldn’t install that piece at the factory since it’s gonna just protrude in the corner of a box with no padding. Here’s some pics of everything in the kit.

View attachment 841408View attachment 841409View attachment 841410View attachment 841411View attachment 841412View attachment 841413View attachment 841414View attachment 841415View attachment 841416View attachment 841417

.
Hate to say it, but that is pretty stupid on the vendor's part. Stick heavy piece of metal with the fitting exposed in an unprotected box... They could have tied it on a string and let it flop around in the carton and been just as well off. Or, heaven forbid that they stuff that fitting inside a piece of packing foam to guard against damage. The REALLY CRUMMY part is that even if the shipper had insured the box, UPS Claims would have denied the claim because of "improper packaging"

Looks like an easy fix though.

Glad you got your parts!!

 

[retro_life]

.
Hate to say it, but that is pretty stupid on the vendor's part. Stick heavy piece of metal with the fitting exposed in an unprotected box... They could have tied it on a string and let it flop around in the carton and been just as well off. Or, heaven forbid that they stuff that fitting inside a piece of packing foam to guard against damage. The REALLY CRUMMY part is that even if the shipper had insured the box, UPS Claims would have denied the claim because of "improper packaging"

Looks like an easy fix though.

Glad you got your parts!!

That barb is just to vent the pressure from the transfer case so it’s not too crucial that’s it’s slightly bent I suppose. I called in and they said that I can just run a hose from it into the frame rail with a one way valve on the end (not included in kit….)