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What have you done to your CUCV today/lately - Part 2

joshuak

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Slower shore, DE
Removed sway bar to paint and replace bushings with greasable ones from Energy Suspension.

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I removed the ply wood dash mod a PO had installed.

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And spent time with an angle grinder cleaning up the frame around the fuel tank area, in preparation for primer/paint, easier to do with no fuel tank there.

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cucvrus

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Jonestown Pennsylvania
I removed the ply wood dash mod a PO had installed.

That dash mod was awesome. It reminded me of the helm of a pirate ship. Shiver me timbers Mate. It has the perfect places to set me pint of ale and whiskey. It would fit in well at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. All you would need is a ship wheel to complete that Mod. Have a great day.
 

Tinstar

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Edmond, Oklahoma
Removed sway bar to paint and replace bushings with greasable ones from Energy Suspension.

View attachment 644693 View attachment 644692

I removed the ply wood dash mod a PO had installed.

View attachment 644694 View attachment 644696

And spent time with an angle grinder cleaning up the frame around the fuel tank area, in preparation for primer/paint, easier to do with no fuel tank there.

View attachment 644695
What is the part number for the new ES bushings?
That will help others wanting to do the same
 

joshuak

Active member
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Location
Slower shore, DE
That dash mod was awesome. It reminded me of the helm of a pirate ship. Shiver me timbers Mate. It has the perfect places to set me pint of ale and whiskey. It would fit in well at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. All you would need is a ship wheel to complete that Mod. Have a great day.
You know, somebody spent some time doing that dash and the cup holder was interesting to say the least. It's a shame they didn't mask off the windshield before the camo paint job.

About the ship wheel, looks like Renault has us covered.

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Great day to all as well!


What is the part number for the new ES bushings?
That will help others wanting to do the same
My bad. Energy Suspension 3.518, K5 Front Sway Bar and End Link Bushings (1 1/4 in.).
 

gottaluvit

Well-known member
Had the infamous metal to metal brake grind on my way to mow a couple places the other day. Funny thing is that I just told someone that I need to check the brakes on it and my VW soon before cold weather strikes. Missed it by that much (Adam Smart 1" finger gap)! Got the rotor turned for $15 and the lifetime pads cost $18 at the Zone. Gottaluv a $33 brake job, with even my error on checking on brakes sooner.
 
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cucvrus

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Jonestown Pennsylvania
I have a broken/cracked transmission case on Big Red M1008. It has been messing ATF in the house for several months and I dropped it off at a transmission shop to get the flex plate changed and the transmission checked out. It has not been rebuilt in 5 years and after the winter we had here last year it was time to have a clean bill of health for the drive-line. I suspect the crack/break happened when the front drive shaft broke. I had several tons of salt bags in the bed and as I remember I was pushing snow and the drive shaft just broke from shear torque. The tires were connected to black top and 40" of heavy snow was being pushed and bang. That can send a shock wave severe enough to crack a transmission case. I have a transmission transfer case from an M1031 that I scrapped out a few years back. It only had 5200 miles on it but I will just take the transmission in and tell them to salvage the case. I would not just trust putting a 32 year old transmission in even if it were new in the box. Seals dry out and it is a waste of time IMHO. I will report back. I will post pictures of the scrap cracked/broken case. Have a great day.
 

cucvrus

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Location
Jonestown Pennsylvania
I have a broken/cracked transmission case on Big Red M1008. It has been messing ATF in the house for several months and I dropped it off at a transmission shop to get the flex plate changed and the transmission checked out. It has not been rebuilt in 5 years and after the winter we had here last year it was time to have a clean bill of health for the drive-line. I suspect the crack/break happened when the front drive shaft broke. I had several tons of salt bags in the bed and as I remember I was pushing snow and the drive shaft just broke from shear torque. The tires were connected to black top and 40" of heavy snow was being pushed and bang. That can send a shock wave severe enough to crack a transmission case. I have a transmission transfer case from an M1031 that I scrapped out a few years back. It only had 5200 miles on it but I will just take the transmission in and tell them to salvage the case. I would not just trust putting a 32 year old transmission in even if it were new in the box. Seals dry out and it is a waste of time IMHO. I will report back. I will post pictures of the scrap cracked/broken case. Have a great day.
Update the transmission case is being welded. It was just a small static crack at the rear about 3 " long. V'd it out with a carbide bit and had it welded. The other good news is I will have it back on the road for next week. The total cost was not all that bad. $1800. total R & R and over haul of the transmission and transfer case. It had been done about 65,000 hard miles ago. So it was due. Had it not been for the leak and the intermittent flex-plate milling it would still be running down the road. But with the hard use of winter coming a little PM goes a long way. Beats an ATF trail in the snow. Been there done that to many times. Have a great day.
 

Kaiser67M715

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NH
That's good it was save able, some older transmissions and parts are getting scarce so to be able to save something that most would throw out is a good thing. Cracks are no fun, but a good weld and some well placed drill holes can save most parts like that.


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Another Ahab

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Alexandria, VA
Update the transmission case is being welded. The total cost was not all that bad. $1800. total R & R and over haul of the transmission and transfer case. It had been done about 65,000 hard miles ago.
If they're even available, what would a new replacement transmission have run?
 

cucvrus

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Jonestown Pennsylvania
New TH400 transmission cases from GM have been discontinued for years. I bought one new GM one about 10 years ago and the last one I bought I felt like GM had acknowledged the weakness in the case and the tail section of the case was completely different then the OEM transmission. I have 3 low mileage CUCV transmissions in my shed that have cracked / broken cases at the same spot on the tail section. So I do agree it can be caused by lifting the vehicles with a forklift and tweaking the driveshaft. And also by running them with dry CV joints and hard use. Breaking drive shafts and plowing is hard use. The absence of the torque rods would also cause a weak link in the drive line.
 

rustystud

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Woodinville, Washington
New TH400 transmission cases from GM have been discontinued for years. I bought one new GM one about 10 years ago and the last one I bought I felt like GM had acknowledged the weakness in the case and the tail section of the case was completely different then the OEM transmission. I have 3 low mileage CUCV transmissions in my shed that have cracked / broken cases at the same spot on the tail section. So I do agree it can be caused by lifting the vehicles with a forklift and tweaking the driveshaft. And also by running them with dry CV joints and hard use. Breaking drive shafts and plowing is hard use. The absence of the torque rods would also cause a weak link in the drive line.

I agree, the absence of the transfer-case to engine rod can cause a lot of troubles for a truck that is worked hard. It really adds a lot of structural strength to the transmission. Also the front cover to engine mount rods is very important too.
 

cucvrus

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At 225K on this truck and the use and abuse I have given it I don't think I will go thru the trouble to add that rod. It just don't seem worth it anymore. If I add that it will break somewhere else anyway. Very few times do we get 40" of wet heavy snow that I can plow down to blacktop on the first pass. That amount of weight combined with the flex and snapping driveshaft effect can still break/crack things with the support in place. Besides that is extra work and I am busy keeping up as it is. I am not sure why they deleted the engine/transfer case rods on these seemingly HD K30 trucks. For the military I would have thought they went all out and build a drive shaft drop loop and forklift pickup pockets into the frame rail. But be that as it may it has held up well and I don't have the desire to change the design at this time. The wheels on Big Red go round and round and that is all I desire from it. Thank you for your input Rusty Stud.
 

gottaluvit

Well-known member
In doing my brakes the other day, I was shocked they also went light duty on the front brake's dust/stone shield behind the rotors. Any 3/4 ton I had of square body civy units had the heavy steel ones. Then I get a 1 1/4 ton built for our military and they are tin.
 

Kaiser67M715

Member
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18
Location
NH
In doing my brakes the other day, I was shocked they also went light duty on the front brake's dust/stone shield behind the rotors. Any 3/4 ton I had of square body civy units had the heavy steel ones. Then I get a 1 1/4 ton built for our military and they are tin.
In 1980 or 81 they did away with the heavy steel shield and went to a light sheet stamped guard on all trucks. I assume they just thought it was overkill or steel prices were rising so they wanted to cut back on certain things

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cucvrus

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Jonestown Pennsylvania
I would say it was also an easy way to lose some weight on the trucks. But if they are that bad and rusty the nude look is in. Let them rotors all hang out and shine. Unless you can figure out a glare less rotor surface. Maybe rotors made from hemp. Wow man far out man. I would be smoking my brakes all the time. Have a great day.
 

german m1008

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Rhein-Main Area, Germany
Today my M1008 passed safety inspection (german Tüv), emission test and examination for historical tags......without any issues....
Previously I have done a few things the last weeks.....
4 row radiator , thermostat, heater, all water hoses, steering pump, steering pump bracket, steering pump and alternator belts, all steering pump hoses, fuel hoses replaced.
One mornig.....cold start issue.....replaced the glow plug relay....problem not solved.
A few days later, no starting at all.
The glow plug relay killed all 8 glow plugs.....replaced them with new AC Delcos G60, replaced also the glow plug controller card with a new one from Antennaclimber.......all problems was gone.
Sandblasted the inner fenders and battery trays, new coating.
Front bumper and fenders, some rust removed and painted.
 
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