[repoman]

chassis painted.

Chassis is now painted. Used Rustoleum 15 minute drying paint .

 

[repoman]

UPPER A-arms reburb

Officially I have used one knotted wire brush to clear from firewall to front bumper.

A-arms prepped. I purchased Duralast upper ball joints from Autozone, and they did not have any zerk fittings. Took those back. #1 Durango design flaw. No greasable ball joint fittings. What were you thinking Dodge?

Two coats of primer. Zinc cold galvanizing compound on roll bar. For color and corrosion resistance.

 

[repoman]

Lower A-arms, ball joints and Steering gear redo

Steering gear coming out looking nice. Clear coated, painted, tie rod ends on, Still need to refurb the two hoses. I ended up killing the lines from the 2003, which were seemingly in better condition, however they kinked and wrecked immediately. Go back to the 2001 and a slight tap with a hammer and 18mm wrench and the lines came right off.

Lower arms, ball joints, torsion bar, key all installed and back to base height adjustment from the height the 2001 was Pro tipI counted the threads above the key holder to top of bolt. Much easier then counting the # of revolutions used to remove the key bolts at end of torsion bar ( approx 22 turns, yet it was 16 threads showing on the top).

 

[repoman]

Lower Ball joints installed

other side of steering gear redone. Ball joints installed, lower a-arms, torsion bars and keys all installed and ready to go.

 

[repoman]

Calipers going RED.

This morning I ordered heavy duty service semi metallic pads, new seals for pistons. I pumped the brake fluid out. Today I will continue the derusting in prep for painting red.

 

[silverunicorn]

This is just amazing. Great work!

 

[Citadel Brian]

You certainly used up that wire wheel!! Lol.

It's coming out great!

 

[Dat01D]

Damn. If I had known, I'd probably have been able to offer you new semi-loaded calipers, pads, rotors, hoses, drums, shoes, hardware, and wheel cylinders for stupid cheap. They're in the back of my D, which is currently under a tree.

 

[skitzo.d]

Nice job!

 

[repoman]

Steering gear complete and installed

Came out looking pretty good. Installed. Not torqued yet. Have to pull it again in order to get motor mount installed. left motor mount bolt needs to be in . One of the 'TANGS' on the top of the steering gear prevents the left motor mount from coming fully out. Painful, but cool feature.

 

[repoman]

Calipers primed, motor mounts going metallic blue

Okay I have decided on some color scheme. I like this blue that is on my 99 Durango. I can mimic the effect with metallic candy paint. Looks pretty good.

Here you can see I have the hi-temp paint on the calipers. The boots were torn so I will have to rebuild them. They use Phenolic pistons. Believe me don't try and use pliers or channel locks to get them out. Use a piece of wood to catch the piston . Press out with air slowly, don't burst out. Use a piston compression tool to hold one piston barely in, while moving the other piston out with air. ( wood to catch in case you go to all the out. )

I have always purchased lifetime parts. In this case the upper tie rods that I put in 4/27/15 were borked already. I returned them cause I save all my receipts.

I have started to assemble the steering knuckles to the arms. I have to have a whole front end torquing session.

1. Finish front end
2. Get wheels back on
3. Work on axle prep/clean/paint
4. Move on to prepping the engine.

Making progress. Little steps each night. All while working 60+ hours in two jobs. Woot.

Almost ready to work on the engine.

 

[repoman]

Motor mounts Part 2 . Advice needed on axle remove from cv joint.

one engine mount in, You have to put the motor mount in first, then the steering gear. First pix are second motor mount and Ol' Blue in the background. Can't finish the front end now, cause I need to put the axle back in. except I can't get the shaft from the front diff off of the bad half shaft> I have heated it, soaked in penetrating oil, hit it with sledge. Nothing. Any ideas? Anyone Bueller?

 

[Skippy426]

Impact gun+heat maybe? Like a half inch drive pneumatic impact and just wail on it till it breaks free


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[repoman]

Ceramic paint on calipers. Axle cleaned ready for paint.

Ceramic paint on calipers. Need to bake em at 200*F for an hour.

Axle prepped. Need to get seals, a shaft,new cover and a coat of blue candy on it. Maybe tomorrow night.
So much more rewarding to prep things for install, as opposed to tearing stuff apart.

 

[repoman]

Like lipstick on a pig! ( blue candy)

Ain't she purdy?

 

[Citadel Brian]

Looking sweet!!

 

[repoman]

Pig in a blanket

New Seals. Want to publicly shame the local repair shop that said that the seals on a 2003 8.25" 205MM axle are "different" and can only come from a dealer. $8 each. both the same. notice the redesign without the stupid o-ring. Who thought that was a good idea?

Pig is hanging in a blanket.

Will be:
Baking the calipers @200*F for 1 hour in old BBQ grill.
Traveling to SStubes.com in Ohio next week to meet the staff and get all my lines.

excited! Almost to working on the engine.

 

[repoman]

Caliper bake!

Ceramic coating after curing, baked 200*F for 1 hour. Ready to get rebuilt and reinstalled. Then finish front end and move to engine work.

 

[repoman]

Multiple updates: First topic SStubes.com

First on the list.

I made a trip to Wadsworth Ohio to visit FineLines http://www.sstubes.com. Had a great visit with Jeremy, Fred and the President Bob. Here are some shots

tube bending machine

End selection and capping table.

Here is a Youyube video of the bending , machine in action.

As part of my deal with them I will be assisting and asking for assistance identifing as many front and rear steel line variations as possible. They have run into so many variations that it's been a nightmare, (which I fully understand after talking to Bob) for them to the point they have pulled the line (insert pun) down. I will start another thread asking for specific pictures where possible and filling in by going to used car lots and junk yards. I'll chart out the pictures confirmations needed in that thread probably tomorrow.

 

[repoman]

Dual Piston Durango Caliper rebuild procedure

Get everything ready, gloves , fresh brake fluid, caliper, seals, pistons

Put scraper rubber ring into caliper body on both sides. Make sure to soak in brake fluid first. Then pull gasket seal down over piston until it slips into the annular groove. Make sure this is even all the way around. Test by scrunching the seal flat with top of piston.

Carefully seat piston EVENLY into caliper housing. Piston was well lubricated with brake fluid. Use Brake caliper tool to evenly press piston past scraper o-ring inside piston. Continue down until just before outside seal makes contact with caliper housing. Use Large round socket, or 4x4 ball joint press ring ( 3.75" iirc) to press seal into caliper housing. In the end with it lubricated I was able to work it down in with just my fingers.

This is about where I stopped before installation. You will have to press these until they bottom out to get them over new rotors and new pads. Just do it now. Be careful to sense when it's bottomed out and don't ever over press it down. They can stick ( well pretty hard with these being phenolic pistons, old metal kind would rust and stick on first pad change).

Calipers assembled.