when it rains it pours

[Sparky83]

So heres how my day went... getting the trailer ready for a trip i had to move it around with the truck... course with all the rain weve had lately i had to put the truck in 4wd... (found out low range made it even easier to back up the hill with it behind me... ) i didnt notice it when i locked the hubs but when i went to unlock them i discovered yet again ive got a cracked rim... GRRRRR

its not just cracked but split clean through the spoke to the other side... the spokes also offset now slightly deeper into the rim from where it should be... no clue how or why it happened... but its getting annoying this is the second time its happened in 3 years... (other new one is still on the driverside.. this time its on the passenger side...)

so after getting something to eat i decide ill throw the spare tire on the truck JIC i might need it... low and behold the spares COMPLETELY FLAT!!!!! I air the tires up regularly and always check the spare.. matter fact i just checked it at the beginning of the summer... was still holding plenty of air then... i air it back up seemed to be holding air but couldnt find any leak... i grab a bucket of soapy water and douse the tire... its leaking all around the steel rim where the tires supposed to be seated... i dunno if its the rim or the tire.. but looking at the date code for the spare it says 1810... meaning 18th week of 2010 when it was made...

 

[Beach66Bum]

Wow that’s crazy and frustrating! Has to be a flaw in the rim from when it was made. And just unbelievable that it happened to you twice!

As for the spare, that is another odd and frustrating thing. My spare is the original and almost 20 years old and holds air, never had it leaking out. My rims are factory aluminum.

Curious what others have to say.

 

[Sparky83]

the front and outer ones on mine are aluminum... but the inner rims on the rear are steel as is the spare... (way ford did it.. have found out the steel inners seem to balance the axle.. found that out when some shop put the aluminum ones on the inside instead of the outside.. dummys... )

the annoying part of the spare is i always check it when im checking tire pressures every few months... it was still holding air at the start of summer... but when i went to put it on yesterday it was flat as could be... soap test showed it leaking all around where the tire bead supposed to seal against the rim..

 

[Sparky83]

Well ford dealer here says they cant get my rim anymore. Booo
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[Beach66Bum]

Well ford dealer here says they cant get my rim anymore. Booo
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Ya, I bet because of the issues Shawn!
Are you getting the spare tire reseated on the rim?

 

[Fellro]

Keeping the spare on the horizontal will do that many times. The water sits at the bead then rusts/corrodes the rims, then next thing you know, leakers. Get some as a former tire shop coworker called it, gorilla snot (bead sealer) clean the rim, tehn reseal with the sealer. Generally takes care of it for me.

 

[Sparky83]

Keeping the spare on the horizontal will do that many times. The water sits at the bead then rusts/corrodes the rims, then next thing you know, leakers. Get some as a former tire shop coworker called it, gorilla snot (bead sealer) clean the rim, tehn reseal with the sealer. Generally takes care of it for me.

i was going to look at it when i get the other rim replaced... right now its sitting on the truck... lost 9 psi since yesterday and today...

 

[Sparky83]

new rim arrived saturday... but realized the new one didnt come with a valve stem pre-installed like the last rim i bought did... so hoping the shop i want to take it to can swap the old to the new since theyre "bolted in" but i know theres a seal in there too... dunno if theyll have that seal or not...

 

[Beach66Bum]

new rim arrived saturday... but realized the new one didnt come with a valve stem pre-installed like the last rim i bought did... so hoping the shop i want to take it to can swap the old to the new since theyre "bolted in" but i know theres a seal in there too... dunno if theyll have that seal or not...

Think it depends on the condition of the screw in (bolt in) metal valve stems. I know they prefer to use new for their warranty. Since mine were only a year old on Old Orange250, they reused them.

 

[Sparky83]

they didnt have the right size so they had to transfer the old one to the new rim.... the biggest concern with reusing the old ones is if the seal doesnt reseal to the new one... usually you dont take the old ones off unless you can replace the seal... they didnt even have the seal to replace either... the shop it went to does alot of tractor trailers and tractors... (heavy equipment)... they thought they had some that would fit but didnt... they offered to put in a snap in high pressure stem but everything ive heard of for these trucks is they need the bolt on ones...

 

[Beach66Bum]

they didnt have the right size so they had to transfer the old one to the new rim.... the biggest concern with reusing the old ones is if the seal doesnt reseal to the new one... usually you dont take the old ones off unless you can replace the seal... they didnt even have the seal to replace either... the shop it went to does alot of tractor trailers and tractors... (heavy equipment)... they thought they had some that would fit but didnt... they offered to put in a snap in high pressure stem but everything ive heard of for these trucks is they need the bolt on ones...

Oh man!

 

[Sparky83]

And to add to the new list. Found out during closer inspection of the truck And its brakes i found that both front hub unit bearings are leaking grease again. So now those have to be replaced. If i was still running around town with it i wouldnt care. But just over thousand mile round trip while pulling trailer im going to play on the side of caution and just replace them. But least i got the rear brakes finally adjusted to hold the truck on a hill.

Also picked up some gear lube for both the front and rear diffs. Rear just needs topped off from having the half shafts out. Front i plan to change it out since i dont know when it was last done. And looks little milky. But the front will wait for another day.

 

[Sparky83]

changed out the hub assemblies on the truck. The spiney freey anti metal rubbie juice came out. pass side not to bad. But driver side was totally covered. Along with the inside of the rotor hat. 

pass side

driver side one

got them changed out Then went to try and refill what came out when i had the halfshalfs out to adjust the drum brakes. Apparently between the times ive had them out i lost 1-1/2 bottles of fluid. Had only bought one the day before.  So had to get another to finish topping it off.  So now the rears full again.  

 

[Sparky83]

i go to lock the front end up so i can hook the trailer up for my trip tomorrow only to discover the truck has a surprise for me...



it blew the hard line for the brakes just behind the flex joint on the line going from the ABS manifold to the back of the truck...

 

[Sparky83]

 got the lines swapped out and the brakes bled on the truck tonight. The first pic is just comparison from the old line to the new one. The second pic is of the hole where the brake fluid was escaping.

had the line changed out in about 30 mins. Finished the bleeding after the sun had completely set. Will work on replacing the rest of the hard lines shortly. Safe enough for right now. But want to work on replacing the rest for peace of mind.
 

 

[smokey]

Wow if its not one thing its another

 

[Jasperrc]

Glad you found that while it was sitting still!

I've had 3 different brake line failures and a caliper failure while moving and it's not fun.