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Crusty's 75th Annv PW #1590 build/mods adventure

Caviat here.
I'm just a shade tree mechanic of 50 years. I've built everything on a vehicle except a diesel engine and a automatic transmission. Other than that, I've built all of the other parts on them from custom bikes, blown hotrods, and off road toys. So I'm comfortable with wrenches.

Got the driver's side done.

The Good:
All 8 plugs replaced
Didn't break or damage any of the coil packs.

The Bad.
Had to remove the inner fender well and fender flare to access the rear 3 cylinders. Broke a few clips in doing so.
Lots of cussing going on.
2nd and 4th cylinders from the front are the worse to get out. 3rd not much better. Just not a lot of room to work.

The Ugly.
My arms look like I was in a cat fight. Cuts, scrapes, skin missing from my elbows to the back of my hands. No real way to avoid it.
Knees, back and chest are sore. Lots of motrin. Spent a lot of time on my knees, leaning over the hub pressing into my stomach and chest.

There is very little room to work. Sparkplug holes are deep. I got lucky as on the first plug, I had put a 3 inch extension on the plug socket. Dropped it in the hole and the tip of the extension was barley showing.
Some holes I had socket, 3" extension and universal attached. Others I had to swap the position of the extension and universal. Some plugs I could put longer extensions onto that set up and use my air ratchet. Others I could only get a ratchet wrench on. Lots of threads on the plugs.
I only had 1 universal. A second one may have helped to make the job a little easier.
Also I used 2 different spark plug sockets. 1 with the rubber "gripper" in it to hold the plug, the other without.
First few plugs, it was a bitch getting the holder plug off once the plug was in.if you can find a magnetic socket that will hold the plug good while I stalling it, that will work better. Use the gripper socket for removal though

So with pulling the bracket, inner fender well, fender flare, R&R the 8 plugs and reinstalling the bracket, I'm at 4+ hours.
Still need to reinstall the inner fender and fender flare.

I'll tackle the passenger side next.
Ain't no way anyone could get it done in 2.7 hours the book says.
 
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Ok, got the inner liner back in. Easier when the tire is not in the way. Start the perimeter bolts first. Then use a awl or punch to align the other holes. I did the 2 bolts first, left loos. Then aligned the 3 push pins. Used a hammer to full seat them. Then went around and tightened all the bolts.
Now I need to find clips for the fender flare and it will go back on.
Took about 30 min.
 
So looking for the clips for the fender flare. Found at AutoZone and eBay for $13 each. :oops: :eek:
Did another search and it came up by a different name. On eBay 20 clips for $13. So I ordered those.
 
Crusty old shellback said:
Caviat here.
I'm just a shade tree mechanic of 50 years. I've built everything on a vehicle except a diesel engine and a automatic transmission. Other than that, I've built all of the other parts on them from custom bikes, blown hotrods, and off road toys. So I'm comfortable with wrenches.

Got the driver's side done.

The Good:
All 8 plugs replaced
Didn't break or damage any of the coil packs.

The Bad.
Had to remove the inner fender well and fender flare to access the rear 3 cylinders. Broke a few clips in doing so.
Lots of cussing going on.
2nd and 4th cylinders from the front are the worse to get out. 3rd not much better. Just not a lot of room to work.

The Ugly.
My arms look like I was in a cat fight. Cuts, scrapes, skin missing from my elbows to the back of my hands. No real way to avoid it.
Knees, back and chest are sore. Lots of motrin. Spent a lot of time on my knees, leaning over the hub pressing into my stomach and chest.

There is very little room to work. Sparkplug holes are deep. I got lucky as on the first plug, I had put a 3 inch extension on the plug socket. Dropped it in the hole and the tip of the extension was barley showing.
Some holes I had socket, 3" extension and universal attached. Others I had to swap the position of the extension and universal. Some plugs I could put longer extensions onto that set up and use my air ratchet. Others I could only get a ratchet wrench on. Lots of threads on the plugs.
I only had 1 universal. A second one may have helped to make the job a little easier.
Also I used 2 different spark plug sockets. 1 with the rubber "gripper" in it to hold the plug, the other without.
First few plugs, it was a bitch getting the holder plug off once the plug was in.if you can find a magnetic socket that will hold the plug good while I stalling it, that will work better. Use the gripper socket for removal though

So with pulling the bracket, inner fender well, fender flare, R&R the 8 plugs and reinstalling the bracket, I'm at 4+ hours.
Still need to reinstall the inner fender and fender flare.

I'll tackle the passenger side next.
Ain't no way anyone could get it done in 2.7 hours the book says.
Click to expand...
If you got the driver side done then the passenger side should be a cake walk, by the looks of it. Nice job.
 
Ok, passenger side is done. Hardest one was the 4th one back, of course. There is a soft heater hose in the way. But you can pull the clamp off the post on the firewall, and that allows you to bend it up out of the way
Total time 45 min.

So plan on at least 5 hours, a lot of cuts and scrapes, plenty of cussing, and a sore body to do all 16 plugs.
Have fun

Come spring, I'll tackle the fluids in axles, tranny and T case
 
Yea, I was looking for one of those at the local stores. It may have worked.

But the driver's side, there is just no way to get to the back 3 cylinders from the top. Even if I had a top side creeper. Would work on the passenger side, but didn't really need it. A ladder with a platform and I was good.
 
So took a nice little 800 mile road trip.
Been seeing some issues lately and noticed them even more on this trip.
When hitting some uneven bumps in the road, I get the rocking boat feel from the truck.
When hitting the paving groves across the road, I get the bucking bronco feel. If I slow down, it gets worse. If I speed up to say 80 mph, I get on top of them and it's a lot less and manageable.

Sent a email to CJC off road. Going to take off the shocks and check them when I get home.

Any other possible ideas to check? It's been coming on slowly and is getting worse.

Recap.
'21 75th power wagon
104K miles
Kenda Klevar 35x12.50R17 at 35/30 PSI.
Carli adjustable front track bar.
Apex steering and drag link
Thuren rear track bar
Thuren tuned Fox IFP shocks and steering stabilizer.
Thuren alignment specs.
Recently rotated and balanced tires.

Shocks have maybe 20K miles on them. Same with tires.
 
Got home after my 1800 mile road trip.
Took a good look under the truck. No oil leaks from the shocks. No loose or broken suspension parts.
Did the bounce test and truck keeps bouncing and rolling. So shocks are shot in less than 6 months.
Sent CJC Off road the message. Waiting on their reply
 
Well just checked my notes
Put the shocks on in June with 62K miles on the truck
I've now got 104K miles on it.
So yea, 40K and they are done. I'll see what CJC says. If they won't rebuild/replace them, then I'm going with Bilstein 5100s.
 
Crusty old shellback said:
Well just checked my notes
Put the shocks on in June with 62K miles on the truck
I've now got 104K miles on it.
So yea, 40K and they are done. I'll see what CJC says. If they won't rebuild/replace them, then I'm going with Bilstein 5100s.
Click to expand...
Plus 40k miles in six months that is some traveling.
 
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My Bad. Didn't realize I haven't updated my service history in a bit. So it was June of 2024 I put the shocks on. That sounds better. 42K miles in a year and a half.
Time to rebuild them. I'll rebuild them my self.
 
Looks like $250 for oil and rebuild kits. Just need to check the regulator on my nitrogen bottle to see if I can get 250PSI out of the regulator. Otherwise, I'll have to buy a different one
 
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