My Dodge Truck Project (Cummins Inside)

[DRIVEN]

That really is an idea that's way overdue. I used the same stuff in my Cutlass when I changed it right before a trip to the dragstrip, years ago. The shudder was so bad after a couple runs that I was convinced I broke something. Added a little bottle of that smelly Mopar additive and it quite right down.

 

[joesregalproject]

I've never seen those, but I like. Squeezing the life out of a bottle is not only a pain in the *ss, but also only somewhat effective in the second half.

I usually use a pump and the gallon size containers but the pumps always break. These were nice. This truck has a lot of room underneath but that isn't always the case.

That really is an idea that's way overdue. I used the same stuff in my Cutlass when I changed it right before a trip to the dragstrip, years ago. The shudder was so bad after a couple runs that I was convinced I broke something. Added a little bottle of that smelly Mopar additive and it quite right down.

I thought the same thing. I thought maybe a drum brake grenaded and was grabbing or a spider gear shattered. It still isn't completely gone but it's a whole lot better.

 

[joesregalproject]

I adjusted the idle today. The factory tach isn't very accurate so I used a photo tachometer from Harbor Freight. It worked well. The idle spec is 840 in gear with the A/C on. It was way too low, around 500-ish.

I set it to spec and that was way too high, it was slamming between gears and lurching forward. Then I remembered my torque converter is a low(er) stall. So I set it to around 750 and that seems to be a good spot. I might play with it a bit more after driving for a while but its a definite improvement.

 

[joesregalproject]

Today I replaced the master cylinder which I had suspected was bad a while ago, but I started driving the truck and never replaced it. When I was adjusting the idle last week I noticed it was wet around the reservoir seals so it was an easy decision to replace it.

Changing the MC was easy. However bleeding the brake lines is always a pain. 3 out of 4 bleeders opened up fine. The passenger side rear snapped off...
Which then lead to replacing the wheel cylinder...
Which then lead to the brake line being disturbed and leaking...

So I wound up making a brake line from the wheel cylinder to the rear axle junction block. Once that was done I bled the brakes. Its hard for me to tell if there is still some air in the lines, or if the pedal just requires less effort because the old master cylinder was junk. I can stop fine but the pedal feels different. I may try to bleed some more out tomorrow.

I also went ahead and put some stop leak tabs in the cooling system to hopefully plug up that small coolant leak at the head. The package says 6 tablets treats 3 gallons and the cooling capacity of this truck is more than double that, but I put all 6 tabs in and the leak has definitely slowed, if not stopped. If I need to I'll buy another package of them, but so far I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Supercharged111]

Today I replaced the master cylinder which I had suspected was bad a while ago, but I started driving the truck and never replaced it. When I was adjusting the idle last week I noticed it was wet around the reservoir seals so it was an easy decision to replace it.
View attachment 196952
Changing the MC was easy. However bleeding the brake lines is always a pain. 3 out of 4 bleeders opened up fine. The passenger side rear snapped off...
Which then lead to replacing the wheel cylinder...
Which then lead to the brake line being disturbed and leaking...

So I wound up making a brake line from the wheel cylinder to the rear axle junction block. Once that was done I bled the brakes. Its hard for me to tell if there is still some air in the lines, or if the pedal just requires less effort because the old master cylinder was junk. I can stop fine but the pedal feels different. I may try to bleed some more out tomorrow.
View attachment 196951

I also went ahead and put some stop leak tabs in the cooling system to hopefully plug up that small coolant leak at the head. The package says 6 tablets treats 3 gallons and the cooling capacity of this truck is more than double that, but I put all 6 tabs in and the leak has definitely slowed, if not stopped. If I need to I'll buy another package of them, but so far I'm cautiously optimistic.
View attachment 196950

I think your rear brakes notoriously suck at self adjusting, have you monkeyed with that yet?

 

[joesregalproject]

I think your rear brakes notoriously suck at self adjusting, have you monkeyed with that yet?

They do make contact with the drum when applied but I think they could be tightened up a few clicks. The shoes and drums looked to be in good shape, lots of friction material left. The hardware didn't look all that old either. However the parking brake cable definitely needs tightened up a bit.

 

[DRIVEN]

Definitely snug up the adjustment.

 

[Texas82GP]

They do make contact with the drum when applied but I think they could be tightened up a few clicks. The shoes and drums looked to be in good shape, lots of friction material left. The hardware didn't look all that old either. However the parking brake cable definitely needs tightened up a bit.

Tighten the shoes until you feel light drag when turning the wheel/tire. Once you have the rears tightened up, then check your parking brake adjustment. It may no longer need it. If the rears are too loose, the front is doing all the work. The pedal won't feel right.

 

[joesregalproject]

Adjusted those rear brakes today. Pedal feels really good. The parking brake is a bit more positive but it still won't completely hold it on a steep hill. There is a small amount of adjustment left in the cable equalizer, but I'm hesitant to crank down on it because that's when cables usually start snapping.

The rear axle is still shuddering a bit. Not nearly as bad as it was but i don't know how I feel about dumping another bottle of limited slip additive.

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

I almost bought a 6BT Engine for some side project stuff. Buddy of mine has a 1994 we've done some small stuff to and he uses it all the time.