Anyone who knows me at all, looking at the truck rear-end and muffler-pipe repair job I started a few days ago, would know that if Aimee and I had any extra money to pay for new parts, there would be a lot more to do.And there was. I found out that both leaf springs were broken, and I also decided to put new brake drums on.
As usual around here in the summer, time is relatively abundant, but money for parts and materials less so.
All the same we were able to splurge a little on some additional repairs. Not that they didn't need doing. Just that we could have used the truck again this winter without doing them.
We could have squeaked by, in other words, on our old brake drums and springs.
(Ouch.)
The old springs had survived a good deal of abuse, including hauling much of the lumber to build the Bale House, as well as hauling very large amounts of hay for the farm. There was no surprise that they were broken.
The old drums were rusty, and I had known this since two winters ago, when I had repaired the emergency brake mechanism
Brake drums are always rusty. What required these to be replaced was the really bad rust that was eating away at the rim, making it harder and harder to pry the drums off using the normal kind of drum-prying technique.
The new drums have come in already, and Fedex says that the new springs will be here shortly, tomorrow or Friday.
Tomorrow's job, while we wait for the springs, will be to fit the new drums and do some rust removal and spraying of Rustoleum and undercoating.
This truck will be spanking when we get done, and good for another few winters, touch wood.
It's that old high-miler engine that will be the death of this beast.
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Welcome to our Farm Blog.
The purpose of this blog is for Aimee and I to communicate with friends and family, with those of our students, and other folks in general who are interested in homesteading and farming activities.
The earliest posts, at the very end of the blog, tell the story of the Great Farm, our purchase of a fragment of that farm, the renovation of the homestead and its populating with people and animals. Go all the way to the last post in the archive and read backwards from there to get it in chronological order.
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