The Lair

Wish you lived close enough I could drive mine to ya and help you fix mine....so much crap on my truck would get fixed and not endlessly procrastinated...

 

I always make major purchases with my discover card. Has saved my ass a few times when transactions have gone sideways. They have never not ruled in my favor.

 

Kinda random but I wanted to share a tip whenever you have to ship heavy truck parts. UPS has their own flat rate shipping that utilizes your own packaging and goes off of cubic inches with a 50 lb weight limit. It's nice because you're not limited to what you can shove into a USPS flate rate box, for example.

If you repurpose boxes to make your own form-fitting box, you can save a ton of money. To send a pair of spindles to CA would have been about $80 but was $25 through UPS flat rate.

Yesterday I made a box to fit two CV axles. Squeaked in at 47 lbs and barely within the size limits. It also cost me $25 to send to CA vs close to $100 if I did normal shipping.

https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/shipping/simple-rate.page

 

When it comes to shipping heavy things, the key is to eliminate movement of the part(s). I like to use additional cardboard since it reinforces and also keeps it from moving around.

That, and reinforced tape. Be liberal with it.

$13 BOMEI PACK Mono Filament Strapping Tape, 2 Roll 2" x 35 Yards 5.5 Mil, Heavy Duty Transparent Reinforced Fiberglass Tape

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T1XVBGY?ie=UTF8

 

It's always worth checking multiple sources too. My go-to is pirateship.com for anything medium to small sized. It's a site that utilizes USPS deals to somehow save you money. I've used it a bunch and never had any issues. The benefit of shipping USPS is you can just place it in your mailbox if it fits, or schedule a free USPS pickup if it's supported at your address.

https://tools.usps.com/schedule-pickup-steps.htm

https://www.pirateship.com/

 

#randyship

 

I figure I've gotta get good at it if I'm doing it so often.

 

This is good stuff. Thanks

 

Already doing a better packing job than most shipping companies.

 

That box looks familiar...

 

haha these are other spacers that I sold for a friend. IIRC you got whatever I pulled out of my recycling bin for extra cardboard, like cereal boxes and whatnot.

 

Think it was granola bars and summer's eve containers...

 

On today’s episode of “why did I wait so long to do this?”. The ac drain mod. It took less than half an hour and that includes the time it took to pick up the parts from the auto parts store. 5/8” ID hose and a couple of clamps and that’s it. $7 in parts.

 

Hey I was just about to do this on my truck. The Texas heat has me running my AC way to high that what I’m normally use to in Colorado!

 

If you use the heater hose like I did, I recommend some WD40 to lube it up. It's a tight fit to push it on since it's so stiff.

 

We all need one of these: https://rinsekit.com/collections/pro-series/products/rinsekit-pro

 

I did a more thorough brake bleeding today with a vacuum bleeder. My brakes were a little squishier than usual after my debacle at Chris’s, even after fixing the line and bleeding that corner. I took the time to run about half of a gallon through the truck and it’s back to its normal, slightly squishy self. I’ll adjust the drums before my trip this weekend which will tighten up pedal feel a bit as well.

ARES 70923-1-Liter Vacuum Brake Fluid Bleeder - Hanging Hook and Locking Trigger Allows for Hands Free Operation

$37 ARES 70923 - Vacuum Brake Fluid Bleeder - 1-Liter Vacuum Fluid Extractor - Hanging Hook and Locking Trigger Allows for Hands Free Operation

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CP1YLDF?_encoding=UTF8

 

Guess what's shipping out today!!

 

Sheesh, finally