What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

You know what they say….trucks with scars are soooo sexy!!!

 

Got new tires installed after one of my Duratracs(non RT) took a razor blade straight between the treads.

Replaced them with Duratrac RTs. Hopefully they perform as well as the OG Duratracs.

 

Magnetic socket for the reinstall would help a bunch. I didn't have that an used a piece of paper to make the nut stay in the socket. Was a total pain of a MOD. I also didn't drop the whole headliner so needed to be careful to not create a crease. Did it but it was tight and a little rough on the hands.

 

Globbed the F out of my hose clamp (tail gate lock) with JB Weld after seeing that guy's video of his getting jacked with a hose clamp. I can't see this thing coming off with out a grinder or other power saw.

Even the ~$30 Amazon style locks wouldn't give me confidence after seeing those animals take there time to use a basic screw driver or Allen to get it. I think this is the best bet before jumping to the $100+ style locks.

 

Sabellco removes in seconds and would need a notable drill capacity to break off. Like $175 for TotalChaos bed stiffeners ... just skip a few trips to Starbucks to cover the cost.

 

Thanks for all the input, it was appreciated. My obstacle is I’m so cheap I could squeeze the copper off a penny. But springing for a new tailgate would put my tight ass in a comma. Im considering the Sabell. I love this TW forum but dang it’s costing me more than my ex wife.

 

Awesome, thank you. Im probably most nervous about leaks and creasing the headliner.

 

What mirror is that!?!?!

 

Oil change and Tire Rotation

 

Here’s a picture of the new front hitch

 

Your truck looks really nice. Not overdone, just right.

 

Thanks! I appreciate it!

 

FINALLY found the noise.

So, I had my serpentine belt replaced at 86K around 2 weeks ago. A day later, I noticed this metallic rattle sound coming from the front of my truck periodically at very low speed, usually when accelerating from a complete stop. The noise was very inconsistent and I could not find a pattern to reproduce. I naturally thought it must be related to the belt change since I had not heard the sound before. I checked the belt, and everything looked normal, no weird vibration I could detect, no change in how the engine sounded at any speed, truck was running completely normal. Thought maybe something in the suspension, got under the truck and check the usual things, everything look good, nothing cracked, no play in the wheel. Banged around on skid plates, nothing obvious. Again, I could not reproduce the noise, just seemed to happen randomly, and it was hard to tell from listening exactly where it was originating. Finally, driving down the alley behind my house with the windows down I heard it again...this time definitely could tell it was more towards drivers side. So I took off the skid plates, they did have some very minor damage from prior off-roading, and I was thinking maybe somehow they were making contact with the frame or support bars or something. Drove it around for awhile and again, noise occurred. Aha moment! Got under the truck to check my cat shields and rock sliders - maybe bolt loose or something similar, but everything was tight. Got out my hammer and started tapping around on the driver side cat shield - BINGO - it would vibrate just for a second and make the noise. I checked for any loose bolts but all where fine - however, the way this shield is installed this front section isn't attached to anything. Just has a rubber grommet on the back side which acts as a spacer between the shield and the frame. Not sure what changed recently but there was enough play in this section where the spacer isn't providing enough gap/pressure against the frame allowing it to vibrate slightly where the highlighted edge would contact the frame. So I just put another rubber grommet between the old one and the frame - problem solved. I guess long term I'll need to have a few extras on hand as the original grommets deteriorate from wear.

 

Installed the Suma Performance mirrors. It is going to take me awhile to adjust to them.

 

They have a Kevlar sidewall layer now too, so hopefully these are even better.

 

My lord, thats a beauty. What are the wheel specs and what size tire are you running?

 

i have it and the cable washers..... seems to be a well designed product

 

use the quote when replying ......and he was talking about another type of lock