NW WA Meet / BS Thread

Must not have the little smog pump on the passenger side. Those are kinda special to get apart.

 

Finally after many years of dreaming about it... I finally installed new OEM LCAs & a Marlin Crawler frame brace kit, fuck yeah.

Total it cost me roughly $800, worth it.

Passenger LCA - $100 (fb)
Driver LCA - $300 (online)
Brace Kit - $100
Bolts/Hardware - $200
Labor - $100

 

So. I just recently found out from a co-worker that Randy's Ring and Pinion here in Everett no longer does installs.
That being the case. Where is a good shop in the Everett area that does diff service such as re-gearing?

 

hey brother, did you need new LCAs for anything specific? on my truck, everything has been replace except LCAs and I have a little chipmunk squeak so I was going to swap them out.

 

Not really it's just always been on my mind, and I've always wanted cam tab gussets. Maybe about a year ago I started hearing clunks around corners, turns out one of my cam tabs were folded. Then I found someone selling a single new OEM LCA on marketplace for $100 so I jumped on that, then started collecting the rest of the parts. Those damn cam bolts were like $200 bucks.

Went to go get it aligned on Monday and they said one of my outer tie rod had some play and the bolt was seized. So I just order new tie-rod ends lol. It never ends bro!

 

I coughed up $225 for an inner a couple weeks ago from the dealership. Outer was $75. Hopefully they last another 247k. Today I bought TRQ left and right LCA’s off EBay for $188 shipped and some Taco Tab bolts. Hopefully the Taco Tad bolts play nice with my Marlin gussets or they will be going up for sale or modified.

 

Man I still gotta do mine. Such a huge pita

 

Ditto

 

Marlin gussets weren't that bad to install, so worth it to not knock your alignment out anytime you go off pavement.

 

You weld them yourself? I would like to....just not sure that is a good first welding job. It's not structural so maybe it is

 

I started welding them myself, had them all tacked in and then a buddy came over who's a union pipe fitter and asked if he could do it, so i let the professional take over and weld on his back upside down I was also changing LCA's at the same time so that made it easier.

 

Ideal scenario. If he really enjoyed it he can do mine too

 

I did it as my first "real" welding job and it turned out ok. The front one ended up a tiny bit off, which means my cam bolt is at the extreme to get a good alignment. Maybe I'll fix it one day but it's working for the moment.

 

IMO this is probably not the best job to do for your first. I thought the same thing, but my buddy recommended against it and I'm glad he did. The real issue is access, there are some welds that are really hard to see while you're welding so having that muscle memory from a lot of practice is important.

You have to weld them on while your LCAs and cam bolts are installed/tight because you want the space between the mounting plates to be at the right distance. The factory LCA mounting plates are pretty thin and will bend in and out easily.

 

Makes sense.

 

Literally the last head bolt on the whole project decided to strip. After 5 failed welded nuts, and more drilling than I’m comfortable with, the entire engine is disassembled.

 

Not cool

 

Random favor to ask. Anyone going from Bend to the greater Seattle/Tacoma area that might have room to pick up a factory bumper for me? I'm up in Everett and trying to get a bumper from Redmond, OR to me. Shoot me a message if you have some space.

 

why can't everything go as planned?

 

I don’t know ask the bell housing bolt that snapped off in the back of my block a couple years ago. It’s an extra little alignment nub now.