Calm before the storm...

[jeep44]

We have had a couple of beautiful, warm days here in Michigan, but a massive snowstorm is reportedly looming on the horizon. I spent these days rebuilding the whole undercarriage of my '31 pickup-it was totally and completely worn out as I got it last fall. All new bushings for the shackles in the rear (and new US-made shackles). There was no evidence that the old shackles had been greased in many, many years. New rebuilt original shocks, and new links (it didn't even have shocks before). What an awful job it was getting those old bushings out of the springs and spring mounts!

In the front, I started with the Wishbone-the ball was badly worn, with a piece of rubber clamped in the socket. There were no springs on the two radius arm bolts. I had another wishbone with a good ball that I had picked up cheap at a swap meet, so that went on with a new socket mount set, and new spring perches with new bushings. I had a couple of nice brake actuators that were nice and tight, with holes for the pins not worn oval, and a NOS Ford set of kingpins and bearings. I replaced the spindle bushings, and line reamed them with the proper reamer. All new bushings and shackles up front,too. I got new steering arms with replaced balls, so I think this truck will drive like a new truck soon. Surprisingly, the brake shoes appear to be new, as do the drums. As a final note, all the "cotter pins" I encountered were actually bent pieces of coathanger wire!
That's a lot of work! Here's a shot of the front from today: