Inane ramblings to avoid thread jacking

[duc_fan]

The sheer amount of wildlife down here that has fought my pickup and lost is staggering. I could basically start a Southern Oregon Zoo of animal corpses.

If I ever ponied up for one of those beasty steel ARP bumper/brushguard assemblies for the Durango, I'd have a collection of deer as hood ornaments.    As it stands now, I have to brake for 'em because the OEM bumper is a plastic piece of crap. 

[Bendy]

Just like those punks in Death Wish I  II & III
Somebody should do something about it.

Do you have Charles' Bronson's phone number?

[ryandalling]

The UK is a nice place to visit., but I like the weather here better.     Oh wait, its exactly the same.    Nice being back home.

[JBubble]

For those of you who don't venture out of the NW section very much...

[ryandalling]

Congrats!! Wish I could have made it, but I was in the UK.

[duc_fan]

OMG... Mudder was wearing a suit! 


Congrats to you both!    Wishing you many happy years together! 

[krolik]

OMG... Mudder was wearing a suit! 

Yeah, but he was wearing Danners, new one of course.

[ryandalling]

Wow.... it's quiet in here.... hellooooooooo??

[scott_araujo]

Yeah, way too quiet.  Random stories:

My 9 month old son finally figured out how to use his Johnny Jumper and it's his favorite thing to do now.  We video taped him jumping for three minutes straight to House of Pain's 'Jump Around'.  My wife put it on Facebook but since I don't have a Facebook account I have no idea how to get to it.

Friday was our 5th anniversary.  We finally found a restaurant worth eating at in downtown Lake Oswego and spent too much money and drank too much wine.  It was great.

Got a verbal offer for a new job with fewer hours and more money.  Now I can support my family and see them too.

It's beautiful out today, go ride.

Scott

[ryandalling]

Scott - Where did you go eat? Wine and good food sounds great.

[scott_araujo]

Scott - Where did you go eat? Wine and good food sounds great.

Scratch.

[duc_fan]

Anyone done rear wheel bearings on a Dodge Durango or Dakota (1998-2003)?  I rotated the tires last weekend.  Had been feeling a vibe from the rear end, and couldn't tell if I was getting noise from back there as well (the Flowmaster exhaust covers a lot of noises).  With the rear wheels off, I was feeling for play or grittiness in the rear wheel bearings.  They still felt reasonably smooth, but there was a lot of axial (in/out) and translational (up/down/side) play.  It's got 142k on it, and I doubt the bearings have ever been replaced.

Oh yeah... also been reading about catastrophic suspension component failures at low to moderate mileage on the Durango (ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings).  So the suspension sucks, the aluminum 4.7L V8 has issues, and it's a half-shoe-size too small.  With all the crap the Durango needs, I could have bought an old Land Rover and been no worse off!    Time for something with tougher suspension and a bulletproof engine.  I am trading it for a Suburban as soon as I can figure out the financial wizardry (I'm still paying off the line of credit I used for the Durango).  I should have just bought a high-mileage 'Burban to start with.  At least after pouring maintenance money into it, I'd have something to show for it.

[scott_araujo]

"Line of credit" as in a loan not attached to the vehicle?  Then there is effectively no lien on the Durango and it's yours free and clear.  Just sell or trade it in, get your new vehicle, and keep paying the credit line.  Think of it as the payment on your new vehicle instead of your old one.

I kinda bought the RE this way.  I only need a couple thousand dollars past what I had.  Moto loans needed to be 3k or more and the interest rate was higher than my VISA.  I paid the difference on VISA and there's no lien holder on the title even though I'm still technically paying it off.

Scott

[Bendy]

At least after pouring maintenance money into it, I'd have something to show for it.

Lol. What, bowtie rust?

No vehicle is immune to mechanical problems, trust me.

The only real bearings on the rear of a Durango will be axle support bearings inside the axle tube. Were you checking for play with the brake drum still on? If so, you're going to have boatloads of radial play because of drum engagement with the studs, and all straight axles have some axial play where they engage the differential. On the chance that you did remove the drum and were checking at the hub, there shouldn't be a ton of radial play beyond a few thousandths. Changing the bearings involves pulling the axles, removing the axle seal, and yanking out the bearings with a slide hammer or something to that effect--reinstalling in reverse order. Pulling the axles will be the most tedious part because the mate shaft has to be removed from the diff for you to push the axles far enough in to remove the retainer C-clip on the spline end. I'd be looking elsewhere for something that more commonly causes vibration issues, though. Driveline, pinion, pinion bearing, lost wheel weights, et cetera.

[ryandalling]

Soooo.... chuckles... how were the bacon coookies???