KRB

I take pride in doing my own preventative maintenance. So far, knock on wood, I've never been left stranded yet. But I came real close the other day.

I was 3.5 hours from home in eastern KY when my steering started feeling a little sluggish. These mountain roads are curvy and I just thought I was noticing it more due to that. I was about a mile from my destination and drove on in. When I got out, there was power steering fluid all down the side of my truck. But at least I was where I was supposed to be for the weekend - Pine Mountain Settlement School.

Where the lines go over the frame there is a bracket that "holds" them. Apparently it holds dirt and salt too. My power line had rusted a hole. All I had was a gallon of anti-freeze, two quarts of power service, a gallon of engine oil, two quarts of gear oil and a quart of tranny oil. I was calculating how far I could drive with a leak that bad and about two gallons plus of fluids. Like I said, these roads are curvy and like the old Bluegrass song "Nine Pound Hammer" says "its a long way to Harlan, its a long way to Hazard", the nearest town. I didn't want to chance it, especially since I wasn't familiar with the area.

Did I mention there's no cell service in this part of the hills? Fortunately the School has a land line and one of the guys there gave me the number of an O'Reilley's in Harlan, maybe 40 minutes away. It was a Friday evening about 5:00 but they were open and said they'd have the part in the morning - I was amazed. After we got done working Saturday I caught a ride with a girl that works there who took me a "short cut" over Pine Mountain to Harlan.

I was worried that the fittings would be rust frozen and they were. All I had was open end wrenches which rounded them off but a vice grip broke them free. I had the new lines on before dark (which comes early in the valley).

Made it home Sunday with no problem. I just wish I had checked those lines closer. The fender bay mud shield covered the bracket so I never noticed. It would have been a lot worse if it had happened somewhere along that stretch of two lane in the middle of nowhere.

Now, everybody go out and check your lines!

NJTman

With any 20 year old vehicle, you should check everything......


Glad you got home safe.

thrashingcows

I clean and pressure wash every nook and cranny about twice a year. And the power steering area is one of them for sure. Since it sits in teh wheel well with no protection.

If you get a new power steering line from NAPA...they have a life time warranty!! I just got the high pressure side a month or two ago.

KRB

I thought I had been checking everything. I just should have lifted up the flap and peered at the metal part...

Wish I had found a NAPA!

I know I need to redo the tranny/engine heater/cooler on the side of the block next. When I redid the head I was replacing all the rubber hoses but couldn't get the fittings off and they're pretty rusty. I didn't try real hard because I was going by feel and wasn't sure which part turned and which didn't.

cougar

My vehicles, like the aircraft I work on get an annual inspection every spring starting with a good bath. The road salts and harsh conditions can take a quick tole if you don't take care of them. How often do you service your wheel bearings? Amazes me how many vehicles I see along the road with a missing wheel. And most states have more cars and trucks than we do.
Maintenance a vehicle is a lot cheaper than replacing a vehicle.

KRB

Yea, things you don't see tend to get overlooked until they make them selves know or heard.

I'd say breaking down in Alaska is a lot worse and more dangerous than breaking down in KY...

cougar

Doesn't really matter were you are when things go wrong. Even a new part can fail unexpectedly. The most important part is are you prepared for the unexpected. Taking appropriate precautions ahead of time can save you a lot of grief. Eventually, someone will come by and offer some type of assistance.

peckens

I replaced mine last winter when I replaced the gear. They snapped easily at the gear. I had trouble finding the low pressure return hard line so I ended up using a hard fuel line with the replacement low pressure hose.

KRB

Even in Alaska?

Peckens - O'Reilley's was able to get them both next day. Perfect match.

KRB

As aggravating as they are, I like the D44's with the zerk fittings at the hubs.

peckens

Orilley, was unable to find the part. Napa and carquest would have taken over a week.

d22019

I try to go over my truck every 6 months but its 20 years old and stuff still breaks. I have noticed that differentials and t-case's always seem to have the factory fill in them, or whats left of it. A couple of my friends think I'm dumb for changing those fluids but its cheaper than an early rebuild.

m-o-p-a-r

You can add a zerk-fitting to your hub. I have done it. There are a few drawbacks: The lockout hubs can be a little "sticky" when they are full of grease. When you pump them full, the grease will fill everything. Where it ends up coming out to let you know there is no more room is from the wiper seal on the axle stub-shaft. That can potentially be a bad spot that could fling grease out to the rotor on the older axles that had holes in the rotor hats. And boy does it make a mess when you take it all apart.

It was back when I was playing in the mud regularly. I figured: if the hub was FULL of grease, then water could not get in. Wouldn't you know, I was right!

KRB

Hmmm, hadn't thought of adding zerks to the hub...

bannerd

Maybe try fluid film? I can't really say much about it, I sprayed all my families vehicles with it this year so I'm anxious to see how the road salt and liquid chemicals is going to attack the cars. The goal is to have no more rust. Spring time comes the under carriage is power washed and then sprayed again to maintain the coating.

I did five vehicles with one gallon of fluid film. Two of them were 2006 cummins. So you get a lot out of a $30 gallon from ebay. Again I can't really say much about it until I know the results. I've heard great things about it, hoping it is true!

One more thing, I do want to say when you let this stuff sit... it creeps like crazy. Also looks green before it starts to try.. might be the oil in it.