All the...Small things....

Build projects, things that guys have come up with to make a Pinz better (or worse?) and aftermarket add-ons.
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tgreening
United States of America
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 9:02 pm
Location: Ohio

All the...Small things....

Post by tgreening »

Not sure the direction my recent purchase will go but everything has to have a beginning.

Brakes are shot. Fronts are worn damn near to the rivets and were packed with a grease created from dust, dirt, and brake fluid out of the leaky wheel cylinders. These were supposedly adjusted "just a few months ago" but I'm having my doubts on this one. I'm going to assume the rears are in just as poor shape. I cleaned out the fronts as best I could and adjusted...as best I could, but everyone knows you don't really clean grease/oil out of brake pads. It's better, but not by a whole bunch. I've got a complete rebuild worth of parts in my cart over at SAV.

The top...It's complete trash. I knew the front was garbage but had hoped the rear was at least "better", but it's garbage as well. Its an old tuff river that has apparently been spray painted black from the original white or cream or whatever pale color it used to be. Clear windows are yellowed and/or missing as well as some of the screens. The velcro is all shot and non-functional. And the whole thing is...brittle for lack of a better word. Like parchment paper after you take it out of the oven. Guessing that might have something to do with the spray paint. About the only piece that seems like it "may" still be useful is the divider. I can only assume that the aluminum shell covering the back is there to cover rips n tears like are in the front, but at this point it doesn't really matter. At least it's keeping the back mostly dry.

Good news is body is solid, it runs well, tires are decent, and I like the color scheme.

Buyer beware and due diligence and all that noise.

But I learned a bit about the brake system and I've got a line on a top, relative near term. Woot!
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audiocontr
United States of America
Posts: 1868
Joined: Fri May 01, 2009 1:30 pm
Location: Buffalo NY

Re: All the...Small things....

Post by audiocontr »

Search the forum for brake pad linings. Its not the worst thing to be up against, and to be honest, pretty common. Its a wearable part. Get used to adjusting by the way. I tend to adjust once a year come spring.

The wheel cyl leaks are common as well. I've always repaired with a simple seal kit. Easy and inexpensive.

Sorry about the top. Keep an eye out, they pop up occasionally. Most used ones will have shrunk/have issues, but it comes with the territory. I'd expect $300 to $500 for a rear top in usable condition.

I'll also point out that you can and will find issues when you look for them... I've had issues with every pinz and haffie I've purchased. I've learned that my expectations are too high when buying used vehicles (over 60 of them and counting), and to expect heartburn. Again, it comes with the territory.
1973 712m
1968 Haflinger
1965 Pathfinder
1978 GMC Palm Beach (Hey, its got 6 wheels!!)
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TechMOGogy
Canada
Posts: 2831
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2012 11:39 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: All the...Small things....

Post by TechMOGogy »

I remember the for sale ad on that one, perhaps was a bit more positive vs the real vehicle condition
72 Pathfinder | 75 710M 2.7i | 96 350GDT Worker
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rmel
United States of America
Posts: 1394
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 12:19 pm
Location: Woodside, CA
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Re: All the...Small things....

Post by rmel »

To add to audiocontr's comments. Y'd be messing with brakes at some point in time so I'd
not worry too much about this. If the truck is clean, free of rust and runs good then it's a
good truck.

With respect to the brakes, from my own experience, don't onion peel the problem away.
If the brake shoes are near the end, and you have slave cylinder leaks, then plan for a
complete overhaul -- all the rubbers and seals are likely the same vintage and itching
to give up the ghost.

The fronts will likely be more worn than the rears esp. on a 6x6, your back 4 may be in
OK shape. Pull your drums and inspect all 6. Do not assume oil on the shoes is brake fluid.
Make sure it's not gear oil from the wheel drive. While your drums are off measure their
inside diameters with a high quality steel ruler or a drum caliber if you have one. If your
gonna be replacing shoes you should get your drums trued up on a lathe but make sure
there's enough meat on them.

Rebuilding the slaves and master is easy, you just need to make sure the cylinders show no
sign of pitting. Clean them with the least aggressive Scotch-Brite, followed by Brake cleaner,
lub with brake fluid -- your good to go.

IMHO I'd replace the master with a brand new one, rebuild the old as a spare. This may all
seem way more than necessary but when your done you know where your brakes are. You
should also inspect ALL your hydraulic lines -- ALL!! Make sure the flex lines to the wheel
drives show no signs of cracks, inspect the line that connects to the hydraulic manifold near
the air intake plenum, on to the long hard line that runs over the central tube -- yes that can
fail (if it was rubbing against the bottom of the motor) -- yes that happened to me.

Bleed thoroughly, use DOT 3 or 4. Then the fun begins, adjusting those brakes. It's one huge
PITA. You just want to make sure when you jump on the brakes there's little to no pull to one
side or the other.

Now that that's done repeat on the Locker hydraulics. If you see blistering of the rubberize/paint
at the bottom of the locker control panel you got work to do there too.

It's winter! You have time for projects :lol:
Puller: 71' 710K 2.7L EFI aka Mozo
Follower: Sankey MK 3, 3/4 Tonne
Rescue Pinz: 73' 712MK

Driver: Ron // KO0Q
tgreening
United States of America
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 9:02 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: All the...Small things....

Post by tgreening »

audiocontr wrote: Tue Dec 11, 2018 9:01 am Search the forum for brake pad linings. Its not the worst thing to be up against, and to be honest, pretty common. Its a wearable part. Get used to adjusting by the way. I tend to adjust once a year come spring.

The wheel cyl leaks are common as well. I've always repaired with a simple seal kit. Easy and inexpensive.

Sorry about the top. Keep an eye out, they pop up occasionally. Most used ones will have shrunk/have issues, but it comes with the territory. I'd expect $300 to $500 for a rear top in usable condition.

I'll also point out that you can and will find issues when you look for them... I've had issues with every pinz and haffie I've purchased. I've learned that my expectations are too high when buying used vehicles (over 60 of them and counting), and to expect heartburn. Again, it comes with the territory.

Believe me, I was under no illusions, and held relatively low expectations. It’s not my first rodeo in the used vehicle market.

Tops seem to be rare as hens teeth these days. There’s a guy in the UK that offered me a white one, and a fella over there where a lot of places end in -Istanbul who says he can make me one. Neither option is amazingly attractive, for different reasons.
tgreening
United States of America
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 9:02 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: All the...Small things....

Post by tgreening »

rmel wrote: Tue Dec 11, 2018 9:19 pm To add to audiocontr's comments. Y'd be messing with brakes at some point in time so I'd
not worry too much about this. If the truck is clean, free of rust and runs good then it's a
good truck.

With respect to the brakes, from my own experience, don't onion peel the problem away.
If the brake shoes are near the end, and you have slave cylinder leaks, then plan for a
complete overhaul -- all the rubbers and seals are likely the same vintage and itching
to give up the ghost.

The fronts will likely be more worn than the rears esp. on a 6x6, your back 4 may be in
OK shape. Pull your drums and inspect all 6. Do not assume oil on the shoes is brake fluid.
Make sure it's not gear oil from the wheel drive. While your drums are off measure their
inside diameters with a high quality steel ruler or a drum caliber if you have one. If your
gonna be replacing shoes you should get your drums trued up on a lathe but make sure
there's enough meat on them.

Rebuilding the slaves and master is easy, you just need to make sure the cylinders show no
sign of pitting. Clean them with the least aggressive Scotch-Brite, followed by Brake cleaner,
lub with brake fluid -- your good to go.

IMHO I'd replace the master with a brand new one, rebuild the old as a spare. This may all
seem way more than necessary but when your done you know where your brakes are. You
should also inspect ALL your hydraulic lines -- ALL!! Make sure the flex lines to the wheel
drives show no signs of cracks, inspect the line that connects to the hydraulic manifold near
the air intake plenum, on to the long hard line that runs over the central tube -- yes that can
fail (if it was rubbing against the bottom of the motor) -- yes that happened to me.

Bleed thoroughly, use DOT 3 or 4. Then the fun begins, adjusting those brakes. It's one huge
PITA. You just want to make sure when you jump on the brakes there's little to no pull to one
side or the other.

Now that that's done repeat on the Locker hydraulics. If you see blistering of the rubberize/paint
at the bottom of the locker control panel you got work to do there too.

It's winter! You have time for projects :lol:

I moved forward with the assumption that all the brakes were toast and would need replacing, so I bought new pads and wheel cylinders for all axles. The drums on the front seemed to be in good condition, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed on the rears. I’ll deal with whatever arises there.

I don’t really mind doing a total brake rebuild because when I’m done I’ll have a known quantity in that dept so I’m fine with it. As I recall the master is new, it looks it, but I’ll double check that.

Anyway, I don’t want to harp on it too much because it’s all history now, I own it and I might as well get on with it, but dang it would be nice just for once to get FULL honest disclosure over what’s being bought instead of only be informed on what you think to ask.

But I’m having fun so far! :)
tgreening
United States of America
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 9:02 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: All the...Small things....

Post by tgreening »

IMG_1421.JPG
IMG_1421.JPG (1.86 MiB) Viewed 4495 times
Drivers side of my "recently adjusted" front brakes. The passenger side was only better in the sense that the pads were worn quite as close to non-existence as the drivers side. At least 2 of the 4 wheel cylinders were leaking, and half the adjuster wheels had their teeth beaten right off.
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rmel
United States of America
Posts: 1394
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 12:19 pm
Location: Woodside, CA
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Re: All the...Small things....

Post by rmel »

By the way if your drums need turning, the Maximum I.D. is 287.2 mm.
Any decent shop will look up the specs. but you don't want them to take
off any more material than absolutely necessary.

Oh, not clear in your PIX, but get yourself some 6 Ton jack stands ://
Puller: 71' 710K 2.7L EFI aka Mozo
Follower: Sankey MK 3, 3/4 Tonne
Rescue Pinz: 73' 712MK

Driver: Ron // KO0Q
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