A beating

I have a habit of procrastinating when something needs to be done that I know it’ll be unpleasant. This is why I had new leather for my seats sitting in my garage for a few months before I got around to installing them. Turns out they weren’t so bad.

I’ve had the airbags for the truck for some time. I knew this was going to be a a tough, dirty job. And so it was.

I sized it up awhile ago and realized that the bags wouldn’t come off the mounts, and the mounts would have to come out. So this week, I sucked it up and got on with it. The problem is that it’s blistering hot an you have to crawl under the truck, and undo the bolts to get the assembly out with all kinds of things in the way.

You also have to raise the body somewhat. I used a cinderblock and my smaller 2-ton jack to lift the ass end at the trailer hitch. Cinderblocks are usually a no-no when propping up cars. They fail suddenly. In this case, it’s no biggie since the wheels are on the truck, and it’s plenty tall enough to crawl under.

I started on the drinker side:

That side had a weird skid plate on the shock mount that blocked the u-bolts on the mount. I really enjoyed having it drag across my bald, sunburnt skull. The assembly came out pretty easy. The airbag was pretty wasted and squished up easy.

That top mount has two bolts. One at the top, and one that sticks through the frame where the bump-stop used to be.

Ready to go back in:

It’s offset a bit. This is because of the shock absorber mount. Now that I look at it, that notch may go over the shock u-bolt. But I think the u-bolt is way too thick, and those bolts won’t make it around the mount. I went on the notion that someone else went down this path. Re-installing it was easier. Or at least seemed that way. That shock was a gold plated bitch to squeeze back in place. I had to use another jack.

The driver side had less obstructions – but more important ones, like brake lines and emergency brake cables. And, wouldn’t you know, the top bolt was 15mm, not 14 like the other side. Great. Had to squeeze back out to get the right socket. That one went back in easier than it came out as well:

It took maybe two hours to do, and I was absolutely knackered after. I started late and it was super hot. For the driver side, I forgot to move my cardboard over, so my back was laying on busted up concrete. As I tried to maneuver to reach bolts, my legs were out in the sun getting scorched, and getting bitten by stinkin’ fire ants.

I got all cleaned up before trying them out. Don’t want to get the new seat leather filthy. I cranked them up:

No chattering from the controller. It held for longer than I wanted to stay outside. The next morning, it was at the same setting. So job well done. This is the second job I’ve done with the Ryobi power ratchet and 1/2″ impact. Worth every penny. The other tool that is becoming indispensable to me is the ratchet wrench. I only have a few that I bought when I was in a tight spot and needed them. I think I need to waddle to the store and pick a set up.

Interestingly, when I went to remove them, the driver side bottom bolt wasn’t real tight. I smoked down on all the bolts properly. When I’d accelerate from a stop, I’d hear a clunk in the rear. That’s now gone. So two birds with one stone I guess.