Greetings Y'all!

My next door neighbor has just come home with his 4th Chevy 2500 Duramax
pickup in 2 years. His employer pays him to use his truck to haul
employees and diesel fuel for equipment around a job site in Louisiana.

The amount he's paid for this service more than pays for a new truck. Not
to mention that he's also paid a substantial salary to 'just be there'
when he's needed...

Not that he wears them out as much as they're crashed or ruined by
someone who apparently doesn't know much about them. He totaled a 2008
3500 Duramax last year because it was fitted with a Bully Dog tuner that
gave the Duramax more performance than he could handle, thus crashing it
into an 18 wheeler on the side of the road while passing yet another 18
wheeler who was going slower than my neighbor wanted to go.

He no sooner got a replacement and he crashed that one too. Although there
were extra parts laying next to his house at the time, he opted to buy
yet another one.

The new one was a 2009 Duramax 2500 that had been modified to remove the 'urine' injector, which didn't make it run any better. And whoever
modified that truck, screwed up the wiring harness that the only thing to
save it was to replace the harness. The engine died on this one because it
was comprimised by the modifications and it had to be replaced at the tune
of $10k and it still didn't run like it should with him constantly having
to work on it to get it to run in limp mode.

So, he traded it for this 2006 Duramax 2500, which even has a better paint
job thant the 2009. I thought maybe he wouldn't have to work on it, but,
nope. His first order of business was to get under the hood and begin
working on it.

I expect to see another new one when he comes home from Louisiana, next
time.


Have a day!

R\%/itt - K5RXT

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So, he traded it for this 2006 Duramax 2500, which even has a better
paint job thant the 2009. I thought maybe he wouldn't have to work on it, but, nope. His first order of business was to get under the hood and
begin working on it.

I don't mind doing occasional repairs, but constant ones start to wear on you. Also, trying to stay ahead of repairs/issues and not let them get to the point where you have too many things wrong. Those are the ones that people end up throwing in the towel.

In doing my own weekend repairs, one of my other things that I try and do is buy the best part I can. Nothing more irritating than having done a repair, only to have the replaced part fail and have to perform the same repair again.

I had that issue with wheel bearings on my Monte Carlo. I must have replaced 3

or 4 of them before finally getting a decent brand that isn't made in China (Timkin). Had great luck with them so far, which put an end to my revolving repairs on the wheel bearings.

- Mark

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Greetings Mark!

So, he traded it for this 2006 Duramax 2500, which even has a better
paint job thant the 2009. I thought maybe he wouldn't have to work
on it, but, nope. His first order of business was to get under the
hood and begin working on it.

I don't mind doing occasional repairs, but constant ones start to
wear on you. Also, trying to stay ahead of repairs/issues and not let
them get to the point where you have too many things wrong. Those
are the ones that people end up throwing in the towel.

Well, my friend Harry, who is the service manager at a Chevy dealer about
60 miles south of here tells me that there wasn't anything wrong with any
of those trucks that a competent mechanic couldn't fix. His dealership was
the dealer that R&Red that engine for my neighbor. Apparently the harmonic balancer came loose and my neighbor was the one who had butchered the
crank to include a bolt to keep it in place. All Chevy engines have press
fit balancers. What he did was drive it too long without the balancer and destroyed the engine in the process.

In doing my own weekend repairs, one of my other things that I try
and do is buy the best part I can. Nothing more irritating than
having done a repair, only to have the replaced part fail and have to perform the same repair again.

I hear you there. But, when you're on a budget, it helps to have cheap
parts available. Best to replace them at your first opportunity though.

I had that issue with wheel bearings on my Monte Carlo. I must have replaced 3 or 4 of them before finally getting a decent brand that
isn't made in China (Timkin). Had great luck with them so far, which
put an end to my revolving repairs on the wheel bearings.

I don't know if you're aware, but Chevy started to use sealed spindle
bearings around 2000 and you don't replace them with a new set of
bearings, you replace the entire spindle. It's a bolt on procedure that
only requires disassembly and re-assembly. Best part is the brake rotors
are made seperate from the spindle assembly and they can be worked on
without disturbing the spindle. OTH, every Chevy mechanic's nightmare are
the rear rotors with a parking brake-drum inside of them. My 12yo pickup
just turned over 80k and I'm thinking about doing a front brake job, but
am reluctant to tear into it and have to do spindles in another 40k...

Still, the brakes will have to be done before those spindle bearings reach
the end of their life.


Have a day!

R\%/itt - K5RXT

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I don't know if you're aware, but Chevy started to use sealed spindle bearings around 2000 and you don't replace them with a new set of
bearings, you replace the entire spindle. It's a bolt on procedure that

Yes, the wheel bearings on both my Monte Carlo and Durango are all one sealed unit. The main difference being that the Monte Carlo front and rear bearings have speed sensors in them for the ABS system. Often, they are the reason why you end up having to replace the entire bearing. It will cause the ABS light to come on if they are faulty. I have a ABS scanner that can tell me while speed sensor is bad. Otherwise, it is a guessing game.

My most recent repair was replacing the tires on the Harley. A friend of mine brought over his bike jack and showed me how to remove the wheels - which included having to remove the muffler.

I got had ordered new tires, got them mounted and balanced at the local Harley shop and then last week, but the new ones back on the bike. Not a super easy task, espcially when working alone on the rear tire.

- Mark

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Greetings Mark!

I don't know if you're aware, but Chevy started to use sealed
spindle bearings around 2000 and you don't replace them with a new
set of bearings, you replace the entire spindle. It's a bolt on
procedure that

Yes, the wheel bearings on both my Monte Carlo and Durango are all
one sealed unit. The main difference being that the Monte Carlo
front and rear bearings have speed sensors in them for the ABS
system.

As does my Silverado.

Often, they are the reason why you end up having to replace
the entire bearing. It will cause the ABS light to come on if they
are faulty. I have a ABS scanner that can tell me while speed sensor
is bad. Otherwise, it is a guessing game.

That's odd. The Silverado has removable speed sensors. Of course, you have
to remove the rotors and caliper to get to them.

My most recent repair was replacing the tires on the Harley. A
friend of mine brought over his bike jack and showed me how to remove
the wheels - which included having to remove the muffler.

That's always a joy to do. Mine would require the same removal.

I got had ordered new tires, got them mounted and balanced at the
local Harley shop and then last week, but the new ones back on the
bike. Not a super easy task, espcially when working alone on the
rear tire.

I'd have the bike shop do all of the work. I'll just ride it, thank you
very much.


Have a day!

R\%/itt - K5RXT

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I'd have the bike shop do all of the work. I'll just ride it, thank you very much.

The previous tire change, I took it to the shop where I bought it. This time a

friend of mine offered to help show me how to do the job myself. He also let me borrow his bike jack.

Now that I know how it all works, it isn't too bad. Not a super easy task when

dealing with the rear wheel by yourself. Much easier with two people.

- Mark

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