Red's deuce/camper project

Picked up the truck about a week ago, today I've started working on it. Drove it a little over 330 miles home. Other than degrading brakes and learning where empty is on the fuel gauge it was a very good trip.



My plans for the build are to update/upgrade the steering and brakes, bring the cruising speed up to 60-65mph safely, and make it a little more comfortable to drive with a muffler, better seats, and maybe even a radio. After the truck is ready then I'll find a camper to install in the bed, make some camping trips to interesting places.

Got home in the middle of the night and parked it in the back yard. Throughout the week I've been loading the remains of the fence into the bed, will be making a run to the landfill after the brakes are sorted out.





Built a power bleeder that was designed by members here, works great. Purged the lines and re-bled them, found that the copper gasket on the master cylinder cap leaked and the brake fluid comes up out of the vent tube. New gasket installed and planning to order a remote reservoir for the master cylinder. Will make checking the fluid easier and take care of the vent leak issue.

The brake pedal goes to the floor on the first push, then builds after that up to a 1/2 pedal. Was planning to adjust the brakes today. Started the quick adjustment on the front driver side wheel and sheared the adjustment bolt. So I put the wheel back on the ground to loosen up the lug nuts. 5 of them broke free without much trouble (snug, not over torqued). Number 6 on the other hand is being a little stubborn. Led to me standing on a 6' cheater pipe and a bent breaker bar. Still tight.

And so the madness begins ! Good luck and remember it's all for fun !

Try to take a close look at that too tight lug. I've purchase trucks that had that one stud of opposite threads on it.

Brake fluid coming out of the vent tube on the firewall?

Recovry4x4 said:

Try to take a close look at that too tight lug. I've purchase trucks that had that one stud of opposite threads on it.

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Took a close look at that lug after I bent the breaker bar, it's the correct left hand thread, just seized on there.

Rayzer the brake fluid vent was re-routed to tie into another vent. There is a 1" tube coming off of the engine that vents downwards over the front axle, the brake fluid vent was tied into that. I'll get pics up today of it. When the external reservoir gets plumbed in I'll seal it up, having a vented hydraulic system is just asking for the fluid to be contaminated and leak.

What's your plan for increasing the cruising speed?

red said:

Rayzer the brake fluid vent was re-routed to tie into another vent. There is a 1" tube coming off of the engine that vents downwards over the front axle, the brake fluid vent was tied into that. I'll get pics up today of it. When the external reservoir gets plumbed in I'll seal it up, having a vented hydraulic system is just asking for the fluid to be contaminated and leak.

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I think when brake fluid is coming out of that vent, it means that it is passing by your brake booster. I had an army article (cartoon) warning about this, I will try to find it.

Found it.

Pedal faster! Haha no. Going to the 395's on MRAP wheels for sure, then look at the transmission from there if the tires don't help enough. I plan on driving this truck on longer trips both on pavement and offroad so getting the speed up a little bit will help alot. I know the speed can be improved some safely, I have no plans to try to get the truck over 60-65mph. The old mutifuel seemed pretty happy cruising at 50-55mph on the way home and the truck tracked great with the stock 9.00x20 tires.

Mike929 said:

I think when brake fluid is coming out of that vent, it means that it is passing by your brake booster. I had an army article (cartoon) warning about this, I will try to find it.

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That's the setup. Looking at rebuilding the airpack as well then after I get the brakes adjusted.

red said:

Pedal faster! Haha no. Going to the 395's on MRAP wheels for sure, then look at the transmission from there if the tires don't help enough. I plan on driving this truck on longer trips both on pavement and offroad so getting the speed up a little bit will help alot. I know the speed can be improved some safely, I have no plans to try to get the truck over 60-65mph. The old mutifuel seemed pretty happy cruising at 50-55mph on the way home and the truck tracked great with the stock 9.00x20 tires.

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I took my truck for a 150-mile trip last weekend. With the 395's on it, I was able to cruise at 60 mph while running at 2200-2300 rpm. I used my GPS for a speedometer.

That is great to hear mike thank you. Similar rpm's to what I was turning at 50mph with the stock tires.

Got the lug nut freed and removed the wheel/hub/drum assembly.



Looks like the adjustment bolt is the only problem. Doubt I can get it local so looks like I'll be ordering that with the remote reservoir now.

395s will get you cruising at around 60mph. That's where my truck likes to cruise. That top brake adjuster is not considered a serviceable part. Might have to get creative fixing that. Brake fluid coming from the vent line is a bad airpack. DO NOT plug that line off. It vents the air pressure from the airpack when you release the pedal.

Contacted one of the parts vendors about the adjustment cam, looking to see if he can get a used one off of a parts truck. Also ordered the remote reservoir for the master cylinder and the front bumper extensions for the winch mount. I have 3 electric winches in the garage (16k, 12k, and 4.5k, 2 will end up on the truck. The 16k pound that needs to be rebuilt will go up front, and another winch at the front of the bed for loading/unloading of equipment and the camper. Not sure if the 12k or 4.5k will go in the bed yet.

LED extra lights are mounted, not wired yet. They are recessed in so they don't stick out last the grill. Planning to mount the muffler tonight

Those should make for some very good close proximity/ flood lighting. I have one of them that I intend to wire up as a backup light.

Good to hear, that's the goal with those lights. Will add a set of lights in the rear to help with backing up at a later date.

Was going to begin installing the muffler today (single 4") but decided to hold off for now. Not sure if I want to stay with the stack, or reroute the exhaust to the rear of the truck (exit to the side behind the rear tires).

It won't look right without the stack. Decide which is more important to you.

I can probably get one of those adjusters for the brakes if your vendor can't. In adjusting the brakes, a few of us have adopted 15thou top and bottom, vs the TM's 10 and 20.