Helping Waterloo out with an inframe ...

[Waterloo]

Well, yesterday I was putting the front cover on, and clipped the gasket end off that seals that cover... Guess where it fell? Right in to the front opening and I heard it hit in the oil pan. I ordered one of those boroscope cameras off of Amazon, I see if I can get it out with that, if not, I'm dropping the pan.

Then, I was cleaning up the rockers, and looking at the bearings. I wish I would have done this right when we took them out. The bearings look iffy to me, like my mains and rods, like they were dry started. They were in very nice shape at the time of the first in frame, little wear, these things look like they have been around the block a few times. Rawze said they do not look that bad, but his allergies are flaring up and I know he feels like crap. I want a measurement to see where we are at with these. My eyeballs say the injector rockers are shot, the rollers look ok, passable, the interior shaft bearings on the other hand are polished right through.

I'm anal about this stuff, and I know this has been taking way to long. The new exhaust manifold was a hit I did not anticipate, but that thing was shot. Rawze really checked it out and agreed with my call. Now these rockers, if I have to I will order more, I don't want to be tearing into this thing again in the near future, or buying new cams. It is apart now, we have the tools, let's do it right. Peterbilt has six new injector rockers in stock, which are the ones that look the worst. The exhaust side has some wear, but not as bad as those on the injector cam, a good measurement will put all of this to rest.

If I was not keeping this truck, I would throw this thing together and be down the road. That is not what I am doing here, I want to do this right and be done with it. I have had to many financial hits with this thing to put worn out parts back in, parts that have the potential to really do some serious and expensive damage if not replaced. And I don't have a good place to work on this thing either, I destroyed the driveway when I installed the compressor. Then down time, I cannot afford any more after this, I have not added all of this up yet, but I would say I am around $10,000 on my end along with $14,000 in new parts from the dealer. Then I have my turbo, that is another $1600 to rebuild, which was ready to fail by my estimation.

Bottom line, when you tear into these things, and you are like me, no shop in your backyard, or much experience as a mechanic, go through everything and see what you have. There are some parts you can salvage, others you just need to replace, so be prepared. Sure, some of you will say I am going overboard, I don't think so. This is my livelihood, not some hobby for the weekends. I need a reliable truck and do not want to trust the mechanical work to just anyone, especially if I am at the end of a hook for something that I knew was going to eventually fail.