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Old 07-31-2013, 11:43 AM   #641
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Re: Hal The Van

Strangely enough that's how I always envision it. Never turns out that way.

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Old 08-10-2013, 10:12 PM   #642
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Re: Hal The Van

wow, Ive been reading your mods for hours! I have kayaks on my penthouse roof - I want a slide out type solar panel system so panels will get sun when my roof has kayaks in the way. I like your rubber mount, gives me some ideas, thanks for documenting your builds.
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Old 09-04-2013, 10:13 PM   #643
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Re: Hal The Van

Had to replace both front rotors on my 1999 E-250 Ford van. Thought I would take some pictures while I worked. This van has 2 wheel ABS.

WARNING! Brakes are important and should only be serviced by qualified personnel. I have no idea what I'm doing so don't believe a word of what you read here.

First off remove the cap from the brake fluid reservoir.



Loosen the lug nuts. The lug nut wrench that came with my van is nearly useless since the socket isn't deep enough. Instead I carry this breaker bar and deep socket around with me.


Jack up the van until the tire is just high enough to freely rotate. I add jack stand for safety sake. Had a jack snap once. Luckily I wasn't under the vehicle at the time.


Remove the lug nuts. The hub cap is a handy holder.


Move the tire out of the way.

The calipers, brake pads and brake hose had recently been replaced on this van so I won't be replacing those.

Next remove the two caliper slide bolts. The bolt heads are on the back side of the caliper.


The bolt head is metric. 13mm.


Since the bolt head is on the back side I had to give an extra thought to which way to turn it. Here's a trick I learned a long time ago. It's called "The Right Hand Rule". This is mainly used in mathematics and physics but it's also really handy (pun) when working on cars. Using your right hand, stick out your thumb like you're hitch-hiking and curl the other fingers towards the palm. If you want to tighten or loosen a bolt point your thumb in the direction you want the bolt to move then turn the bolt in the direction that your curled fingers are pointed.

That's it. I use it all the time and it never fails me. Unless it's a left-handed thread. Then just use "The Left Handed Rule".

Bolts out.


The caliper should swing off. If it's still tight GENTLY pry between the inside of the caliper and the back of the brake pad on the opposite side from the caliper pistons. This causes the piston to retract slightly into the caliper which also causes brake fluid to flow back into the reservoir. That's why you remove the cap from the brake fluid reservoir before starting.


The caliper will swing away from around the brake pads. One end of the caliper will have two tabs.
s.

The other end will have just one tab. The one tab end swings out first then the two tab end is lowered away from the caliper bracket.


On the drivers side the one tab end is on the bottom. On the passenger side the one tab end is on the top.

Once the caliper is free don't let it hang from the brake hose.


Slide the brake pads away from each side of the brake rotor.


They should come right off.


Next up are the bolts for the caliper bracket. They have 13/16 heads.


Don't expect these to come off as easily as the other bolts did.


When I took these off on the passenger side the lower bolt wouldn't come free until after I used a jack to raise the wrench.

OK that's done.


Remove the brake hub dust cap. I gripped it with channel locks then tapped the pliers with a rubber faced hammer and the cover came right off.




Straighten out and remove the cotter pin.




Take off the nut lock.


The dust cover makes a handy holder for these small parts.


Before removing the spindle nut I tighten it to see how loose it was. About a sixth of a turn.


Pull the brake rotor slightly towards you. The washer and outside wheeling bearing will pop out.


Remove them. Notice that the inside of the washer isn't completely round. There are two flat spots.


The rotor should now just slide off.


Clean and inspect the wheel spindle.


Notice the flat spot on the top of the threaded part of the spindle. This corresponds to the flat spots on the washer.


If you're planning on reusing the inside wheel bearing it can be removed by turning over the rotor and tapping it out with a large screwdriver and hammer.




I'm not going to reuse the wheel bearings. I bought the van used and have no idea how long these have been in there. They might still be good but I'm no expert and new ones aren't that expensive. Time for a trip to Advance Auto.

New rotor, bearings, oil seal and grease. Around $90 altogether.






Pack the new bearings with grease. I use the rub it across the palm method.


Place the greased up inner bearing in the back of the new rotor then gently hammer the oil seal into place.


Install the rotor on the spindle.


Install the outer bearing, washer and spindle nut.


Now comes the magic. The question is how much to tighten the spindle nut. Here's what I copied off the internet.:

Quote:
1. Install the outer front wheel bearing and the front wheel outer bearing retainer washer.
2. Install the spindle nut
3. NOTE: The break disc and hub should be rotated while adjusting front wheel bearing end play ....
4. Tighten the spindle nut to 40Nm (30 lb/ft)
5. Loosen the spindle nut two turns
6. Tighten the spindle nut while rotating the break disc counterclockwise to 23-34 Nm (17-24 lb/ft)
7. Loosen the spindle nut 1/2 turn
8. Tighten the spindle nut to 2 Nm (17 lb/in)
9. Loosen the spindle nut to the FIRST available hole in the spindle and install new cotter pin, and dust cover.
The way I did it was to snug up the nut then spin the rotor back and forth a few times. Snug up the nut some more and repeat. Keep this up until I couldn't snug up the nut anymore. I was squeezing out the excess grease from the bearings. Tighten the nut up then back off one sixth a turn. 1/6 a turn is easy to see since the spindle nut is six sided. Make sure the wheel spins freely.


Install the lock nut and cotter pin. Bend the cotter pin in place.


install the dust cover. Be sure to get it on straight.


The new rotor has a coating of oil. Use brake cleaner to get it off.


The brake pads slide on the anti-rattle clips. The clips are located on the caliper bracket. Add a little grease on the clips so the pads can slide.


Bolt on the caliper bracket.


Slide the brake pads back on.


The caliper might not fit on the new rotor since it will be thicker than the one removed. Need to squeeze pistons back into the caliper. Use a block of wood and a C clamp. Do this SLOWLY and one piston at a time.


If you still have problem lining up the caliper on the bracket it might be this rubber covered sleeve.


You have to push the sleeve far enough into the caliper so it clears this part of the caliper bracket. You can't see any of this and have to do it by feel. I've got the camera stuck up behind the rotor pointed down to get this picture.


Bolt the caliper back on.


Mount the wheel and put the lug nuts back on. Since this is a 8 lug wheel an easy way to do the star pattern is to tighten one bolt then move to the third lug in the clockwise direction. As long as you don't lose your place or change directions you'll hit them all and be back to where you began in 8 moves.


After taking the van off the jacks and doing the final tightening and putting the hubcap back there are still a couple things left.

Put the cap back on the brake fluid reservoir.

Clean off all the greasy fingerprints left on the side of the van from where I steadied myself as I stood on the lug wrench.


One final piece of information you hopefully won't need. The threads on the caliper slide bolts are M8x1.25.


You won't need to know this unless you manage to start cross threading the bolt when putting it on like someone I know who will remain nameless.
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Open the pod bay doors Hal.

Once I exit Hal, this is what I do.
https://larry.wvnet.edu/~van/pics/lic...late-small.jpg
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Old 09-18-2013, 01:20 PM   #644
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Re: Hal The Van

This thread has been kind of quiet lately. Between my new (to me) lathe:





(A shout-out goes to Ford_6L_E350 for the lathe tooling you can see on the shelf. A most generous man! Thanks Mike.)


and camping:
Green Ridge State Forest, Maryland


and biking:
C&O Canal National Historic Park
Paw Paw Tunnel


Lock #58




I've not been posting much. Still working on the van. Just not posting about it.
Next up project is what I'll call the "fridge cabinet". This will be on the drivers side, next to the sofa. It will hold the Engel fridge, porta-potty, and a couple drawers.



Fridge Cabinet - Post #1

Had trouble getting accurate measurements from the section of the van where I wanted the cabinet to go since the van isn't level and the wall curves in towards both the top and the back at that point. Making a wooden mock-up was the best way to go.







With the curved wall I want to find what is the optimum location. If the fridge is mounted at a lower level the cabinet can be moved closer to the wall which gives more room to the center aisle.


I can gain some space by removing the wall panel while deciding.






A quick note about the wall panels. Here is a side view of the panel just removed. This panel started out as flat when first installed but has now taken on a curve that matches the wall. I'm real happy how the "foam insulation+fiberboard+headliner material" wall panels have turned out.



continued -
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Open the pod bay doors Hal.

Once I exit Hal, this is what I do.
https://larry.wvnet.edu/~van/pics/lic...late-small.jpg
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Old 09-18-2013, 02:28 PM   #645
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Re: Hal The Van

Fridge Cabinet - Post #2

Look at the gap between the wooden mock-up and the wheel "hump".


Compare it to this pic. I've lowered the fridge about an inch which allows the wooden mock-up to be moved all the way against the wheel "hump". This gives me the most aisle room.


So I've decided the position of the fridge cabinet. Now work on the height of the objects within the cabinet. Next consideration is the height of the porta-potty. Do several test "sits" in the garage while varying the height of the porta-potty until I find what feels just right. After that effort I should name it "Goldipots".


At this point I've decided on all final measurements. Use the mock-up as a framework to hold the angle iron pieces in place so they can be welded together.




Check fit.


I only want a small gap between the top of the fridge cabinet and the penthouse metal reinforcement that runs along the side of the opening.


Keep working.


Final cabinet frame.


Weight a little over 20 lbs.


Do a test fit with the sofa reassembled and fridge in place.






continued -
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Open the pod bay doors Hal.

Once I exit Hal, this is what I do.
https://larry.wvnet.edu/~van/pics/lic...late-small.jpg
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Old 09-18-2013, 04:49 PM   #646
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Re: Hal The Van

I didn't see any chips on your lathe! Go cut some metal!

Seriously, I glad to see the tools go to a good home.

Mike
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Old 09-18-2013, 08:35 PM   #647
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Re: Hal The Van

Nice work as usual. Doing the cabinet of metal, are you not affraid to have much vibration? Such a conception should be quite elastic, isn't it?
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Old 09-19-2013, 11:43 AM   #648
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Re: Hal The Van

Thanks Pschitt.
Only the cabinet framework and draw sliders will be metal. Most everything else will be wood. I've already got it installed in the van and it's anchored real solid so vibration isn't an problem.
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Old 09-21-2013, 09:40 PM   #649
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Re: Hal The Van

Fridge Cabinet - Post #3

I was able to get the fridge to fit without the wall panel in the way. Put the panel back into place.


Figure out how much of the panel must be removed and mark it with tape.


Cut it out with the jigsaw.


Here's a side view of the piece just cut from the wall panel. I used contact cement as a adhesive for the three layers when building it. You can see that it's held together rather well.


I then put the panel back and checked the fit with the fridge.


Ended up cutting on it two more times until I got the fit just right with the cooling unit on the back of the fridge.


The cutting left a large gap in the insulating properties of the wall panel so I used some Reflectix to help seal it up.




The fridge arrived with the door mounted to open from the left side. I need it to open from the right. To do that remove the door.


Swap the hinges and hardware.


Here's the sliders for the three drawers.


Will add flat steel bars to the metal framework that the sliders will be bolted to.




Weld those into place.






Next I'll need to add support for the TV mount. This is the piece that's screwed to the TV


Next to it is the piece that will be bolted to the cabinet frame. The design of this mount allows the TV to be lifted off the cabinet and stowed away when not in use.


Figure out where I want the TV to go. Moved it around till it looked right.


Mark that location on the framework.




Weld the supports in place.


Add the final detail to the framework. I want some tie-down points for things carried in the back of the van. I'll be using 1 inch wide straps. Use some wire to create a mock-up.




Transpose the mock-up to 1/4" steel rod. Straightening out the wire gives me the length to cut the steel rod.


Use a vise and hand tools to bend the 1/4" rod into the shape I want.






I'll be the first to admit that these are not all identical but close enough for what I need.


Weld them into place.


Do some clean up work on my welds.


OK. I'm officially finished welding on the fridge cabinet's metal framework.


Framework weight is now 25 lbs.


continued -
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Once I exit Hal, this is what I do.
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Old 09-22-2013, 12:18 AM   #650
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Re: Hal The Van

Quote:
Originally Posted by WVvan
Instead I carry this breaker bar and deep socket around with me.
I bet going through airport security is hell!
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