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Beater....... '01 Dakota quad cab

Many thanks to Seth for taking the time to put the truck on the rack today! I owe ya brutha!

Looks like the front bits of the frame and crossmember moved about a half inch to the drivers side and a half inch upward from the impact with the rock. He also determined that the front left lower control arm mount is 3/4" back from where it should be.

I'm guessing for the alignment issue, that control arm mount movement is what I'll have to get corrected. I'm hoping that maybe a frame and alignment shop could just tug on it all just enough to get it into alignment spec and that'll be good enough for CSP.

My next mission is to speak to CSP to find out exactly what they'll need to see to document the repairs. Since I don't have the details from the previous insurance company..... I don't know the list of damage that they compiled that totaled it.


Fun fun.
 
I don't know if Colorado's process is anything like Ohio's , but I needed parts receipts with the V.I.N. numbers on them proving the parts are not stolen . The state patrol inspected the vehicles to make sure the parts were not stolen , they weren't concerned about safety . When I worked at the body shop I probably took 25 vehicles to get inspected ( including my 99xj )and some of the vehicles had loose fenders , doors etc and not one didn't get passed.
 
When our Jeep got wrecked I considered buying it back. I would've had to send them the title and then they would've issued me a salvage title. I never did it tho so that's the extent of my knowledge.
 
Trying to laugh this off.........

Heard it making a singing / grinding noise the past couple of times I drove it. Looked around at it while it was on the rack at Seth's shop and was hard to see initially, but it appeared that the harmonic balancer had slid back and may be contacting the timing cover.

Yep. Confirmed. It also began to drip a little oil off the balancer weight.

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Tore into it today, got the new balancer and seal..... only to find that I've got a much bigger job ahead of me now. And I've gotta find a timing cover for a 5.9...... :mad:

IMG_20170527_191425855_zps7jporn5l.jpg




Guess with this having 285K miles on it I should also probably do the timing set too........



:banghead:



.
 
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Damn, that sucks! Nothing worse than tearing into something to only find the tip of the iceberg. That happened to me on my old e30. What I thought was going to be a simple tune up turned into tearing into the entire top end.
 
Whew! Found a guy on CL with one already pulled for $40...... So happy I don't have to spend hours in a parts yard pulling one...... :yelclap:
 
that is a well ventilated cover...
 
Well that mess is fixed. On initial fire up, after it warmed up and I confirmed electric fan kicks in at temp, I noted a slow drip of coolant coming from the left side of the timing cover where the coolant leaves the block and into the water pump. The gasket is thin metal with a ribbed rubber coating which said to me, no sealant required. I had hand "snugged" the timing cover bolts so I hit them again and put some grunt on them and so far, no leak.

I'm hoping I wasn't supposed to coat the threads of the bolts that hold that area of the cover into the block, perhaps it was leaking past the threads? Just seemed odd no coolant coming from the head of the bolt area. Anyway, wish I'd thought of using sealant on the threads AND around the gasket ...... don't wanna do that job again. :mad:

Fingers crossed.

Waiting on a back ordered steering shaft assembly - this one is pretty damn loose in 3 places.

Once that's in, I'm going to stamp "Rebuilt from Salvage" into the driver's B-pillar, complete the affidavit and schedule an inspection at CSP and see what they have to say.

If it fails for the frame issue...... I'm gonna have to turn on the charm with Seth and hope he can find time to put this damn thing back on the frame table...... :D
 
Well the CSP VIN and Rebuilt from Salvage inspection was no big deal at all.

I came prepared with the paperwork along with receipts and photos of the before and after for the fender/headlight replacement and the engine fixes (balancer and timing chain), battery, fluids and other items.

He didn't ask what was damaged that caused it to be totaled and given a salvage title, so I made no mention of the hit to the crossmember / frame damage.

He looked at the receipts, looked at the DR2424 form I'd completed, had me run through equipment checks (lights, brakes, etc) and then checked to see that I'd stamped "Rebuilt from Salvage" into the B-pillar.

He did 10 min of paperwork in his office and off I went with the form needed to have the DMV issue a "Rebuilt" title. :thumbup:

Now...... to spend hours at the DMV waiting to see a clerk....... ugh.
 
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And DONE! It's finally legal and legit.

Not an easy process, but not the worst either. Lots of different interpretations of the process and what you can and can't do with the car or title while you're fixing it.

I've been driving it since I bought it. Put insurance on it and a few days later, went to the DMV to get the salvage title transferred into my name and get a temp tag and the clerk there said nope - ya gotta tow it everywhere including to the emissions test.

I said eff that and put the plates from my MJ that were still paid up and in my name on the Dakota.

When I went to the CSP inspection I drove it there. The Trooper asked about the plates and warned me that it was a violation..... which I was well aware of... but I asked him how I'm supposed to truthfully "swear and affirm" that the truck has been repaired to be roadworthy (required to sign this statement on the front of the salvage title once I've stamped it Repaired from Salvage) if I can't drive it? He said the DMV was supposed to put the title in my name and give me a temp tag.

So, today when I went to get the Branded Title work done and get registration and plates, I asked the clerk to transfer my MJ plates to the Dakota. I pointed to the license plate info printed on the emissions test report so she'd have the plate info..... She scolded me for driving it with those plates and again reminded me that it was to be towed everywhere. I posed the question to her "How am I supposed to sign the statement on the salvage title if I can't drive it?"

Puzzled....... she said that was a good question and went to speak to her supervisor. The supervisor came to the counter and asked me what I meant. I said simply that. How am I supposed to swear and affirm that I've repaired the vehicle to be safe and roadworthy if I can't drive it before signing? To which she said...... "Huh.... that's a good question."

:doh:
 
Puzzled....... she said that was a good question and went to speak to her supervisor. The supervisor came to the counter and asked me what I meant. I said simply that. How am I supposed to swear and affirm that I've repaired the vehicle to be safe and roadworthy if I can't drive it before signing? To which she said...... "Huh.... that's a good question."

:doh:

Sounds like the DMV! :laugh2:
 
Still enjoying this truck for the most part. Been running great, getting ok gas mileage considering the 5.9, trans shift points and oversized tires (12.5 mpg).

Found an '03 Durango at a junk yard with really nice, comfy, matching deep bolster seats, lumbar support and power controls so those are now wired up and in the truck.

When I bought it, the hvac air flow was blowing out of all vents, the only thing that would change is the blend door for re-circulation/fresh air. On line info suggested it was a busted blend door hinge and there are fixes for it.

Tore into it a couple days ago and 2002 must have been a transition year for the style of hvac box they used. The one in this truck has electric servos that move levers outside the box, that are connected to the hinge points of the blend doors. One servo controls the flow of the floor vents and the dash vents.

Both arms have broken off their plastic mounting points on the blend doors. Unless I want to go tearing off the dashes in several junk yard Dakotas to find unbroken parts....... I'm gonna have to live with the air coming out of all the vents. The dash removal process is a MASSIVE undertaking and then removing the box in order to open it up and replace/repair the blend door mounting points is a whole 'nuther monster.

Given that this truck has the "S" title..... probably not worth the time and money investment.
 
The durango seats are the bomb. My heated leather keeps me happy!:cheers:
 
Still enjoying this truck for the most part. Been running great, getting ok gas mileage considering the 5.9, trans shift points and oversized tires (12.5 mpg).

Found an '03 Durango at a junk yard with really nice, comfy, matching deep bolster seats, lumbar support and power controls so those are now wired up and in the truck.

When I bought it, the hvac air flow was blowing out of all vents, the only thing that would change is the blend door for re-circulation/fresh air. On line info suggested it was a busted blend door hinge and there are fixes for it.

Tore into it a couple days ago and 2002 must have been a transition year for the style of hvac box they used. The one in this truck has electric servos that move levers outside the box, that are connected to the hinge points of the blend doors. One servo controls the flow of the floor vents and the dash vents.

Both arms have broken off their plastic mounting points on the blend doors. Unless I want to go tearing off the dashes in several junk yard Dakotas to find unbroken parts....... I'm gonna have to live with the air coming out of all the vents. The dash removal process is a MASSIVE undertaking and then removing the box in order to open it up and replace/repair the blend door mounting points is a whole 'nuther monster.

Given that this truck has the "S" title..... probably not worth the time and money investment.

I had an issue on my 04 Grand Cherokee with the blend doors that controlled the hot/cold mix. Easy fix to avoid taking the dash out was to dremel the side of the box behind the glove box. Sounds like your issue is outside of the box. Why not JB weld the arms?
 
Why not JB weld the pieces? Because there are so many that are busted.... and in order to get at them, the HVAC box would have to come out. I'm not interested in draining coolant and having the A/C discharged in order to do all that...... on top of removing that damn dash.

The design has way too many moving parts. The grease dried up, plastic started to bind and it looks like when one bit decides to bind, it in turn binds up several other moving parts....

This shows a long arm connected to a activator wheel turned by a servo. That wheel moves 3 blend doors. The long arm broke off of the upper door pivot, and the mounting for the wheel broke. There's an arm that goes from the lower heat door pivot up through the box to the dash blend doors. That arm broke free from the lower and upper mounts on the doors and is sitting wedged in the lower part of the box.

100_6807.jpg

100_6808.jpg


Someone's tried to fix this part before me.... they screwed a small spring across the guide that the arm slides in, probably kept popping out. One screw pulled out and the spring is hanging there, the arm won't stay attached to the pivot.

100_6812.jpg



I've been considering getting some universal heater box cables from a 60's car and connecting them to the blend door pivot arms...... and just pulling/pushing the cables to move the doors......old school..... :laugh:



,
 
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