[RagingMain]

Just wondering I fixed my wheel seal today, keep my fingers crossed, anyway I had to completely tear apart the emergency brake cuz it was completely covered with gear lube. Well after I got everything together I noticed the big spring for the emergency brake on the ground. Do I need to be concerned
TIA
Cheers

Oh yeah my diff was 2 quarts low, no weird noises, should I be concerned about this as well

 

[GrampyJim]

Well... the spring was there for a reason.... what do you think?

The diff was two quarts low.... doesn't sound like the truck is very well cared for...

 

[RagingMain]

I understand the spring is there for a reason, guess what I am asking is should I drop everything I am doing and go put it back on or can it wait a week until next weekend when I do my coolant flush?

Grampy Jim, the truck is very well taken care of!!!!
From what I can gather it started to leak on a long trip from Boston-Virginia-Boston. Right around the same time I replaced my brakes and developed a pull. There was no fluid when I changed the brakes, chased the pull when I got back and found the wheel seal.

If you were trying to ruffle my feathers you did a pretty good job. I post here to learn things, not be insulted!!! Not all of us are Ford Master Tech-Diesel certified. Please get off your High Horse and mingle with mere mortals from time to time you might actually learn something.

 

[GrampyJim]

I am not here to ruffle feathers.... if someone chooses to take offense at a simple sentence, I have little control over that.

In this particular case, we are discussing brakes... there isn't one system on anyones truck that is more important than the brake system.

I don't "fool around" with brakes and I wont release a vehicle with missing brake parts. In a nutshell, yes, I would stop everything and install the spring.

As for the oil level.... The oil not only lubricates the differential, it also carries heat away from high shear areas. It doesn't take much oil to make a big, big mess and, if we treat our trucks as the machines that they are, these things will be noticed before we run the chance of damage.

On a near daily basis, I am presented with a situation where someone has driven something to destruction because they didn't exercise due care and vigilance. On fleet trucks we regualarly see a small sticker at the drivers door touting "Walk around your vehicle". This is not a call for the driver to exercise more.... it is a call for the driver to look for obvious concerns.

As for me being on a high horse..... if that's the way you look at it, so be it. I say what I think. I've seen a lot of "Armorall Queens" in my life - a "3 dressed up as a 9", if you will. I am selling nothing. I am not telling anyone to break the law. All I want is for those that will listen to get the best bang for their buck.

 

[ikidd49]

Well put Jim. When I was 17 I didn't worry about brakes, just getting the most out of an old blue flame 6...then the brain cells started to function somewhat normally before I did any damage! Now I go too far the other way with pad/shoe changes at about 50% wear but I can send my family out in my vehicles with no worries.
Brake springs are a BIG component to ignore!
Ian

 

[RagingMain]

Jim: I was asking for advice, you gave yours, thank you. I should have posted everything as to avoid confusion.

As far as the brakes, I am not driving for the next week, I did not post that because I did not think it was relevant, maybe it would have cleared things up. I dont fool around with brakes either, I cant imagine anything worse than a brake failure (my fault) and hurting or possibly killing someone else, especially when I am the father of three wonderful children. I wouldnt want that to happen to me and I would never want to have that on my conscience.

As far as the gear oil, I did a round trip with out much of anything except gas stops, and I had no indication of the leak during the trip. If you are suggesting I do a walk around every single time then I dont know what to tell you. If you can show me someone who checks everything every single time they get in the truck, especially when there wasnt a problem in that particular area 1 week before then I will show you an honest politician. As soon as I got back and started chasing my pull I found it and fixed it. Thanks to the postings on this website it was easier and faster, especially when the local part stores didnt know what kind of tool I needed for the ratcheting locknut. Usually referred to as the big tool with teeth on it. I also have fixed one to many machines in the Navy because the person taking logs blew them off and didnt check filters, levels, Differential Pressures on and on and on. Preventative is always better than corrective maintenance.

I guess the lesson I learned from this is to make sure all info and history is out so someone can make an educated remark. Remarks like
"The diff was two quarts low.... doesn't sound like the truck is very well cared for..." are hard to judge if you dont know the whole story