bought a truck - guidance/progress

as for the por 15--scrape off the heavy stuff--then if you can spray it on its better--it goes on nice--but it does need to be painted over as well or the ultraviolet will detiorate it--just use something like rustoleum to cover it

you can get the anti syphons for your tank as well--then dont need new caps
at minimum i would grease the ujoints and spring pins every week---and rest every two weeks---lincoln guns are pretty good--buy an extra hose so you can double the length of hose--makes it a bit easier--maybe good idea to replace air filter and date it--
i would check all fluid levels--diffs tranny---pull bottom plug and check for excess material as well---if you know its full--you dont have to check it again unless you see leakage---give everything a good going over--make alist of whats worn -but livable so you can replace/fix it as time and money allow
ih is a pretty decent truck-- never found them to be to problematic

 

Keep one hand gun loaded with high temperature grease for the throw-out bearing. Look for the zerk hanging down from the bell housing.

Begin replacing old flexible air hoses. Take a few at a time to a place that makes new hoses. You may be able to park in their lot and walk your old hoses into the store. In an hour or so, you can be on your way with no worries about the hoses you replaced.

 

I always use the good hi temp napa brand grease or somthing similar, as much as you use, why spend $30 a tube when you can spend $4? just my opinion and have had good luck with napa stuff.

 

ok, then that is a good deal, i didn't look close enough at the description. I always grease everything every 2 weeks, but thats me and how I do it, some will say thats too often, some say not enough.

 

I have had trouble with the lincoln guns. I took the first 1 back the 2nd was no better. Bought a Lucas at Home Depot works very well. Extra long hose or 2 put together is a great idea. I get the heavy duty Lucas grease as well. The redntacky grease is not high temp and turns to liquid very easy. I dont think its very well suited for trucks

 

The first thing I'd do is get the strongest degreaser you can get and clean it from top to bottom. Concentrate on the undercarraige. Then go under it with the brightest trouble light you can find. Make notes of any loose wires or broken clamps for hoses air lines etc. On a 95 truck there is bound to be some of those. Fix them. It won't be expensive just time consuming. Clean the axle housings,trans and engine until they're clean so you can discover and fix leaks. I wouldn't even worry about greasing it until you have a good idea of the overall shape of the unit. Make sure the frame crossmembers are tight (look for red dust under bolt heads) Check u-joints for up and down play and twisting play. A little up and down (1/16") is ok but will need to be fixed soon. Twisting play needs to fixed before pulling a load. Check for up and play on the output shaft of the trans and the input/output shafts of the rear ends. They should be able to rotate a bit but not 1/2 a turn. Up and down should be minimal and look for bad oil leaks there. A little seepage is ok but it shouldn't be leaving a puddle. Again its not a hard expensive job just a dirty time consuming one to change seals. My maintenance schedule is grease and level check every 30 days(6,000 miles) Some say thats not enough but I'm on my original kingpins and have only replaced two u-joints in 800,000 miles and 11 years of pulling heavy (135,000lbs). Good luck with your truck.

 

lots of good advice here, here's a few off my suggestions:

1.climb all over the truck before you degrease it, this will show you leaks and problem areas
2. clean the truck top to bottom as best you can.
3. grease is the cheapest and best insurance you can buy. regular greasing is more important than the type.
4. fix all wiring with non insulated splices and heat shrink . cheapest and best way.
5. buy spare belts and filters.
6. buy spare fuses, some trucks take both the large and small push in type. do you have any glass fuses/ inline/whatever you call them?
7. test strip the antifreeze.
8.seriously inspect the battery cables and the connections.
9.do you have air tools and a compressor? plan on getting one.
10. don't give up.

johnny