Woke up at 8:37 A.M. Grabbed breakfast, took a shower. I figured I would start the day by tackling my front brake pads on my truck. So I headed to Casey and Erica's, picked up some jack stands, then headed to Auto Zone and picked up some pads. $9.99!!! I'll take it. I then headed to Mom and Dad's house to work with the tools there...
Dad was working at my brother's house, so I started on it alone. I arrived right at 10:00 A.M. I was hopin' to be done by 11:30, grab a bite to eat, then head home and work on some projects at the house. So I jacked up the left wheel and started at it. Well, sort of. You see, I couldn't even get the wheel off. No joke. I hammered on the tire and on the hub. Nothing. I sprayed WD-40 everywhere. Nothing. I checked the internet to see what to do. I tried one suggestion. I loosened all of the lug nuts and went for a drive! True story. I hit every pothole I could find, went over every bump I could see. Nothin'. I was gettin' frustrated!!!
I grabbed the left-overs from yesterday, ate lunch, then went with mom to pick up a wireless router for her and a lamp for me. Both off of craigslist. I paid $3 for mine. Perfect. I also had to buy a tool for my brakes...a 3/8" allen wrench. Silly Chevrolet. I came back and started at the truck again. This time on the right side. The tire came right off. At least that confirmed that I was doing it right! I got the caliper off, took the old pads out (pretty worn), and went to install the new ones. But no matter how I tried, I just couldn't get the brake piston to go back in. I tried big pliers, I tried a vise grip. Nothing. Dad had come home from his wiring job around 2:30-ish, so we decided to head in to this work to get C-clamps. Always somethin'! But after bringing them back home, I had the piston in in 30 seconds. It's all about having the right tool. The right side was fairly decent. I mean, my truck is old. It's a 1991. It's rusty. And this was in no way the easiest of brake pad replacements, but all things considered, it went fairly well.
But I still had a problem with the left side! So I tried my method again. I drove with the lug nuts loose. I drove down to the ranch to return their fixed mower. Nothing. But I smelled some burning rubber, so I went ahead and tightened the nuts back. We came back and beat the tire with a sledge hammer. Nothing. So I called a local mechanic. He said to beat the tire like we were angry. After his nod of approval, I went out there and just laid into it. It took four hits, but it FINALLY came off. Around 5:00 o'clock!!! 7 hours after starting. But having done the other side AND having the right tools, this was a breeze. It literally took me 30 minutes to get everything apart and back together. I took it for a test-drive, and it no longer had the squeak.
JOB COMPLETE!!! All for $14, brakes AND new tool. Not bad!
We ate supper that Mom had prepared for us, then headed home. I cleaned the area around my air-conditioner with a hand pruner and weed whacker, then showered. I also met my roommate from a couple of months ago for the first time. Dug came over just to meet me, so that was nice. I'll be roomin' with him in just a little over a month when he comes back for school.
I then headed over to Casey and Erica's around 7:15 to watch "Invictus" with them. It was an OK movie but kind of a let-down. I was a bit more excited for it than what I was given. While there, I also found out that my plumbing job from over a month ago has gone kapoot. Basically, it's been leaking for a couple of days. We found some disgusting soggy Chips Ahoy in the cabinet under the sink. A pipe that I had threaded had literally come all the way separated. So that is going to need some more work.
Always somethin'...
Came home around 10:45 but stayed up pretty late. Didn't get to bed until 1:40 A.M. Didn't even bother to set my alarm. I'll let my body wake up on its own...
In bed at a very late 1:40. No alarm.
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