need help prioritizing some repairs

[laffycaffi]

My 2001 Audi has given up the ghost. Well, not entirely, but it needs a new timing belt, new ecu, new brakes. Which is a lot of money to put into a car with 207K miles into it. Thinking of selling it first, or donating it if I can't sell it.

That leaves me with my 72 Bronco. I'd rather put my money into getting that fixed up instead. I love working on the bronco, but I'm not a great mechanic, so my urgency, I think is going to require that I bring it in somewhere to get some things worked on. My question is two-fold:
1. Can you recommend a cheap place to bring it. Or is there anyone who wants to take on a paid project. I have $800 in my budget, which might not even be enough.
2. Can you help me prioritize the following, which I want to get checked out / fixed.

Here's the list:
1. Getting a clanking sound from what seems to be the front, passenger side wheel. It gets faster as the car is rolling faster, but stops if I brake or accellerate. Had the U-joints looked at and was told that they are actually fine. ??

2. Getting another really weird sound from driver side rear wheel area. There is no rhythm to it, it is unaffected by speed, accelleration or braking.

3. I moved the shifter from the tree to the floor. In 4WD, though, the shifting is very hard, because the rods are being pushed by the 4WD shifter.

4. Blinkers don't work.

5. Death wobble at exactly 25 mph and goes away at 20.

6. I have a heater that I'd like installed.

Help is appreciated! Thanks,
Mark

[Justin]

Can you bring it to the tech day? We'll have lots of people there who can look at it. Some of them may even know what they're doing. Otherwise, I'd address the weird sounds first, as they're potentially safety related. Blinkers are a very close second for the same reason. Death wobble may not be hard to diagnose, and may be easy to fix. Heater is really easy if it's stock. Bring it by and we can take care of it. I'd deal with the shifter last since it doesn't affect your plans for daily use.

[laffycaffi]

Can you bring it to the tech day? We'll have lots of people there who can look at it. Some of them may even know what they're doing. Otherwise, I'd address the weird sounds first, as they're potentially safety related. Blinkers are a very close second for the same reason. Death wobble may not be hard to diagnose, and may be easy to fix. Heater is really easy if it's stock. Bring it by and we can take care of it. I'd deal with the shifter last since it doesn't affect your plans for daily use.

Great suggestion, thanks! When is Tech Day? Sorry, been out of the loop!

[Justin]

Feb 22 at my place in Lakewood.

[laffycaffi]

I'm there! I'm free that day. Thanks. Can I get an address / time? Or a link to those details?

[akaFrankCastle]

My 2001 Audi has given up the ghost. Well, not entirely, but it needs a new timing belt, new ecu, new brakes. Which is a lot of money to put into a car with 207K miles into it. Thinking of selling it first, or donating it if I can't sell it.

That leaves me with my 72 Bronco. I'd rather put my money into getting that fixed up instead. I love working on the bronco, but I'm not a great mechanic, so my urgency, I think is going to require that I bring it in somewhere to get some things worked on. My question is two-fold:
1. Can you recommend a cheap place to bring it. Or is there anyone who wants to take on a paid project. I have $800 in my budget, which might not even be enough.
2. Can you help me prioritize the following, which I want to get checked out / fixed.

Here's the list:
1. Getting a clanking sound from what seems to be the front, passenger side wheel. It gets faster as the car is rolling faster, but stops if I brake or accellerate. Had the U-joints looked at and was told that they are actually fine. ??

2. Getting another really weird sound from driver side rear wheel area. There is no rhythm to it, it is unaffected by speed, accelleration or braking.

3. I moved the shifter from the tree to the floor. In 4WD, though, the shifting is very hard, because the rods are being pushed by the 4WD shifter.

4. Blinkers don't work.

5. Death wobble at exactly 25 mph and goes away at 20.

6. I have a heater that I'd like installed.

Help is appreciated! Thanks,
Mark

Safety first. Capability second. Comfort last.

#1 sounds like an issue within the brake. Or maybe related to #5? Are your lugnuts tight? How tight? Have you ever repacked or replaced the bearings? Do you have drums or discs? Go outside and jack the front right corner up. Grab the tire, top and bottom, and without trying to rip the wheel off try to rock it back and forth. Then, spin it and listen for any strange sounds. Try to hear where they are coming from. If it sounds faintly like gravel rolling in a plastic cup, I would suspect bearings. If it sounds like someone dragging a pitchfork down a hallway, I'd be thinking brake drum/pads.
#2 doesn't seem to be affecting much other than your ears. For now. Possibly a wheel bearing going bad?
#3 can you snap a picture of the interference? If it still shifts, and doesn't accidentally shift the transfer case or transmission out of gear, move it to the bottom of the list.
#4 Blinkers are a moot point if you cannot hang on to the steering wheel due to death wobble and your brakes fail because they are coming apart. Refresh yourself on hand and arm signals for driving. It's old school and people will think you are doing it ironically like a hipster. Seriously, when I am driving TO, I usually just point to the lane I am heading too.
#5 Does it continue over 25 or have you yet to make it that far? I've always thought death wobble was more of a 50 mph+ condition. But I don't suppose it has to be restricted to that. It could be a bad track bar bushing/rounded out hole, bad wheel bearings (see above), or even brakes dragging when not applied. See #1.
#6 No sense in fixing a heater in a Bronco unsafe to drive. Bottom of the list. Right above the shifter, below the turn signals

[Justin]

I'm there! I'm free that day. Thanks. Can I get an address / time? Or a link to those details?

Check the staging area for the thread. Starts at 8 or 9 or whenever people show up. I'll pm you my address.

[laffycaffi]

My 2001 Audi has given up the ghost. Well, not entirely, but it needs a new timing belt, new ecu, new brakes. Which is a lot of money to put into a car with 207K miles into it. Thinking of selling it first, or donating it if I can't sell it.

That leaves me with my 72 Bronco. I'd rather put my money into getting that fixed up instead. I love working on the bronco, but I'm not a great mechanic, so my urgency, I think is going to require that I bring it in somewhere to get some things worked on. My question is two-fold:
1. Can you recommend a cheap place to bring it. Or is there anyone who wants to take on a paid project. I have $800 in my budget, which might not even be enough.
2. Can you help me prioritize the following, which I want to get checked out / fixed.

Here's the list:
1. Getting a clanking sound from what seems to be the front, passenger side wheel. It gets faster as the car is rolling faster, but stops if I brake or accellerate. Had the U-joints looked at and was told that they are actually fine. ??

2. Getting another really weird sound from driver side rear wheel area. There is no rhythm to it, it is unaffected by speed, accelleration or braking.

3. I moved the shifter from the tree to the floor. In 4WD, though, the shifting is very hard, because the rods are being pushed by the 4WD shifter.

4. Blinkers don't work.

5. Death wobble at exactly 25 mph and goes away at 20.

6. I have a heater that I'd like installed.

Help is appreciated! Thanks,
Mark

Safety first. Capability second. Comfort last.

#1 sounds like an issue within the brake. Or maybe related to #5? Are your lugnuts tight? How tight? Have you ever repacked or replaced the bearings? Do you have drums or discs? Go outside and jack the front right corner up. Grab the tire, top and bottom, and without trying to rip the wheel off try to rock it back and forth. Then, spin it and listen for any strange sounds. Try to hear where they are coming from. If it sounds faintly like gravel rolling in a plastic cup, I would suspect bearings. If it sounds like someone dragging a pitchfork down a hallway, I'd be thinking brake drum/pads.
* Disc brakes up front. I don't think it's related to # 5 because #5 just started and #1 has been going on for months. I think bearings were replaced about 2 years ago, but with hardly any driving. I will try your suggestions. I don't think it will sound like gravel. It's a pretty distinct "clank-clank, clank-clank....)

#2 doesn't seem to be affecting much other than your ears. For now. Possibly a wheel bearing going bad?
* no idea, but I agree it's only affecting my ears.

#3 can you snap a picture of the interference? If it still shifts, and doesn't accidentally shift the transfer case or transmission out of gear, move it to the bottom of the list. I'll do that, maybe tomorrow.

#4 Blinkers are a moot point if you cannot hang on to the steering wheel due to death wobble and your brakes fail because they are coming apart. Refresh yourself on hand and arm signals for driving. It's old school and people will think you are doing it ironically like a hipster. Seriously, when I am driving TO, I usually just point to the lane I am heading too.
* I hand signal as necessary. I don't change lanes when wobbling to death.

#5 Does it continue over 25 or have you yet to make it that far? I've always thought death wobble was more of a 50 mph+ condition. But I don't suppose it has to be restricted to that. It could be a bad track bar bushing/rounded out hole, bad wheel bearings (see above), or even brakes dragging when not applied. See #1.
Not over 25, not under 25. I could be braking from 50 and I know that once the speedometer hits 25, that's when it will happen. And it always does.


#6 No sense in fixing a heater in a Bronco unsafe to drive. Bottom of the list. Right above the shifter, below the turn signals

* makes sense. I agree.

[laffycaffi]

I'm there! I'm free that day. Thanks. Can I get an address / time? Or a link to those details?

Check the staging area for the thread. Starts at 8 or 9 or whenever people show up. I'll pm you my address.

Thanks!

[akaFrankCastle]

Which disc set up are you running?

[laffycaffi]

Which disc set up are you running?

Bronco/Chevy conversion.

[akaFrankCastle]

Any chance the knuckle and caliper were not clearanced enough? Do your brakes ever hang up resulting in your having to hook the pedal with your foot and pull it back up?

[laffycaffi]

Any chance the knuckle and caliper were not clearanced enough? Do your brakes ever hang up resulting in your having to hook the pedal with your foot and pull it back up?

No, but if it's cold or snowy out, sometimes I'll release the brake quickly and the pedal will pop UP and stick and hit me in the shins the next time I move my leg in that direction.

[Jesus_man]

1. Could be the pads bouncing along inside the calipers. I know mine does that. Does the sound go away with only the slightest brake pressure?

[Kinder]

If you can get an eyeball on the pad/backing plate/caliper interface there should be bent flat steel shim wear indicator (I'm sure there's a real name for it) on the ear of the pad.

[laffycaffi]

1. Could be the pads bouncing along inside the calipers. I know mine does that. Does the sound go away with only the slightest brake pressure?

Yep. I have a feeling that's it. Is this something that should be fixed?

[laffycaffi]

If you can get an eyeball on the pad/backing plate/caliper interface there should be bent flat steel shim wear indicator (I'm sure there's a real name for it) on the ear of the pad.

I'm going to remember this on Sunday when I go to the tech day event. Because I'm not sure exactly what you mean. :)

[Jesus_man]

1. Could be the pads bouncing along inside the calipers. I know mine does that. Does the sound go away with only the slightest brake pressure?

Yep. I have a feeling that's it. Is this something that should be fixed?

It's annoying, but beyond that I don't see a reason to put it at the top of your list. Again, finding out what is really wrong will dictate it's priority. And maybe the little spring thing that Kinder speaks of will do the trick. I don't think it helped mine...but I honestly can't recall if I got new ones with the pads or not.

i think this is what Kinder is speaking of...anti-rattle springs: