I'll be doing it tomorrow. I'll take some pics. It's originally a charcoal color but I'm going Rustoleum hammer black which is a high gloss textured look. If it doesn't look good it's not hard to change it. I would recommend if you do it to use a ratcheting drill instead of a screwdriver or regular drill. The screws are fine thread and they used thread lock on them. A regular drill might strip out the torx head screws.

 

They've been around quite a while - started out being used in heavy trucks, then eventually someone figured out they could sell them to the general public. I own a tire machine and balancer, so I have no experience with them outside of heavy trucks, as far as how good they are. Worked great in TT units, dump or trash trucks, etc.. Don't see why they wouldn't work in a smaller tire using lighter beads.

 

That is the same color I painted my spare tire carrier. Very nice shade contrast.
Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

How many coats did you apply? I'm at two and wondering if I should do three or four.

 

Went to the upull tiday. Scored a fender flare project, and got some aluminum skid plates.

 

Sanded down the roof rack parts, sprayed them with a gray etching primer, and sprayed two coats of the black Rustoleum hammer paint. It was definately not as black as the can indicated but actually closer to the original dark gray color. It looks pretty nice though. I decided to pull the windshield wipers and paint them the same color. I'm including a few pics. If you decide to do this I highly recommend giving the paint a couple of days to dry. Sorry if some of the after pics are dark. If someone wants a better pic I can take a few tomorrow when it's sunnier out.

 

Flushed the brake system using (mostly) a gravity bleed technique. It worked pretty well. I did pump the brakes a few times for the front brakes followed by letting them flow for a bit. I would recommend having something else to do while waiting for the fluid to drain. I ended up taking several hours to do them all while I was also doing the other stuff below. A total close to 1 quart of brake fluid seems to be the capacity of the system.

I also installed a Rough Country steering stabilizer. (pictures later) Boy are their directions HORRIBLE. I saw comments to that effect on reviews of this part on their own website but could not believe how bad they were until I got them. Also, their customer service has gotten worse. I would send inquiries asking about the difference in the parts I got versus the ones in the pictures on their website. All I would get in return was a short "It'll work." as a reply.

I also checked the front axle gear oil level and sure enough it was down a bit. Hard to tell exactly how much as it was parked facing up my inclined driveway with jack-stands under the front. However a lower oil level is consistent with the oil leak at the left axle seal for the front axle. And I just thought I was done with having to do any more little fixes.

 

I'm at 2, but will probably throw another coat or two on.
Yours is looking good, though.

 

In a pinch, we used to slide the tire part way under a car, then wedge a scissor jack between the tire & car frame. Jack it up until the bead breaks...

Yeah, I used to bring tire changes to an older gentleman who ran the local Gulf station. He would dismount the old tire, then clean the rim surface with a rotary wire brush on an air tool. I always appreciated the extra service, and never had a rim leak on any tire he changed. "Pat" worked until he was around 85, wish there were more old-school guys like him...

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I replaced the idler arm, not as easy for me as the pros here but I'll tell my tale and maybe help the inexperienced.

In my 2002 Xtreme (2wd) the nuts holding the idler arm to the bracket and the center link were an odd size. I think they take an 18mm socket, which does not exist. After spraying a day before with PB Blaster and putting the truck up on ramps, I was able to remove the nuts with an assortment of a 23/32 "metrinch," a 3/4" socket (loose, but okay for holding the bolt inside the frame rail), open-end and crescent wrench. I did not have to resort to vice grips. If you can find a 18mm socket: get it!

The nut on the center link ball joint was just a regular-looking nut, not a castle nut. And the nut that came with my new AC Delco idler arm was not a castle nut either. However, I think all the nuts were slightly tapered because after a few easy turns the turning got tougher.

I was able to loosen the nut on the ball joint. Then I used a Harbor Freight ball joint separator tool to pop the centerlink stud out of the idler arm by putting the fork end under the arm and the anvil end on top of the stud. I cranked it real tight and when went to get a cheater bar for more cranking the joint popped by itself, thereby not scaring me.

Using a vice I turned the new arm at 45 degrees to the bracket and set it into the bracket bolts, which luckily had not fallen into the frame rail. I took the bracket nuts to the hardware store and found two metric nuts (maybe M14?) that fit (nice and loose) on the inside and were 19mm outside, so that way I could use a normal 19mm socket. I also got two lock washers for them, and back under the truck, tightened them on. At this point the idler arm was not on the stud but you can grab ahold of the linkages and push and fit them together.

The trouble began when I started screwing the last nut onto the ball joint stud. As the nut turned the stud started turning, too, and I could not get the joint to snug up. This problem may have been caused by excessive PB Blaster, IDK. To solve the problem I got a C-clamp and a piece of 1x2" wood and found a way to squeeze the centerlink and the idler arm together, which tightened up the stud enough to stop it from turning. That let me tighten the nut and torque it to 35 ft-lbs. The bracket nuts take 79 ft-lbs which is just about as hard as you can crank it from under there.

I screwed in the zerk and pumped the arm with lube. It takes a lot, you see how full it is by lifting up the boot - and if it needs more, gob some lube on your finger and stuff it in. Just four hours and job done. I hope this experience helps someone.