Front end work -- Partial -- Sealed beams and Muffler prep work!!

As discussed previously my main goal is to get rid of the steering column slack.  First things first I inspected the front ball joints and as I was doing this I noticed the u bolts holding the leaf springs in place -- near the front shocks were all loose.  I tried to tighten them but they were too rusty. I went ahead and ordered two Monroe shocks for the front.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000COO3PM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is a picture of the old shock absorbers:

old shock absorvers (what ever is left of them)

Putting the new shocks on would have been a ten minute job if it was not for the rusty u bolts

Finding replacement bolts was also a challenge.  Thank God for Northern Tools that carry a similar bolt for trailers.  After two trips to the store two Popsicle sticks and two planes for Andreas we completed this task by the end of the day on Saturday:

Andreas (my son) enjoying his Popsicle and holding on to his $2.00 plane

The next job completed was replacement of the head lights.  This was not too trivial except one of the sockets holding the sealed beam was shorting out.  I went ahead and replaced it.

Small crack on the chassis welded

No need to say too much here.  This truck was a work truck.  It got abused.  My uncle pointed out the crack this weekend.  Took me a few minutes to clean up the rust and stitch it back together.

Prepping the muffler was also a bit of work.  After three welding jobs the muffler is ready to go on.  I can not wait to get it installed.  This thing is pretty loud.