Area51 - Mike's Misc Projects 2016: 

Its been another very busy year around the house, in the garage, and at the gun club. There's been so much going on that I've posted separate stories for the Gun Club stuff on the Crew Adventures page, and for my backyard project and Dad's patio project on the Projects in the Shed page.

Things started early this year when I had to replace the front brakes on my Silverado. They were factory original, squealing and had 105,000km on them. I replaced the rear brakes in November and probably should have done the front at that time too as it would have prevented me replacing them in the cold and snow.

The brake parts on my 2500HD are big and heavy which can be a pain to work on, but they are strong and certainly last a long time even under commercial use.

I removed the rotors by installing 2 grade 8 bolts (with threads extended up the bolt) into holes already in the rotors. These bolts press off the stubborn rotors when tightened with an impact gun.

The pads were as shot as you could get without being metal on metal.

Sliders cleaned and lubed, new parts installed and ready to work.

This year the Gun Club bought a new ATV for use by different groups at the club for moving equipment and targets. I headed up the committee for purchasing the bike and also look after all repairs and maintenance on the machine.

Along with performing the break in procedure outlined by Honda, I always add a few things of my own.

I dielectric greased all electrical connections, applied anti-seize to the hub surface and lug nuts, and sprayed the frame with fluid film to help prevent corrosion.

I also installed a ball hitch and fabricated a pin hitch for use by the various groups and their trailers.

With winter all but over it was time to change from steel winter rims to pretty summer rims. The OE 265/60/20 Goodyear SRA's were completely worn out so I upgraded and replaced them with much better rubber.

I went with 275/65/20 BF Goodrich All Terrain KO2's which measure out a full 34" tall. There's not a lot of tire size choices out there in 20" Load Range E tires, these fit the bill and look a lot better.

I cranked the front torsion bars about 2" to clear the taller tires (at full steering lock) which also helped to level the truck a little.

The new BFG's fit and suit the truck much better than the original's, are much better in the rain, and will perform better in the dirt especially when I'm off trouting and hunting.

Canadian Tire had a great sale on these steel folding ramps so I picked up a set. These are much longer than my old ramps and will make loading the bike into the truck much easier and safer. I'll keep the old ones which have easy glides for loading the skidoo aboard the trailer.

At five years old the paint on my Silverado had started to peel in a few places. White is not all that durable and I had a few places around the tail lights and rear mud flaps that needed attention. I sanded and masked off the affected areas, coated with etching primer and finished with color match GM white for a nice clean appearance that looks great and will prevent further corrosion.

After 18 years of faithful service, the WARN 2000lb winch on Project Foreman packed it in this summer.

I found a great deal locally on a WARN ProVantage 2500, installed it on the bike replacing all of the wiring as well. The full story can be found on the Project Foreman page.

Tile Tools: This year I picked up a 6" mini metal cutting saw for cutting the aluminum trim we use tiling. I removed the stupid guard and installed soft jaws that will grip the material without scratching it. The saw works fantastic making very precise perfect cuts, and is super portable.

Bassan also replaced his old wet saw with a new Ridgid Wet Saw. This new saw will easily handle the larger stone we find customers choosing more and more.

Although November 2016 has been one of the warmest on record with no frost and no snow so far this year we all know that winter is right around the corner and will arrive with a vengeance! Bassan was the first to drop over and swap summer rubber for his newly painted steelies and new Pirelli winter rubber.

Another evening another job as I set about cleaning up and putting a fresh coat of satin black paint on the winter wheels for my Silverado and Sandra's Kizashi.

If you keep them cleaned up they keep looking good and not like 4 ship anchors you commonly see around town.

My old winter tires were completely shot, even the two new ones I bought last year. I shopped all around town and settled on Dean Winter Cats from Tire Mart on Topsail Road. They have great reviews and were the best value for the dollar for a well sipped but a very open,  non-studded tread design.

Unfortunately they are stock size which is quite a bit smaller than my pretty BFG's, but that's all part of winter driving. Many people use the BFG All Terrains in the winter, as have I in the past. My only reason for not running them is that the GM polished wheels corrode like a bugger when used year round, I had one set replaced by the dealer under warranty for heavy corrosion, so yep, steelies it is!

When I swap tires in the Spring and fall I always do a brake service to make sure the sliders don't seize. The rears are always worse than the front and keeping them properly greased with high temp disc brake grease ensures full braking power and even pad wear.

With my truck complete it was the same story for Sandra's Kizashi.

I was disappointed to find the factory finish on Sandra's aluminum wheels defective and coming off like spots on a trout! The car is out of full warranty, if the dealer cant help I may look at having them professionally painted over the winter.

The last chore for winter pre-prep was a maintenance on my good ol' Honda snowblower. This year it was a quick oil change with a  quality synthetic, lubrication of auger housing bearings and moving parts and  a general look over. So other than eventually bringing the sled home and going through it I am all ready for snow!