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A couple of weeks ago a local farmer, who is a friend, called me and asked me if I would help him repair the whole front end on his 4 wheel drive F-250 pickup. He had went to get new tires and the tire dealer told him that the front end needed serious repairs before he put new tires on it.
As we took it apart we found it needed far more repairs than he had been told:
front axle seals
front axle U-Joints ( one had fallen apart)
upper and lower ball joints
all new steering tie rod ends
seals for the front hubs at the rear and new o-rings at the front
New front drive hubs
The ABS was not working
The 4 wheel drive hubs would not engage or disengage from the cab
New front brake rotors
front brake calipers
front brake pads
It took us all day to take it apart and it was very difficult without all the special tools that pro mechanics have. We ordered parts over the internet. They were about 1/3 the cost, and we ordered good quality parts.
It took us two days to put it back together because many of the parts were not correct and we could not get the correct parts locally.
But after much struggle and prayer we finally completed the task. I had never repaired a front end of a 4 wheel drive truck before and neither had he. When we took it for a test drive EVERYTHING worked perfectly. We were both very pleased and very thankful to The Lord for His mercy and grace to us.
Now this all makes me wonder if The Lord has a reason for all this mechanical work coming my way.
I have repaired and replaced a six cylinder diesel head that was breaking head bolts and the farmer had broken off an easy-out in the block. That easy out was 85 Rockwell hardness and everyone said it could not be fixed without spitting the tractor and taking the block to a machine shop to get it out. With prayer, The Lord gave me an idea that worked with tools that cost a few dollars. I put the engine back together and it never broke another head bolt. I knew the reason it was breaking bolts and put all new head bolts in it. When you loosen high strength bolts and then retighten them, it fatigues them and causes them to break in a short time. Then the mechanics loosened them all again to replace that broken one and retightened them again. That time one broke even sooner. Every time they repaired the broken head bolt, another would break in an even shorter time. The fix was simply to replace all of the head bolts. They were not cheap or easy to find, but that fixed the problem.
We did a complete overhaul of a 6 cylinder diesel motor on a 50 year old tractor. The manual and the dealer said that the tractor had to be split to take the crankshaft out to replace the upper main bearings. I had never even seen the inside of a diesel motor. But The Lord gave me an idea of how to replace the upper mains without splitting the tractor apart ( it is a very difficult job without overhead cranes). It was tricky but it worked and the engine has been the best running tractor that farmer now owns.
We also overhauled two hydraulic clutches and they now work well. ( these are very large and weigh maybe 100 pounds with about 100 parts)
Another job was taking the whole rear section off of a tractor to repair the hydraulic lift system.
Everyone of these jobs made me very thankful to The Lord Jesus. It matters not if it was my abilities or His special grace. ( I fully believe it was both) For I have NOTHING that The Lord did not give me.
Everything comes from Him and we owe Him thanks for everything that He gives us this day or even years ago.
I have absolutely no training in mechanical repairs. To complete these jobs and have them all work is no small thing. The tractor with the broken head bolt had been repaired by the dealer and then another professional mechanic, only to break another head bolt in a very short time.
The Lord did not give me one repair that I could not do, not one. I am sure there are many jobs that would have tore down my confidence instead of building it up.
Surely The Lord Jesus is full of mercy and grace for us all. Praise His Glorious Name.
Last night a friend told me his furnace was not working very well and his house was 50 some degrees inside. I went to his house and we found the problem and fixed it. His house is now warm. It is not fun to be cold. We do not appreciate our warm houses. Many people in the world do not have warm houses as we do. I am very thankful that my apartment is very comfortable right now. It has been very cold and has gotten down to 3 degrees at night sometimes.
One year when I was the Chaplin at the Rescue Mission in Youngstown ( it paid no salary). I lived in my house with no gas or electric the whole winter. I lived alone that year, so was able to do so. BUT I hope I never have to do that again. At first it was not so bad. But as time went on the cold seemed to get colder and colder. Ever since that experience I do not like to be cold.
Are you aware that heat is the most important necessity for life.
You can go without food for months
you can go without water for days
You can go without oxygen for minutes
But if you would walk into a room that was absolute zero on the Kelvin scale( no heat at all, and - 459.67 F) you would die instantly. My house was relatively warm when it got down to near zero sometimes.
One winter I slept outside in a tent during the night. It was way below zero sometimes. But that did not bother me because I had a warm place to shower and change clothes. Also it was warm at my workplace, and I had one sleeping bag that went into another one and they kept me warm.
Most planets are very cold or very hot. Praise The Lord Jesus for creating the earth to have a temperature that is not real cold or hot. We are not only in a Goldilocks zone, but the earth has an orbit that is circular enough to keep us in that zone.
Praise The Lord Jesus for all the things He has created that are for our good. The earth is a very RARE place indeed that Jesus created for us.
Lou Newton
As we took it apart we found it needed far more repairs than he had been told:
front axle seals
front axle U-Joints ( one had fallen apart)
upper and lower ball joints
all new steering tie rod ends
seals for the front hubs at the rear and new o-rings at the front
New front drive hubs
The ABS was not working
The 4 wheel drive hubs would not engage or disengage from the cab
New front brake rotors
front brake calipers
front brake pads
It took us all day to take it apart and it was very difficult without all the special tools that pro mechanics have. We ordered parts over the internet. They were about 1/3 the cost, and we ordered good quality parts.
It took us two days to put it back together because many of the parts were not correct and we could not get the correct parts locally.
But after much struggle and prayer we finally completed the task. I had never repaired a front end of a 4 wheel drive truck before and neither had he. When we took it for a test drive EVERYTHING worked perfectly. We were both very pleased and very thankful to The Lord for His mercy and grace to us.
Now this all makes me wonder if The Lord has a reason for all this mechanical work coming my way.
I have repaired and replaced a six cylinder diesel head that was breaking head bolts and the farmer had broken off an easy-out in the block. That easy out was 85 Rockwell hardness and everyone said it could not be fixed without spitting the tractor and taking the block to a machine shop to get it out. With prayer, The Lord gave me an idea that worked with tools that cost a few dollars. I put the engine back together and it never broke another head bolt. I knew the reason it was breaking bolts and put all new head bolts in it. When you loosen high strength bolts and then retighten them, it fatigues them and causes them to break in a short time. Then the mechanics loosened them all again to replace that broken one and retightened them again. That time one broke even sooner. Every time they repaired the broken head bolt, another would break in an even shorter time. The fix was simply to replace all of the head bolts. They were not cheap or easy to find, but that fixed the problem.
We did a complete overhaul of a 6 cylinder diesel motor on a 50 year old tractor. The manual and the dealer said that the tractor had to be split to take the crankshaft out to replace the upper main bearings. I had never even seen the inside of a diesel motor. But The Lord gave me an idea of how to replace the upper mains without splitting the tractor apart ( it is a very difficult job without overhead cranes). It was tricky but it worked and the engine has been the best running tractor that farmer now owns.
We also overhauled two hydraulic clutches and they now work well. ( these are very large and weigh maybe 100 pounds with about 100 parts)
Another job was taking the whole rear section off of a tractor to repair the hydraulic lift system.
Everyone of these jobs made me very thankful to The Lord Jesus. It matters not if it was my abilities or His special grace. ( I fully believe it was both) For I have NOTHING that The Lord did not give me.
Everything comes from Him and we owe Him thanks for everything that He gives us this day or even years ago.
I have absolutely no training in mechanical repairs. To complete these jobs and have them all work is no small thing. The tractor with the broken head bolt had been repaired by the dealer and then another professional mechanic, only to break another head bolt in a very short time.
The Lord did not give me one repair that I could not do, not one. I am sure there are many jobs that would have tore down my confidence instead of building it up.
Surely The Lord Jesus is full of mercy and grace for us all. Praise His Glorious Name.
Last night a friend told me his furnace was not working very well and his house was 50 some degrees inside. I went to his house and we found the problem and fixed it. His house is now warm. It is not fun to be cold. We do not appreciate our warm houses. Many people in the world do not have warm houses as we do. I am very thankful that my apartment is very comfortable right now. It has been very cold and has gotten down to 3 degrees at night sometimes.
One year when I was the Chaplin at the Rescue Mission in Youngstown ( it paid no salary). I lived in my house with no gas or electric the whole winter. I lived alone that year, so was able to do so. BUT I hope I never have to do that again. At first it was not so bad. But as time went on the cold seemed to get colder and colder. Ever since that experience I do not like to be cold.
Are you aware that heat is the most important necessity for life.
You can go without food for months
you can go without water for days
You can go without oxygen for minutes
But if you would walk into a room that was absolute zero on the Kelvin scale( no heat at all, and - 459.67 F) you would die instantly. My house was relatively warm when it got down to near zero sometimes.
One winter I slept outside in a tent during the night. It was way below zero sometimes. But that did not bother me because I had a warm place to shower and change clothes. Also it was warm at my workplace, and I had one sleeping bag that went into another one and they kept me warm.
Most planets are very cold or very hot. Praise The Lord Jesus for creating the earth to have a temperature that is not real cold or hot. We are not only in a Goldilocks zone, but the earth has an orbit that is circular enough to keep us in that zone.
Praise The Lord Jesus for all the things He has created that are for our good. The earth is a very RARE place indeed that Jesus created for us.
Lou Newton
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