Just a few projects and repairs.

Over the last few weeks I have tried to keep myself busy with things to do before the snow starts to fly. It started with putting new brakes on the Jeep. While doing so I noticed what I thought was some surface rust but after some inspection I found out that the frame was in very bad shape. After acquiring some metal I had a friend weld the patches over the bad spots in the frame. This was better but I thought the strapping needed a bit more reinforcement. I purchased a flux wire welder from Harbor Freight and after watching few YouTube videos taught myself to weld. I started working on the Jeep and while doing so I cut off the cat and the muffler to better access the frame. After the welding was done I painted the frame and re installed the cat and muffler. Finding the battery was getting weak so I had to pick up one of those. I then moved to Needles truck. Due to overheating I replaced heat sensor and thermostat to find out it was a freeze plug. When we got the truck back from the shop, I decided to do something about the paint. It was in pretty bad shape in a few spots so I ordered the factory paint and prepped the hood and top of the cab. After prepping I painted and finished the hood and several other problem areas. I decided to bed line the top of the cab, front and back bumper, step bars and tops of the bed rails. I think it turned out pretty good. It is a lot better than what it was. After the paint job I slapped four new shocks on it. I then moved back to the Jeep since the bed liner turned out well on the truck, I decided to paint the fender flares and the bumpers on the Jeep. I also drained and refilled the rear end oil and flushed the radiator. Once that was finished I moved back to the Dakota and replaced all four speakers and tomorrow I am replacing the radio. Just in time for deer season. We have spent a lot of money on our vehicles in the hope that they will last us for several more years.