Ukraine Refugee Assistance

Awesome!!!!

Well, "boxes of baby stuff" we certainly have

Mrs. Hungary started in on shopping for school essentials yesterday.  She reports that the she went to our favorite school supply store with our list of children and that the excited cashier 100% took over all of our shopping requirements.   I guess the excited cashier immediately translated the ages of the children to their respective grades and pulled 100% of the book-related items they need from her shelves (notebooks, music books, graph paper, etc).
 

This accounts for approximately 77,000 forint ($225usd) of our locally collected cash, and I'm happy to say that our local collections increased by 20,000 forint ($60) today.  Mrs. Hungary also reports that she has not yet started shopping for writing and art supplies, but will do so soon (and I know VikkiDp has a list of suggestions from the mothers, so we'll be sure to grab that stuff too!).

In other news, we've had some additions to our list of children.  We are now up to 54 kids, from 36 families.

And (I can not say this enough) I still can not believe that there are now over 50 actual children that are not only "waiting on our delivery", but have received enough deliveries from us in the past that I think they can now "count on" our deliveries

This is again so much more than I thought possible.  Thank you everyone.

84FSP said:

In reply to VikkiDp :

Was just talking with AngryCorvair last night wondering what to put on my list of stuff to mule over 8/27.  Bill has my email and cell - place your orders - the 84FSP express does delivery.

I'll be sure to pass all info your way.  I was thinking this would be a GREAT opportunity to get Ira's school some more supplies.  OR, if we really wanted to plan ahead, I'm 100% going to make a December run

About desk lamps - these are lamps for the kids to study and do their homework 

So I guess something like that will be more suitable.

it costs about 12.5$, in forint - just add 0 (zero) to the price

I think it's better to ask moms if there's a need for such lamps.

Hi everyone!!! more updates 

I think it's better to ask moms if there's a need for such lamps.

Almost immediately after i posted this one of the moms texted me with a question: Is it possible to buy a desk lamp for Carolina to do her homework? The apartment they're renting doesn't have a desk lamp at all.

My answer - yes, of course!!! So we have one lamp on the order. 

Do you remember Carolina and her Xmas wish - Xmas pajamas? 

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I have more headphones and stuffies for them, and I hope to add more to that this Wednesday.

Vikki, are those lamps battery-operated too? Can they also function as phone chargers? Matthew has a good point about using smaller LED lights with battery packs, could yield more options potentially.

The next one 

I bought diapers, baby food and some sweets for older kiddos for two family this week - these stuff already are on their way 

a little baby was born in one of these families - this is a 2 months old baby girl and she's so sweet - i saw the photo 

I think some of the stuff in Matthew's boxes will go to her. 

A little later in the weekend, another mom asked for help with medicine and baby food for her little son - i'm going to buy everything and give it to her tomorrow.

Also some stuff from Matthew's boxes will go to this baby boy in August.

Absolutely GREAT!!!

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Vikki, are those lamps battery-operated too? Can they also function as phone chargers? Matthew has a good point about using smaller LED lights with battery packs, could yield more options potentially.

This family has a power bank - so they need a lamp that works from sockets(mains-powered) and a power bank.

I have two ones of these and it's handy to use 

This girl's mom asked for clothes for the baby girl.

Bill maybe the locals can collect some things for her? who had kids that age and had clothes left over 

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I know VikkiDp has a list of suggestions from the mothers, so we'll be sure to grab that stuff too!

Everything has added to the kids list!!! 

And (I can not say this enough) I still can not believe that there are now over 50 actual children that are not only "waiting on our delivery", but have received enough deliveries from us in the past that I think they can now "count on" our deliveries 

I want to tell you and all the other guys - we are absolutely on the right way!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!

Many moms were pleasantly surprised that we remembered and cared about them, many moms were embarrassed to ask for help when they really needed it. But all of them are very grateful for the support 

When I read messages from them, I realize we're on the right way and everything we did, we do and we're going to do - it's so important and it worth all efforts!!!

All these words of gratitude and wishes of health for you all  and i'm passing them on to you all

We need translations  What else could they use? I know many say kids come first, but they need someone to care for them too.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I have more headphones and stuffies for them, and I hope to add more to that this Wednesday.

Vikki, are those lamps battery-operated too? Can they also function as phone chargers? Matthew has a good point about using smaller LED lights with battery packs, could yield more options potentially.

AWESOME!

I just talked to our freight forwarder, and this will be our last chance to use this service so I'm glad we got this "go" in when we did.  The person who held the door open for us is moving though and with them goes our avenue.  If you send me a heads up when you're ready to send, I can let them know it's on its way (so we don't miss it in their move).

Cheers!

VikkiDp said:

This girl's mom asked for clothes for the baby girl.

Bill maybe the locals can collect some things for her? who had kids that age and had clothes left over 

 

Tell Milana's mom that clothes are on their way.  I'll take care of the rest

In reply to VikkiDp :

Mrs. Hungary and I got the list.  This is some AMAZING work you've done!  Very organized, thank you!!

Alright guys, happy Monday.  Here's our update:

We had a nice bump in our GFM (now over $3000!) and our Vikki fund is looking good.  We have about 7 more days to fill that pot before I send it her way (and Vikki, you're doing dang good work with it.  keep it up!).

But more importantly:  I know this is what you REALLY want to see

As it's been said:  Sending a donation once is tough.  Keeping it going long term is super-hero levels of difficult.

Thank you all.

Ok, today we get to play "WHY ARE MY BRAKES WET????"
 

Yup.  What I thought was a wheel cylinder leak actually turned out to be an axle seal leak.  Parts are on order, but of course this is part of a much larger story:

I've been chasing my tail with this darn brake pedal.  I can still load up the G's under hard braking, but I CAN NOT lock the front tires!  It was driving me insane!  I've bled the system, all the pistons move, I've bled the system again, I've adjusted the rears, I checked the rears again and they were out of adjustment so I did it again, only to find they were out of adjustment again...

wait.  I thought I might be on to something there, so I again went back to adjust the rears.  I swear these back brakes are either tight or loose depending on which day of the week it is.  One day I have them so tight I'm convinced I cant push the truck in neutral, and the next they're loose and my pedal is soft again.

Turns out it was a couple things:

1) severely warped drum on the passenger side.  Not sure how I missed it, but I'm thinking this is why I was chasing my tail with the adjustment procedure.  Both drums have been turned, and both were brought back in to "round" within the 297mm spec.

2) Axel seal leak.  Yup, for the first time in my life I went after the wheel cylinder first and got it wrong.  That's diff-juice making my drum wet, and now the pads are contaminated.  Seal and new shoes are on order.

3) See video below.

I'm also thinking that's why I was chasing my tail with the adjustment procedure.  Setting the e-brake, the passenger wheel would still move.  Releasing the e-brake, that drum still felt SUPER tight.

It's been quite the head-scratcher...

Mostly because I had the ENTIRE system tested back in 2020 and I had a perfect balance from left to right on my back brakes...

Anyhoo, also confusing (but also a testament to how "on the ball" you guys are).  No sooner did I publish the video, with intent to post a question here, did I get a reply to my instagram account!

That REALLY had me scratching my head (how you guys possibly be answering the question that I haven't asked yet???).  So that will be tomorrow's work.

Good times

We need translations 

But more importantly:  I know this is what you REALLY want to see 

 okay, i'll try to keep doing that forward 

I thought it would be enough to convey all the words (what i wrote), but I see it's not 

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

Here's Dnipro's fund report 

Vikki, you're doing dang good work with it.  keep it up!

I'm really glad we found this way to help people so quickly  

it started in February, btw, but still... what we've been able to do with that, it's impressive!!!

Just look at this 

One 

Two

Three

little Mariya was already eating the formula we sent her 

In reply to VikkiDp :

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  We still have 266,221 forint in our Paypal ready to send your way, too!  Just 5 more days

Well... It's staying darker later

I crawled underneath to look at that balance bar.  As Dark Monohue mentioned "bushings imply movement" so I made a mark on the diff with my finger and set the brakes.  It didn't move...

The best I can tell, when I pull on the e-brake handle it basically provides a direct input to the left wheel.  It's that tension applied to the left wheel that should move that arm and pull the right brake.  Seems interesting, but if the arm isn't moving then I think it's safe to say that the right side was never releasing.

So I sprayed the beans out of it with WD40

Ok, with the WD40 applied (and a bit of wrench movement) the arm is free moving again.  Unfortunately "balance" wasn't restored.  As you can see, the left side is still resting in its "released" position and the right side is still pulled.

I know the e-brake can be adjusted at a point just forward of the fuel tank, so that's my next stop.

I backed that nut all the way out and locked it in place.

When I went back to check on the drums, the situation hadn't changed much (visually).  Except when I pulled on the cables slightly with my fingers, I noticed that there was a bit of slack now.  After playing with things a bit I kind of learned that neither drum is ever going to have its arm completely resting on it, but as long as the cable isn't tight then those arms will balance themselves out and neither brake will be applied.

To test this, I clicked the e-brake handle out one click at a time and came back to check to see how freely both wheels spun.  The e-brake begins to engage around the 5th click and the left side started to apply first.  By 9 clicks there was significant tension, and by the 12th click, neither wheel would move.

This is a VAST improvement over yesterday (where I could force the right wheel to spin when I pushed on it hard enough).

I pried on the adjuster in the right brake and brought it up two clicks.  Afterwards, both brakes applied evenly.

WIN

Back in the driver's seat I was met with a firm pedal, but when I started the truck I found I could still get my foot to the floor if I applied enough pressure.  This lead to more thinking.  The back brakes are adjusted to what i think is correct (based off of previous experience).  But this pedal seems like it needs another centimeter of travel if I'm going to keep it from hitting the floor under hard braking...

I crawled up under the dash to have a look

My initial instinct was to adjust the pedal height up a bit, but it looked like it was adjusted up as high as it can go...  That led me to looking at what could be stopping it from going up a little further.  Which led me to seeing that the brake switch was adjusted deeper than it needed to be.

It's nice that it was still dark out because I could see when the brake lights would activate.  I was able to get that centimeter of pedal travel I wanted and drove the truck up and down the driveway to test things.

Backing up, I had no problem dragging the brakes in my driveway (it was raining)

Going forward I could lock them up at 1st gear speeds.

ok, WIN!  (I'll drive it in to work today to test things further)

I had a few minutes left, so I went after a few other issues.  First was that hose that kept bursting:

Yeah, that was long overdue.  I can see another hose near the same area that's going to suffer the same fate shortly.  Luckily all parts are on order through Toyota, but I don't have an ETA yet (I only had this one because Rock Auto is flippin awesome).

Next up was the oil pressure sensor. 

If you remember I scrunched it a bit with the transmission install.  I don't remember what I smashed it against (the starter, probably) but it hasn't worked since and I was worried I had damaged it, or at the very least needed to repair a wire...

luckily it was something much more simple"

The list is getting shoooooooorterrrrrrr!

Ok, so the drive to work went good, right?

Unfortunately no...  I'm still not happy with those brakes.  It's pedantic at this point, but i KNOW these things have more to give, and I just refuse to settle for anything less than 100% from a safety system.  I know for a fact that with these tires, in this size, I should be able to mash that brake pedal and bounce my passenger's head off the dashboard before standing the entire truck on its front bumper.

So that got me thinking while I was driving.  My truck might benefit from a different master cylinder.  I'm pretty sure it's been replaced at some point in the truck's life, and maybe this one just isn't up to the quality standards I'm used to.  And then I got thinking about how my 4-cyl version of this truck got a 7/8" master cyl, and the V6 version of this truck got a 1"master cylinder, and how I've always been hesitant to order one with a larger bore diameter because I know I have to bend one of the brake lines to make it work (and I'm worried I'd brake it in the effort).

BUT a larger bore diameter would push more fluid and give me a firmer pedal that what's standard....

and THAT got me thinking...  might I have a spare MC laying around in a box somewhere?

I sure do!

But that reservoir isn't the one I have in my truck...  Why would it be different?

Oh my...

We have boxes!!!! (again)

MatthewMCL's boxes (#'s 6, 7, and 8) arrived yesterday and I was able to add them to our collection.  Again they're incredibly well packed and labeled so I'm not moving a thing.  Straight to the hospital they go!

Thanks Matthew!!!!

Brake time...  Here we go:

All I've gotta do is bench bleed the new unit, remove the old unit, bend some brake lines to match, and then bleed the system. 

So of course I made a complete mess of things...

Once i got the new unit bolted into the truck, I just had to crappily bend some lines around by hand and it's done!!!

Ok, but I'm short on time now.  The bench bleed took me for-friggin-EVER to get all the air out.  Seriously....  The lines I was using were a bit loose on the fittings, so they's slurp air on the back stroke.  It was frustrating, but eventually zip ties saved the day.

From here I just had to bleed all 4 corners, and I started at the passenger rear.  Using vacuum, it took me way longer than I was expecting to pull fluid through but I finally filled half a bottle.

Same with the driver's rear.

Fronts went easy as pie.  Filled right up, no slurping or air bubbles.

Pressing on the pedal, I was met with a firmer push but still not good.

Going back to those back brakes (8-minutes now before I really need to be done with this) I use my "one man brake bleed trick" on the driver's side and attach my vacuum pump, elevate it as high as I can, barely crack the bleeder and slowly push the pedal in and out.  it works, and pretty soon I've got a full bottle of fresh, clean, fluid.

On to the passenger side, same thing.

I toss my tools in on the passenger floor.

Checking back at the driver's seat, the pedal is FIRM!  Solid as a rock!

Now it's time to fire up the truck and test the brakes with the truck running.  I turn the key and....

nothing.

Turns out I left the key on overnight.  I needed to roll down the back window when I got home to unload the boxes, and I guess I got distracted by the kids and forgot to turn things off.

oh well, that's why I bought the deep-cycle.  It shouldn't hurt it too much

Out went the yellow top, in went the Mazda's red top.

Fired her up, and pushed as hard as I could.  No bottoming out.

AWESOME!

next up was a drive to work.  Once out on the backroad and free of traffic, I stomped on the pedal for all it's worth and was met with a nice (confidence inspiring) brake pedal.  The truck decelerated fast enough to embed my teeth in the steering wheel (Not joking, the brakes on these darn things are really good).  but I STILL didn't lock the fronts though...

Come to think of it, I cant think of a time I've ever locked the front brakes on an old Toyota 4x4 with these tires...

eh, either way.  The pedal was nice, firm, and linear.  And it wouldnt go to the floor, so maybe I'll do a quick bleed tomorrow and maybe check the rear drum adjustment to make sure things haven't changed...  I'm sure it's fine (except it's only lunch time, and I'm almost completely asleep at my desk...).

Good times.

ooh!  also, we have local donations coming in!

oh, quick note as I was pondering that rear axle seal:

I was wondering how I could have misdiagnosed a bad axle seal so poorly, and I got to thinking about the circumstances that lead up to me looking at the rear brakes in the first place.

-  I knew they were over-adjusted (tight) but never did anything about it as the schedule was just too busy.  I blame the excessive wear on the shoes, and the warping of the drums on this (as I've had the drums turned before, and the shoes were good the last time I looked at them.  When the inspection place said they were going to "tighten my e-brake", I expected them to just tighten the pull cable, or maybe click the rear brake adjusters up one or two.  I'm now thinking they did both to excess...  Unsure why though.

-  The brake light was on before i drove the truck once, and I remember posting here about it.  I topped up the reservoir, but we all know what low brake fluid means.

so!

The axle seal must have been hidden/masked by the leaking wheel cylinder, which caused low fluid we saw indicated on the dash.  The low fluid led me to inspect and subsequently replace/adjust the rears brake shoes and wheel cylinders (when I saw no leak on the fronts).  Inspecting/replacing the rear brakes lead to me discovering the pedal feeling uncomfortably soft afterwards (which I mentally blamed on the now looser rear brakes).  The soft pedal lead to the re-adjust and re-inspect of the back brakes that brought the axle leak to light.  That second unsuccessful attempt at adjusting the back brakes also lead to the warped drum discovery and subsequent turning of the drums.  The reinstallation of freshly turned drums gave me a fresh attempt at a back brake re-adjust.  That attempt failing AGAIN lead to me FINALLY considering that the MC was bad, and subsequently replacing it (which is where we are now).

It all makes sense now when I think back on it, but dang did I have myself questioning everything I did there for a second.  What an exhausting way to un-berk a system....

Once the new shoes and axle seal arrives, we should be good to go (until some other unsuspecting domino falls...)

Good times.