u/P83battlejacket

Potentially trading for the pickup soon. Owner has had it for about a month if I recall and daily’s it to work 40 or so miles each way with no issues. No radio unit in it at the moment. Approx. 270k miles, stock 5-speed which neither he nor I can find info for online, but there are some recent sells on them with significantly lower miles. I’ll be trading my 1-ton 7.3 4D longed utility body 4x4 automatic for lesser repair costs and a more compact vehicle as I don’t tow nearly as much I had figured when I purchased the vehicle. $1500 on top of the trade. Would yall take this deal? Is this really a $4500 truck in its current condition? How far into the future is a rebuild in order? Is a rebuild or new engine better? I’ve considered swapping a 5.4 into it in the future if I do it. I may be moving to California soon and I’ll be driving the vehicle from OK to Nor Cal. What should I be looking at *specifically* when checking it out? Any clear high-mileage signs that should be an immediate no when I see them? It’s a Kansas truck if that makes any difference. To the mods, I couldn’t deselect a flair after accidentally selecting one, so I just picked the best I found suitable. My apologies for incorrect categorization.

So I don’t have a tubing bender and don’t wanna pay someone else for this. I’m adding an approximate 45° bend to some handle bars made from 1” tubing. I’ve sketched up these two ideas that were suggested to me and I’d like some insight on which of the two methods yall think would be the most effective and safe for use. The left depicts using some pie cuts and bending it into place, the right shows using some tubing from another set that already has a 45° in it to insert right where I want the bend using 13/16” slugs with a 1” collar in the center to add some structural integrity.
Which of these two methods would yall feel comfortable trusting your life with, or do you say no to both?

Mig or tig?

Additionally, if I were to use the method on the right, should the slugs be made from 13/16 solid round stock or would 13/16 tubing suffice?
Criticism accepted, be as brutal as you need to be, I’m not doing this myself, it would be a relative who’s been welding for about 30 years.

This isn’t the frame so hopefully mods can allow this one.

I want to take one of these 16x3 10 spoke mags and cut it down to a five spoke mag. I know they make 5 spoke mags and people have even made their own 5 spoke mags before, but if I were to do this to one of these, just how much am I ruining the integrity of the wheel to a concerning point? Anyone done anything like those before? I can’t find anything on the topic online.

Started life as a bone stock 1993 sportster 1200xlh from Placer county, CA. Some idiot (me) moved it to Oklahoma and ruined it when he swapped 77-83 shovelhead FXWG trees onto it, 1994 FXST sliders onto it, and 94-99 41mm +10” tubes. EVERYONE was out of 39mm +10” tubes at the time and I want to run a 16”x3” front at one point. Ain’t skinny, ain’t done, the skateboard mount is lacking, but it’s getting there.

Rebuilding these 1984ish 41mm wide glide forks. Stubborn fork bushing won’t come out, note the scratches on the rim of the slider from trying to fit various tools to pry it out or extract it. Heat doesn’t help, the tailpipe expander with slide hammer trick didn’t work, using the fork tube as a slide hammer didn’t work because the rubber seal was so dry (used marketplace front end sat for awhile) the tubes just came right out no problem. It doesn’t seem to be in terrible shape, chomping at the bit to get the bike back on the road. Would yall run this or would there a voice in your head saying it’s gonna blow at some point? Appreciate any ideas or input.

I’m putting 41mm wide glide +8” fork tubes on my sportster. I’ve read the longer tubes don’t call for more oil, but I’m not sure how much I should add as I don’t now the year or model these come off of, not to mention I’m sure the volume spec is based off the weight of the rider and bike all together. The standard 10-12oz seems logical enough to me, but I fear there being too much or too little air in the tubes for the bike weight to tube-length ratio. Am I over thinking this or should I just put in 11oz and call it good? Figure I could try measuring the fluid height from the top of the tube and add 8” to the stock requirement, but then I’m met with the year/make/model dilemma. Picture shows stock length tubes for context.

41mm fork tube sliders. I’m rebuilding them and right now I can’t get the metal sleeve out that sits below the washer and seal. When I disassembled them the tube just came completely out, I wasn’t able to use the “slide hammer” technique that I see in all these videos. Has anyone dealt with this?? How’d you get it out?