It's been a looooooooong time since I changed my spark plugs & rather than pay the dealer $150 + $6 per plug, I'm gonna tackle it again.

I've had the standard old Champion plugs (about $1.00 each when I changed them last time) and I thought since they've lasted almost 10 years, I'll give 'em another shot. I grabbed a new set today (about $2.00 each).

I've tried those $10 per plug, fancy 4 prong, big name brand, supposed to be better than everything ever made kinds in other vehicles & they didn't seem to run any better or save any more gas than Champions.

As I remember, the pass side rear plug was evil to get at back then & I'm not looking forward to getting my much more "gravity challenged" body in there again.

Any tips other than take it to the dealer?

I've got a good selection of socket swivels & extensions, so I should be able to get a ratchet somewhere where I can crank on it.

I'll probably shoot each plug with some WD-40 or whatever penetrating spray I can find around the garage a few hours before I begin.

I REALLY don't want to remove the inner fender wells & I don't have an impact wrench with enough ooomph to remove the tires, not to mention I don't have a jack tall enough to reach the pumpkin nor the frame.

Any volunteers wanna help?

 

It's sooo much easier if you remove the fender wells. Just get a hold of a jack.

 

or body lift it.. hahah

 

Do the OHV engines have aluminum heads? If so you will need anti seize.

 

I think I may have set a new world's record.

All six plugs in just over an hour.

I didn't need to remove the fender well or tire, just crammed my fingers through the tiny slot, attached a few swivels & extensions & the hardest plug was changed in about 15 min.

The last plug was a different story. The driver's side front plug is hidden & I could hardly see the plug, let alone get at the boot. After 20 min or so of pulling, prying & cursing it gave up and came off.

(Note to self: buy a spark plug boot puller)

The old plugs were Autolite, I could have sworn they were Champions. All six were rusted a bit on the outside, but the electrodes all looked clean. Just a little bit of browning on the ceramic part around the electrodes.

I could have probably got another 5000 miles out of them.

Started up fine & ran down the road just like it did the day before.

I did shoot a little white grease in the boots so hopefully the next time they're not so hard to get off... or I might just grab a new set of wires...

Anybody have any good/bad experiences with any particular brand of wires?

 

Get under the truck, and change that rear passenger side plug from the bottem.

 

I should note that I got to the rear passenger plug from inside the wheel well, I just squeezed my arm around the tire to get to that little hole by the suspension.

 

werd lol