doubleclutchinweasel

Now, THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! Awesome!

I snagged this one off then web, just as an example. But, I wonder if anybody has any good "fail" pictures you could share with us. Hopefully, ones where nobody was hurt!

Right. RTO = overdrive with reversed 4-5 pattern. RTX = overdrive with "X" top plate which "corrected" the 4-5 shift pattern.

From what I can remember (and, more importantly, what I can find on Eaton's website!), the RTO had the funky, reversed 4-5 pattern and the RTX was an overdrive with the pattern "fixed". Maybe I can find a good image of that page and post it.

It WOULD be nice if politics could stay out of our discussions. It's Supposed to be about the Dogs.

Thanks, 'Horse. I used to be able to remember more of that stuff than I can now!

I see a lot of "guests" are looking the site over. Maybe some of them should join? It DOES seem particularly quiet on here.

I can't remember who it was, but, sometime back, someone asked a question about converting a RoadRanger from direct to overdrive. I remembered that I had the instructions for doing that on a 910/915 series, and promptly forgot about it. I just now remembered it! Old-timers, I guess. I do not know if this works on ALL models or variants. Maybe someone else knows? Basically, this swap speeds up the countershafts, effectively making every gear a bit "taller", except 5th (direct). This makes the pattern 1-2-3-5-4, with 4th being overdrive. As I recall, there is a different shifter plate assembly that reverses the 4-5 pattern, and makes the pattern "normal" again. This was the meaning of the "X" in the transmission designation (RTX-910, for instance). Again, I am not sure how many models that plate was available for. Anyway...

I was counting on you and J. Hancock to keep us going. I can't seem to come up with enough interesting stuff to keep a conversation going.

According to the "official" Tail of the Dragon website, this display appeared in about 2000 and lasted for about 2 years before somebody started removing pieces from it. I love the poem that was written for it: Here he lies with pistons and crank Buried up to his ass In the face of this bank He challenged the Dragon To have some fun As you can see, the Dragon won!! Photo & Poem by Carl Cooper

Finally found 1 picture of the red & black activity bus. These folks were a couple of years older than I was.

I think they bought those 2 buses in my 1st or 2nd grade year. So, yes, they should be about '68 models, give or take a year. I always thought it was funny that I drove buses that were new when I first started school. Of course, when you are that age, 10-12 years seems like a LOOOONNNG time. I mean, that IS a major percentage of your entire life!

It was a LONG time ago! I remember very clearly going through the training program. One of the first things they told us was that our state had one of the highest percentages of student-drivers, and also had one of the best safety records in the country. They were very selective about who they certified, and they had NO tolerance for anything out of line. Of course, this all ended once the state adopted the newer license requirements, which required a bus driver to have a class C CDL. It was a great time in my life. The drivers were all pretty awesome folks. As I recall, we only had 2 drivers who were not students. Those 2 did other jobs at the school as well as drive their buses. On the last day of class for a school year, most of the kids would stop on their way out and tell the driver "thanks", and say how much they would miss you over the summer. Some of the cute girls, who normally wouldn't even speak to me, gave a little peck on the cheek for appreciation! Not a bad way to end a year! Of course, people were different back then. Most of those kids showed a lot of respect for their driver, and understood that behaving on the bus was necessary for the safety of everybody.

In fact, here we were!

Remember back when high school kids drove school buses? This is one of the ones I drove when I was in high school. Old #28. I think this was from my junior year. Might've been me in there...I can't tell. I did have that route for a while. V-8 powered, with a 5-speed manual (4 + a granny gear). Those old I-H V-8s had a different sound to them. I believe it was a 345" motor. Does that sound right? I guess this is the same nose sheet metal as a Loadstar. I believe this was just before we replaced that bus with a new International with an Allison automatic in it. Things were never the same after that! We had 2 of these (#7 & #28), along with a variety of Fords and Chevys. The Internationals had a shorter wheelbase and more rear overhang. They also steered tighter than the others. Made them much easier to maneuver on some of the tighter back roads we had to travel. This particular one's route had a turn-around at the end of a dirt road. Pretty tight. Several little branches ran across that road. Was a real mess when it rained! We had another one (a 1968 activity bus) that only had a rev limiter...no road governor. My neighbor was the football coach and he kept it at his house. They got it the year I started school. Drove that one many a time...many years later. Good times...

There's a lot of wisdom there. I would not want to be 30 years younger NOW...but I do wish it was 30 years ago! Or 40! LOL!

Don't we all?

Great stuff...

I love it!

I don't doubt it. I mean, they did release that ad with the mirrors turned that way. But, if you follow the "dog forward" rule, they are backwards. I keep hoping that whoever posted the official Dog Rules from that earlier thread will post them again here.

I can't remember who posted it, but someone (a while back) posted Mack's "o-fficial" guide to bulldog emblem placement on vehicles. I can't find that old thread! Maybe whoever posted it will remind me. But, I was thinking about 1 particular section that said the dogs should face forward if placed on the side of the truck. So, the dogs on the mirrors should face inward toward each other, so that (when viewed from the side) they would be facing "forward and inward". If they face outward away from each other, (when viewed from the side) they would be facing "rearward and outward". We don't want our pet bulldogs backing down the road! A couple of examples off the web... Correct... Incorrect...

I got curious again about the trucks used in this series. I could have sworn I saw a gold hood ornament on one of them. So, I went back and watched again. I DID see a gold emblem in a few shots. That makes it a '73. But, the VIT didn't come out till '74. So, it is possible that a '73 was "upgraded" to '74 status and used alongside a real '74. I also found a bunch of people who had posted information about the differences between the '74 and '75 models. And, it does appear there were quite a few trucks used over the course of the show. The link below has some of the best information I have found. There were a couple more that had interesting facts, like different locations of badges and antennas and different air intake piping between the different years. Looks like there were 2 '74s, a '73, and a '75 used routinely. There was also the '73 in the pilot episode (quite different) and a '76 used in 1 episode (different color). Some of the information I found comes from what appear to be credible sources. And, some of those guys really know their KWs. So, I am inclined to believe them (especially Sagehorn!). One even gave the VINs of the 2 '74s. For what it's worth... https://www.imcdb.org/v042128.html

Did you ever get any farther on this?

Tried it this morning and it looks to be working correctly. Thanks for the prompt attention!

Yes. I tried it at home, and I still get that message.