Freightrain

I hand drilled all my work when I stretched the truck. I did have a large, 3/4", gear driven, all alum CP drill from way back. It was a brute. While stretching the truck, I had it sitting on the frame....and it took a header and hit the floor. Busted the handle off with the trigger switch. Ugh. Old casting, not much to try to fix so I bought a new Dewalt 1/2" drill. It finished the job just fine. I drilled/reamed all my holes, except for the aux box mounts. I do remember having to deal with that crossmember above the box. That shot looking back, you can see the shift rails just below the crossmember with the notch on the bottom. Lucky me. I might have had to drop the centerline down on the box compared to the motor/trans centerline. So the angle of the box downward in the back looks worse because of the drop in height to clear the crossmember and keep the 3-4* down angle. The nuts on the front mounts kinda get into the lower frame rail channel just due to location. It's close, but works fine. As mentioned, no crazy vibrations and I've had it near topped out at 80+ mph with the 4.10 gears out back.

Interesting thought about that valve. Sounds plausible. I think the Sealco check valves I use have a break open point like the one you show. They might not be as high as 80#? I'd have to see the specs on them. I know my truck doesn't take long to fill the two tanks I run on the main system, then it takes much longer to get the air start tank up to 120#. I can hear the check valve squeak as it works on the last few pounds.

FANTASTIC work!! WOW!!! I'm sure your wallet isn't so happy....LOL!!!

Actually I think it is the fact that most all new cars have the dash lit up 24/7. That means the clueless idiot behind the wheel doesn't realize his lights aren't on at night(in the city anyway). Thus they make automatic headlights for them, so they don't have to "think". Maybe if the car was linked to their phone, it would tell them to "TURN YOUR LIGHTS ON"...or "TURN YOUR BRIGHTS OFF"...........then they would know???? Just thinking out loud. I think the brights should automatically turn off(switch to dim) when you turn the ignition off, or at least go back to dim after say 3-4 minutes of driving. That way the idiots can't forget to turn them off or make them turn them back on if they actually do need them. Then they also have the daytime running lights, usually the hi beams on low voltage that light up the road enough for them to see. Only problem is the tail lights aren't on so it's pitch black to any car behind them. Ugh, it's a sad world we live in.

I forget if it is Holland or who? They have driver facing cameras and one veteran driver flips it off(give the bird) constantly. They are not allowed to smoke in the truck, he does...and flips the camera while smoking. He is still waiting to get written up or fired. Guess they give leeway to veteran drivers that have lots of years and no issues with. We get deliveries from most of the usual carriers, though I'm not involved with it on a regular basis like I used to be, I do talk to them if I happen to be around the docks.

Mine has the horse shoe collar around the front, and just a piece of like 2 1/2" angle across the back. Both are sitting on rubber mounts. I don't think mounting it solid would do it any good. Any frame flex would try to break the mounts. From the front looking back: Here is what the back looks like, before I got it hung up there. It hangs from rubber mounts: ( I don't have crane access where truck sat, so I had to use straps to hoist it up) Like I said, I need to check centerline heights, maybe I did drop the aux box some, but kept it at 4* down in the back to balance out the front u joints. Though since I did stretch the frame, I had plenty of room for the rear driveshaft and kept it at about the same basic angle it was before. Without some kind of frame stretch the box would not have fit with only 150" wheelbase.

ORRRRR..........just slot the bumper holes in the frame and move it til it matches the front end?? LOL!! I agree, slip the bolt out, jack the support up and slip in a thick washer(or two).

Doh....didn't think about this having tandems.

My guess that is a check valve to feed the start tank. That would be the first thing I would check/change to see if you start holding air better. I know a few times I've lost air quickly on my start tank(over a week). Only thing I can think was some piece of crud got stuck in the check valve( I use Sealco brand). They are new, but if something gets stuck it will bleed off. I've heard mentioned before about dropping the air in the main system by hitting the brakes a couple times after shutting motor off. That will drop the air pressure on the wet tank, seating the check valve better then waiting for it to slowly drop off.

I forget where I found the information for when I put mine in. Seems they wanted the driveline angles on the center driveshaft to be equal to cancel out. My motor was like 4* down, so I did the same with aux. Since I stretched the truck 5ft, it didn't hurt the rear driveshaft so much. I'd have to go measure, I think I kept the basic centerline the same height in the frame. It runs smooth, so I guessed correct. I know on lifted trucks, they rotate the rear axle upward to help eliminate u joint angle. I wonder if you could do the same?

What trans?

If you want to get the fuel smell off you.....just dip your hands in old gear lube!!! That stuff stays with you for weeks!!! Lol! I should still have enough fuel in tank to dip some and see if it sticks around. I ran it down pretty low the last trip because I knew it was going to sit for six months in the garage. I can't think it will be any better then new gas. You can't keep that from evaporating before you fill the mower!

The Power Service I use is like $10 for the quart(good for 100 gal) at Autozone. I use it about every other fill up or so. Not a real budget breaker in my opinion. I typically spend $100-150 to fill up depending on where I went, so another $10 every other time isn't bad.

KENTON, Ohio (CNN) -- A runaway freight train that barreled through 66 miles of northwestern Ohio with no one aboard was halted safely Tuesday by a railroad worker who jumped onto the moving train and pulled its brake. The 47-car CSX train was slowed down by another engine in a coupling maneuver.May 16, 2001 The movie made it much more dramatic, of course.

Go knock on Yardo's door!!

Wow...is that cop used to pulling 53ftr's with that Taurus? LOL!!

Thanks Terry. The movie pretty much put it all in PA. Artist license I suppose when it came to scripting it. I didn't recall the actual event details, though now that you mention it I do recall a story in Ohio a few years back.

Watch the movie Unstoppable. It was made from a true story about a runaway in Pennsylvania. They make a comment at the end about that engineer working for a fast food restaurant. A favorite scene from a movie is Silver Streak, the train is coming into town and the engineer gets thrown from the train by the bad guys and the cops ask "Who's driving the train?" and they show a toolbox on the dead man pedal. Of course the train crashes through Grand Central Station after the bad guys get shot and no one left to remove the toolbox.

If you check, typical European regulations say the car has to have amber rear turn signals. Thus many of the newer cars have them(so they are compliant), but like mentioned, you can't see them due to the insane brightness of the LED tail lights surrounding them. I find myself pulling up to a stoplight and having to shield my eyes behind many of the newer cars. The brake lights will burn your retina! They think this is safer? Likely, but when idiots aren't looking up from their phone, they still aren't going to see them!! Yes, most chevy's and likely Mopars have LED daytime running lights that are so bright they have to turn them off so you can see the turn signal. WTF? When will it ever end? I grew up with a love to drive. Couldn't wait to get my license. Today I literally don't care if I get into the drivers seat anymore.

You can download the pics directly to your BMT post. The storage amount is limited, so you can't do hunderds of pics, but for a simple for sale ad you can just pick "Choose files"(lower left hand corner of the posting box) and it will put it on the post automatically.

Using an extension on a torque wrench is a no no! For the back yard kinda person, if it has to be, so be it. But working on something much more critical it is not suppose to be used. It adds twist and most likely a much lower torque reading. For instance, my buddy is known for over doing stuff(does not have a light touch), so he torques the wheels on his race car. With a real deep rim, you HAVE to use an extension. At 100#, it is close enough. If you have to go 200-300# I'm sure the amount of error is exponential.

Proper torque has to done with a very smooth, even motion to completion. Any variation can lead to changes of final torque. Luckily most things aren't that sensitive to it. Most of my racing engines, the rods are measured for stretch using a dial indicator. Measure the bolt at rest, then pull it til it stretches like .006. That usually equates to about 60 ft/lb. But sometimes, due to metallurgy of the bolt it might take 65-70 to get it to actually pull the .006. The torque isn't as critical, but gets you in the ballpark for stretch. If you are short, just give it a slight pull and recheck the stretch.

I'm sure the ONLY reason for TTY bolts is cost in manufacturing. Or at least repeat ability/accuracy on the assy line at lower cost? Something along those lines. Nothing to do with being "Better", just cheaper. The OEM doesn't build it for ease of repair. They just want to sell you another one. I watched International build the 7.3 PSD at the plant in Indianapolis back in like 2002ish. Very cool to see the whole shortblock assembled by a robot. Pistons, rods, crank, all put in and torqued by robot.

Many fasteners list the proper lube to use to get the required torque. Either dry, oil, or moly, they all give a different friction which changes the actual torque on the bolt. I think the angular way eliminates that. Most of the TTY bolts I've seen, have thin shanks on them. Unlike a common fastener you just tighten. Once that shank is stretched, it is junk. I don't think you can just pull it tight and be accurate. Maybe you can? Not sure I would trust it for something critical(like main or rod cap) where lots of bad things happen when they fail. A headbolt isn't so tragic, but still costly.

Lucky I haven't gained one of those!! A friend wanted to drive my truck, he got behind the wheel, or actually kinda "under" it and there was no way he was going to be able to turn the wheel with it wedged so tight against his front porch LOL!!!