Bollweevil

You could hook up on site at a show no problem. If you were to show up pulling such a rig with out 14 escort cars and no permits, the police would probably $hit an entire very large cow. If you were to show up loaded as you guys are subject to, you could expect to spend 20 years in prison with out time off for good behavior.

Good songs, and fine looking trucks

Looking pretty darn good. Now, is Holden the Australian word for Chevrolet. Where and what kind of racing do you do.

Triples here would consist of 23 ft. pups. We have very strict laws about public nudity here, Three 45's would scare the pants off just about everyone. We do have flash flooding some times in the US. However, up till now I would not have considered carrying a stick to ward off reptiles and other unwanted guests. I can just see one of your 40 ft. snakes trying to get on top of the trailer with me.

My 73 RS797LST had some of each. That is not surprising, considering it's age. My observation is that the plastic seems to hold up better. It weathers better and apparently is impervious to oil, inside and outside. It is less expensive and easier to work with, but it wont stand up to heat as well. As far as to what is original, only a build sheet would tell.

The cherry picker idea is a good one. When installing the Camel Back trunnion in my RS700, I was able to borrow a heavy duty Milwaukee unit from a friend. 45 to 50 lbs. sounds about right. To begin with my impression was, hey this thing is as neat as sliced bread, what a wonderful invention. I soon found that even with a rotating base you had to position the drill close to where where you wanted to drill. Then with both hands and a knee holding the drill in position, I couldn't turn loose to turn on the magnet. No problem I just turned on the magnet first. Wham, against the frame rail, close but about an inch off, dang. Release the magnet, turn it back on, wham. Man I love this drill, but it is getting to be an arm full. I haven't reamed one locating hole and this sob is whipping my a$$. It's a good thing I'm a tough and determined old codger. I know exactly how Herb's arm felt. It takes a lot of oil to cool the tool bit, and you have to take the time to keep the mess cleaned up. Otherwise the magnet will move around on an oil slick frame. My project was compounded by the fact that the mounting holes in the used trunnion were already over sized. Once the trunnion was in place, and secure. I had to make a pilot bushing to fit the holes in the trunnion, and drill a pilot hole from inside the frame with a hand drill. Then use a piloted drill bit to inlarge the hole, then finish ream frame and trunnion to fit the trunnion bolts, which I had to make. It took the best part of two days to get it bolted in, after which I loaded up that crummy drill and took it home before I saw something else that needed drilling.

You have done it now for sure, Rob is a road kill chef. You can expect at any time now for him to start pestering either you or Knobby to sponsor him for citizenship. Since I am also licensed for triples I might come as well. Since I didn't see any buildings in your photo it might be a good place to put up a road side cafe. I can almost see it now " Rob's Road Kill Cafe" We could keep his cooler well stocked, and with acres of parking it should be a quick success. I would be interested to see more trucking pictures. Other dog is an avid photographer, and often posts pictures of his weekly travels. Click on Blogs at the top right of the page then other dog's blog to check them out. Cheers

Welcome to the site, all you have to do to make friends here, is show yourself to be friendly. I hope you have a good time with your project, and a fun time on the forum.

Tom, and myself, are both over the road drivers, all over the road that is. So we should fit in quite well. Either side of the road works for me. Some of the roads here are so crooked and narrow that we are able to drive on both sides at the same time. I should mention though that we don"t like spiders and snakes, or croc's for that matter. Is your govt offering a stimulus of any kind. Mine came today, a half lb. of water mellon seed, two bags of corn meal, ten baby chickens, and a case of Budwieser. I would have preferred Fosters if given a choice. Keep the pictures coming. I liked the hanging foot valve, good idea.

The firewall is going to look good. It looks like you are making holes in something else though. Be careful or you might have some holes left over. Now if they were donut holes, Rob and I could take a couple of dozen off your hands. When you set on the wrong side of the truck to drive, do you drive on the wrong side of the road? I am getting more confused than usual, it has been cold as a pickle and raining, snowing here, and dry as a powder house, and hotter than a pepper sprout where you live. Something is a little off, but not a matter for great concern. There is a rumor however that some of you fellows down under like fast Fords and cold soda pop. If that is true, and with your enthusisam for old Macks, then down under might not be such a bad place. Aside from your govt's hinky view of gun ownership that is. Write soon, James

With 4 choices each, you can kind of choose what they are not. I missed out on the early hemi, but it didn't look like the Firedome V8 that I remember.

You didn't say how you did with the quiz. I got 16 out of 17, some of that Iron would be hard to replace.

Where did the Federal Highway trust fund money go? Does Intermodal here mean trains and fuel tax money spent on rail programs? No wonder they want to do away with firearms and ammunition.

The short answer is, for as long as people continue to vote for the SOB. I have often wondered why citizens of Mass. would reelect Ted Kennedy. or why John Murtha could be reelected, or someone as stupid and void of understanding as Harry Reed. A more complicated answer is, that as a result of influence peddling , [ which you or I would be indited for, ] they continue to bring home the bacon. As long as the perception of the general public is personal prosperity, the erosion of civil liberty means little. Everyone should be able to enjoy clean air and clean water. Diesel trucks however should not be a scapegoat for every lapse of judgment.

Being a part of it and doing it yourself is the best way to learn. Starting young is a big plus, besides I am 16 myself, I like being 16, I've been 16 since Jan 1 1959. You can do a lot of neat stuff when you turn 16.

Check for a Fleet Pride parts store in your area. The have access to a lot of exhaust parts that they might not have in stock. Although a 90 is a 90, the problem with most bends that you can buy off the shelf, is if the bend is tight enough to prove useful. You may have to get creative with a mig welder. As far as to price, nothing is the same as it was last week. I would think that $35 for a plain steel elbow was too much. Chrome could be even more.

Paul is right about having your ducks in a row. As cold as it has been, if you have to spend any time in the dog house, you might also look for a big fuzzy dog.

I don't dislike any brand more than another. Depending on what has to be done, any type or size could have it's place on a job site. But I don't want one around my dump truck. As big as a 955 is, it still doesn't have enough reach to load a tandem. on level ground. Let me further define loading a tandem. When I say load I mean without running into the truck, busting off the side boards, or beating out the floor, with rip rap or busted concrete. I hope I didn't hurt anybody's feelings. But when you figure the cost of a 14 ft 2x12, paint, running to the building supply, cutting the board to fit, painting the board, and installing it, you will have three hours and a minimum of $20 in the repair. As a sidebar, I have had as much or more damage done while being loaded with an excavator. Including brick sized rocks and dirt clumps thrown on the hood. I guess it boils down to what you are willing to put up with. In my case it isn't much. I guess i am just a grumpy old man.

What an excellent adventure, but I am glad you are back, I missed ya.

Recaps are a viable option. Generally speaking they are only as good as #1 the selling dealer, and #2 the person responsible for their maintenance. Sounds like you have found a dealer that you can work with. That puts taking care of them right back on you. I haven"t had to buy truck tires in a couple of years, but, since a large part of their composition is derived from a petroleum distillate it's reasonable to assume that there has been an increase in cost. Since the day that I bought mu first truck tire, there has always been a disparity between what a re-caper is willing to pay for a good casing, and what he wants for it as a finished product. It is common for your $60 casing to be his $100 casing if you don't have a trade in. Check it out. It might pay to buy a couple of sets of matched casing from someone who runs over the road, and takes care of their tires. In a recent Not So Truckers News posting there was a link to the results of a federal study on recaps. Basically the consensus was that most recap failure is due to road hazard or over heating due to under inflation. I have to agree. The road hazard part is obvious. The under inflated in not always so obvious. It takes a tire guage, and someone willing to use it. I used to replace tubeless tire valve stem seals every time I replaced a tire, at about $2 each. Then I found that if I shopped around I could buy the valve stems for another 15 to 20 cents. I know I am running on about this, but my point is, for your application you could never run a recap far enough or fast enough to over heat it. But they do need some looking after. In cold weather, a tire will sometimes lose 30 or 40 psi for no good reason.

Ye best be careful here boy's, in the deep south, there have been more killings over women, dogs, and land lines, than any other reason. The only thing worse than calling someones wife or dog homely looking, is to say that their truck is ugly. That might not lead to a killing, but for sure an a$$ whipping.

I think you should cancel your membership in the polar bear club, in protest. It's getting to where a man can't do anything.

Don't start that again, Tom is still looking for the missing dollar.

Ah come on Rob, I'll make it up to ya. I'll run over something tonight, and we can have lunch together tomorrow.

Growing up as a young man, an old saying was, (when you play you pay] As the toys get bigger and more complex, it costs a lot more to repair them when they break. When I bought my first truck and started out in the trucking business, I learned everything that absolutely would not work FIRST. That took about a year or year and a half. One of the sad facts about the truck repair business is that every day people pay good money for bad repair work. I too use the drive line shop that i have used for the last 20 years. It is strictly a matter of knowing who you can trust. I have to admit to not knowing everything, but keeping in mind that I know what won't work, you and I have an opportunity, if not a responsibility to share the value of our experience with someone who has no experience to draw on. That's what I l truly like about you, and why i enjoy this forum so much. Cutting up and acting ridiculous with a clown like Rob or Other Dog makes it even more fun.