RowdyRebel

http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/illinois

The people here in Illinois ain't too bright...voting for a guy who isn't shy about the fact that he wants to take more of our hard earned paychecks

Yeah, he's fine. He didn't leave an impression....didn't spider it either...just one big long vertical crack. Might be one or two short horizontal cracks, too...but it was dark and I was too pissed off to look too close at it.

Started out with a bang....literally. I got loaded, pulled out from under the silo, climbed out of the cab, and started walking in to get the paperwork when it sounded like someone shot a cannon off. Airbag done blowed up. It was the same bag I had off the truck a few weeks ago fixing my hypothetical cracked axle housing....I saw it was looking a little dry-rotted and made a mental note that it would have to eventually be replaced. Eventually came today. So, I flip the switch to dump the suspension air so it won't leak off all of my air and decide to limp it to Mack for a new airbag. I wish I had taken a pic of the old airbag....wasn't much left of it. Anyway, my damned 1/2 fenders were installed without sufficient clearance when the airbags are dumped...hasn't really been a problem, because I don't do a whole lot of driving with 'em aired down. The driver's side, you might be able to slip a piece of paper between the tire and the fender...but you won't get a second piece of paper wedged in there. It was enough clearance that it wasn't rubbing...wasn't getting the fender hot. The passenger side, on the other hand, was rubbing. So, I removed the 4 bolts holding the front of the fender on. Of course 2 of 'em broke Then, I pulled the fender up on top of the bracket, so it would give the tire more clearance. I secured it with bailing wire. The new bag Put it on myself right there in the parking lot. I'm too damned cheap to pay someone else to do something I can take care of in a few minutes. The day didn't end any better. On the way home, had a herd of deer run across the road right in front of me. I got on the binders and managed to get whoa'd up so as not to splatter any of 'em, but the damned dog was getting excited when he saw the deer. He was trying to get his paws up on the dash to holler at the deer when I hit the brakes...so he met the windshield a little harder than he had anticipated. Yeah, the same piece of glass that I JUST spent $35 on Tuesday to get a rock chip fixed now has a HUGE crack from the damned dog. I was hoping to wait until the spring to put new windshields in as these are getting pretty sandblasted....how quickly plans get changed. If I had known he was gonna bust the window, I wouldn't have worried about that rock chip. I was actually pretty impressed with the repair job...I've probably had 20 or so chips fixed over the years, and this was the least noticeable repair I've EVER had done (you'd be impressed too if you had seen the size of the rock chip). Lasted all of 2 days...now I get to replace the glass.

Those all cost money, and I'm a cheap bastard. I ain't worried about a little dust on the dash....truck makes me just as much money.

Yup...gotta be real easy getting back on the throttle when upshifting with a heavy load getting going uphill.

Adding air to the bags will raise the ride height, and removing air will lower the ride height. The air pressure will remain constant, though. You won't be able to add or remove air from the bags without throwing off your ride height adjustment. I'm sure someone around here can help you get the ride height measurement to make sure it is set correctly...where to measure and what the measurement should be...I checked mine, but measurements might be different on yours...and I'm no pro, so I got no way to look it up for you.

Thank God this guy lost

What is the purpose of forcing one to cover the bed? It is a truck...intended to haul stuff. Can't do that if the bed is covered.

....I said it seems like it is hotter than it used to be. Today I actually saw 30 psi on the boost gauge while accelerating. That was the first time in probably 2 months I've seen that...but when I shifted gears, it was back to only putting out 23 psi. For 1 whole gear, it felt like it had something under the hood.

I don't have diesel...just the 460 cid V8 gasser....and a 5 speed manual trans. I'm sorta half-ass in the market for another....either 250 or preferably 350...with the 7.3 powerstroke diesel and either a 5 or 6 speed manual transmission. Don't care if it's single rear wheel or dual, as long as its 4 wheel drive with manual lock hubs & manual shift transfer case, and a crew cab...with an 8' bed. My current truck is only a regular cab....just not much room.

It looks cool when I shift gears...or when I add throttle in a hurry...especially around 1100-1400 rpm.....nice black smoke trails. Pyro is hotter than it was a year or two ago when it was making proper boost, but not getting overly hot....staying pretty consistent around 700-900 even on long pulls when fully loaded....and doesn't really drop any when I'm just cruising on level ground while empty. Seems it used to be a few hundred degrees cooler when I wasn't working it overly hard.

will check that too.

99.9% of the time, I drive my 18 like a 13. When you are loaded and have to get started uphill, it's nice to be able to split the low side, though.

When I hacked the stacks, I looked in the mufflers and didn't think I saw any baffles in there...but I didn't have the bottom elbows removed so I can't be 100% sure. I've got twin stacks, though, so even if one was plugged, I'd think it would just exhaust through the other stack and not affect it much. When I'm driving, both stacks smoke simultaneously....so unless they are BOTH equally plugged.... I'll see what I can do to check it out tomorrow...cheap & easy fixes are my favorite. Beats buying a new turbo, for sure.

17th gear

My '01 has the 460, 2180B, and 4.17's with 11R24.5's. For the most part, I like it. Sometimes I would like taller gears....other times, I could go for shorter ones. It is a fairly decent compromise ratio. My only problem right now is the lack of boost, which means no power. New charge air cooler put in a couple weeks ago (old one was trashed...and had already been repaired once), and it still only pushes 23 psi. Gonna replace the turbo next...

If you were out this way, I'd come get ya with my F250....but you're kinda far. Somebody out that way ought to have a 3/4 or better truck with a decent hitch on it... ....unless they already traded it in for a prius to get better gas mileage

How many miles & hours are on that engine? Good thing it happened (I'm assuming at home) during an oil change instead of cruising 70 mph down the highway in the middle of nowhere.

If it was a farm truck, being used for farm purposes, in MOST states a CDL isn't necessary. Hell, farm trucks are exempt from a LOT of regulations commercial trucks and truckers have to follow.

That don't mean much...trainers at some of those companies are only 90 days or so out of school themselves.

About 9 years ago, I was driving one of these: International 4700 rollback...21' aluminum bed. Anyway, as I was slowing down on the tollway to pick up an abandoned vehicle for the state police, a chevy cavalier slammed into the back of my truck. I didn't feel a thing. Only reason I heard it was because I had the radio off and the windows open. No doubt in my mind that a traffic signal 1/2 way back on the trailer wouldn't be felt or heard by a driver in an 80,000 pound truck...especially if he's on the phone or has the radio playing.

I'm gonna have to report my boss....in the past, he's made me work every day for months at a time....sometimes even 68 hour stretches non-stop when big projects need doing over the weekend, and if I'm LUCKY, I'll get an hour or two nap before getting back to work again. 3 summers now and he STILL won't even fix the dadgum air conditioner! Of course he's got me on salary, too...so all this extra work he's got me doing is unpaid. My boss is a real slave driver.

I doubt it would cause a wobble, but unless you don't mind having your fenders or mudflap ripped off, I wouldn't recommend running that tire for very long.