RowdyRebel

'cept I drive a 2-stack Mack w/a window in the back...and I ain't always a dump bucket driver. Sometimes I'm a tanker yanker, and recently even pulled a dry-box. BTW, speakin' a Redneck stuff, I FINALLY got my company logo made into a sticker and put on the side of the hood

I used to HATE greasing the truck...now I got a Lincoln air-powered gun and I don't mind so much. Changing cartridges is a HECK of a lot easier than squeezing that dadgum trigger to manually pump the grease all friggin' day.

I'm not a "truck driver". My belly don't rub the steering wheel. I don't waddle when I walk. I don't have a mullet. I DO shower. I prefer "Freight Transportation Engineer".

Some work better than others.....but if'n I ever meet that guy Murphy, I'll take his law and shove it up his @$$.

Well, now, if yer gonna be postin' pics of YOUR truck, I'm gonna post mine F250 at work... ...and play... '92 Ranger at work... ...and play... Just got the 8N home... The Kawi... and the '86 Ranger...a stalled project (no time, no money) buried in a corner of the garage

The sportster is NOT a sport bike. I used to say I'd kill myself on a Harley, because I like to go fast and I DON'T like to slow down for corners. I actually ride FASTER through the curves in a road than I do on the straightaways...and Harleys just don't turn as well as my ZRX1100. Now that I'm engaged and have a dog, however, a full dresser would be nice for those cross country road trips. Tires on my bike don't last long enough to do that kind of riding...and with a full dresser, I could build a dog-carrier trailer, put the future wife on the back, and ride anywhere our little hearts desire. Bottom line, is, different bikes have different uses. It ain't just "this or that", but rather what kind of riding you intend to do with it. For me in my younger years, a Harley would have killed me. Even today, it couldn't be the ONLY bike in the stable...but I'm not against having one in addition to the bike I've already got...although I'll probably get an XR650 before I get the full dresser. Looking at a CRF230M for the fiance, and it'd be a lot more fun to chase her on something like the XR. Like they say, it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than it is to ride a fast bike slow. Besides, she's already got a little 100cc Honda dirt bike, so if we wanted to do some trail riding, we could throw her 100 and the XR in the truck and head out to the trails. Variety is the spice of life.

See, now that's the exact opposite of what I've found. Dad had a 1997 Chevy Express...350, HD auto trans, 4.11 rears...van would flat out PULL. No complaints whatsoever in the power/towing departments....but he had that van at the shop every other week because another trim piece or interior panel cracked and fell out. The interior just wouldn't stay together, and in 2001, he traded it in for a Ford Ranger. My parents have NEVER kept a new car for less than 10 years up until that point...and the only USED car they bought and kept less time was the Pinto my dad bought cheap & used because he needed transportation to & from work. I found cheap Chevy interiors to be the case in a Malibu I rented when I quit a job and needed to get home. Sure it was a rental, but the cheap plastic interior was falling apart more than it SHOULD have been seeing as how there was less than 2000 miles on the car. The fiance had a Malibu for a while, too, and had the same problem with it. I've NEVER had a problem with any Ford interiors, and my family has a LOT of experience with 'em.

...so you are comparing a fiberglass Corvette with a metal Mustang. Let's see how they compare in a crash test. Trunk space? Back seat? But to pit the Corvette against a Mustang in a performance evaluation would be like putting the Silverado up against a Ranger to see which truck is better, and then limiting your evaluation to power, towing, & payload. If you want a fair GM vs. Ford comparison, try Camero vs. Mustang....Silverado vs. F-Series....when the competition is kept to similar vehicles, Ford wins every time.

Heck, hit shappens even when you THINK you are doing everything right... ...from another forum:

I'm picking up a wood stove this weekend...was in my grandpa's shop, and as soon as I get around to building one, it'll be in my shop too. With the frequency of ice storms we get in these parts, I've considered getting a back-up generator that would run off the propane I already have out back...either that or scrap the propane fireplace (which ironically does not work when there is no power) and get a new wood stove for the house to put in its place...at least then, the house would remain comfortable when the power is out for 3 or 4 days in the middle of winter. That's something I'd have to talk with my insurance agent about, though, to see what the best way to install it would be to keep my premiums low and keep the risk of burning down the house to a minimum. Heck, I just read a news article the other day that the government was offering tax credits for wood stoves as "energy efficient" products...

Sounds like ya got things under control, then...

Yup...got 3 grease fittings on that pin...one at the front of each draft arm, the other on the bottom of the hydraulic cylinder.

I do hope this is a truck she does not intend to drive....or if she IS going to drive it, you buy new rubber to put on it before she goes too far. Rubber deteriorates over time, and after 6-8 years, they are at significantly higher risk of coming apart than a new tire. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=129404&page=1 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/27/eveningnews/consumer/main698335.shtml http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?s=8253128 http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2542296

I guess you can see it in this picture: Notice the pin at the front of the draft arm and bottom of the hydraulic cylinder? That is where the trailer articulates at the 5th wheel...NOT on the truck's part. This has it's benefits, as the articulation is in line with the trailer, not the truck. Ever see a truck pulling a van trailer hung up in the ditch as it was making a corner with two drive tires completely off the ground? It'll usually have "Swift" on the side...but I digress. This happens because the articulation only allows the 5th wheel only allows the trailer to follow the truck over humps in the road IF the trailer is directly behind the truck, not off to the side. When going around a corner and the trailer is off to the side (perpendicular to the truck instead of following behind it), the truck's 5th wheel will allow the trailer a certain mount of "tip", but will NOT allow for the trailer wheels to off-plane with the tractor's wheels. When the trailer drops down into a ditch, this presents a problem because the leverage of the trailer lifts the opposite side of the tractor off the ground. Unless the truck has full lockers (which FEW OTR trucks do), the power divider does no good because both drive axles are off the ground. By placing the articulation on the TRAILER instead of on the TRUCK, the trailer is free to follow up and down across various terrain without affecting the truck's ability to keep traction, so even if you drag the trailer through a ditch, all of the truck's drive tires remain on the ground. Having the articulation happen on the trailer has another benefit, as "tip" is limited, since there is no possible side-to-side articulation (as there would be if the trailer were perpendicular to the truck with the articulation occurring on the truck's 5th wheel plate). Side to side tip would be a VERY bad thing when you start raising the bed... Hope that helps clear things up...

wouldn't hurt...

I'm guessing they was throwin' rods through the side of the block...

Dammit! Yer in America...talkin' American trucks & cars...call it what it is: 300cid straight 6 I get funny looks all the time when I go buy parts for my Rangers...one has the 140cid 4-banger, the other a 177cid V-6. They are Fords, and I refuse to give the displacement in that foreign measurement. I only talk "liters" for my motorsickle...which is a Kawasaki.

I wouldn't trust an automatic as far as I can throw it. If it doesn't have a standard shift transmission, I want nothing to do with it. Of course this MAY present a problem, because the fiance has only ever owned automatics. She HAS driven manual transmissions before...she did alright the one time I let her drive my F250...and I'm hoping she'll drive my trucks and see how much better they are before she gets ready to trade in her 2001 Dodge. She was giving me crap about why HER truck had to go, but now that she got rear ended and the insurance pretty much totaled it out, she's willing to discuss the possibility of getting her a crew cab F250 4x4...only point of contention at this point is the transmission

well, now...that WOULD make life easier....until the cable sticks Prolly wouldn't happen to anyone in the history of truckin' until I set it up on MY truck...

Hmmmm....current family rides: My garage: 1947 Ford 8N, 1986 Ford Ranger, 1992 Ford Ranger, 1996 Ford F250 My dad's garage: 1926 Ford Model T, 2005 Ford Mustang, 2008 Ford F150 Grandma's garage: 2009 Ford Taurus Older brother: 2007? Ford 500 Younger brother: 2001 Ford Ranger Other younger brother: 1979 Ford Bronco, 2004 Ford F250 During the course of my life, My grandpa (mom's dad) had a 1968 Ford Torino. When the frame rotted out, he traded it in for a 1986 Ford Tempo. He sold that car to my older brother and bought a 1995 Ford Contour which he had until he passed. Grandpa also had an old Ford 8N tractor that is now mine. My grandma (mom's mom) had a 1972 Mercury Comet, but by 1991 it was time for grandma to get a new car and she bought a Mercury Sable. She just traded in the Sable for a 2009 Ford Taurus this year. My other grandpa (dad's dad) has gone through a series of Suburbans...always GMC, never Chevy...and always older ones. He's also had a K5 Blazer or two, along with a pair of 1926 Model T's. One of the T's went to my dad when he passed, the other to my dad's sister. Dad had a '59 Chevy Apache when I was a kid...drove that for work until he couldn't find parts to keep it on the road any more. Needed a vehicle bad, so he bought a cheap, used 1970-something Ford Pinto. That was traded in shortly thereafter for a new 1986 Ranger that is in my garage now. The other "family car" was a 1971 Pontiac Lemans, which when the floor rotted out (and us kids started dropping things through the floor ) was traded in for a used 1983 Ford Crown Vic station wagon. Mom drove that until we kids outgrew it and it was traded in for a new 1989 Ford Clubwagon. In 1995, mom got a new Explorer, my dad got the van, and I got the Ranger. The van was traded in for a 1997 Chevy Express because the Ford van blew the rear main seal and the transmission was starting to slip (derned automatics )...and the Chevy van was traded in a short while later for a new 2001 Ford Ranger after my dad got tired of the cheap interior constantly falling apart. The 2001 Ranger was sold to my little brother when my dad bought a 2008 Ford F150. My older brother's first car was a 1986 Pontiac Sunfire. He wrecked it. He bought my grandpa's Tempo...and wrecked it. He bought an old clunker Oldsmobile and blew the transmission. He bought a 1993 Ford Taurus and wrecked it a couple times, but it was "new" enough to get it fixed. When it started falling apart, he bought a Ford 500 (the one now re-badged the Taurus, NOT the GT500) and my parents realized he would be living at home until it was paid off. I got the title to the '86 Ranger when I graduated college, although I had been driving it and caring for it as my own since I got my license. I bought the F250 shortly after I bought my house, because I cracked the head on the '86 Ranger while moving and have plans for a restoration/rebuild/modification. I bought my younger brother's '92 ranger when I took a job and needed a "beater truck" to leave parked at the company yard to occasionally get me home when I had to leave the truck there. My younger brother's first truck was the 1992 Ford Ranger now in my garage. He had wrecked it (but still drivable), needed money, so I bought it from him. Grandma let him borrow grandpa's Contour (since grandpa didn't need it anymore) until dad sold him his 2001 Ranger. The Contour was sold. My other younger brother's first truck was his 2004 Ford F250. He bought a 1979 Ford Bronco as a "fun truck", since he didn't want to tear up his $40,000+ truck playing in the woods. What they all had before I came around I haven't the slightest....it was before my time About the only thing we HAVEN'T had is a Dodge....but the FMC vehicles have outnumbered the GM vehicles in my family's garage by around 7:1.

yup....looked sharp, too. I think it depends on how it's set up. I can't stand low-riders with tiny tires. Let the tires fill the wheel wells and give it a suspension that allows it to have decent ground clearance. I've seen a lot of trucks going down the road with the low bumpers and side skirts and wondered how the drivers can possibly be expected to do a proper pretrip or post trip inspection when they can't see (let alone GET to) anything under the truck. How does a person service the truck without the luxury of a pit? Sorry, but I like to keep things easy to work on. If I can't fit under it, I don't want it.

Did you close the valve under the hood? I know my truck will blow warm air out of the vents even with the blower shut off and the temp turned all of the way down UNLESS I close the valve under the hood, which prevents warm coolant from making its way into the heater core where it warms the air going into through the cab vents. Once that valve is closed, it'll blow ambient temperature air through the vents...which MAY even feel cool if it is particularly hot inside the cab. Where that little feature really starts to get annoying is in the spring and fall...where you want heat in the morning or evening, but will bake if the warm air is blowing through the vents at mid day. Either leave the valve closed and wear a jacket, or close the valve after the day warms up and open it up again as it cools off...but to do that, you have to stop, pop the hood, and open or close the valve....easier to just grab a jacket.

I'm almost curious...I was looking at a few different manufacturer websites and some of them make 1/4 frame trailers, but only up to 35' lengths. Due to the bridge law, a 35' trailer can't gross 80,000 unless it has a 3rd axle, which increases the tare weight. Why couldn't they make a 39' 1/4 frame trailer, so that when dumping in softer ground, you have both axles...all 8 tires...on the ground to help reduce sinking in? You'd think it might help keep 'em from tipping over so easily....but then what do I know? Maybe there's a good reason why you can't buy a 39' 1/4 frame trailer.

This time around, I installed it in a manner in which whoever wants it is going to need some special tools to get it...everything from special fasteners (instead of those thumb screws) to under-dash reinforcement...and even then, it'll take 'em a while to get it out. Plus I got a dog, now, which pretty much starts barking as soon as anyone gets anywhere NEAR the house, and if someone's messing with my truck, my shotgun is loaded w/ shells containing a .65 round ball followed up by 6 #1 bucks...exiting the barrel at 1300 fps, so if ya can't outrun the lead, it's best not me messin' with my ride. Hell, it'll blow holes through 2x6 boards all day long, too...so whatcha think that'll do to a thief's torso? Remember...