RowdyRebel

So I pick up these wire mesh screens and making my way back to the house. Go around a bend in the road and see something rather unnerving in my mirror.

Greased the Mack today, and when checking oil in the diffs, found this little gem stuck to the magnetic fill plug:

Funny thing about a business is, if they WANT to do this, and they can AFFORD to do this, they WOULD be doing it. If they cannot afford to do this, especially at the same time they are hit with a ridiculous minimum wage increase, then people will simply lose their jobs in order for the business to be able to make payroll. The alternative is for products to be prohibitively expensive for the consumer, leading to declining sales and layoffs as a result of reduced demand. Either way, the worker loses. Personally, I don't agree with ANY minimum wage. If a person desires to work for next to nothing in an effort to acquire certain skills or experience which would then allow them to command a higher wage, then that should be their right to do so. If a business is unwilling to pay a wage compensatory to what the job is actually worth, they should also have that right because NOBODY is forced to work for them, and ANYBODY is free to open up a competing business and offer a higher wage to attract those employees. If you can't "find" somebody willing to pay you what you think your time is worth, you have the ability to go into business for yourself doing anything you have the knowledge or skill to do (that people are willing to pay for, of course). NOBODY is forcing anybody to work for anybody else. Besides, the minimum wage is just that....a MINIMUM....a starting point for somebody with NO education, NO knowledge, NO job skills, NO experience. It was never intended to be a "living wage". If you want a "living wage", get off your ass and acquire some education, experience, and skill to make yourself WORTH that "living wage" to a prospective employer. If you're 40 years old and still working minimum wage jobs, it is by choice. Bottom line, if outside forces (i.e. the government) dictate that a job ought to pay more than it is worth to the employer to have done (as in it is incapable of producing a profit for the employer at the new rate of pay), then the job gets eliminated.

Local establishment doing their part to get 'em into the work force...

...and we THOUGHT we knew the history. The brother of the property owner where we've got 3 of our horses boarded bought it new...drove it all over the country...put a new engine & transmission in it, then sold it to the property owner's kid. The kid drove it a little while before deciding he wanted a mud truck...6" lift & 35's, then had the axles rebuilt with 4.10'. Put long tube headers on it...then parked it in the machine shed for 9 years after he bought a more fuel efficient jeep. Farm hand got the thing running a couple years ago for the kid and he just parked it again. So, the body was in immaculate shape, and the drive train ALLEGEDLY only had 30K miles on it. First thing I had to do was put an exhaust on the thing. Of course transmissions don't like sitting, so when the TH400 went out, I swapped in a 4L85E with a TCI flexplate and Hughes HD Towmaster 2200 stall torque converter. I also pulled the 6" lift out and put new 3/4 ton springs up front and 1 ton springs in the rear, both 2" over stock height. I'm thinking the rear needs 2 more inches, though...as much as I hate blocks, it'll probably get them when the time comes to do it. Still need to go through it and get all of the power windows and door locks working, fix the stereo, and have the AC system converted, checked out, and charged. Then, I'll probably get some Vortec heads and the matching TBI intake, along with a Comp Cams Xtreme 4x4 cam and some timing gears to bump it up into the mid to upper 200's instead of the 190 HP it is sitting at right now. Sure, it's going to be an $18K+ truck by the time I'm done, and it books for around $3500...but there won't be another one like it anywhere. That would drive me nuts having a car that looked, felt, and drove like EVERY OTHER car on the road.

Drums for a 1975 K2500 Suburban seem to be the same size, so I swapped the ones I bought for the 1990 for the 1975's...find out when I get a round tuit if they'll really work. Hopefully tonight, unless it's raining.

I WISH this thing didn't cost me a dime...reality is, I'm into it for more than I'll ever dream of getting back if I sold the thing. Could have bought a much newer one for what I've spent getting this one road worthy...but then it'd be like umpteen million others on the road. I can honestly say there ain't another one like this one, and the more I fix, the less likely I am to be wrong in saying that.

Everything was going SO well...until...

Well I'll be dadgummed. Guess the wife ain't getting her Suburban back tonight. Got the adapter brackets welded onto the backing plates and everything put together easy enough...went to put the drums/hubs on and they wouldn't go on far enough to get the hub nuts onto the spindle. Drums NAPA sold me are 2" wider than the hubs that was on it...which further reinforces the idea I've been having that this axle isn't the one that was on there when it was new. The 1990 gets a brake drum that's 7" wide....where a 1975ish would have a brake drum 5" wide. Guess what? The old drums were 5" wide...which follows along with the backing plates being from that time frame as well. So, I guess I get to press these new drums back off the hubs and swing through NAPA on my way to deliver tomorrow to swap them out for the correct drums. This $#!+ is starting to get old....REAL fast...

BTW...heading outside to work on the Suburban. Have to weld some adapter brackets I made yesterday onto the drum brake packing plates to get the parking brake cables to work. Then, run all new cables and get the drums reassembled and the system bled.

I had an AR HP pull me over on a 2-lane a few years back when Dozer was still riding with me...never seen a cop move so fast in all my life as when he jumped up on the passenger side step and nearly got his nose took off by the 100 pound cop-hating dog. He was tripping over his own feet trying not to face-plant in the ditch as he jumped back off my truck. Once he regained his composure, he motioned for me to exit the truck and talk to him. Anyway, at the end of the stop, he says he needs to have a look inside the truck. Well, Dozer wasn't having any of that. When I opened the driver's side door, there he was hunkered down & ready to pounce, EVERY hair on his body standing on end, ears pinned back, showing every tooth he had while growling and making it known he'd like nothing better than to be turned loose on that cop. I stood in the door holding his collar saying "good boy" while the cop was 12' back up on his tippy toes trying to see around me and the dog. That was the best look he was going to get at the inside of the truck... Dogs can't get much better than ol' Dozer, that's for sure. It's a shame he had to retire from trucking...

Heck, I've always got mine on my hip when I'm in the driveway wrenching on my truck. As long as the holster holds the weapon securely and covers the trigger guard, there is nothing inherently unsafe about it.

Well, the scrap yard had the levers, but no luck getting the backing plates...so, looks like I'll get to do a little parts modification with the ones I've got. I figure a piece of 1/8" angle with the proper size hole drilled in it and welded onto the backing plate ought to do the trick...probably put a couple pieces on the sides, too, in order to close it in...or I'll just leave it open so it won't collect water/mud/road crap. Simple and functional, which is all it needs to be...besides, it'll just make the list of unique features on this truck a little bit longer. One thing's for sure...ain't another one like it!

I'll take that up with the boss. He's a real A-hole, though...when I told him the AC wasn't working, he removed all of the components under the hood...said it lowered my tare weight and gave me more horsepower.

It's always fun driving, and the weather radio keeps interrupting itself to broadcast another tornado warning..."spotter verified" and "on the ground". What's even MORE fun is when you're heading west towards the town they say the tornado is in and heading east. Or further on down the road hearing another "on the ground" tornado warning and they run through a handful of "affected towns" just as you pass a sign entering one of them. I got some of it on dash cam...wind blowing hard, a couple trees down, and threatening hail (pea sized was about all I saw, so I wasn't too worried). All in a days work. No telling how long it'll be before I get around to uploading any of 'em, though...them round tuits are tough to come by these days... Like I always say, it's only weather. It's weathered before, and it'll weather again.

Those aren't the levers I need...those are the adjusters (which NAPA was happy to sell me when I bought the shoes, drums, springs, cylinders, and seals). What I need is the parking brake lever which has a pin which passes through a hole on the shoe and an E-clip secures it. The parking brake levers I got from the guy across the highway were off an 11" drum....and the pin isn't long enough to pass through the shoe to get the clip on...and it is REALLY short when next to the shoe....TOO short. I need the parking brake lever for the 13" drum. I've pretty much given up on the cable...prohibitively expensive to have one made, and there doesn't seem to be one the correct length already on the market. So, I'll either find some backing plates to swap on there to use the cables I've already got or I'll get the welder out and fabricate something (all that's needed is a round hole for the spring clip to lock into...at a slight angle...should be easy enough). The backhaul I'm picking up tomorrow delivers not too far from a junk yard, so I'll swing in there on Thursday after I deliver and see what they have (or what they can get). I need to get this thing back together....

Stopped by NAPA and they flipped through their book. NOTHING! So I emailed a custom cable maker and it is prohibitively expensive. So, looks like I'll either be fabricating some sort of adapter to weld onto the backing plate or finding the right backing plates. I also got an email from the place I had ordered the parking brake levers from...both are discontinued and out-of-stock, so they were refunding my payment. Guess I get to look for those again, too. This project is turning into quite the headache.

I think the previous owner who said he had the axles rebuilt actually swapped them out. The cables need to be routed like the 1984-1991 cables (along the driver's side frame rail) but go into the drums like the 1973-1983 cables that bolt in rather than snap into a round hole. Problem is, those earlier cables are the same length coming out of the drums running up their own respective frame rails, through a guide, using intermediate cables to reach the pedal. Gotta find the right length cables with the right ends...

Awesome! Was able to find it looking it up with that P/N. 1990 3/4 ton V2500 SLE...8600 GVWR

Wife wants her Suburban back, but I've got to finish the brakes first. Did the front calipers & pads when I first bought the thing, but finally getting around to tearing into the rear drums. Had bought new parking brake cables because the previous owner had removed them...little did I realize he not only removed the cables, but also the hardware inside the drums. There is SUPPOSED to be a lever the cable end attaches to (#7 in the attached image), and a strut that stretches across to the other shoe (#14 in the pic). I got these from a guy in town who has a mud-truck hobby and doesn't really spend much time/effort on rear brakes (if he leaves them on at all)...problem is, they are for the 11-ish" drums, not the 13" drums I've got on the Suburban (JB8 brake code) and they are just too small. I was able to get the strut I need from LMC, but they don't carry the lever. I've been able to track down a GM part # for the LEFT side lever ( 15649193 ), but coming up empty on the RIGHT side lever. That and the parking brake cables LMC sent me aren't the right ones...apparently I need the ones like #31 in the image, not the kind with the spring clips that locks into a round hole. Even the Auto Zone website is showing the cables like LMC sent me... Anybody around here able to look up the part numbers for the RH lever and the LH & RH cables?

So many twists and turns yet to come in this election cycle...will Hillary be indicted? That could throw a wrench in things for BOTH sides, as the Democrats would have to scramble to find another nominee (and what would Bernie supporters say if it isn't Sanders?) to put on the ticket. Could Biden step up? Perhaps they'll dust off Al Gore for another go around? Who knows... Then on the Republican side, there's a slight chance Trump might not clinch the nomination and could lose out at the convention. If that happens, who WILL get the nomination? Cruz? He's done a lot of legwork up until now and has amassed a good number of delegates supporting him in second ballot and beyond voting. Perhaps the GOP will choose somebody up until now has not been considered? We won't know until after the convention. Trump has stated that he is putting together a list of judges he would exclusively consider for the Supreme Court. If they would be suitable replacements for Scalia, then it betters his chances of finding support in the GOP. His VP choice could also be crucial. I'd also like to see him put forth some names for cabinet choices as well. Sure, it isn't "normal" for a candidate to announce all of these positions ahead of time, but in Trump's case, it would go quite far in easing concerns. It could also help push his nominees through the Senate confirmation process if he's able to say "This is what the people voted for when they elected me, because they knew who I had lined up to nominate in these positions." Whatever the case, if the GOP doesn't hold onto the Senate, a Republican president will have great difficulty getting ANY nominations through...which is ridiculous, considering the GOP senate usually rolls over and rubber-stamps nominations put forward by Democrat executives.

Like I said in my first post, I cannot at this point support Trump. I will, however, cast my vote against Hillary, even if that means holding my nose and checking a box next to Trump's name. This will be yet another "lesser of two evils" election unless by some miraculous turn of events, the voters in the remaining states band together and vote Cruz (his name is still on the primary ballots despite having suspended his campaign) to keep Trump from the required 1237 delegates to clinch the nomination...forcing a brokered convention, in which case Trump becomes the underdog once delegates are no longer bound to him. He hasn't made it there yet...and if he fails to get there DESPITE having no opposition, well, that would speak for itself at the convention.

Well then if that's the case, EVERYBODY...as in ALL candidates from EVERY party...ought to be on the same ballot, for every voter to get to choose from, and the top contenders move on to the general without regard to party affiliation. As long as each party is selecting their own nominee, then that selection process ought to be limited to party members. When democrats choose the republican nominee, you get a candidate republicans don't like and democrats won't vote for in the general (because they have their own candidate)...and if republicans choose the democrat's nominee same thing...republicans won't vote for that candidate in the general and democrats can't support them. It is tough to have a clear choice in November when both candidates share the same values. Trump is a Democrat. He has said as much in the past, and also stated that the only reason he ran as a republican was because he thought it afforded him the best opportunity to win the nomination. So enough democrats crossed over to allow him to win victories in a crowded field early on to take the lead and from there, he had the momentum he needed. He doesn't belong on the ticket with an "R" next to his name, because Republican voters weren't the ones who chose him. In November, voters can choose whoever they want. During the primaries, party affiliation should matter...because the parties are selecting THEIR nominees to represent the party on the ticket in the general election.

The problem I have with folks who claim "THE VOTERS CHOSE TRUMP" is that in many states, DEMOCRATS "crossed over" to vote for him in the REPUBLICAN primary. I don't think dems ought to have ANY say in who the GOP nominates, just as I disagreed with "operation chaos" 8 years ago when Limbaugh was encouraging Republicans to cross over and vote for Hillary in order to prolong the Democratic primary season and delay Obama's clinching of the nomination. The Republicans ought to choose their nominee, and the Democrats ought to choose their nominee. Republicans shouldn't vote in the Democrat primary, and Democrats shouldn't vote in the Republican primary. Each party ought to be able to select a nominee who best embodies the core principals of the party...WITHOUT the influence of "crossover voters" who for obvious reasons do NOT agree with the party platform. The voters get to have their say in November. In the primaries, Republican voters should be the only ones having their say in the Republican primary, and Democrat voters should be the only ones having their say in the Democrat primary. Crossover voting simply should not be allowed.

Trump? HONEST? Those 2 words don't belong in the same sentence. He has assumed all of the worst traits of a stereotypical politician, saying whatever he thinks the audience wants to hear instead of what he truly believes. When any other candidate would mention the inconsistencies in Trump's statements, he wouldn't address the substance of the claim or even explain what may have happened in his life that might have caused his view to evolve. Instead, he'd sling mud and accuse the other person of lying...even if there is video PROOF the other person is 100% correct (as in Trump stating exactly what the other candidate claimed Trump had said) floating around on the internet for anyone to look up. If Ted Cruz had a dollar for every lie Trump told, the Cruz campaign would have been well funded. If Trump had a dollar for every Cruz lie, he'd be a broke S-O-B. Unfortunately Cruz didn't do much to combat the "lyin' ted" moniker Trump dubbed him with (which would have been easy enough to do with a targeted ad campaign containing the Cruz statement, Trump crying "You're a liar", followed by video of Trump actually making the statement he's now calling Cruz a liar for bringing up), and so it stuck despite the fact that it was about as accurate as calling Hillary "Honest Hillary". Bottom line, Trump relied upon name recognition and an uninformed electorate. He doubled down with insults designed to be used in sound bites, and finished off with scorched earth tactics and supporters threatening riots if he DIDN'T get the nomination...and now he expects everybody to just forgive & forget and rally behind him? Trump will have more support in the GOP than Gen. Sherman would have found in Atlanta if he ran for Mayor in 1865...and most of that support is solely due to who the opposing party is nominating. I can't vote for Trump, but I sure as hell can vote against Hillary.