RowdyRebel

Yup. The worst offenders know how to play the game, so even if the cops catch 'em red handed, they end up with nothing more than a slap on the wrist and perhaps a couple nights in the joint. The real severe punishments are saved for the otherwise law-abiding citizens who took matters into their own hands as a result of the utter failure of the judicial system to create any meaningful deterrent which might otherwise keep a thief from stealing. They don't fear the cops 'cuz the prosecutors will cut a deal to avoid a trial. They don't fear the property owner 'cuz the prosecutors like to make examples out of honest folk who go "a little to far" (if there is such a thing) when defending that which they have worked hard over the course of many years to acquire. I'd LOVE to see a prosecutor say "I'm not going to prosecute anyone who crossed the line defending their home/business/property/family/etc...

I've never used guns or bows to hunt deer...bulldogs do a pretty good job dispatching them pesky critters. 3 deer so far...total repair costs come to less than $20. Last one I hit ended up a good 60' up the road & 30 feet off into the ditch...I was moving at a pretty good clip when it decided to cross the road. Ain't ever hit one below 55mph...

Even Danny from Count's Kustoms (Counting Cars on the History Channel) had a guy come into his shop wanting major modernizations & some updating done to a very NICE classic Caddy...wanted it to be safer & more reliable for his kids & grandkids to drive...and Danny wouldn't do the work until he'd checked all of the numbers to make sure it wasn't still an original. As a car guy, he didn't want to be the first one to hack up a car that had survived 50-60 years intact. I am in that same camp myself...if a guy wants to modernize a classic vehicle, start with one that has already been altered...and leave the numbers-matching originals to the collectors and restorers. Swapping the motor out of a numbers-matching truck could depreciate the value of the truck by far more than you paid for it...especially if the numbers-matching aspect was not known and therefore not factored into the price when you bought it. If that is the case, do a little research...contact the Mack Museum...and if it really IS still all original, you could probably sell it to the right person for enough to buy a non-original truck, a spare parts truck, the motor you want, overhaul the new motor, and have it installed. Or, hack up the truck you've got and you just have a truck. Of course if the info you get from the Mack Museum indicates that the truck is NOT, in fact, still original, then by all means do what you want with it and send the motor to a good home.

Dadgum...now I'm not sure what to do with the rest of my day! Do I go wander around the gun show when I really should be directing my available funds to other, more important responsibilities...or do I just go home & drink some beer while wrenching on the Mack (which I HAD been planning to do tomorrow)? Gun show will still be going tomorrow, too...so either way I can still do it all. I absolutely hate being faced with these difficult decisions.

If somebody is going to steal from me they'd best pray I don't catch 'em in the act, as it'd get 'em a 1-way ticket straight to the morgue. If I felt inclined to do so, they might get to go for a swim instead...but either way, they'd be explaining to the man upstairs why they were unable to keep his 8th Commandment. Not many folks lower than a thief in my book...maybe child molesters, politicians, and crooked cops...but that's about it. The more I think about this happening just up the road, the more pissed off I'm getting...there is a gun show is in town this weekend...think I'll go wander around for a while.

That's the one right by the Cracker Barrel...Pilot truck stop just up the road & we've got a terminal 1/2 way between that hotel & the pilot (and no, the company I'm with doesn't run KW's). Nice little western/tack store in that area, too...didn't THINK it was that bad, although our terminal is fenced in...

What hotel was he staying at? Dang...that's my neck of the woods right there...'bout 45 minutes north for me but DANG! I'd really like to know WHERE in Marion that happened so I can stay the f--- away!

If you've got a 4.42 rear gear ratio, it doesn't matter if it is Mack, Eaton, Rockwell, or any other manufacturer...the drive shaft will spin around 4.42 times for every 1 time the tires go around. In a simple differential, it is just the ratio of teeth on the ring gear to the number of teeth on the pinion gear, but in a double-reduction rear end the math gets a little more complex. Same idea, though...no more than a numerical expression of the relationship between the rotational speeds of the drive shaft and the axle shafts.

'cuz it's fun....

Umm...he said he wants somebody to GIVE him a Superliner, not SELL him one....

I know the IH4700 rollbacks that I used to drive had hydraulic brakes. Wreckers are only registered for the weight of the truck when empty, NOT for the total combination weight of the vehicles it might someday hook onto. That being said, hydraulic brakes on a truck registered under 26K may not necessarily need a CDL to drive. It is one of those HUGE gray areas, but could be a potential reason for that truck having hydraulic brakes. Farmers also don't need CDL's, and hydraulic brakes on a farm tractor means it would be easier to find a farm hand who could drive it. I'm sure there are other reasons why a twin-screw truck was built with hydraulic brakes...

Ok...so I can't just change the wheel bearings...comes as a complete hub assembly. Easier that way, I guess as I don't have to mess with stubbornly stuck races or packing grease into the new bearings...but on what planet does it make sense that all of the auto parts stores in town carry the hub assembly in stock...but the spindle nuts (which are stamped "DO NOT REUSE" are not included with the hub assemblies and are not kept in stock? Special order only...they can have 'em by Thursday. Well, Thursday just won't work...truck is going back together today. You'd think they'd stock as many spindle nuts as they keep hub assemblies, but then that would just make too much sense.

I know where you could get an '02 CH613 with 160K miles...but it also has just as many hours on the engine as my '01 with 804K miles. It was basically a yard truck...ran constantly without ever really going anywhere. Since it was mentioned that those R's were "kept started", I wonder how many hours are on their engines? Of course being older, mechanical engines you may never know...a new hour meter and they can say whatever they like. Hell, a complete refurbish/restoration complete with a new odometer and they can say it's never been run. No computers to tell you otherwise, and for their asking price, they wouldn't be losing money on the deal. You just aren't likely to find a bank willing to loan that much money for a truck that old.

I'd guess around the time when engines finally had enough power to overcome the aerodynamic drag. Length laws might have played a role in the change, too...rounding the nose allowed 'em to ride closer to the cab of the truck for a shorter overall length, and when overall length limits were relaxed, trailer length limits meant maximizing cargo space in the allowed dimensions, which meant squaring things off. Funny how things cycle around, though...the 2011 end dump I'm pulling now has a rounded nose for fuel efficiency. I bet it'd look mighty slick being pulled by a B...

Yeah, Damn cell phone triple-posted for me. Anyway, teardown went easy enough...Being in Texas for the past 250K+ miles means it is pretty much rust free. Lower ball joints on both sides are junk. Front right wheel bearing is noisy, and the left has a little end play...both will be replaced since the nut holding 'em on says "do not reuse" so inspection & repacking is pretty much a no-go since I'd have to buy parts anyway...may as well put new bearings in & be done with it. Calipers had to be pried off the rotors because whoever the knucklehead was who did the brakes for her in Texas (before she came up) JUST replaced the pads...didn't touch the rotors. They had quite a lip on 'em and if they can't be turned, they'll have to be replaced. Don't know why that wasn't done with the pads, since once the wheel is off and the caliper unbolted (all necessary to replace the pads) the rotor just slips off like a brake drum. First time I've seen that, as all of my other trucks (if I remember correctly) the studs are pressed into the rotor and it's all held in place by the axle nut. Anyway, the shop had said something about rivets holding something to the chassis being worn out, but everything is either welded or bolted in except for where the upper part of each ball joint attaches to the A-arm...but those all look to be intact. They'll have to be ground off to replace 'em, and I'm wondering if that is what the shop meant and it just got lost in translation when it made it's journey from the girl's ears, through her brain, and out of her mouth. Anyway, tomorrow we get to try to find a parts store that is open to get the L&R upper & lower ball joints, L&R front wheel bearings, and get the rotors turned (or replaced). Hopefully it won't be TOO terribly expensive. Shop wanted $800+ to do the job, and they didn't make any mention of the rotors...so final cost there PROBABLY would have been pushing $1K by the time they finished up. I'm HOPING to get it done for around 1/4 of that. Heck, I did the ball joints on both sides of my F250 for 1/2 what a shop wanted for just 1 side...and that was using OEM parts. I'd PREFER using Mopar parts on her Dodge, but since the dealer probably won't be open tomorrow, it'll probably be put back together with Auto Zone, O'Reillys, or Advanced parts. Doubt Napa or Federated will be open. I'd say "Damn holiday" but if it weren't for the holiday, it'd be next weekend before I'd get it put back together. Good thing she's got her motorcycle...and I've got a spare truck or two if it rains. Speaking of her motorcycle, it handles better than I would have expected. I've always ridden sportier bikes that accelerate & brake quickly and corner superbly well. She's got a HD 1200 Sportster with the forward controls. Freaked her out when I dragged the pegs in a curve on a particularly fun road last night...which caused her to squirm & shift her weight to the outside, which freaked me out because the bike started to wobble as she wiggled around and her weight shift meant I had to lean the bike MORE to hold my line & keep it on the road. Yeah, we had a little discussion about that, and how shifting her weight like she did was the wrong thing to do and I explained WHY...so HOPEFULLY we won't have an incident like that the next time I drag a peg. Put the brakes to the test, too, on a couple occasions when deer appeared in the headlights. For all of the bad things I've heard about Harleys from the sport bikers I usually ride with, they really aren't all that bad. Sure, they aren't as quick...and they start dragging parts at much lower lean angles...but they are just as much fun to ride. I should probably trade in my 1100 Kawasaki for a Fat Bob or Street Glide...less likely to earn me a big high-dollar driving award, but not as capable of hitting a twisty section of road fast enough to escape said driving award, either. Oh well...until I hit the jackpot & have $15-20K burning a hole in my pocket, I suppose I'll just keep what I've got...it's paid for.

Yup...don't take but 2 or 3 minutes to install a 2-piece clutch brake once the old one is out. Mine usually quits working when it breaks and falls out on its own...

Dang...here lately (since she's got here) I work harder on my days off than I do when I'm making a living! She heard I'd have a 3-day weekend, so she tore up here truck. Had to trailer her motorcycle to her Thursday night so she could get home after work & finally got it towed to the house today. Get to do the upper & lower ball joints & front wheel bearings on both sides of her pickup tomorrow & Monday. Fun.

Dang...here lately (since she's got here) I work harder on my days off than I do when I'm making a living! She heard I'd have a 3-day weekend, so she tore up here truck. Had to trailer her motorcycle to her Thursday night so she could get home after work & finally got it towed to the house today. Get to do the upper & lower ball joints & front wheel bearings on both sides of her pickup tomorrow & Monday. Fun.

Dang...here lately (since she's got here) I work harder on my days off than I do when I'm making a living! She heard I'd have a 3-day weekend, so she tore up here truck. Had to trailer her motorcycle to her Thursday night so she could get home after work & finally got it towed to the house today. Get to do the upper & lower ball joints & front wheel bearings on both sides of her pickup tomorrow & Monday. Fun.

I thought ALL used freightshakers were sold w/ salvage titles...

I'm more confused about the aluminum rim on one steer tire while the other steer tire is mounted on steel. Unless the dealer is known for selling junk, it seems like they'd at least TRY to have matching rims on the truck.

Ya think that'll fit under a CH613 hood? Ought to bolt up to my T2180 transmission easy enough...

Damn, and to think I was doing good with a pair of 400 watt Jensens...

Don't know what the going rate is on a container, but I know where a 40' chassis is with a "for sale" sign on it...$1500 is all they are wanting for it. Yeah, I'm tempted. That & a 40' container would make moving a lot simpler...and I could set the container on the ground, run power to it, and have a shop set up in no time when we get wherever it is she wants us to move to. Won't happen for a while yet...but probably in 2-5 years. And if we end up out west in timber country, weld a few log bunks onto the chassis and I'd be ready to get to work...

2007 still had EGR & DPF. Personally, I'd hang onto the 1998 & 1999 trucks as long as they keep getting the job done...refurbish them as needed.