BillyT

Ksb, interesting, a " needlenose" Pete to celebrate Freightliners anniversary! We should teach Dave Matthews to "double clutch"....With Warren Haynes as Co driver!

I'm relatively sure Trump has never "double clutched" and equally sure he could care less!

Any of those Hemrich trucks still around? Where were they made? Cool.looking!

Several thoughts come to mind ! I'm sure the UK has some type of special interest lobbyists, like we do! Is there a truck manufacturer building vehicles that meet the latest visibility standards wink wink? Is anything getting " greased" besides the fifth wheel? All of us of a certain age remember that gawdawful cornbinder Cabover with the large auxiliary Windows in the front! Safety is always the #1 issue in trucking ! But it can be accomplished without replacing an existing perfectly safe truck! No matter what country/ municipality is involved, If the trucking concerns are required to replace their equipment to enter a high volume freight area they will have to raise their rates to stay profitable,and their customers will suffer and have to possibly raise the price of their goods! That ol' Reaganesque " trickle down " thing! Any of you old guys see that " concept truck" in " Overdrive" in the 60s The entire tractor backed flush under the trailer! Great curbside visibility totally unsafe! If you have that issue please post the picture !

KSB,are the local authorities demanding the lorrie or is it lorry? Owners get rid of their almost new vehicles because they don't meet visibility standards? How about retrofitting dashcams or improved convex mirrors? Would have to be cheaper!

Hat, I was treated for prostate cancer 16 years ago , was treated with seeds,no cutting involved, my Psa has been in decimal points ever since! I'm glad you don't need chemo! Don't be on pins and needles,you're good they caught it early ! They have improved the treatments since I was treated! You other guys listen to Gmerrillo! The digital exam isn't painful ,if I had started exams when I was 50 I may not have even needed treatment! If you have a history of prostate cancer in your family start at 40! My brother in law has been going since he was 40 his dad died of prostate cancer in his 40s! He's about 70 and still doing good! Best of luck hat!

Hat, I was treated for prostate cancer 16 years ago , was treated with seeds,no cutting involved, my Psa has been in decimal points ever since! I'm glad you don't need chemo! Don't be on pins and needles,you're good they caught it early ! They have improved the treatments since I was treated! You other guys listen to Gmerrillo! The digital exam isn't painful ,if I had started exams when I was 50 I may not have even needed treatment! If you have a history of prostate cancer in your family start at 40! My brother in law has been going since he was 40 his dad died of prostate cancer in his 40s! He's about 70 and still doing good! Best of luck hat!

Mack pro,he gets 7 mpg grossing 99000? Is he a coal hauler? My cousin bought a new GMC Astro in 1973, was hauling steel for a couple years,then we put a wet line on it and he started hauling coal,this was.In Pittsburgh Pa,he told me a funny story about the coal haulers in W va and Ky, when they were using two stick Mack compounds and the Dad was teaching his kid how to split the gears, he would sit next to him with a tire thumper,and every time the kid tried to use the clutch dad would crack him on the knee with his tire thumper claimed it speeded up the training process!Lol

Teamster Grrrl, I agree that the big fleets spec. The auto to appeal to the clueless inexperienced drivers they love to hire! ( they're cheaper, and it's easier to blow smoke up their rear ends! And they will quit before it's time to give them a raise!) Another advantage the big fleets have is most have a buyback arrangement with their truck supplier so they can trade it while still under warranty! Who will then sell it to a first time owner operator who at some point will then probably lose it and they will have a parts truck! The circle will be unbroken!

Nice looking seat!

Bts, I wondered about those natural gas trucks! The conversions lacked about 15 to 20 percent of the hp and torque of a gasoline engine! Are UPS's engines purpose built? You'd have to think so! At least the spark plugs last a long time 😁 If not the pistons!

Teamster Grrrl, I agree that the big fleets spec. The auto to appeal to the clueless inexperienced drivers they love to hire! ( they're cheaper, and it's easier to blow smoke up their rear ends! And they will quit before it's time to give them a raise!) Another advantage the big fleets have is most have a buyback arrangement with their truck supplier so they can trade it while still under warranty! Who will then sell it to a first time owner operator who at some point will then probably lose it and they will have a parts truck! The circle will be unbroken!

On all my heavy equipment repairs I've used 7018 Lh except on thin rusty metal 1/8 or less then 6010 or 6011 if using a.c.. Low hydrogen used to be available in 10018 but I only used that once. I'm amazed that the step splice is considered to be unacceptable, but I'm not an engineer so can only go by General knowledge of mechanics! However I'd like to hear from David a year or two in the future about the longevity of the splice! I won't be welding commercially again,but strictly for academic reasons this stuff interests me! I respect Steelmans input and Paccars recommendations are surely backed by their engineers! If any of you are unfortunate enough to go to jail in Monongalia county WV I welded some of their remodeled cell blocks those welds aren't gonna break! But there isn't much strain on a cell block😁

As always guys and gals, I'm stunned by the diversified level of knowledge you all possess! I was in the mobile welding business full and part time for 12 years. I have done a lot of heavy equip.repairs, but have.never stretched,repaired or replaced a.big truck frame! However, I have welded dozens of rusted car frames. I agree with Red Horse in general on fishplating( by itself as a repair!) I like the idea of the 45 degree cut when splicing a frame (more weld,and less chance of the splice separating!) In the old days fishplating was common on new trucks as a reinforcement in the critical area under the cab and directly behind it,often done by the body company if the truck was expected to see heavy service! This was almost always done using the existing holes in the rails to avoid heat! I've been told,and this is purely heresay that you NEVER do a vertical weld on a truck frame if it can be avoided! I also like David's step cut even MORE inches of weld and less chance of separation! I see the dying art of flame cutting with a hand torch is still practiced! Kudos David! Of course all these repairs must be step welded to avoid warpage and heat damage to the frames alloys! Gearhead Grrrl, depending on the overall condition of the truck you could clean the frame as well as you can and use a combo of rattle can rust oleum for the tight places and canned R O with a brush for the other areas (cheaper) or if you have a sprayer do the whole deal with that! Eastwood and a couple of other companies sell some paint Por- something that is supposed to combine with the rust chemically and end it forever! I've never used it but you can be sure it ain't cheap! If you're losing prime in the fuel system the hose connections and or the hoses themselves are the first place I'd look! If you have the truck jacked up and are laying under the fuel connections, stay off to the side so if the hose comes loose you don't get sprayed! I got an earful of gas a couple of years ago! The pain was excruciating! A lot worse than getting gas in your eye! Plus the obvious fire implications! Red Horse I agree on.repairing a simple.old truck(especially a clean one like that dump!) Rather than buying a new complicated unit with all that potential for problems!

Aldens! Forgot all about that one ,we used to get that catalog! Every once in awhile someone would leave an old rusted craftsman ratchet in a junk car I towed away, I'd put it in a vise and put a pipe on it and break it! Initially they replaced the whole thing, then they would just "rebuild it!" Oh by the way, OD Trumps son is looking for foreign workers for his winery in Charlottesville, VA. Says no local workers are available! The jobs are basic agricultural work, not stoop labor, so there's nobody in Charlottesville willing to do that work? He's paying the visa workers 10 something an hrs looks like he's just looking for cheap labor! Hat City, when Vogue announced the "end of cleavage", lol, you posted a picture of a pretty girl who hadn't got the message. I don't know who she is, but If you go on YouTube and download "Can I come over tonight" by the Velours, a do wop group, there is a girl who could be her sister pictured! It is the one with the onyx label 45 record pictured! There are several posts of that song but only the one with the onyx record pictured has the girl you need to see it! If your from Connecticut and old enough you probably know the group

If you haven't heard it, Google it now, you'll crack up!

Mack trucks,4, was that Dave Matthews? Heard that years ago as a narrative, not a song! Speaking of Celtic humor, have you ever heard "why Paddys not at work today?"fall on the floor funny, especially if you've ever worked construction!" It was recited by the author Malachi McCourt with that Irish brogue, priceless!

looks like the dude sectioned an actual R model ! Very good craftsmanship! Many of the best bodymen and upholsterers in the street rod world are Hispanic!

KSB,are the local authorities demanding the lorrie or is it lorry? Owners get rid of their almost new vehicles because they don't meet visibility standards? How about retrofitting dashcams or improved convex mirrors? Would have to be cheaper!

Lol! The ATA (the lobbying arm of the major truckload carriers) takes issue with any attempt to look at the often abysmal safety record of many of its members! It would seem to me that any computer literate person familiar with trucking from behind the wheel or at an administrative level (KSB?) Could easily determine the potential "rating" safety wise, business wise. Etc. All political b.s. aside, by looking at each carriers fatal and high dollar crashes,years ( or weeks) of experience of their average driver, number of traffic violations number of mechanical violations found by the DOT. And a biggie TURNOVER! Perhaps the ATA is reluctant for the safety records of many of the companies they represent to become public! My financial adviser says my jbh stock is down! ...hmmm I was surprised shocked actually to see an expensive ad by TMC soliciting for drivers! Join the " black and chrome fleet"! What demographic is that pandering to?! Traditionally TMC could pick and choose from a lot of applications! I immediately thought some stroke cut from the average truckload executive cloth had bought them! Nope, still owned by the same family! So maybe the truck driver shortage is real!

Fxfymn, Its pretty obvious Ford didn't want to p...off such a loyal customer as your friend! I can't help but wonder how well a single vehicle owner would fare in the same situation! As for the problem with finding a specific grade of oil, you can approach the manager of Sam's club and explain why you think they should stock a certain oil oil brand and grade, and he will approach his or her superiors and they may approve stocking that oil! I did this in 2012 and they've stocked Castrol.Edge 0w/20 ever since! It is apparently selling, because every time I stop there are cases missing! As for Rotella T being unsuitable for gasoline engines, It depends what engine you're talking about, and what climate you live in! My 92 Isuzu has a solid lifter inline single overhead cam 4 banger, and I've used 15/40 rotella for almost 50000 of its 172000 miles and it shows no sign of wear! The manual recommends 10/w30, but I'm sure the internal clearances can deal with 10/w40 ! In my climate. Having said that, the modern engines tend to have tighter clearances and run a little warmer, so 0w20 is the oil for them, also the manufacturers have to meet increasingly tighter emissions standards!

Don't begin to know the answer to the immigrant situation! A south Florida cop pulled over two of the 911 terrorists. They had no ID of any kind! He let them go! I heard that when he heard what they did, he committed suicide! Sounds a little far fetched! Anyone know if that's true? Anyway if they had been detained. What the members say is 100 percent true about it being easier to go into Canada then to get back into the U.S. I'm not anti American, but the Canadian customs inspectors all are " polite to a fault" and the American side not as much so! I will say that the first time I went In after 9 11, they unloaded my trailer and checked inside my cab ( with my permission) but everyone was overreacting ,with good reason after that tragedy! They charged the company 150.00 for labor!