BillyT

Ga Dave and other antique fire equip fans/collectors fyi. A 56 Ford fire truck was stolen in Cocoa Beach Florida.approx. 3 days ago! A local businessman moved his antique fire truck to protect it from approaching storm.witnesses say a wrecker was seen towing it away,thought it was a legitimate tow job! The owner checked with local authorities and it was not ordered towed away. Is apparently in running condition as he used it for parades,etc.Was on the local news today.I Googled it and the picture showed an unrestored truck.But appears to be complete.Looks like an F700 or F800 (dayton wheels) the emblems are too corroded to read.

A little psychology goes a long way in business!,plus the new bracket will outlast the trailer and you enjoyed fabricating it great fab job Ez Rider!,looks like 12Gauge plate on the old one planned obsolescence!

Carlotpilot is that trailer for "toys" or do you haul truck chassis and equipment as well as cars?

Just saw the blue Highland Park Pa truck is that the Highland park suburb of Pittsburgh or another Highland park?

Ga Dave, I drove up close to the pink fire truck and it is a breast cancer awareness truck so I respectfully apologize for my comment! Also on the subject of fire truck colors,the community of Greentree pa.( near Pittsburgh) has beautiful dark green fire equipment with gold leaf lettering so we can add that color to the list!

As always start with simple first. Check and clean every connection you can get at easily! Then see if the voltmeter reads differently.Are the batteries full of electrolyte? It being intermittent, tends to make one think of a loose or dirty connection,or a faulty regulator.That smell at the battery makes me think it is over charging but if you have a loose or dirty connection it can " fool" the regulator into thinking the batteries need more juice! Also you said it occurs when you move the truck,that may indicate a loose connection.If all the connections aren't clean you'll never get a proper reading. I've never worked on a fire truck, but electrical problems and solutions tend to be universal.That said if the simple stuff doesn't fix your problem,sometimes each model of vehicle can have its own glitches so one of the members who owns or has worked on that specific model truck may have a suggestion,good luck!

Makes a Rolex watch look like a rusty old anvil ,What a gem!

Before I retired I never watched a reality show, just read or slept when laid over. Having grown up in a salvage yard and liked street rods my whole life I was elated to hear Chip Foose had a "reality" show...Not! What a bunch of scripted bullshit! The dude is a talented metalworker,painter and designer.I tolerated the pretend to steal the car nonsense as it got worse and worse until he "overhauled" a minivan!! Then I finally realized how the the deal goes down! When I watch an automotive reality show I and I suspect most of you want to see specifics of welding painting,engine specs amperage, type of wire used gun pressures number of coats etc. Those of us who actually weld,paint,turn wrenches etc are probably in the 1percentile of the the population! The whole purpose of a tv show is to reach the demographic that spends money on the advertisers product! Hence the drama! How often does a journeyman mechanic install a crate motor built by a name brand builder and it doesn't start! The drama! How many of you,like myself diagnosed the ( deliberately created problem) before they "found" it? Oh,I forgot to set the timing! Right! I too think Fantomworks is one of the most " real" reality shows.Also Chasing Classic cars, The old mechanic is a howl! The two British dudes on Wheeler dealers put on a good show,and at least you actually see most of the work being done! Admittedly he explains automotive principles most of us are familiar with and shows repairs we've already done, but it's still entertaining.And I get to see some foreign cars I've never worked on. How many journeyman street rod builders (Coddington) would permit all that drama and infighting among employees if he wasn't getting paid for the show? Same with "Fast and Loud" only ten times worse! Admittedly you couldn't build a truck that would pass the Pikes Peak safety inspection if you didn't know your stuff! And you damn sure couldn't run Pikes Peak if you weren't a good "wheel man"! And how many people get to see Marcel Delay hand form a hood! It's almost spiritual! Sorry I do tend to ramble!😁

I just googled Manley wrecker crane, the picture on the left is identical to the one on my dad's truck which I bought(for 50.00) the whole truck when he sold the salvage yard.The original booms were bolted together,not welded, and heavily braced.We're a few still being used in the 60's and 70's including mine!

Very similar to the Manley crane on my old Diamond T,the angles are a little lighter weight, but that looks like a Manley hand winch,any markings on it? I have photos from the 40's if I can figure out how to send them!

My 54 Chevy Tudor post car had a rambler bench seat that turned into a bed😁 235 with an Edmonds two carb manifold. Stick shift conversion ( hence the 235) with the original auto rear end.Sparkomatic floorshift conversion! What fun ! Those ramblers were good cars if you cared for them,but they seemed to have a lot of trouble with the "trunnion" front end.They paid me 10.00 to tow them away! ,were paying 25.00 for them at the scrap yard!.in the early 70's Wish I'd put them all in storage til today! Hindsight is 20/20 ! That is a real bargain in todays world at 2500.What a "sleeper" that would make! Or even completely stock in that condition.

The top seniority driver at OK Grocery the transportation Division of Giant Eagle Markets,in 1987, made over 70000 a yr company driver not o/o! Never went more than 20 miles! A top seniority car hauler that same year could earn 90000dollars a yr gross!

They grow a lot of Apple's in that part of Virginia for sure,OD!

Gotcha,Glitchworks,I've spent many a night at the big service plaza at Beckley on the wvtp beautiful country!

Don't expect to make money just don't want to lose too much!

Interesting that many of the data breaches come from our "trading partner" China!

Had a 10 mile load once weighed 300 lbs paid 15 bucks a mile!

Yep,we all read the same funniest too!

So typical! Some of us remember when Freightliner first installed ABS. The road salt corroded the electrical connections,and created many jackknife involved accidents! The lawsuits continued long after ABS became a valid safety feature! There is always a " learning curve" with any new technology. In the 80's, there were doubles with converters that had the 60's era air-operated spring-less locking systems while the trucks and trailers had spring type "maxis".

Armorplate : unibody! On a military note I loaded 3 Israeli command vehicles ( desert camo Chevy blazers with machine gun mts) during the 1st gulf war. My agent said "they aren't equipped with fuel filters" I thought this unusual in a Sandy environment! "Their average lifespan is 90 minutes"! he replied! Saves money!

Never thought of using poster board! Have some around from grandkids school projects. Cuts easier than tin and is stiffer...cool ! On the truck pricing thing, I was gonna build a street rod, may still, have most of the parts, but They tend to go cheap ( compared to build cost ) plus I like bizarre stuff which kills the value! If I go first I don't want to leave my wife with something worth less than I've spent. So I became interested in big trucks,some go really cheap, compared to virtually any 40,s up to 70's "classic" cars! The "classic" Rambler Americans and corvairs that my customers paid me ten bucks to tow away are now selling for ten grand, eleven if they were found in a "barn" lol. The big trucks have a lesser fan base which seems to keep the prices lower.

Mower man would like this!

Must be a Briggs and struttin' lol😁

Did you go to school in summersville W va?