HK Trucking

If you look at the pic in Jay's original post, the word "Front" is stamped on the control knob. .

I'd bet that the front brakes are working properly, since they're new, and as you said, the rear brakes are shot so they're not doing their share.

And straight dump trucks too. They eliminate 99% of the problems of material buildup in the corners, and the resulting hand shoveling needed to clean it out. A plastic liner also eliminates the problem of "carryover" of one type of material stuck in the box from a previous load contaminating another type of material on the next load. We've got plastic liners in all the conventional dump boxes in the fleet, but not in the demo boxes, for the reason you stated. .

Precisely. .

That would be much better if it were a video with that compactor actually "jumping", if you catch my drift! .

Open up the dash and check for current to the gauge with a test light. Key switch must be on. No current there means a blown circuit breaker or defective wiring on the "hot" side of the gauge, which must be fixed. If there is current to one terminal of the gauge, then ground out the other terminal on the gauge. If the gauge now reads empty, the gauge itself is bad. If the gauge now reads full, then there is a loss of continuity in the wiring between the dash gauge and the tank unit, or the tank unit is bad, or the tank has lost it's ground. Take the wire off the sending unit on the tank. With the key switch "on" ground said wire to a good ground on the truck frame. If the dash fuel gauge now reads full, then the tank unit is bad, or the tank has lost it's ground. .

It cuts down the application pressure to the steer axle brakes when it's turned down. That's supposed to prevent front wheel lockup and loss of control when driving on slippery roads. When on dry roads leave it all the way turned up for maximum braking.

I'm not a fan of air ride on anything, but where I work we've got 3 dump trailers on air ride, and they're set up so that whenever the air operated tailgate is in the open position, the air ride is dumped. Then again, if someone forgets to open the air tailgate, they've got REAL trouble developing!!!!!!! .

If he's gonna do demo & land clearing an aluminum trailer would be destroyed in no time. I'd recommend a heavy duty steel bodied rock & demo trailer with a combination dump & swing tailgate for that app. I agree with the suggestion to go with a frame type trailer on springs. .

If you decide to go with a Quad axle, Tri axle, or Tandem dump truck and you're going to do demolition and land clearing, I'd suggest a Bibeau "BMT" rock & demo body with a high lift tailgate. We have several of those at the company I currently work for, one with the high lift gate, and the others have the combination dump/swing open tailgate. They sure work nice for dumping big shit that won't fit thru a regular tailgate, and they're just about indestructible. Here's a couple pics of a Bibeau that I put on a new Paystar last year: .

The O.P. stated: Kinda sounds like he'd be using it the same way I used mine, sometimes for hauling dirt and other times for pulling a tag trailer. I did hire mine out hourly too, and was "deep in the heat of battle" with it many times, on jobs where the pressure was on, so you either had to keep up or get the hell outta the way. I did drive that one myself 99% of the time though and I knew what I could and couldn't do with it. .

No offense taken, but I must admit I have converted several day cab tractors into dump trucks with good results. Here are some photos of the 1994 CH that I put together about 8 years ago, it's got a 15' long dump body: I did upgrade to 9" wide rims and 315/80 rubber on the steer axle and also added an extra leaf to the front springs. I also set it up with a pintle hich for pulling my tag trailer to move equipment. Since I didn't need all that fuel capacity of the right & left tanks for dump truck operation, I removed the crossover line, allowing the truck engine to draw fuel from the left tank only, then used the right side tank for "off road fuel" for fueling up equipment. I welded in a pipe fitting and ran a line into that toolbox right behind the tank, where I installed an electric tranfer pump (the kind you would use on a fuel tank in the back of a pickup truck) with a 15' hose and nozzle. Sure was nice to have fuel on the job whenever that dump truck was there! It was single frame, naturally it wasn't as tough as a truck with a double frame, but it hauled a lot of big ass loads both on the road and on job sites and performed well. I also set up a R 600 and 2 other CH tractors as dump trucks for another guy here in town back around that time. .

Someone must have changed the cab at some point. The plastic dash didn't come out until 1973 (at least here in the states anyway). As far as swapping it out for a steel dash, I never tried that. .

Today after work I took some pics of my homemade tire equipment:: I made that tire hammer from a wood splitting wedge bent over & ground off blunt on the end, and welded to a pipe handle. I made the "Cheater tank", as previously stated, from a truck air tank with a handle welded on and the large pipe fitting welded into the side of it. .

Oh. I thought maybe you were just trying to get everyone fired up again. lol. .

Around here it is currently over $20.00 for a dismount/mount. I always did my own tire changes & flat repairs when I was self employed, for much the same reasons stated above. Since I've been working for my current employer and I still have all my tire tools, I've been doing all the dismounts/mounts & flat repairs there too, which saves my boss time & money and adds to my job security. If I mount up 8 drive tires (which would cost over $160.00 if a tire shop did it)there is a considerable savings, not to mention the convenience for my boss to have it done "in house" when needed, with no trips to town or waiting time. .

One of those grenades you've got on your trailer would probly be even more impressive! .

Because, as I've pointed out repeatedly here lately, if you shift a quad box like a 5 speed, it's impossible to keep a Thermodyne engine within it's operating range of 1500 to 2100 RPM. .

If you're using the tach to upshift the main, then yes, if you run the engine up to 2100 you'll catch the next gear on the main at about 1200. If the engine will accelerate from 1200 with no problem then that's not considered lugging. Lugging is when the engine is working with full throttle under 1500 RPM and will not increase RPM. Use the compound as necessary to prevent the engine from lugging.

If your truck still has the original Thermodyne diesel, then the operating range is 1500 to 2100 RPM, anything below 1500 is "lugging", and you'll eventually burn a hole in a piston or blow a head gasket if you lug those engines. That's the reason for the extra gears on the compound - to allow the engine to stay in the correct operating range when pulling. .

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?showtopic=13481

I heard that they're 3 or 4 hundred $. I built my own cheater tank years ago from a truck air tank I had laying around. Cut a hole in it, welded in a 2" pipe nipple, screwed on a ball valve and a 12" long piece of pipe which I squeezed halfway flat at the end, then welded a handle on top of the tank and screwed a schrader valve into one of the unused ports to fill it. Before I made the tank I used the ether method, but the tank is a lot safer. .

Do you have a cheater tank to seat the beads or do you use the "ether & matches" method? You got that right!!!!!!! There's no exercise program that could even come close to breaking down a 11:00 x 24 that's been on the rim for 30 years with the flap all rusted to the rim, and nothing can match the excitement of airing up a tire on a rim that has a damaged lock ring that you decided to reuse anyway! .

I'm very sorry for your loss Randy. If Schwartzkopf (and Powell) would have had their way, that whole mess in the middle east would have been taken care of back in 1991. .