Geoff Weeks

Another way to look at it that may help: If you had a "normal" truck and wanted to see why the Cummins fuel solenoid wasn't working and what to check to see if there was power there with the key on, you would clip one end of the test light to either the frame or engine block and use the pointy end to the stud with the wire from the ignition switch, and if the light lit, you would know you had power to the solenoid. Nothing is different when the truck is positive ground, you hook the test light up exactly the same and the results you see are exactly those of a "normal" truck.

yes, just different terms. It refers to the the wire that is carrying the current when one side of the circuit is grounded to the frame or surrounding metal. Look at it this way: You could run two wires from the battery (positive and negative) to every device and the surrounding metal could be "neutral" neither + or -. Instead of doing that you tie one side (either positive or negative) to the metal and eliminate one of the two wires. Ships houses, many things use the two wire method so any metal you touch is not a part of the circuit. Low voltage vehicles they cut the wiring in 1/2 by using the body for one of the wires. It makes no difference from an operational stand point which polarity is tied to the chassie. Positive or negative, it makes no difference, Light bulbs, most motor, many gauges, will function without any changes. Volt meters and some designs of temp and fuel gauges, you have to have the + lead connect to "ground" and - lead goes to feed (hot, live, whatever term you use).

Ok, then anything that is ground, the frame, the steering column, etc will light the light. Anything that has "hot" power will not. Move the clip to the positive (ground side) and the light will light when the probe touches something that is "live". I think what is confusing you is you are so used to positive being "hot" and negative being "ground", but your system is the reverse.

At that vintage polarity only matters with some gauges, alternator (but not generator) and any radio with transistors. What type of test light are you using? If you are using a non powered one like pictured, normally the end with the alligator clip gets hooked to ground (positive in your case) and the item being tested wire will supply the negative. Cummins solenoid doesn't care about polarity, it will work just fine on positive ground.

As a contractor for the state, it is definitely a commercial enterprise, which just goes to show the hypocrisy of some of the laws.

People don't tend to wholesale revolution when they have a good std of living. The problem was there was a lot of money made from the extraction of raw materials, but most of the money went to the Shah and those close to the ruling party. The masses were kept in line with brutal tactics. Those that were on the receiving end of the materials and money, were fine with it. Huge amounts of money were spent on things only the few could enjoy, while the rest were told to "shut up". It got so bad that the US started to pull back on support in terms of military equipment. When the Shah had to leave (partly for cancer treatment, partly because the support keeping him in power was crumbling) the opposition, which was a broad coalition of groups from the far left to the far right, saw their chance and acted together overthrow the government. The middle and left of center were seen as more cozy to nations outside the Middle East and the far right won the power struggle that came after the fall. The rest, they say is history. If everything was so peachy, you have to wonder why a minor cleric had to live in exile in France? As I stated earlier, what should have happened according to international law and convention, was the embassy closed (if that is what the host country wanted) and the staff given safe passage out. That is not what happened and has made Iran a pariah state, that at least, is of the own making.

Only applies to commercial registration Brocky and I know someone who has a 1947 Pete registered and running as a contractor with Cal-Fire.

The above (NBC) clip is how I remember it also. It wasn't a government that invaded the embassy compound, rather the government failed to come to the aid of the of the embassy and disperse the rioters, which they should have done by international convention. If they wanted them out, they should have provided safe passage. Too many want to forget the history where the US and UK overthrew a democratically elected ruler, and installed the Shah, which started the whole thing. It likely could have been avoided if we hadn't done that, or didn't shield the corrupt Shah, when he was deposed.

sooo, where does that put North Korea, Russia, China...... All are nuclear and have ballistic missile systems, and would seam a greater "threat" if using the above criteria.

It would do little to the price and would crash the economy. During Covid, there was a world wide slow down in demand and the price dropped, beacuse there was no place that was using it at the old rate. Today, there is world wide demand, and that is what sets the price. If we cut demand here, it would just be sold to the highest bidder on the open market, which is, in other words, market price. We would hurt ourselves and the overseas buyers would see the benefit. The "downside" of free market economies.

Found a slightly better pic.

When I was doing O/D I was based out of the Chicago area. Only place that would be worse would be NYC. This one was just shy of 16', 20 cyl EMD gen set 168,000 lbs, 14' wide

Done a few 16'+ loads myself and they wear you out more than anything. As I said, never seen something like your Drake, looks interesting.

My grandfather had a '27 or '28 back in the day. The one thing he always talked about was the "central lube" system. You pulled a lever under the dash, and it sent grease to all the lube points. quite a car.

It does sound like it would work for you and as I said, that is one of the best condition of that type trailers I have seen. The only time I have seen cut axles is with LP tank trailers, but they carry much less weight. That is the 1st on a low boy I have seen. Tire wear could be helped by flipping the inside to outside at regular intervals, to even out the wear.

Different deal than we have here. Haven't seen a trailer like that in N/A. He could just re-bush but I think it would be a short term fix, which was why that trailer didn't see a lot of use.

I agree, just add some tubing where it is cut. I'm not sure what Swishy is referring to? this is what I mean by trunnion axles. Kinda hard to see, but short stub axle supported on hyd suspension with 8 tires across. Low deck trailer on triple axle flatbed. as to what happens when one axle on one side goes in a hole, the walking beam hits its stop on the other axle. It doesn't change much if the axles are solid, torques the tubes a bit and the 3 wheels not in a hole all carry some of the load. There are many "single point" suspensions, I haven't seen one with a cut axle before. Cozad:

I suppose you could remove one side of the walking beam, clean out the tube on the other side, and press in a tube that just fits the ID of the axle stub, then slid into the other side, when everything is bolted back up and in position weld the smaller inner tube to the outer axle tube on both sides. May not be good for 25K on the axle, but would be a whole lot better than how it sits now.

Many are hollow, like the axle itself. The spindle is made to fit inside the tube then welded to the tube. Depending on bearings, many spindles are hollow, allows for auto inflation, but more important reduces weight. Often a cup-plug is pressed in from the outside to keep oil from entering the axle tube. That is how "axle surgeons" repair axles, the cut the old spindle out and replace with a new one and weld.

Other than the axles, that is one of the better looking trailers of that type I have seen. Most a beat all to blazes. That is why, if the prices is right, it might be worth fixing. If the spindles were hollow, you could make a slug to insert into the old tube and cut a new tube to go in between, then when the new tube is in place, push the slug into position where the joint is from each side and weld up. Not possible if the spindle is solid tho.

It may explain why the trailer didn't get used much. If I had time an money to put into it, there are a couple ways to "fix" it. One would be to cut out the axles and replace. The other would be to weld structural tubing back in where they cut the axle. Problem is with either method you are going to have a lot of welding that has to be done correctly and the axles have to be in perfect alignment when welded as there is no adjustment possible. You can't just slide a new axle in unless you get one with no brake spider on it and the weld a spider on. Lots of making sure everything is correct before welding. You can cut out the back of the box beam and install an axle but then have to re-weld in the box for strength. You can re-bush the center pivot which would help but not solve all the issues. Easiest method for a good "pipeline" welder would be to weld tube back where it was cut out.

I have never seen it done like that in a semi trailer, unless it was a "trunnion axle with tires and brakes on both sides of the walking beam for 8 tires across. Cozad trailers are built like that.

You sure find (and drag home) the weird ones. Never ever, seen a trailer axle where the center was cut out! I'm sure it has bad tire wear from the axles not being held true. All the forces are going through a single pivot point, with the axle cut it is going to tend to bow up under load, without a full axle it is going oscillate back a forth because not tied to the other side You could drop the beam out and rebush, may have to make the bushing, but that isn't going to solve all the other problems. Looks like it was made that way, but begs the question why? edit: I confused you with another guy that had a low-boy with axle problems, Sorry.

It is in between 4th and 5th. not exactly in the middle of those two.

Not old enough to ever been around worm drives and 140, Hypoid or Amboid with 80w-90 for me.