Finally some DM progress

[Geoff Weeks]

44 minutes ago, mowerman said:

Oh, by the way, Paul that hand jive caper probably would’ve worked when I was around 27 I was quite the bull nowadays not so sure about lifting anything. I don’t even know how I’m gonna get the doors off that thing when it gets to it. 

I did it that way up to about 6 years ago, but around that time I realize I would pay for it later (I am now) I guess a slow learner in that regard. Get it close to position, hang on the rear bearing and adjust stance and finish the job.

 With tires on the winch truck made short work of it. Single line with the lift point high, allows for lots of adjustment with little force from me.

[Joseph Cummings]

11 hours ago, Joseph Cummings said:

Back in the day I used an old pallet jack I found in the scrap and fixed for a wheel dolly

I was just remembering back in the day when I used that pallet jack. I used to use this place in Trenton NJ called "Trenton Brakes" on Princeton Av. I took the whole assembly there, drums, wheel spiders, rims, tires and they would cut the drums with everything together. Then they would reline the shoes to match the diameter of each drum. The shoes and the drum would be a tagged and matched set for each wheel end. 

When was the last time you saw that done lol?

On the way back there was a Polish store a couple blocks up and I used to stop and buy this dried sausage then stop at the Extension Tavern (Longest Bar in NJ)for lunch. 

Then I'd stop at The Cycle Kings clubhouse to BS with those guys. I'd be the only White guy there lol.

Needless to say after lunch I didn't get a whole lot done lmao. Damn if I could just go back 45 years

[Geoff Weeks]

11 minutes ago, Joseph Cummings said:

 

When was the last time you saw that done lol?

Oversize shoes, and drums went away when max drum diameter became law. This was done for good reasons. Hot spots on the cast drum reduces the coefficient of friction. New drums "bite" much better than drums on their 2nd set of shoes.

sometimes the old ways go away for good reason.

[Joseph Cummings]

11 minutes ago, Geoff Weeks said:

Oversize shoes, and drums went away when max drum diameter became law. This was done for good reasons. Hot spots on the cast drum reduces the coefficient of friction. New drums "bite" much better than drums on their 2nd set of shoes.

sometimes the old ways go away for good reason.

We did lots of stuff that wouldn't be "approved" or even believed by the "techs" of today. Like grinding one rod journal in the truck with one of these and having the truck back in service and working the next day

Hell we used to do an in-chassis and have the truck back to work within a day or two even if something was slightly worn beyond tolerance.

The techs nowadays will put someone out of business with downtime. Lost truck revenue and failing to fulfill contracts doesn't even get factored into their thinking process

[mowerman]

Thanks for that I have heard of turning journals in the truck i never knew how they did it that’s good to know if I ever have an issue… I have no idea what my engine looks like inside it I have great oil pressure and no blowby 

[Mark T]

Looks like you can get one of those things on ebay too Bob. ez peezy

[mowerman]

Didn’t mention I pulled my transmission out with the pallet jack I was also in the dirt so I had a chunk of plywood laid down over the dirt. Then I leveled out a transmission with a couple of pieces of wood. I was by myself. I got very lucky transmission pulled right out straight and went right back in After I change the clutch again. I don’t know if I could do it by myself now. At 68 I haven’t got anywhere near the strength I used to at 39.

[Geoff Weeks]

While true, it is also true bearings lasted around 100-200K  vs 1mil today or even more today. So likely needed regrinding more often than today's engines.

Be careful about being nostalgic about a past that didn't exist.  I'd prefer inframes that last 1mil+ miles over getting the truck "back out of the shop quickly" every 100-200K miles.

 

[mowerman]

1 minute ago, Mark T said:

Looks like you can get one of those things on ebay too Bob. ez peezy

Excellent thanks for that Mark I should sign up with eBay. I have never used them, but they do have a lot of cool stuff for fair prices.

[Mark T]

IDK about the Ebay thing. I just noticed it on the liturature in the picture.  

[mowerman]

Yes Geoff if you’re running the truck full-time, that’s certainly the way to go

[Geoff Weeks]

If you think about the in-chassie crankshaft grinding, it is a band-aid repair, and the real problem will have to addressed at some point.

When a rod journal goes, often the main that feeds it also is part of the problem. Doing 6 rods and 7 mains in chassie is not cost effective.

I'm not saying it doesn't have a place. An antique truck that isn't going to be working year in year out, can be given a 2nd life for minimal cost.

I have knurled many valve guides myself with excellent results, but also know the life-span of the repair is not the same as a new guide.

Labor costs "back in the day" were a tiny fraction of labor costs today, that is both good and bad. I don't want to be slaving away for $5.00 or $6.00/hr grinding crankshafts  from below on a dirt floor. I don't want to get into an "in frame" to find all different under-sized bearing either.

Edited Saturday at 04:56 PM by Geoff Weeks

[Joseph Cummings]

47 minutes ago, Mark T said:

IDK about the Ebay thing. I just noticed it on the liturature in the picture.  

 

[Joseph Cummings]

31 minutes ago, Geoff Weeks said:

If you think about the in-chassie crankshaft grinding, it is a band-aid repair, and the real problem will have to addressed at some point.

When a rod journal goes, often the main that feeds it also is part of the problem. Doing 6 rods and 7 mains in chassie is not cost effective.

I'm not saying it doesn't have a place. An antique truck that isn't going to be working year in year out, can be given a 2nd life for minimal cost.

I have knurled many valve guides myself with excellent results, but also know the life-span of the repair is not the same as a new guide.

Labor costs "back in the day" were a tiny fraction of labor costs today, that is both good and bad. I don't want to be slaving away for $5.00 or $6.00/hr grinding crankshafts  from below on a dirt floor. I don't want to get into an "in frame" to find all different under-sized bearing either.

I never had any problem with any of my in-chassis rebuilds not lasting. In construction or city service one million miles really never happens. By then the truck is worn out.

And when you are working on a contract, what are you going to do, have a month of downtime while some automotive machinist plays with his wiener? Half the time one of those bastards touch something it comes out wrong anyway. They hire from the same pool of idiots that everyone else does. It's not like they have guys that grew up in a machinist monastery.

And I think it's a hell of a lot faster and cheaper to cut one journal and roll in rods and mains than to take the engine out of the truck and tear it in a million pieces. Again, it all comes down to downtime. Contracts have lots of penalties in them for not completing them on time. Not to mention if you play around you can lose your ability to get a performance bond. Even without contract issues, if you let a customer down and he has to call someone else because he needs stuff done, you stand a good chance of losing that customer. 

[Mark T]

You'd never find  aguy to use something like that in this day and age.  Now, they just tell you you need an engine.  Or better yet a new piece of equipment.  

[Geoff Weeks]

I had to do one that lost #5 crankpin. Took out the rod (hot) and #5 piston. (855 Cummins)

Once the damage assessment was done, a used engine was dropped in, ($2500 IIRC) and the truck back out on the road. Original engine had rear head pulled, new piston and rod, then flipped over and a re-ground (.010/.010) installed (about $750 IIRC). The engine was then installed back in the truck and run to 1.3mil on the original build (not counting the new crank) and then out of framed and re-installed in another truck.

$2500 was the cheapest and quickest way to get back on the road, that used engine is still in my shop "core" pile and is complete. (also listed for sale on this site)

I did call around for an in-chassie crank grind, but in both time and money, a used engine was faster and cheaper. IIRC it would have taken -.030 or .060 undersize on that pin as well, not a good bet.

So don't lecture me about time and contracts, I know all about it.

Not only did it speed things up, I had a complete set of cores/parts to continue on with.

Edited Saturday at 07:58 PM by Geoff Weeks

[Mark T]

57 minutes ago, Geoff Weeks said:

I had to do one that lost #5 crankpin. Took out the rod (hot) and #5 piston. (855 Cummins)

Once the damage assessment was done, a used engine was dropped in, ($2500 IIRC) and the truck back out on the road. Original engine had rear head pulled, new piston and rod, then flipped over and a re-ground (.010/.010) installed (about $750 IIRC). The engine was then installed back in the truck and run to 1.3mil on the original build (not counting the new crank) and then out of framed and re-installed in another truck.

$2500 was the cheapest and quickest way to get back on the road, that used engine is still in my shop "core" pile and is complete. (also listed for sale on this site)

I did call around for an in-chassie crank grind, but in both time and money, a used engine was faster and cheaper. IIRC it would have taken -.030 or .060 undersize on that pin as well, not a good bet.

So don't lecture me about time and contracts, I know all about it.

Not only did it speed things up, I had a complete set of cores/parts to continue on with.

Problem now is they change so much so fast. Time was you could almost get Cummins parts at the grocery store. Now ?  used engines are a fortune and not always readily swapped into just any chassis, or compatible with different versions of software.  Stuff's too complicated anymore, and finding guys to do a repair is a challenge.

[Geoff Weeks]

15 minutes ago, Mark T said:

Problem now is they change so much so fast. Time was you could almost get Cummins parts at the grocery store. Now ?  used engines are a fortune and not always readily swapped into just any chassis, or compatible with different versions of software.  Stuff's too complicated anymore, and finding guys to do a repair is a challenge.

No disagreement from me on that!

Late 70's to early 90's was the hayday for equipment. Designs of components had progressed to the point the chassie's could go over 1mil before major work and were strong enough for anything you wanted to hook to, while still being simple to repair. Cabs were aluminum, and while plastic was used for dashes were still fair durable.

Modern stuff has a slight advantage on fuel consumption, but fail in just about every other respect.

[mowerman]

Well so much for retirement got taxes today gun cleaning appt send off title post office finally finishing off motorcycle sale started 7 years ago … then I noticed yesterday my steering box is leaking like mad and way more than I realized and must be addressed very soon I better get the valve adjustment done and get it turned around also noticed one of my leaf springs is sagging… oooooooohhh goody another issue …  Bob

[mowerman]

Oooooooooohhhh by the way Geoff response to your last post…. Engines are going 1 million miles these days allots times but can nickel and dime one with never ending electrical issues that require very expensive towing,diagnostics, and replacement parts.. bob

[skydawg]

Someone pays you to clean their gun???

[mowerman]

 

well, this guy is good with guns and he’s a friend of mine right now a disability I bought a brand new rifle 12 years ago and  I never used it. I was going to bring it over there so he had something to do and maybe a few bucks.

[mowerman]

and no sky dog it’s the other way around, but thanks for asking

[mowerman]

frankly, I’m starting to think it was just another excuse to do nothing today. I have lots of important ideas? Trying to get out and do something is starting to be a little bit of an issue lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but hopefully it passes. I’m generally not this lazy and looking for  excuses

[Mark T]

8 hours ago, mowerman said:

frankly, I’m starting to think it was just another excuse to do nothing today. I have lots of important ideas? Trying to get out and do something is starting to be a little bit of an issue lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with me but hopefully it passes. I’m generally not this lazy and looking for  excuses

I wouldn't be too worried......at least until you wake up one morning and think to yourself " nancy wasn't really that bad "