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Tom'sRedwood38GK

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Everything posted by Tom'sRedwood38GK

  1. Blue, I wanted to have the truck run easier at the higher speed limits that we have without running the truck at the higher RPM's, 14,500 at 65 MPH, it was was running before my change up. Now at 65 MPH the engine is running at 1325 RPM my gross weight is at 35,600 k. I noticed the truck seems to really like that range and did not have any problem climbing any hill big or small, at 65 it really digs in and gets it done. Climbing the hill out of the Mississippi Valley at Winona, MN I had to drop to ninth because the truck in front was slowing down to much. Then on I-35 climbing the big hill over the Arbuckles, in OK, I went up that at 65 never had to think about down shifting in fact I gave it more throttle to see what would happen to find I could climb my speed with no problem. I am not an expert but I do believe that the truck really likes this new ratio. I was disappointed a little with the mileage at 9.8 but then I bucked a very bad head wind 30 MPH plus most of the trip from WI to TX. Got into numerous severe thunder storms with 50-60 MPH gusts. That is where the truck shined though the gusts you could feel when hey hit, most of the time my slowing down to 50 MPH when it got bad, but felt very stable much better than my old 1 ton would have ever done. Time will tell but over all so far I am happy I made the extra investment around 1900 with the speeodo re calibration at the dealer. Still being under 27,500 over all total invested so far and pretty much done. I feel I would not loose anything if I would sell the truck today. But for the long term plan I still believe that I made the right decision in getting this project finished. I feel that the motor being older I am giving it a break in lowering the overall RPM at cruising speed. If I need to run 70 I can without taxing it at all now but then I do not pull my 5er faster than 65 consistently, knowing the extra stress on it, is not good for it. Only time will tell but so far so good. I did take it to a Volvo dealer and they reprogrammed the computer perimeter to my new gear ratio and tire size 125.00 bucks. About the tire size I am running 295/75R22.5 tires and bought them before I left town with the truck from AZ to TX at the time of purchase the old tires being 10-12 yrs old. Being new to the HDT group it is still a learning curve about all of the options available when it came to this subject.
  2. Took my initial trip 304 miles combination of 55 and 65 MPH roads truck by itself. Burned around 21 gal on primarily river grade to and from the city and through small town driving. 14 MPG verse 12.5 I am very happy so far.. This week time to hook up and head for home, 950 miles will be the true test. If I can get 11-12 on my return towing it will be as expected and couldn't be happier.
  3. OK, here are answers to some of the questions or thoughts asked and conveyed. Changing the ratio is what I would call a plug and play set up. It is the front portion (pumpkin) swap out of the rear axle the pumpkin part is custom geared and pre-adjusted with a core charge refundable at the return of your old pumpkin. Pull the axles out 6 inches, drop the drive line, unbolt and drop the old pumpkin clean up the old seal material and lay a new bead of black silicone for gasket. And reverse the process. Since my truck was singled I only needed to do it to one axle. Also because it is a manual transmission it is a simple process I didn't have to worry about the computer being done at the same time. The speedometer is off on the truck is 6 MPH slow so at 55 on the truck it is 61 on my GPS. This truck is my retirement space for the next 7-10 years so I am willing to put a little more money into it, to make it exactly what I need for my situation. As far doing the work myself? I gave a father and son a couple of hundred bucks to do it for me since I am working everyday they provided me a loner car to drive for the weekend. If you have the place and tools you can do this for around 1500-1600 bucks add 100-200 bucks if you change out the rear end fluid at the same time. I had already changed mine out and reused to oil I just replaced. That oil is pretty expensive unless you can find a place that can sell it by the amount you need because it only comes in the smallest quantity 5 gallon buckets at 189.00 bucks. Our truck was taken out of commercial service way back in 2005 at 475,000 miles. I bought it with 598,900 miles on it and now have 603,000 miles. Today the computer perimeters are gong to be changed to match the transmission output, rear end and tire size. Since this is a Gen 1 truck it took a while to find a place that can make the changes because the truck is almost 19 years old and the old software is becoming limited availability. My total cost of this project has been 1800 bucks whether this has been a cost effective decision only time will tell and hopefully on the long term will repay it self in a number of areas of savings, wear and tear on the motor and hopefully fuel cost. For sure the truck likes it now!! When I set the cruise at 65 it just purrs like big old fat and happy cat. My thought when I did this was to not ever be in a race to get anywhere but also not be a hindrance on the road. I feel that towing the max speed should be around 55 to 65 anything more you just beat up the house to much and the safety factor on the trailer tire ratings for towing is usually 65 max.
  4. Well I have changed up the gear ratio on our 1999 Volvo 610, Detroit D60 12.7, Eaton 10 speed Manual Trans.. This truck was built with a 3.70 ratio and at 65 MPH it ran at 1500-1600 RPM. The GearmasterII in the truck showed the engine running at way above the mileage sweet zone. I wanted to lower the RPM range to around 1300 at 65 to not only keep from pushing the motor hard but also be able to not be a traffic hazard on the higher speed limit roads we encounter since the 55 MPH federal laws changed. I replaced the gear ratio with a 3.25 ratio and all I can say is, it has been a perfect choice from my initial drive tonight . At 65 the truck is running at 1325 RPM. I am hoping to not only add longevity but get better mileage running at the best RPM for engine efficiency cruising at HWY speed. Has anyone else done this to an older truck and what were your results so I can understand more what to expect? Since i didn't have to spend a lot on the truck initially I have done some things to it to bring the truck up to higher standards since it is 19 years old. A rebuilt air compressor, governor, Air dryer, air junction boxes other air fittings, Shocks, all fluids flushed and changed out to have a flat line for my future. The best part is I am still under budget of what I planned to spend and tens of thousands less than a new to me pickup that could handle our 17,000 pound Redwood 5er.. Also is there any other preventative maintenance I may have missed? Thanks in advance for any suggestion anyone may have that i may not know about........ Tom
  5. Thanks! Big Jim, the only thing I was trying to convey was the process I went through to get legal to drive in the state (TX) I live in. Since I just went through it I feel it was a dog and pony show that not even the state employees don't really have a clue how to run. Like so many things today you can't talk to anyone in person it is done all through a computer and for those of us that are old school sometimes it is hard to figure out which door to kick in to get an honest answer. If anyone has any more questions about what I went through and you will need to get through the process then feel free to PM me I would be happy to help you out. Happy New Year Everyone....
  6. OK, the class A license has been around for years I get it now...... I had my first Class A in MN a few years back in 1982 the difference being it was a commercial license not a wannabe. Guess the information I received was only as good as the supposed qualified person told me.
  7. OK sounds good to me all I know is I am legal now got my new class AM designated in the mail yesterday when I got home. Looking forward to heading to AZ to pick up my HDT in a couple of weeks.
  8. Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier been on the road for the last three weeks with some major suspension problems to deal with on my 5th wheel 2 broken springs but that is another story. I went to the Childress Drivers license office to inquire about a special license for a class A motorhome. The gal there told me that they came up with the class A and B exempt law in the last couple of years. So it would have been around 3-4 years ago that I had this conversation. Texas has always had the Class A, B, & C classification license but the exempt part was the new part. Now this could be wrong but this is what I was told. The main reason is the state doesn't want unqualified people driving these big rigs around without some extra tested driving skills. Like I said this exempt part of the law could have been in effect for years but the DL office employee made it sound like the exempt part was new. That way you didn't have to have the full CDL with yearly medical same way with temp workers helping in the ag industry they want tested proficiency understanding that it is temporary work a couple of times a year. Well the practice question was 6.5 ft or 80 inches if I remember right and it is 96 inches or 8 ft. which is the same as many RVs out there. Federal HWy's are 102 inches or 8.5 ft. anything larger requires a permit.
  9. Took my driving test Dec. 7th for my class A non-CDL but went through many of the same things everyone here went through. One thing I wanted to mention was there is a place on the TX DPS website that has a listing of the offices that do the Class A exempt test, not all offices are set up to do the driving part of the test. CDL locations amount to about 25 statewide and if you look at the list there are around 40 to 50 locations that are listed to give the test we need to take. The written test can be done at any office so pick the closest one available. For instance, I stopped by the Gainesville office to take the written because the office by my house less than a mile has insane lines starting an hour before they open every day. I then chose to schedule my test at Bowie, TX some 60 miles away because of Bowie being a quieter town to take the test not having to deal with the traffic and crap in DFW. Same thing as above I arrived 45 minutes early and walked into an empty office with all my insurance and registration for both my truck and 5th wheel in a folder. I put the trailer information on the left side and the truck information on the right side of the folder. Handed it to her she looked it over then grabbed her coat locked up the office and we took off taking the driving part of the test. I did have to do the straight back and parallel backing part test but not an issue if you screw it up you have a possible 30 points you can lose before you fail. The main thing is watching your speeds and stopping behind the crosswalks looking at both incoming streets and alleys and follow the tester instructions. The biggest thing that can fail you is breaking the law since we are all experienced drivers for the most part. I failed the merging into traffic because I pulled into the slow lane a little early so as to get my spot with a car approaching at a high rate of speed not allowing me to merge. To be honest with you I will do that every time instead of getting cut off and having to run on the median because some idiot doesn't use a lick of common sense or has their head in a cell phone. Since this law has only gone into effect a little over 2 years ago. I would say 90 percent of the drivers on the road in TX today pulling large RV's or driving Class A's do not have the proper DL. I am going to move into an HDT next month and for sure wanted to have all my bases covered before embarking on my new adventure. Also, there is another post on this site that has a link to a practice test for chapter 14. It is a great way to get ready for the first written part of the test. One hint though the max width practice question has the wrong answer I knew this but when I took the test it was the only one I got wrong, go figure.
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