phoenix2013

Good afternoon Gentlemen (and Ladies) and Happy New Year. We are about to resume our journey and adventure. I'll step back from the technical discussion and history of BluDot, etc., because I found gold. In the archives on my server I found pictures we took 15 years ago when Mark and I traveled to SpaceCraft to pick up his newly finished rig and even going further back pictures that Mark took when the rig was in final stages of production. I'll start with oldest pictures. Remember, I mentioned earlier that Mark consumed a whole stack of cherry lumber in building this rig, he actually took the picture of the stack. He also took few pictures of the woodworking work in progress on one of his visits. A picture into the bedroom during construction phase. Next post, we'll take a tour of the interior, the "new" owner was mighty happy with all this cherry as you can see.

HAPPY PRE-NEW YEAR EVERYONE. 2022, I'm not so sure, considering these two historical wisdoms, one over 2000 years old. First from Einstein and what he is talking about is already here, it's known as the iPhone. Dan412, I looked up the current axle offering from Dexter and saw this. Go on their website, you can download a ton of info and catalogs in .pdf format I'll give you guys few day off before resuming the adventurous tale of Mark Shelley rig, I might even touch upon the live rail discussion of who's better Dexter or Kodiak, or disk brakes vs. the drum brakes. I hear Champaign corks going off, some of you guys must be starting early.

dan412, I talked to Mark and he said that he let SpaceCraft know what he wanted and they put this air suspension together starting with a solid 8K axle and hydraulic brakes and then adding the trailing link saddles for the airbags. Lots of folks offer component parts to do that. Check this website https://pjtrailers.com/options/promaxx-air-suspension one of many. Note the massive front jacks (12,000 lbs. each). These are jacks the SpaceCraft puts on their semi chassis trailers. This was an "upgrade" after Mark lived with the rig for a while and the front jacks essentially failed. Mark and SpaceCraft eventually figured out that the culprit was this air suspension. Figure that one out. You park the rig, lower the front jacks and unhitch, level it with the front jacks and put the stabilizers down. On this rig the trailer axles carry about 20K of weight, the front jacks about 8K. On normal spring axles, nothing changes with time. On air suspensions air bags bleed down, which is equivalent with springs disappearing. All of a sudden that 20K supported by the axles is no longer supported by the axles (although it looks like it is), it got redistributed onto the front jacks and whatever stabilizers are down. None of those parts are too happy with that extra weight, particularly when also aggressively banged by a 20K Volvo hitching up. Front jacks said "see ya". New massive front jacks dealt with the problem but didn't solve the problem. Mark solved the problem. He said, assume they will bleed down, so do it first. The bags provide about 3 inches of suspension, so he bleeds the rig down 3 inches until it sits down on the suspension hard points, as does the 20K suspension load. The rig is 3 inches lower but everyone is doing their job. Important reminder, "don't drive off without re-inflating the suspension".

I'll talk to Mark and get you more details, there are so operational tricks one needs to be aware of with these suspensions.

We have done it hard core for years in our RV puberty. Every year for 25 years we used to go the annual Experimental Aircraft Association convention in Oskosh, Wisconsin. From NH to WI, about 1,400 miles, wife and I would swap driving and do it in one pull, 27 hours of driving. Which meant we were zombies the day after, even with taking naps in the fifth. As our brood increased they went with us, every year, until they rebelled (when they got their driving licenses). They actually preferred to ride back there and have the whole rig to themselves, rather than the back seat of the pickup. For "safety" purposes I did install a wired intercom between the truck and the rig. To tell the kids to "quit the the racquet" when going though the states (few) where it was not legal, or communicate the stops and the driving swaps. I was the President of the local chapter and the rig would be "headquarters" at the Association Rally. On couple of occasions my partner also flew the airplane into the Rally. The year when the sign below went up at the Rally was particularly telling on the subject you raise. Thirteen people made the trip to the Rally in our rig, the Chief, the Chief squaw, some Warriors, some Braves and the Papooses. One of the Warriors took a picture of the Chief Squaw driving and the Chief out of it. A lunch break on that road, we alternated the personnel between the air-conditioned truck cab and the fifth. This was the second pickup out of the roster of four.

Yes indeed, if you see a pair of air lines, one red and one blue as you see on this rig, you have an air over hydraulics braking system happening here. Although it's actually second it also was the first of the kind. Fascinating history behind this "first". This is for the benefit of the visitors, lurkers and newbies who have generated at the last count on this forum 162,000 views and 857 posts. The air over hydraulics braking systems for trailers is sold by BluDot https://bludotinc.com/ Before the air over hydraulic system there was also the vacuum over hydraulics braking system, also by BluDot. BluDot no longer sell those. That system was developed several decades ago for the benefit of the equine industry. Before HDTs and even MDTs there were only pickups to pull these. Load one of these with six horses behind a pickup and the language gets quite salty when that pickup and that $60 bucks electric brake controller is trying to deal with lights that just turned red. Now, any pickup by itself has very nice brakes, actually it has what was called power brakes. Power brakes were first installed commercially on Pierce Arrow automobiles in 1928, simply put, the master brake cylinder got a vacuum power boost, everyone has seen one of these. Where does the vacuum come from to power the chamber? Plenty of it is available in the intake manifold. Every time the intake valve opens and the piston goes down on the intake stroke it sucks out everything (including the fuel) from the intake manifold and creates vacuum. Need more vacuum, install a belt driven vacuum pump on the engine. The fine folks at BluDot came up with an idea, why not install hydraulic brakes on the horse trailer axles, install additional vacuum assisted master cylinder in the trailer and drive the whole thing with the truck braking system. Great idea, worked like a charm for the benefit of stallions and mares although it wasn't as simple as that. First, not a good idea to screw around with the intake manifold vacuum balance by adding another load to it, hence the need to have a separate vacuum pump driven by an engine belt. Also needed were two vacuum hoses from the truck to the trailer and a vacuum accumulator (storage) tank in the trailer to make sure that there was always enough vacuum to do the braking. One of the hoses was connected from the truck vacuum pump to the trailer accumulator tank, the other hose was the "control vacuum" for the power booster in the trailer which would mirror what the power booster in the truck was doing. How come in the pickup days of yore you didn't see any of those systems on trailers built for humans. Are you kidding, consider the cost difference. Besides, six horses could be worth a million bucks, six humans? I guess you have to ask the RV industry. So how come you know so much about it? The answer in the next "instalment".

👍 Bravo

Shall we continue starting with the "less glamorous" area. Three axle independent air suspension, smooth as silk going down the road, I watched it driving behind Mark few days back. 17.5 inch tires from the factory, no fooling around with the weight of this rig. Note the hydraulic lines, these are going to six of these. I'm going to take this moment as a teachable opportunity of why this was also a first. How many folks out there know what this is?

SpaceCraft is well known for their quality cabinetry and woodwork, Mark's request was, "we are going with natural cherry for everything". Got to match that floor for uniqueness. SpaceCraft had a pile of cherry enough for several rigs, the pile was down to nothing after building his rig. Look above at that door and the door trim with ladies in front of it. Below, look at the kitchen cabinetry and the stair railing. The all cherry windows trim, the slideout trim and of course that custom round kitchen table. The two living room slides. And the little "touches" in the bedroom around the bed for the "king". Also, note the walls coverings. No cheap luan plywood with vinyl pattern glued to it. The walls are solid and designed to be painted. The reason? Should the styles change one gets tired of the colors, the walls can be repainted.

Before I showcase the rig a bit about the rig designer. Mark has a degree in mathematics and in his latest turn of his carrier works on massive computer data bases. If asked he'll describe what it is (what's not classified), but generally he'll conclude that he does things that people are willing to pay him "stupid money" to do. Our mutual respect goes way beyond engineering skills, he and I believe that hands-on fabrication skills are just as important if not more so. During the build of my bed he not only provided engineering (pondering) ideas. He also actively participated in its execution. Mark was on another "branch" in his career, fine and exotic woodworking, when the rig was being built. When he gets an idea he's relentless. Apparently, SpaceCraft was reluctant to fulfill his request, so he told them to stop until he got there. He spent next few weeks at SpaceCraft "executing" his idea, the FLOORS. These floors in his SpaceCraft were featured in SpaceCraft catalog for years, but there were no other takers for Mark's talents and workmanship. Above, our two lovely wives on the day the rig landed in Massachusetts. Since SpaceCraft was sufficiently "motivated" by Mark, they proceeded with his next request on everything that was WOOD, more on that in the next post.

Carl, so on point and written in 1869. Apparently periods of enlightenment are followed by periods of idiocy, or is it the other way around. I sincerely hope that enlightenment follows our current period, it can't happen soon enough.

On the way from Florida to Missouri Yes, I do have a picture when Mark and I originally (15 years ago) ferried the rig from Missouri to his place in Massachusetts. So here's the real point of this thread. It's a fascinating story how this rig, a truly full custom designed by Mark Shelley came into being and how SpaceCraft built it over a period of a year incorporating many of the firsts that Mark insisted upon. The same goes for the truck and the ET Junior that's in it. I shall "spin the tale". SpaceCraft rigs are timeless, the fact that it's 15 years old means nothing and the fact that something this unique becomes available should be noted by those looking for the best. SpaceCraft is performing few minor fixes and updates and then will market it on consignment.

Mark and I had the benefit of the old continent secondary education, albeit at the opposite ends of the continent. Knowledge of history, ancient through modern was considered more than essential for moving through the ranks, sufficient to hold you back a year if you faltered. On par with math and sciences, although if you were not as capable in math and sciences you were deemed as lacking abilities, if you faltered in history you were deemed as lacking intellect, or a polite way saying that you were ignorant. So folks tried very hard not to earn that moniker. You must have noticed my drawing references from historical persona and events. I've seen the trailer for The Last Duel and read the script (Wikipedia), seems worthy of couple of hours. The 2003 historical drama "Luther", in my opinion, was perhaps the most outstanding film of that genre in terms of historical accuracy and the impact of that period on the society. I am aghast with the current efforts to not teach history and when taught convoluting the facts to serve personal biases and political views. When our generational knowledge of history causes folks to change the names of public buildings and remove or topple statutes we have reached a truly exalted stage of ignorance. Here's a bit of history from mid 1800's.

A tiny bit of additional "clarification" since I detect a "pregnant" question. He has indeed moved to the grey side. Both truck and trailer are in the process of refurbishment and will be on the market, I'll explain in detail.

Three answers: Yes, till last night, yes and yes. I shall spin the tail as there is a point to this story. Here's the part of the stable (7) of pullers just prior to the HDT. The blue MDT I used for 4 years, MDT was sold to "finance" the HDT. The last Ford F-350 relegated to dump run duties. The corner vehicle was a "semi" MDT conversion (prior to the International MDT), didn't have heart to get rid of it yet. The 40' Royals International weighed 23,500 lbs. with 6,500 lbs. pin weight. Nothing I had worked for it, hence the purchase of the HDT and designing an ET hitch to pull it.

For the "newbies", here's a little "taste" what's coming in this thread. Mark and I have been friends for 15 or so years going back to the start of this "movement" and the first 50 HDTs singled and converted to RV pulling. That pantheon included Jack Mayer, Mark Bruss, Steve Dixon, Dave Chetli, Mark Shelley and others, I came in on the next batch after the first 50. Mark had his converted 770 waiting for his custom SpaceCraft he designed which was going to take a little over a year to build. Also, this website was started about that time with lively discussions between the pickup owners and MDT owners vs. HDT owners. To say that we were understanding would be an overstatement (that's when the term Dark Side came to life) here's couple of examples with first one about Mark. Powerful religions and cults keep the “believers” mesmerized and frequently require personal sacrifice. Examples abound from sending faithful on crusades, to asking them to drink purple juice, to exhorting them to drive an explosive laden pickup with a finger on a trigger. There is probably no more “dangerous” neighborhood for an F-350 owner than HDT Forum. It is full of newly converted who have found a new religion based on “bigger is better”. I don’t think the high priests of Detroit are yet worried, concerned maybe, but not worried. They can look to an inexhaustible supply of pagans to conquer and convert to their side. The HDT folks represent but a small bastion of knights who have lost their ways and who occupy but one castle. What might concern them is the repeat of history. Powerful religions remain powerful when their flock is large and generous in its contributions to tithes and offerings. Certainly, every time $50,000 is plopped on plate for an F-350 the “missionary” work gets a significant boost. For a price of F-450 I’m sure you can also obtain indulgences which should shorten your stay in the purgatory by several hundred years and should your “piety” contribute to a price of an F-550 I am sure the Detroit “clergy” would promise you front of the line on the way to meet St. Peter. But the chinks in the armor are beginning to show as more and more of the faithful are going over to the Dark Side. Here one, here’s another and they seem to be popping all over. You might be interested why I posted the picture of this individual. He represents the worst nightmare to Detroit, an unrepentant and vocal heretic in the mold of John Calvin or Martin Luther. If Detroit could bring back the Inquisition, they would burn him at the stake. In his quest to become RVer, he has not contributed one penny, gelding or shilling to the coffers of Detroit. Oh no, no LDT or even MDT for him, it was a Volvo 770 which he embraced right out of his RV puberty. And in a manner similar to Martin Luther nailing his thesis to the church doors in Wittenburg, this heretic subverts Detroit’s hegemony by publishing documents and formulas trying to prove that F350s are not up to the task. And the gall he has going onto other forums and LTD forums standing toe to toe with the “faithful” and placing doubts in their minds. But that’s enough for this evening; If the RDBE Mistress get wind of what I am doing she might pull power to the internet modem. She was not too happy with my original “literary output” The next installment shall examine why the HDTers are not that much different than the Pilgrims who came over from England and settled in Massachusetts. This was the posting that pretty much banned us from other forums to the Dark Side (the original post) Fundamentalist religion, virgins, puberty and F-350s Those of us who have become the veteran pullers who "graduated" to HDTs are often stymied by the recalcitrant attitudes and refusal to listen to reason, examples, statistics, specs, etc. Suffer no longer I have a "rational explanation". I am known among my friends to be both an "amateur psychologist" and a comedian. I felt that combining those two skills could be the "ticket", which brings us to items in the title of the thread. Those who wish to pull big rigs with pickups view that as a "fundamental right" based on lack of forbidding laws, Detroit's encouragement and superior skills honed by years of practice. My "take" on fundamentalist religion is that it comprises of strong core beliefs, constantly reinforced. That is why it is so difficult to "reprogram" those who have fallen into its grasp or were kidnapped by any cult. The high priests of Detroit through the megaphones of TV reinforce this hour on the hour with glorious pictures of pickups falling out airplanes and stopping 30,000 behemoths, or with trucks racing towards precipice and stopping with inches to spare. No wonder the "believers" are willing to straps their kids to the seats of the F-250s and F-350s and take them onto New Jersey turnpike or the New York Thruway. Heck, I believe that should the sales drop because of safety concerns, Detroit would promise 40 virgins to those who might arrive at that Big Campground in the Sky in their F-350 or Toyota Tundra. Since I mentioned virgins it dovetails into subjects of innocence and puberty. Pulling with pickups is in my opinion the puberty of RVing. Having myself pulled with four pickups over a period of 30 years I can only explain it as a case of arrested development. During those 30 years I could vociferously argue about my abilities with a pickup, my great "skills" with a pickup and many other "theories". Not unlike the "discussions" (if you guys can remember that far back) with your fellow virgins of how it would be to be with the member of the opposite sex before one had the chance. Not having "experience" with more "capable partners" robs one of the necessary frames of reference for factual comparison. And those of you who are on second or third go around in the marital arena can attest that a relationship can be quite disappointing if the partner reveals lack of skills or abilities which you were expecting but which were never there from the beginning. Having graduated to MDTs and HDTs has elevated my "experience" to a whole new plateau. These vehicles were truly capable "partners" to my RVing enjoyment, capable of doing their part, not requiring special care, or elevated skills. I had the misfortune of pulling with a very nicely appointed pickup (again) for a year until the HDT and the ET hitch were ready. It felt every day like that "error in judgment" made by some of us picking up a "trophy wife". The looks might be there but not much beyond that. And the stress of that "relationship", forget it! So to conclude my thesis as an "amateur psychologist" and using marital comparison with which most of us are familiar the situation is as follows: Those who pull with pickups just emerged from RV puberty and are in their first marriage. They feel that they chose "wisely" but the doubts are emerging. The partner is lacking, is financially irresponsible (demanding computer chips, engines upgrades, transmission upgrades, brakes, etc.), but you still want to keep her because she's good looking. And here come these nasty HDT guys acting like marriage counselors and telling you that your only solution is a divorce. After you consider what the divorce is going to cost, you realize that you are "stuck" while they relentlessly showcase their partners and tell you about the “superiority” of their partners! It is particularly galling when they do it in front of your wife who is barely on board with your assurance that this is the “best there is” and still not over the fact that you just spent $60K ON A PICKUP! You can tell how old this article is, have you seen an F-350 pickup for $60K lately.

The answers are: Yes and No Before I expound on the "incredible" significance of this picture I invite the veterans to offer opinions and pose questions 😁😪 Jack, he is on schedule to complete his Concordia arrival on this Christmas day. He had a late start yesterday, 15 year old, original ET Junior, needed a "loving touch" from the old goat, but all is good now.

Wife can't go shopping in her convertible

Here's another reason why this can turn into "fools errand" on senior citizen trucks. As I mentioned above the air lines stiffen with age, the reason, the material (plastic) from which they are made is hygroscopic, meaning, it absorbs water from the air. It's that absorption that turns it from nice and pliable to stiff and brittle. Combined with quick connect (push in and seal) air fittings this is great for building trucks air systems quickly and efficiently. It also works well for years. So why do old trucks develop flatulence? New trucks; soft and pliable line plus engine and road vibration, no problem, Old trucks; stiff and brittle lines plus engine and road vibration, flatulence. You can get away (sometimes) replacing the air fitting where the leak is, with old lines using a new quick connect fitting might not solve the problem, using a "real" DOT brass fitting is a better choice, you can crank them hard enough to stop the leak even on old stiff lines.

747Flyer, with a truck up there in "truck years" chasing air leaks can turn into a full time "hobby". I would venture an opinion that your 21 year old truck is equal to 80 human years, an age when controlling flatulence becomes a problem. In more technical terms air lines become very hard and brittle after just few years in service, as do the O-rings and gaskets in the air fitting. My truck was 5 years old when I bought it and 15 years old when I got rid of it. If I got 3 day before it squatted all the way down, I was happy. Lot's of airlines and fittings to chase.

Waytek sell them too, minimum quantity 100 pcs and 8 cents per piece. Send me an address, I'll put couple of them in an envelope.

I've ran engineering departments and I ran production departments. Although we are having fun here about occasional stupidity that we are all capable off regardless of sophistication, I want to preface this with a general statement that in business all employees are valuable assets. Or why hire them in the first place, unless it's a relative that embarrasses the family. In any going concern there are countless people doing countless jobs most requiring high school diploma, or even less. The challenge to any manager is to task people according to their capabilities. The other challenge is who do you choose for tasks in "critical pathways". Good managers know who those employees are, usually a small minority since everyone else wants to hire them. I spoke to the individual in the establishment above, pleasant and competent, I can only guess that the employee he chose for whatever reason to do the wiring should not have been tasked with this job.

Carrying on. The new board was installed in the Jackalopee. Wires with melted insulation were trimmed back. Outer casing was trimmed back to have at least 3 inches of "healthy wires". Wires were cut to the lengths shown on the wiring diagram for the RV side of the board. 3/8ths of the insulation was stripped from each wire end. Appropriate female connectors (yellow and blue) were crimped onto the ends according to the wire gauges. Wires with crimps were bunched together for insertion into the case. Next, the cable end was secured in the case with an external hex nut (hopefully you had it on the cable before you started it all), wires were spread and inserted, using hefty needle nose pliers into appropriate locations (by color) on the board. Do the heavy gauge wires (black, blue and white) first. You see the same process (different wire lengths pattern) utilized on the bottom (the truck side). Neal, the truck owner and "rescuer", did most of the rewiring, the whole job start to finish I would estimate took 45 minutes. Neal is a delightful and multitalented individual (K-9 officer at one time), it was a pleasure to meet him, help him out and befriend him.

Hmm, shop moron to shop flunky. I guess one could view that as an upward movement in one's career path. Mistakes are essential for learning and growing in experience and statue. FUBARs are an animal of entirely different species. This was a FUBAR of zero positivity from the experience point of view. The best outcome that FUBAR creator can hope for is that the boss looks at it, turns on the heel and walks away.