phoenix2013

Had a chance to look at the parts. I'm impressed. My design called for perfect squareness and matching radiuses. Radiuses are off by few thousands, but the squareness is dead nuts on. As lot of you know I'm working with Young's on a "baby version" of an ET, 12-16K trailers, typical pin weight of 3,000 lbs. Utilizing four 1,500 lbs. airbags (the one in my right hand). Just in case, since people inevitably will try to "push it", the hitch will also be pre-drilled for the 2,000 lbs. airbags as an option to go to larger rigs with 4K pin weight. I have the hitch design conceptualized but my primary focus is to have the new head design solid, since this is the MOST critical part of any hitch design. Some of you might be familiar with recent fiascos when this philosophy was not followed. Here's the concept. If the head design is critical, it's the swivel in the head that is MOST critical. The swivel is the part that sees all the forces first and redirects these in various ways into the hitch. Youngs already prototyped one head for me but I was still tweaking the swivel design. We've had a cursory FEA look at this, we might be able to loose the gusset "thingies", but I like overkill in my designs. Next step is to build these things, see what kind of welding jigs we might need, welding sequence, etc. That's why I had Darryn send me 5 prototypes. You don't learn much looking and building just one on a product that needs to be mass produced.

More parts arrived today from Master Darryn to improve your chances of figuring out what it's for.

Master Old Goat had one of these on his Millennium Falcon to help carry his quarters on galaxy pathways. Master Darryn seeks a version for Jedis still in training and not ready for Millennium Falcon.

Ah, my young padawan, Jedi material be you might. Master Darren whipped his droids to make these and a friendly gungan delivered these today in a ground transporter. How many of you Jedis know what these are for?

Got the shipment of these this morning, aren't these beautiful?

It's a "fluid situation", my understanding is that there will be also a trailer being pulled behind the rental truck. My son in not "impressed" with his partners interstate driving. The trial trip was to and from the HDT Rally. I've seen small drive on car carriers (for 2-3 cars) pulled behind pickups, I'm wondering if those are available for interstate transport hire?

Son is moving to Arizona in early June with significant other. Needs to transport two cars from New Hampshire to Arizona. Any general suggestions, tips, how to accomplish this?

Good morning gentlemen (and ladies). Ah, the heady battles between the emerging Dark Side and the F-350 crowd, really intensified after the social media posting of the "virgins and lousy marriage" article, but we soldiered on into more technical aspects of the dilemma. Testosterone, J.C. Whitney and income levels Testosterone, in any quantity, does impart certain behaviors which can be directly attributed to its presence. The qualifier, “in any quantity”, was inserted into the above sentence to dispel any notion for those who have “aged gracefully”, have a slightly lesser quantity of the said hormone at their disposal and therefore feel that they might be immune to its effects. Horse feathers, when it strikes, you will behave like a teenager who was just given the keys to a s**tbox that barely escaped a trip to the junkyard. Those who are blessed with a body that contains glands that produce the said hormone know that it’s a lifelong struggle of impulse control which requires higher and higher income levels to “satisfy”. The marketers know this and are ready to “help you”. What are the first two things you got upon receiving the key to the “s**box”, a repair manual how to fix it and a J.C. Whitney catalog. That J.C. Whitney catalog was your first friend in allowing you to take something your father handed down to you and make it distinctly your own. Unfortunately, that catalog also immediately stratified you among your peers depending on your ability with a wrench, screw driver and a pair of pliers. You see some of your buddies took to rocker covers, cams and four-barrel carburetors, while your “talents” might have stopped at “sheepskin seat covers”. And no self-respecting J.C Whitney customer would ever purchase pair of those “dingle thingies” to hang from your rear-view mirror, lest your buddies immediately and forever assign you to a certain ethnic group, your birth certificate notwithstanding. As in any societal grouping, the “stratification” was further exacerbated by a member(?) of the group with well healed parents who cruised in, in a brand-new Corvette which required no purchase of anything from J.C. Whitney. That’s was probably the first time when you asked Lord for help, so that your Corvette driving buddy would not park it next to your “s**tbox” and further amplify your feelings of inadequacy. Now the feeling on “inadequacy” is a powerful motivator. You will do pretty much anything to cure it and spend any amount of money to eliminate it. Many examples abound, bigger yacht, faster jet, younger mate, F-350. You see the marketers of Detroit know how to exploit it. Just look at this picture, ah the vision, the imagination, “the possibilities” it imparts on your psyche. What do I see in this glorious vista above? I see desert sunshine. I see heading into wilderness with your trusted equine friends in tow, no doubt a fiery stallion for you and a gentler mare for the Lady. I see you gallop through the desert, the stallion between your loins, clearing sage brush and dry creek beds in a single leap. So, you say “what’s wrong with this picture”? Nothing really, except that’s Hollywood and the reality is a bit different. You see that hill that F-350 is climbing, with that trusty 6.0 under the hood, it’s in the second gear. So here you are, you just plopped 55 grands at your Ford dealer and that “feeling of inadequacy” is creeping in again. Can you cure it; certainly, and there are many willing to help. Except, when they see that you just plopped 55 grands for a pickup, they assume that you moved into a different income stream to cure your “inadequacies”. Let’s explore the “possibilities”. You can start “cheap” and “address the tranny”. Better gateway for $250, more robust converter for $1388 and keeping that oil “cooler” for $172. Ah the, good ol’ trusty 6.0 liter. You let it breathe easier for $285, cram more air into it for $1120, inject it better for $450 with the help of the $401 computer and if you get going too fast you can slow yourself for $1175. For those of with even better income stream, why fool around, full Banks system for $3209, propane injection for $3000 and a whole new better tranny for $3605. We are definitely beyond J.C. Whitney and $29.95 sheep skin seat covers, but who’s counting when for a mere $10 grands you can crest hills in third instead of second. Now for those of you who purchased one of these to satisfy your “testosterone needs” you have the opposite problem. Withdrawal. Like a junkie you cast around to blow your dough and you are stymied at every turn, Chip the engine, ah ah, bigger turbo, ah ah., bigger tranny, ah ah. How is the guy gonna spend his dough? And even if you bought them “dingle thingies” from J.C. Whitney, this thing ain’t got rear-view mirror to hang them from!!!!!!!!!!

I have couple sequels, will dig them out tomorrow.

🙏🙏🙏 Halleluiah!

It's amazing what you find when one ventures into "ancient" backup files. This was from the pickup days. Electric brakes (hockey puck actuated) will work OK providing: You found where the Amish Electrician (remember some of them don’t use electricity) connected the blue brake wire to the electric brakes wire and checked that connection (usually a twist on cap), soldered it and covered it with heat shrink. You checked all the connections to the “pucks” on each wheel (power and ground) usually an insulation piercing nylon “thingie”, removed the “thingies”, threw them into trash, soldered all connections and put heat shrink on them. You checked for serious chafing where the electric brake wires come out of the axle tubes to the “pucks”. Usually just a drilled hole, too small for a grommet. You can put some “used” chewing gum into the hole around the wire and hope that it hardens quickly and sufficiently. Silicone works well if you are not a bubble gum championship material. You had the brake shoes adjusted before the first trip and then at least once annually. Chances are, neither Dexter nor the manufacturer touched them and they are not even close to the drums. You do not expect to have any “electric” brakes first 50 miles after the rig sat for a month. It takes about that far to grind off the rust on the drums, but more importantly to grind off the rust on the inside flat portion of the spinning drum to which that magnet needs “to stick”. Other than that, electric brakes are “fabulous”. This was from the days when the Dark Side was emerging and the pickup crowd was saying that we were "over the top" showoffs. 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 the 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 lbs. 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 the 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 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 a 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 was 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 spent $60K ON A PICKUP! You can tell how far back this was written when $60K was considered an exorbitant price for a pickup

Doing a little re-write of the manual (you guys just can't have enough info) and connections to the battery seem to be a subject of phone calls. So I said to myself, "Myself, why don't you put a battery in the manual, even if it's just a paper one". Should I have to take it to the next level I'm ready with these

You wish is my command. I had just enough real estate on the kit installation flyer to add this. This one is about 4 1/4" inches long. I suggest starting with 5" overall jacket strip to accommodate this. Wiring these depends on where bundle twist is when you start. I typically start with black, then blue, then white, this usually forces the other wires to "cooperate".

All points on point. The city is only 60 years old and it started as plotted city of about 180,000 lots. 10 years ago when we moved in there were 40,000 lots "still available" thanks to the 2008 crash that the city took very hard, I bought my house for almost 100K under the market value (then). Since then the population increased by 25K the old lots are being snapped up and they added more lots to over 200,000 (farm land and old orange growths). The city is totally against "slowing down". You own a lot and follow the rules, you build regardless who's bitchin'. Doesn't matter whether it's a single lot, subdivision, commercial lot, multifamily, apartments, factories (big commercial area) . The city calls itself "the City for all ages" not just retirees. Move in, find a job, find an apartment, condo or build a house, enjoy. Typical BS, "I don't like him or them", or "I don't like what he or them are doing", is answered, "he or them own the land and are following the rules, you don't own it, go away". Amazon just built a square mile under the roof regional distribution center, eat your heart out AOC! Three year ago, a couple lots down on the the same power line I am on, the tree was touching the line and caught on fire, fire department came as did a tree guy. Fire was extinguished the tree went down.

City takes their D.U.E. seriously. Couple of good reasons. My property is abutting a major storm canal. During hurricanes it's a river about 30 feet wide. All the properties are elevated quite a bit since you see where the water level is. City maintains the canals and every month or as needed they send couple massive highway mowers to mow the slopes on either side. It's my responsibility to mow up (or down) to the slope. See the power lines going over the canal. Another very clever innovation and why they need the D.U.E. They don't set the poles on either side of the street to feed the houses. they set them damn smack in the very corner where the four lots come to a point. On the canal side I had to give them 10 feet. Here to get to the pole and utilities (power, phone and cable) they took 5 feet from me and five feet from my neighbors, for their 10 feet. I expect to see them shortly to cut the crap out of "MY TREE", they will not ask my permission when they do it. The boys hung 2,000 lbs. of stucco on my shed/ADDITION and were done by 2 PM. This crap is 7/8ths of an inch thick. I'm warming up to this structure, but I'm not relaxed yet, the inspections,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the inspections,,,,,,,,,,,,! Next challenge is the door and the door latch. We need to talk about the door and a "possible latch" The challenge, the hurricane barn door with latch that can be operated from both sides. This to prevent one from being locked in, being exposed to Florida environment, going through various stages of decomposition and with time competing with Ramsses III for looks, texture and desiccation.

They started this morning, the brown coat is going on. This is poetry in motion, they'll have the brown layer applied in about an hour. Learned way back, don't screw around with tasks that require years of practical experience, in this instance 12 years for the fellow with the trowel. I did the felt and the bottom drip edge, I left the lath hanging, trimming (and passing inspection), plus this to the pros.

Lath inspection passed yesterday, stucco guys will be putting stucco on tomorrow. Today was a monumental day😁! Although I gave up my HDT years ago I was into HEAY DUTY TRUCKING, today! Brought my half ton Ranger to Home Depot to transport the stucco premix. 35 bags at 80 lbs. each, comes up to 2,800 lbs., or close to ton and half. The guys loading it asked, "how far you got to go?" "Across the city", I said. "Don't go too fast", they said. The maximum speed turned out to be between 20-30 mph. Sounded like the tires were rubbing on something, probably wheel wells, on a slightest bump. Put the flashers on, pissed off all kinds of Friday drivers, half an hour later I parked the stucco near the shed.

We are moving again. The inspection regimen has been satisfied, all it took was $300 bucks. See that little square they placed on my plot plan (11.6' x 12.3'), it shows that I am two and half feet away from D.U.E. (Drainage and Utility Easement). City's happy. I knew this but they needed assurance from surveying outfit, $300 bucks please.

Vern, they are full of ideas, which they keep springing on me. The latest "to cure the failed frame inspections" is to add one of these on every stud at the bottom. I'm the one who actually found these in the Simpson website, putting these on will be this weekend's project. I'm glad he liked these. I guess the alternative would have be to crane the hole building up to put straps under the sill plates to catch the studs. The sills are bolted to anchors I imbedded in the cement. Oh, the other weekend work is to replace the smaller hurricane brackets I Installed with these longer ones that catch the stud at the top to the rafters. Found those in the Simpson catalog also. Happy, happy 😬inspector.

The guy that approved the original permit is in my corner, it's an embarrassment to him he want's this thing to GO AWAY. What's missing now is the Form Board permit which would have been needed if it was a REAL HOUSE ADDITION not jut a shed. He said, "get that and we make this thing go away". I said, "I'm on it", the surveyors were here yesterday to generate new plot plan. Another $300 bucks! In the meantime, I'm already using the "shop" functions of the super-shed. Doing some service work on an older head. Waiting for parts for the new design and putting it together for evaluation. Window will go in when the stucco work and outside painting is done.

Are you saying that this might encourage the "less abled" to undertake Jackalopee wiring?🤔😜

New picture for the manual, when hundred just printed are gone.

1/4 inch plate rolled with the same radius as the frame, attached at the end of the slope. V grove both sides, weld both sides, grind inside flush to slide the hitch mounting angles in. Frame is about 1/4 inch thick so it works. Used to order it in two two footers or one four footer and cut these to length depending on the bed design. Finished and painted

Integrated the rear fender skirt into the box front, cut out the door from the skin. Two front and two rear skins attached to real boxes The rear boxes were quite big.

Here's an update to my Feb 15 post: 1. Finished both pages of the instruction sheet for the additional wiring 2. Modified tags going with the wire bundles to show the circuit. 3. Attaching specific hardware for the circuits to the tags.