mike5511

Speaking of polishing wheels, and bumpers. Mine are in need. Be nice if somebody came to the fairgrounds capable of doing that the week we are there. Bound to be others that would take advantage. I'll hunt around for somebody if there is any interest.

On 9/5/2023 at 5:52 AM, rickeieio said:

I used a heat gun.  Clamped the sheet to the flat area, applied heat to where I wanted the bend.  When it got soft, I used more clamps and a narrow piece of wood to secure it.

I've learned that to bend some plastics, you need to go slow.  Plastic is a good insulator, so it takes time for the heat to soak through.  Likewise for the cooling.  

I got a piece of this. I don't know if it is the right type, but I'm gonna try it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/324868029288

I can't believe all you guys listing the parts you carry and not one of you said Duct Tape!!!😁

16 hours ago, JGWALES said:

Its funny the price differance between 1500 and 90 . Once i had a flat tire on our car. Took it in the shop . I was quoted 11.00 to fix ,but wheni returned they wanted 65.00  they said there was rust on the wheel and they had to clean it to repair the flat tire. 

 

That's why I wondered what all wasn't working on his. They quoted me a flat rate to re-solder/repair the gauge connections and replace all the lights. My fuel gauge didn't work and one other, can't remember which one and several lights were out. They put all new lights in the cluster. They were in Ozark, MO, but it looks like they've moved Marshfield, MO, now. https://www.automotivecircuitsolutions.com/

Never hurts to carry extra parts. I have never looked into what an ECM for my 98 Cummins M11 would cost.

19 hours ago, rickeieio said:

I used a heat gun.  Clamped the sheet to the flat area, applied heat to where I wanted the bend.  When it got soft, I used more clamps and a narrow piece of wood to secure it.

I've learned that to bend some plastics, you need to go slow.  Plastic is a good insulator, so it takes time for the heat to soak through.  Likewise for the cooling.  

Thanks for the tip. That is what I had in mind. Some pics of yours would be great!

On 9/5/2023 at 5:54 PM, bags said:

I finally got a recommendation on a shop to repair my dash cluster. Come to find out the  eeprom (memory) was corrupt and they need to reprogram it. Their usual dash repair is 750.00 how ever this reprograming I am told is very time consuming and the charge was 1500.0. OUCH! But at least my dash cluster now works and all data was restored. They had to remove the onboard diagnostics LCD and replaced it with filler panel. It has not worked in the 11 years we have owned the truck. 

They will honor their time line but they are behind. They said 10 days and that is what it took. One warranty.

D&D Instruments 612-378-1224 https://ddinstruments.com/

What wasn't working before it was fixed? I have a Gen 1 as well. My LCD panel has never worked either. I had some gauges and lights that didn't work. I took it to a place in Ozark, MO who got everything but the LCD panel working again and it has stayed working for 3 years now. 

On 9/3/2023 at 9:03 PM, rickeieio said:

That's what led me to put the slippery stuff on the trailer side.  I could fasten it easier.  Got it done today.  It doesn't show well in oictures because it's black, same as the hitch.

I formed the plastic to the "shoe" of the hitch, then drilled holes to match the shoe mounts.  If I were doing it again, I'd trim around the bolts and use smaller screw to fasten the plastic to the vertical surfaces.

I doubt you'll find a source for uhmw-sts.  It's not sold in small quantities, but rather used for industrial applications, like conveyors and material handling.  I just got luck, walking into the office cold, and met the president.  He gave me a piece of scrap to try.  Funny side bar, he banks with our daughter, just up the road from his plant.

Did you heat up the UHMW to form it or just apply pressure?

13 hours ago, Danfreda1 said:

That would be nice but I'll bet it is thicker than 1/8"?

22 hours ago, rickeieio said:

Verbal preview:  We have the MorRyde rubber snubbed pin box.  It has two bolts, fore and aft, that hold the shafts the plate rides on.  My plastic skid will be formed to follow the angles on the ends of that pin plate, thus allowing me to secure the plastic with just those two bolts on each end.  Pretty simple, if it works.  If it doesn't?  It will.

I spent 60 years applying and then cleaning off grease on farm machinery and vehicles.  I'll lube the pin, but that's all.

So you're putting the "plastic" on the trailer hitch? I need to go look at mine........... I've made the disk out of the UHMW stuff. Can't seem to find the stuff with -STS. A link would be great!

3 hours ago, rickeieio said:

Those of you who know me, know that I tend to go down a different path than what's generally thought of as the norm.  

So, watching my bride fight with the crappy little plastic fifth wheel lube disc, I thought to myself, "Self, there's got to be a better way."

One better way is to emulate what the commercial fleets do, and cover the truck hitch with plastic, or imbed pieces of plastic into the plate.  Dan Habermehl has done this and it works well.  I think Mark Blatchford has done it as well.

My way is to source some 1/8" UHMW-STS and cover the trailer hitch.  What's UHMW-STS?  It's UHMW that's impregnated with silicone.  The STS means Slicker Than Shi......Stuff.  That's straight from the fellow who developed it at Crown Plastics, in Harrison, OH.

  I got most of the way done with it today, may finish and snap some pics tomorrow.

I'm interested. Was thinking about this last week. My trailer saver is an older one and uses a 1/8 plastic disk which deforms every time I use it and has to be flattened out. I've used 3/16" disc and it does the same. Neither will stay up on the pin when you unhook. I'm open to a new idea. The head doesn't have any channels cut in it to hold grease plus grease is a mess. Looking forward to see what you come up with.

On 7/25/2023 at 6:14 AM, JGWALES said:

I bet your train Horns are very popular with everyone when you let them go...........

Just got back from a trip and never did crank them open except once for some buddies as I was leaving town. I did give two friendly little toots and one small knucklehead toot on the 1800 mile round trip. The factory air horn is a joke. Even the kids giving the sign are disappointed if I blow it!

On 8/26/2023 at 8:39 PM, rickeieio said:

Not today, but in the past week.....  While doing ,my pre-flight at AV8R3400's home field, I was poking under the hood and discovered my coolant reservoir cap was a.w.o.l.  Larry was kind enough to loan us his car to run down to the Kenworth stealer and ransom a new one for only $51.xx.  While there, I really blew the budget by dropping another $115 on a windsheild fluid pump.  KW is proud of their stuff..

So, we got home Monday and while unloading tools and such, I put some assortment and repair kits on the tailgate of my pickup, so I could just back into the shop and put things away.  Well, since we've retired, it seems the squirrel population has exploded in our shop.  No matter what I'm doing, a squirrel gets my attention and "POOF", I forget what my immediate task was.  Sure enough, I got distracted and drove home and arrived minus my vehicle electrical repair box.  All my crimpers, strippers, tone generator, specialty bits for WeatherPack connectors, gone.  But, over the years, I've likely found enough tools along the road to be breaking even.  Still, it will take a while to assemble another box with all that stuff.  I wish I had taken an inventory to make it simpler.

 

 

Don’t send those squirrels to my house!!!! I’ve got plenty of my own😲

14 hours ago, rynosback said:

I agree, my research has all concluded that. 

Same here. It's pretty obvious if you give it a little thought.

11 hours ago, rynosback said:

Interesting. I wonder if the price difference is worth it? 

After using a Trailer Saver hitch, I wouldn't tow without one. However, being I have a HDT, if I needed to replace the Trailer Saver, I'd go with the ET. But if using a pickup, the BD5 would be in my bed.

8 hours ago, Wrknrvr said:

   Today I counted my used fuel filters. 20 in all.    So that was 10 times of changing the filters.

   I probably change at least 3 sets that were not needed. And they were all at very inconvenient locations.

   But we made it to Montana. That is what counts.

 

  Safe Travels to all,    Vern

So, what is your plan going forward? What fuel additives you plan to use? I have a 98 Cummins. I use the Power Service in the silver bottle every time I fill up. I also use some brand of biocide when I know the fuel is going to sit in the tanks for an extended time. So far, so good.  I haven't had any problems with my fuel except once. It wasn't really a fuel problem per se. I left Arkansas and headed west to Oregon. Every TA or Petro (big fan of the TSD fuel card) I bought fuel at, was bio diesel. Bio diesel is a really good cleaner and an excellent lubricant. By the time I started back east towards home, the bio diesel had cleaned my fuel system very well. My fuel filters stopped up with little granules that looked like pepper. The filters were new when I left home.  Luckily I had made it into Reno when that happened and I drove to a dealer and bought new filters and changed them out in the parking lot. Needless to say, I peer down into my tanks often now and haven't had any more problems sense. But, I am a bit paranoid about having fuel problems after that experience. Following your thread hasn't help that paranoia at all!! Thus my question of your plan going forward to avoid further issues. What I do now, as stated above, is what I learned from somebody online that had retired from the refinery industry.  I'm not a full timer. My truck sits thru the winter. But, even so, doing what I mentioned above has worked well for me so far.

5 hours ago, SuiteSuccess said:

I’ve run Biokleen in my truck every fill.  Stuff is expensive but gives me piece of mind.  Still saying that, wish I could get my tanks polished.  I’ve got a thin line of black “goop” on the bottoms.

I always do too, of one brand or the other, unless I'm on a long haul and will run the fuel out in a week or two. Cheap insurance really.

45 minutes ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Maybe there'll be a mid- off season mini return.

Oh man! Don't wish that on him!😂

9 hours ago, justRich said:

Eternabond works great on simple curves.  Not so great on a convex surface - such as where a curve terminates on a round ball-like corner.  Just make sure that you will NEVER have to remove the tape.

 

Heat it carefully with a heat gun and it will come off. It’s messy but doable. 

I have one, but it isn't like it used to be. Still some ol' timers out there though. Brings back good memories when you run across one.  If you'll stop and think, back when every truck driver ran a CB, we didn't have these huge pile ups on the interstate. Always knew about road hazards in plenty of time to avoid them.

16 hours ago, lappir said:

Got the bid and it's not all that good. Will have to think it over a bit. Maybe try to find another salvage yard. 

Rod

If you decide to scrap it out, let me know. I like road trips. I'll get the little stuff,  the fasteners inside the cab, maybe some gauges, no telling what all I might get!😎 (little stuff though, too old to pull motors, transmissions, and rearends etc)

Where is the truck located you are going to part out? 

4 hours ago, runaway parents said:

Okay, so as much as I don't want to get ridiculed about this. I'm going to put my 2 cents worth  in again . If you want insurance that will Tow your rig go to. Insurance solutions .And they will hook you up? As mentioned Above Do not, I repeat Do not mention anything about a semi. It is a R v Hauler. As much as everybody likes to brag about their trucks. This is a time where where less Information is a good Thing. You know that old saying if it looks like Duck walks like a duck, it is a duck. DONT TELL THEM IT IS A DUCK.Remember it is a RV HAULER. It Is no longer classified as a semi.

You are correct! I made that argument at my insurance company the first time. RV hauler, doesn't even have a commercial 5th wheel plate, it's got a bed on it, no different than a class A except it bends in the middle.......which makes me less likely to run over something making a turn by the way..... It was an easy sell. They paid $500 bucks on my recent tow, of a $632, 2 mile tow bill.

1 hour ago, vacationer said:

So when they show up and say hey thats not a duck and drive away lol. 

Yeah, if they're a wuss of a wrecker driver. They see money, they'll tow you. 

20 hours ago, JGWALES said:

I bet your train Horns are very popular with everyone when you let them go...........

Kids love them! If Volvo would have put a decent air horn on the truck to begin with, instead of the sick goose sounding one it came with, I wouldn't have went to the trouble or expense. Those loud horns may save somebody's life one day.

Just now, mike5511 said:

Finally got it done. It's loud!