jenandjon

I got the hole laid out. By the end of the weekend there should be a window here.

Fuel starts to cloud at 17 degrees. If you are already driving and you run into cold weather you should be fine because your fuel is warmed my the return line but need to get some additive in soon. Or a blend of no.1 and no. 2 diesel. We run a 50/50 blend on the farm because the bulk barrel is above ground and exposed the 30% blend jelled at -30. On the road you will probably only find a 30% blend but the barrel is under ground so its at a temp or 40-50 degrees when you put it in the tank.. That and with a bottle of howes should be good enough to get anywhere.

First of all you went to a dealer. Don't do that. They are way too expensive. I found that out again at the west coast rally when I took my truck to freightliner for a leaky water pump. I just did a quick google search and found a bunch of independent diesel shops in Vegas. Read the reviews and pick one. There are a couple that look pretty good. I don't know the specs on your truck but if you are worried about it at all. Have them run an overhead (tune up) and pull the oil pan to check the main bearings and rods. I had that done on my truck and found that it has been overhauled recently. So, I spent a couple grand but now I know I'm good.

No I found one with a sleeper door in it at the salvage yard. The framework was way different.

Here are the pictures of the parts. The window frame is 2 pieces that screw together to hold the window in place. The large aluminum piece is to screw the inside plastic trim piece to. You do not need that to hold in the window. This will be fine on my passenger side. I can easily remove the factory interior and put this bracket in. Not so easy on my driver side. I might have to do something different with my interior. I built and installed a large wooden cabinet to hold the fridge and microwave. I had to use some persuasion to get it in there. As in a 5lb sledge and block of wood. I would have to remove the cabinet in order to remove the factory interior. Not happening. No sense in worrying about that until the time comes. I will do the easy side first.

Its a good thing I went out into the yard when I picked up my windows. There is another inside frame you will need. It is riveted to the inside of the cab. The inside trim piece screws to it. I will get pictures today and post them later. Fire Guy I am glad you posted this picture of yours gutted. I would never have known that piece was missing from our trucks.

All trucks have a crossover connecting the tanks. Some go in the top, some cross over on the bottom. If you just fill one tank it will equalize in a hour or so just sitting still. If you park on a side hill overnight one tank will be fuller than the other when you come back in the morning. So, Those of you that have a generator hooked to one tank you are actually draining both tanks. Because as the level in one tank drops the fuel from the other crosses over to keep both tanks at the same level. You can shut the crossover off and only run one tank if you want to but you have to know if your truck returns to both tanks or just one. This would be a handy thing to do if you are running a generator. Shut off the crossover so you only pull from one tank. Then turn it back on when you leave. It is important to keep your tank vents clean. Otherwise you may end up with one tank empty and one still full. This has happened on our farm trucks. If the driver is not paying attention. They come home at night and cant figure out why one tank is empty and the other at 3/4. Clean the vent. All our trucks have 2 fuel gauges. One for each tank. My HDT only has one, I imagine most of you only have one. Sorry that went a little off topic.

That is good to know, thanks. I got my windows used for $100 a piece.

Its laminated for easy cleanup and reuse.

These are Freightliner Columbia windows going back in a Freightliner Columbia.

Its time to add some windows in the sleeper. Kids cant see out. They missed a lot of beautiful country on our trip out to the West Coast Rally. I called Vander Haag's in Sioux Falls all they have is 2 right hand windows. After some discussion and looking at several pictures it was agreed that both right and left are interchangeable. So, I ordered 2 right hand Freightliner sleeper windows. They are just going to cut the window out and give me a chunk of the sleeper. So when I remove it I will know how it all goes back together. I fully intend on doing this myself. However I have a friend that does body work on semi trucks. It might end up going to him. My budget is no budget. The more money I spend on this the less we have to spend on our trip coming up this summer. I am going to have to take my time and do it right. I pick the windows up on Saturday. I wont be starting this project until after the first of the year. That gives me time to decide am I doing it myself or taking it in. I was told by the body shop that the stiffeners should already be in the wall of the sleeper. Its a matter of cutting the hole and and getting everything lined up. I have to peel back the interior and see if in fact they are there. If I have to wield in pieces to stiffen it up I will be taking it in for sure because I don't have an aluminum welder. This is one of the windows I have ordered.

Rand McNally truckers atlas. It lists every length restricted road and low bridge in the US, Canada and Mexico. Never loses signal and never goes dead.

Life goals right there. Top notch work by Chad.

I wondered this also. But I heard a news report that the type of 4x4 vehicle they were driving is in high demand in Mexico now. With the cartel wars and such. They mount guns on them. Plus being a criminal he probably needed a way to sneak into the Mexico. Lots of snow birds headed that way. Steal a truck and camper to blend in. Trade the truck to the cartel to pay debt of for protection. This is pure speculation but it was the first thing that I thought of when I heard he was headed south. Being our trucks are altered to pull RV trailers they would be of little use to anyone wanting to pull a semi trailer. Unless some cartel guy wanted a Mobile office or something. About the only thing I wold be worried about is an armed robbery. My rig being much older and than most I still get that look and the questions. Dang you must have spent a ton of cash on that rig. Until I explained that I have less in the truck and camper together than I have in my last pickup truck alone. Some of the couples with the high dollar rigs may be more of a target. But everyone I met at the West Coast Rally seems like they could take care of themselves pretty well if a situation arose. You know unless 4 or 5 guys show up and they want your truck. Then I guess you get your walking shoes out of the camper and wave good by. The chances of this happening is slim. You just need to be aware of your surroundings. Us being novice boondockers we don't go out in the bush. We tend to stay near business or towns. Harvest hosts was a good investment. I would love to go out in the desert for a few days but I would need to tag along with some of you more experienced folks a time or two before I was comfortable. Safety in numbers.

Just don't settle on one that you thing should be good enough. I got a cheap one for our old Kenworth. 6 months later it got another new seat. It didn't wear out it was just the most uncomfortable seat I ever seen.

I set the bed down on the frame rails and blocked it up to where i wanted it. Got some 1/4 inch flat 2 1/2 inches wide. Measured how long a piece I needed. Drilled holes in one end. Lined that up with factory frame holes. Bolted it in then welded it to the frame rail of the bed. I used either 5/8 or 3/4 grade 5 bolts I don't remember. Each piece of flat was a little different. They are not spaced evenly either. I wanted to keep it simple and not have to drill a bunch of holes in the frame. I think I only had to drill out 2. There are 4 down each side. Probably should have used angle iron instead of flat. But I'm not hauling around a car either.

Picked these up at Peterbilt for $700 apiece. The low rider seats are more expensive but with the Pete and as tall as you are you need them. I am pretty sure the base is interchangeable.

That's pretty cheap for batteries. Its a bunch of bull they cant check the batteries. He just don't want to.

Or this Volvo? https://kalispell.craigslist.org/hvd/d/columbia-falls-2000-volvo-conventional/6990681620.html It has a wet kit on it. I would be wary of anything that has a wet kit. Maybe it was just pulling a tanker down the road. Maybe they had a side dump on it.

If so that is what a scammer ad looks like. Ive seen that truck advertised on Craigslist for years all over the country. I first found it 2 years ago when I was shopping for my truck.

You mean this one? https://kalispell.craigslist.org/hvo/d/columbia-falls-dump-truck-peterbil-2001/6988469065.html

Well thats $850. I got a couple AC units for free. So thats why I going that way.

I talked to the dealer and they said it would be fine and to go for it. It is wood frame. I have the extra unit. Now I just wait until after harvest so I have time to install it. I will document it as I go.

You got solar on that thing or just a generator?

We are still planning on coming down for a couple days. I did not register because I don't know for sure we will make it. This lands right in the middle of our soy bean harvest.