Phil D

Topics can be pinned on the main page, but posts within topics, unfortunately, cannot be pinned. It would be best if someone would re-post that URL occasionally.

The 1981 and up 350 DX block and the 1982 and up V6es were mechanically sound engines, with the only remaining "weak link" being the Roosamaster injection pump, but that was the current diesel injection technology in that era. Had the DX block-based 5.7 V8 and 4.3 V6 been the starting point for the Olds diesel, they'd have avoided the lousy reputation that they earned during those first three years, and they'd likely be regarded as a success. And had they continued on and evolved into modern, direct-injected engines with HPCR injection systems, turbocharging, and intercooling, they'd probably still be selling the V6 and likely a four cylinder derivative today.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year to all!

When we were considering new seats for our T2000 four years ago we went to a seat distributor's showroom and sat in anything and everything that looked even remotely interesting, Chad, and those Wide Ride + with Sertas were, by far, my favorites, but I guess I hadn't been a good boy that year because Santa didn't come through for me. Enjoy!

Fuel should not "go bad" to the point that the engine won't run in sixteen months. While ULSD isn't what diesel once was, it can cause poor performance over a period of many years of sitting, but not to the point of the engine shutting down, and certainly not in your time frame. I'd suspect a mechanical problem rather than a fuel-specific problem. You can try to hire a mobile mechanic, but even if a trip to the shop "on the hook" is necessary, your brakes can be caged (the springs manually retracted via the caging bolts in the brake cans) to make the trip.

The F650 and F750 use the previous generation Super Duty cabs, likely with a slightly different floor pan.

Truck stops typically have dyed fuel for the hundreds of refrigerated semi-trailers that pass through every day. That's usually the easiest place to find it.

If the endorsement on your New York license qualifies you to operate a vehicle over 26,000# GVW, but not in combination (towing), it would seem that would translate into a Texas Class B Exempt (non-commercial) license, which is sufficient to operate a large RV, either without a trailer or while towing a trailer under 10,000# GVW. If you are currently licensed to operate a vehicle over 26,000 GVW while towing a trailer over 10,000# GVW, that would be the equivalent of a Texas Class A Exempt (non-commercial) license.

Where in Texas do you plan on registering your Volvo? Counties that have some experience make it a piece of cake, while other counties (or certain Assessor/Collector's offices in those counties) that have never handled a conversion will simply default to telling you that "it can't be done", even though Texas is very open-minded to the concept. Many folks, for that reason, choose to use an Escapees address and go to Livingston County to do their registration, since they've done many of them and are familiar with the process. Steve from SoCal has given you a good list of things that will qualify a tractor with a sleeper to register as a motorhome in Texas, and as in Kansas, you'll need four of them (unless the rules have changed). When I did it almost fifteen years ago I took the paperwork and photographs of my truck and the qualifying items (a microwave, portapotty, refrigerator, and both the bed and the HVAC controls in the sleeper) to the nearest Assessor/Collector's office. Their initial reaction was, predictably, "No, that can't be done", but after calling Austin they found out that it could, and I walked out of their office with my tags in hand. It's been too many years since I did mine, so I hesitate to tell you exactly what you need today to do it, but the Texas page of the Resource Guide is most likely correct, as there are a lot of Texas-based HDT RVers out there, and the state's requirements have always been well documented. I do know that some years back a change from a truck tractor to a motorhome required applying for a branded (Reconstructed) title, which was not the case when I did mine in 2009. The form required to do so should be listed in the Resource Guide, and Texas' motor vehicle-related forms are readily available on the web.

Most of the bright red coolant for heavy duty diesel engines is formulated to meet the Cat spec for extended life coolant (Caterpillar EC-1, IIRC). If you can verify that your truck contains an EC-1-compatible coolant, then the brand is unimportant --any coolant that states that it meets the EC-1 specification will work.

It's likely too late for the tulip festival west of Mount Vernon. That one is typically in mid-April. As Linds mentioned, there's also a tulip festival in Holland, MI. It comes later than the one in Washington, because spring comes to southern Michigan later than it does in western Washington.

Texas will allow you to register as an RV with the installation of four RV-related items, or as a private truck at your election. Since the registration is weight-based, there's little to no difference in the cost.

That "Paccar Parts pride" is really hard on a feller's wallet.

C13 and C15 engines are still in production for Cat equipment, so building a few every now and then in EPA04 or EPA07 on-highway configurations would be easily accomplished. The 3406E requires more effort on their part, but they're apparently anticipating good sales volume in order to keep a lot of older trucks on the road, so they're willing to make that effort, and the additional demand for 3406 components that results from the extended production helps them justify the cost of continuing to produce replacement parts for the 3406.

Since the topic of forum bans has come up, please know that to my knowledge, no contributing member has ever been banned from this forum or from the Escapees forums generally by any of the moderators that are specifically responsible for the HDT forum (many spammers and other disruptors have been banned, but that's another story entirely). That said, Escapees HQ allows their other moderators come in to moderate the content of this forum, even though the HDT forum has its own assigned moderators, and should anyone run afoul of those other moderators, there's nothing that we can do to help. Please govern yourselves accordingly.

The operative word in the term "regenerative braking" is "braking". Towing an electric vehicle while using regeneration to recharge it would quite literally be attempting to tow it with the brakes partially engaged. It would not only be terribly inefficient, but eventually you'd break (no pun intended) one or both vehicles.

Kodiak brakes use the calipers from the 1985 and up GM front wheel drive C-Body (Cadillac DeVille, Buick Electra/Park Avenue, and Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight) and H-Body (Buick LeSabre, Oldsmobile Delta 88, and Pontiac Bonneville) cars. I don't know what causes this phenomenon, but while I had no problems after the initial install, I did lose a caliper bolt after having new pads installed.

Also check for a dual filament bulb (either a turn signal or a blind spot indicator) that may have burned out and the bright filament falls across the parking light filament. I had this happen in the right side blind spot signal near the door. It drove first me, then my electrical engineer neighbor and me crazy. Fixed it by accident when he went to look for some additional diagnostic tools and I decided to replace the burned out bulb while he was gone, which was when I found the source of the problem.

This would be the "engineering" solution for those of us that have trucks that won't shut down when connected to the trailer because the fuel shutoff remains open when a 12V backfeed from the trailer is present. Because my trailer had a small solar panel on it I just disconnected the charge line from the Jackalopee and allowed the panel to "do its thing" while in transit, but this system would work for those that want to apply a little power to the house bank while on the road.

The common practice in automotive electronic controls today, especially of things like motors, etc., is in fact digital, as you suspect, but not exactly as you imagine it to be. They typically use pulse width modulation (PWM), where low speed would be achieved by the control module sending a series of brief intermittent pulses of electricity to the motor, resulting in low speed operation. Medium would use slightly longer pulses, and high would pulse so frequently that the delivery of power would be nearly continuous, with the motor speed varying with the length of the pulses.

The Crossfires have check valves that are intended to keep the unaffected tire from deflating if one dual begins to rapidly deflate.

JW seems to be doing well for himself. He's now in the heavy haul trucking business in the Permian Basin oilfields.

White didn't have a short-lived romance with Freightliner -- they invented the original Freightliner, developing and producing them under contract for Consolidated Freightways, before first selling them as White Freightliners, then spinning them off as an independent brand. The truck pictured appears to be a later model, built shortly before the White-based cabovers were discontinued. It has a WhiteGMC emblem and the Volvo "slash" on the grille, characteristics applied after Volvo had purchased both White and a majority interest in GM's heavy truck business, which they operated as Volvo GM Heavy Trucks.

Done, my friend. Check yer inbox. Sorry that I didn't see this earlier.

But the inserts require square holes, and were I a betting man, I'd bet that none of Rick's square drill bits are sharp. 😉