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phoenix2013

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

 

Edited by phoenix2013
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Howdy Henry,

Preach it Brother, can I get a Hallelujah................

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

IMG_4282-600x310.jpg

 

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Oh Olde One, i remember when you first posted this.  Yes, it was a looonnnnggggg time ago.  But, still pretty accurate.

KW T-680, POPEMOBILE
Newmar X-Aire, VATICAN
Lots of old motorcycles, Moto Guzzi Griso and Spyder F3 currently in the front row
Young enough to play in the dirt as a retired farmer.
contact me at rickeieio1@comcast.net

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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.

7zDr3PDl.jpg

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”.

tB6yMpDl.jpg

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.

XRw9s52l.jpg

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!!!!!!!!!!

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Howdy All,

The Judge asks, "Son how do you plead?", I reply, "Guilty your honor with extreme prejudice." 

"I" have been a victim of testosterone poisoning from birth, have within my financial means been plagued by the "need for speed" been consumed by the demons known as horse power and torque.  Mine is a tale of woe punctuated by feats of daring do in my quest often times terminating in a disaster of holed pistons and broken cranks.

My lust for POWER, has never fully been satisfied, I dare say life would cease to be interesting or fulfilling if this were to take place.  It's the quest, the hunt if you will that brings a sharpness of mind, thumping of the heart and the letting loose of the beast within that truly allows one to LIVE in the moment and not merely exist as is the fate of most mortals.

I just recently turned 75 years old in body, my brain what's left of it will NEVER advance beyond 18 until old timers or death over takes me.  I have absolutely NO NEED for this but I swear if I were even 20 years younger in body I would seek out the necessary parts and pieces to build a 2,000 horse power C-18 to place under the "Hood" of my Pete.  Once achieving that, I know in my heart that it would only be a matter of time, not much time mind you, when the "demons" would again start whispering in my ear.

Alas my Brothers, I am doomed perhaps damned to be forever at the mercy of things beyond my control to keep pushing the socially acceptable boundaries, Sammy Hagar said it best, "I can't drive 55.................."

Thus saith the gospel according to Cob.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

IMG_4282-600x310.jpg

 

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Dave, it's good to hear that your pair of glands we were discussing, although aged nicely, still produce sufficient testosterone to drive your youthful desires. I must confess possessing a similar state of mind, my almost eight decades of existence notwithstanding. I was moving the hitch building accessories to the new storage/shop including the mag drill. Holy smokes, by the last count I drilled almost 20 thousands holes with this sucker and it's predecessors, I could hardly pick it up. Planet Fitness advertises $10 bucks per month, time to sign up. 

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Howdy Henry,

I have never been one who is into exercise, my worn body would probably be in better shape if I were but such is the case.  Does my ticker good to hear of another who still suffers from glandular activity.  On the subject of the C-18, I knew of the C-16 but the C-18 was a critter I didn't know existed until watching a YouTube video where they discussed it being installed in some very large fire trucks and many other industrial uses, very rare but out there.  Since learning of the C-18 I have been consumed by a lust for this engine same outward size as the C-15 so it would "Bolt In" thou I fear the rest of the drive train may suffer from a spasm that has plagued my right foot since just before puberty kicked in.

Alas oft times I wonder what might have been had I not been so afflicted. Then again I can't deny the grin it brings to my face when I hear the faint murmuring of the demons as they whisper, "Come on, you know it'll go faster, just push a bit harder, spend a bit more......................"

Chapter two, verse one, of the gospel according to Cob.

Dave

2001 Peterbilt, 379, Known As "Semi-Sane II", towing a 2014 Voltage 3818, 45 foot long toy hauler crammed full of motorcycles of all types.  Visit my photo web site where you will find thousands of photos of my motorcycle wanderings and other aspects of my life, click this link. http://mr-cob.smugmug.com/

IMG_4282-600x310.jpg

 

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