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Bollweevil

Pedigreed Bulldog
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Posts posted by Bollweevil

  1. Packer, That was Green River, I don't know if you might have known Kelly and Todd Harsha, The last I heard they were now living in Alaska. I came through Green River early last summer, pulling the RS700 that Rob just asked about. I didn't have time to even slow down. It was late in the afternoon Sunday, and I felt that I had better clear Wyoming and Colorado before daylight. Rob, if you are watching this post, I'll try to give a quick rundown on the RS700. Late last spring I sold my T800 tandem dump truck, I ran it 7 years and sold it for $6,000 less than I gave for it. I paid my home off, and this left me debt free and truck free. I had no plans what so ever as far as a truck was concerned. Then Just by chance one Sunday I saw pictures of an RS700, while surfing the web. What else would I look at except trucks? When I saw it I was ruined, I called Anderson Brothers Monday morning as soon as they opened and bought it over the phone. I always thought I would like a R700 because of the long hood and the room it had for a big ole engine. Jee Whiz, what could be more fun than trucking? Well, trucking with a big ole engine. After getting this thing home, swapping out the blown engine, and getting it to where I could move it around under it's own power. I realized that if I was going to do this to my satisfaction, i needed to go back to work. Dang. That's when I really went nut's. I bought an RW613 tandem dump to work with, and most of my time and energy has gone into resurrecting it and trying to work it a little. In the meantime I have bought a 44.000 lb. camel back set-up with brass trunnion. I was going to shorten the wheel base anyway. So, I'll slide the Hendrickson

    pad set-up out and slide the camel back in. I really came out to the good on this, as I gained out board drums with the deal. I still need to find an 8LL. The Mack 12 speed works perfectly, but it is a direct, and with the 450 gear it s just too slow. It would climb a tree, you could get out and walk faster than it will run in deep reduction. I am fully convinced that Mack has always had the right idea about using a deep final drive ratio, then overdriving the transmission to gain road speed. It takes most, or at least a major part of the shock load out of the drive line. So, that's my plan, with a .73 overdrive, a 450 gear and 24.5 tall rubber, I could run 80 mph if I wanted to, and stay right in the sweet spot at 65. Let me know about the media blast job. I am looking at a trailer mounted portable system made by a company in Houston, and I find myself getting seriously curious about the matter. James

  2. Nope, morganton, Ga, I used to stop now and then to visit a cousin and her family. That was back when I ran fruit and produce back and forth to the northwest. I would like to say it was the good old days, but it was always in the dead of winter, and northwest freight was the only freight that paid enough to keep things going until Ca. opened up again in the spring. James

  3. Speed, thanks for the invitation, a good cup of coffee always hits the spot for me. I love trucks, and I love being able to sit down in one an make it do what it is supposed to do. I have trucked for a long time now, and I have always done it MY way. I have had some fun along the way, after all a man should enjoy what he is doing. I have made a lot of trucking friends, I have loved them all, and have tried to take care of them. Life is a learning experience. You learn some good things, that help you. And you learn some bad things that don't. When I started in the trucking business, I learned everything that wouldn't work first. That took a couple of years, and man was it tough. NOW, let me say that YOU could never offend me by being so enthusiastic over the very thing that I love the best. I will try to take care of you if I can, by offering of my own experiences. good and bad. I sure wouldn't dash water on a fire that I was trying to stay warm by. Just pour on some more fuel and watch the black smoke roll. God bless you and keep you safe, thats my prayer for you this morning, James

  4. Speed, an air brake endorsement is a part of CDL requirements. If you operate a truck with air brakes, there is no way around a CDL. If a truck, trailer combination, including whatever you are carrying. is less than 26,000, a CDL is not required. That is, unless it has air brakes, or if the cargo happens to have any amount of Haz-mat. 26,001 and above requires CDL. Section 383 of the federal motor carrier safety regulations, address's all of your concerns. 383.91 weight groups, 383.93 endorsements, 383.95 air brakes. I understand that you have health issues that preclude a CDL, but, until you have participated in the federally mandated Highway Watch Program, you can't even apply for one. I know that this is a lot more than you would really like to hear. My suggestion to you is this, read and study ALL of the regulations that concern YOU and your situation, health and equipment wise. It is only, when you have a good understanding of the boundary's of what you can't do, that you can see the possibility's of what you can do. Either find you a niche that you can fit in and be happy, or make one that fit's you and what you want to do. After all, What is the use of being an outlaw if you can't terrify anybody.

  5. Stripping the door is really easy, as the window, window regulator assembly all comes out together. If the door has a trim panel you will need to remove it. First roll the window all the way down, if there is no trim panel you can leave the door handle, and window handle in place. Then remove the door lock cylinder, by slipping a screwdriver under the clip located beside the door striker, and prying it back about 1/4 inch. Then remove the 3 striker mounting screws. This will leave you with a row of screws all the way around the outside edge of the regulator panel. Take them out and and carefully remove the window assembly. Before you reassemble the door loosen the 2 screws that attach the door striker to the panel about 1/2 turn. Start all screws before you tighten any, save the 2 striker to panel screws for last. If you are building up a door from scratch, it would be a good time to examine the lower mirror mounting bracket plate located inside the door. If the screw threads are good, mix up some JB Weld and smear some at both ends of the plate. When I had the brackets off my super liner for painting, that darn plate hit the bottom of the door when I removed the last screw. Have fun, James

  6. Rob, you have made my point exactly. I have never had to pay the DOT to stop me and do a roadside inspection. The fact is I have ran miles out of my way to avoid them. When you make it a point to know enforcement officers personally, they become part of your program instead of adversary's. In your case they like to see your old girls still in service. If you make them part of your program, they can help you to get your paperwork right and keep it right. If I schedule it ahead of time, one our local officers will come to my place of business, and inspect my trucks, at no cost. He git's to inspect a truck without the danger of being ran over, and I get a CVSA sticker in the windshield. We both get something, since he has to inspect trucks anyway. The up side of this deal is when they see me coming down the road with a load. They know my paperwork is right, and my truck is in good shape. Then we can wave at each other like you do, or I can yell at him on the CB Hey Man you look good back that way, I ain't seen no dump trucks.

  7. Section 382.107 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, defines a commercial vehicle. Basically it is this, if it is for hire, and either the vehicle or vehicle trailer combination weigh more than 26,001. It is considered to be a commercial vehicle. Now, if you will step back and look at this for a moment, it also says what a commercial vehicle isn't. I just came home from the County tag office. I always wait untill the last moment to renew the registration on my dump truck. You don't ever know, you might sell out or even die, in which case you won't need a new tag. While there, I made some inquiry's about antique or historical tags. now let me say, this is Ga only, in the state of Ga a vehicle has to be 25 years old to be considered a historical vehicle. If the vehicle is not used for hire, and the gross vehicle weight is less than 14,000, it can be registered as a historic vehicle. Cost, $18.00, that doesn't include applicable taxes. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a provision for a historic, or antique commercial vehicle. It is either one or the other. A person has to decide for their self what they have, I want to say this one more time, a manufacturers GVWR has nothing to do with how you register your truck. If you are not going to work the truck, register it in the lowest weight group that you can, that includes the actual weight. in any event try to keep it under 55,000, any more than that and you will open another can of worms called, Federal Road Use tax.

  8. Is your state involved in the CVSA Inspection program? If so, go over the truck yourself to make sure you have no safety violations, then arrange for a state officer to inspect the truck. They will put a CVSA sticker in the windshield that is good for 90 days. The inspection receipt will stand for your annual inspection. Just be sure you keep it in the truck, in case of a roadside inspection. Ask around and try to find an officer in your community. They have to inspect trucks anyway, and would probably rather do it in relaxed manner. I have 2 officers in my community, and have made it a point to be friendly with both. It makes the day go by better, when you know someone is not going to mess with you just cause he can.

  9. Phillip, I got a little carried away, our 61.000 breaks down to 20,320 per axle instead of 23,000. a more recent development is this, when hauling aggregates, the gross weight can increase to 64,000 when delivery is made in the same county as you loaded in, or in the adjoining county. But you can't cross 2 county lines. thats where the 23,000 per axle on the tandem comes in, and you still have to bridge it. Figure that out. James

  10. A manufacturers GVW or axle rating is useful when spec-ing a vehicle for your particular purpose. Some truck owners over spec. to gain reliability. But an axle rating, or spring rating, has little or nothing to do with what you can legally carry. Example. On a 5 axle semi, You can legally gross 80,000 on the Interstate in the State of Ga. That"s 12,000 on the steer 34,000 0n the drive and 34,000 on the trailer. That's assuming that the rig is long enough to comply with the federal bridge law. We don't run tri axles in Ga, because the third axle is not recognized as a load bearing axle. with a tandem, we can legally gross 61,000, on state or county roads, if we can bridge it. You can run a tri-axle, if you don"t gross over 61,000. Now don"t turn around and tell me that that doesn't make any sense. The state doesn't want tri-axles tearing up the highway, and thats that. So, operators here spec their trucks as light as they can and still maintain reliability. Example, many, spec 34,000 rear axles with 38,000 hubs. Another Issue here, which is becoming more of an issue, is tire ratings. To go back a little bit, That 61.000 is broken down to 23,000 per axle. I don't know who would want to run 23,000 on the steering axle, but that's how it is figured. Federal law stipulates that you can not exceed the tire rating, so if you have 2 steer tires rated at 7,000, that gives you 14,000, and you still have to bridge it. You can find more than you want to know about the federal bridge law by doing a google search. If this isn't confusing enough, every state is not the same, every one is a little different

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