JoeH

Cutting and splicing PG Adams rails is not a bad idea, but it will also require separating the rails to get your welds right.

My 1980 DM686SX has two 3/8th inch rails. Rust jacking is a awful. Last 8 feet of the top rail: outer rail is cracked along the transition from sidewall to flange; inner rail top flange is just rust cancer. Nothing substantial left. And our trucks don't go out much in winter. If yours hasn't cracked yet you might be able to save it. Pull one side of the frame out at a time, separate the rails clean and paint, then reinstall and then do the other side. It's a chore but the trucks not going anywhere anyways. Cost is roughly $1,000 in new bolts, plus one or two possibly cracked crossmembers, plus sandblasting and paint + your time.

Hahaha

Sounds like you need to install a left turn signal on the truck! Kinda silly having a truck with no left turn signal!

Not sure what access is on your t2060, the 8ll is easy to fix from the rear of the trans. We have 1988 RD690S with a t2070? that we had to take the range selector out the top because we had to take off the rear mounted PTO for repairs and a countershaft dropped. Had to jack the back of the cab up as far as we could plus we conveniently had a hole in the floor between the seats. Was doable, but it needed 2 or 3 sets of hands at times. Not sure how your access will be.

+1 on possibly a vent line. Could have a leak in the range selector cylinder. What happens is one side is hi other side is low. If the oring between the two fails the air will bypass from selected range to vented range. Thus, your "leaking" vent line, because the unused side is switched to the vent. I have an 8ll that did this, but the orings were fine, but the disc that is the "combination cylinder" was cracked in 3? places.

What year truck and engine are you working on?

I don't get the Jan Brett reference. This is where I heard honey Badgers from:

Put a frayed steel cable (small diameter) in your drill gun, shove it in there and hit the go button? It'll make the bend and flail around like a honey badger. Don't know if it'll work but worth a shot?

A good welder with the right rods should have no problem with it.

Econodyne instead of maxidyne? Just different fueling, right? Unless its a V8? What designation was a V8 in '78?

I'd look at the kingpin too, make sure the disk on the underside of the pin isn't bent/failing.

Look for the trailer stop lamp switch in the dash, possibly T'ed into the air plumbing for one of the knobs. My 2001 tractor may have had 3 knobs (I forget, it's been a few years since I sold it) one knob released truck park brakes, Second knob supplied air to the trailer tanks, Third knob released trailer park brakes. One of my straight trucks had a 2 knob setup, one for trailer brakes, one for truck brakes.

Trucks typically use 2 air switches. One kicks on below a certain pressure, this would typically be in a situation where your parking brake is kicked on, intentionally or in a low air situation. Do not confuse this with the low air buzzer/light circuit. The other brake light switch is tied into the foot pedal and kicks on when there is air pressure going to the service brakes. Recap: one is a positive pressure switch in the service brake air circuit, the other is a 0 air pressure switch in the Emergency (Park) air circuit. First is typically on the firewall, second is typically in the dash by the park knob. Your situation sound more like a wiring issue than a switch issue, unless there's a 3rd switch for the trailer. But most of my work has been on straight trucks. Good luck!

I don't have his time!!! 2 babies, a truck and concrete mixer (volumetric mixer, not drum mixer) to rebuild, and my Dodge pickup I'm repairing major body rust on then painting, which I need to finish before the snow season. And my wife and I are house hunting. All on top of my usual job, delivering concrete.

You mean shouldn't?

If you register it it's registered. If you don't register it then it's not registered. You need insurance and registration to drive it home. If you're going across state lines you'll need it registered for INTERstate, not INTRAstate. In PA you have 15 days from date of purchase/registration to get it inspected, or at least that's with cars/motorcycles. I expect with commercial vehicles you're probably not allowed to "haul" loads with the truck until it's inspected. With the Ram 3500 I don't see why you couldnt haul the 613 home with it assuming you are under the legal 13'6" height and you're not exceeding the Ram's gvwr, axle ratings, etc. I would back the truck onto your trailer to ensure you don't overload the tongue weight with the engine/trans.

That rules out batteries and alternator. Those would result in a weak/slow crank speed, and if the battery is low enough you'd likely here a rapid clicking with no turnover. What year truck, and what motor is in it? That will help narrow down for others what fuel system the truck has so that someone here can chime in. It could be a 1990 with an e6 motor, could be a mid 90s with an e7, or it could be around 2000 with an etech motor. The E7 had mechanical fuel systems, electronic over mechanical, and the etech motor has "EUP's" which are individual solenoid injector pumps for each cylinder, run off additional lobes on the camshaft. Without knowing what you're driving it's hard to give an answer. If it's an etech it could be the camshaft position sensor on the front of the timing cover. With an e6 or mechanical e7 it could be the shut off rack sticking in the injector pump, or if the shut-off lever is operated by an electric over air switch then the solenoid on that could be failing. If it's a computerized engine, do you ever have an "active" fault code? This would be indicated by a lightning bolt lit up on the dash.

With engine off a battery should be around 12 volts; engine running it needs to be over 13.2 volts to charge. Your battery is typically fine unless it drops below 9-10 volts while trying to crank. Usually only one cell goes bad in one battery; we diagnose and just replace the one battery when we have suspect it. You need to give more info. Is it cranking over slowly? Or cranking fine and just not firing off? Does nothing happen until you've bumped the key a few times? All these scenarios are caused by different things, but we don't know what exactly your symptoms are.

Truck off, how many inches of free play is there left to right on the steering wheel?

In Pennsylvania you need a class A CDL for any trailer weighing more than 10k... Doesn't matter if you're a "hobbyist" or a "professional".

It's gotta be getting to high range to hit 40 mph. We have no idea what trans came out and what went in. He may be clueless on the shifting pattern. But unless he comes back here were all shooting in the dark. He's probably already figured it out.

Never sat in a B, much less worked on one or bought parts for one. All I know is we've bought new skins for our 1980 DM bostrom high back in the past with no trouble. May have gotten the foam too, I don't recall.

If your Mack dealer is as good as mine they can fax or email you the parts diagram, but you'll need to give them a little more info... Year? Transmission model?

Shift to a higher gear?...