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Geoff Weeks

Pedigreed Bulldog
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Everything posted by Geoff Weeks

  1. Cold enough and the waxy components in diesel start to solidify. Looks and feels like "fish eggs" Water will turn to ice and be hard. You'll not solve a water problem with heat. I've had bulk fuel people say the same, but when you can strip it off a filter element and feel the waxyness, it isn't moisture. They say that to shift the blame on the person storing the fuel. So I guess we are talking about the difference between "cloud point" and solidifying. If you had enough water in a fuel filter to plug it, apply enough heat to melt it the slug of water would blow tips off injectors. True "gelling" is when the fuel in the tank all turns to "jello" but cloud point is when the waxy components start to drop out and stick together. JC I heard enough of people say what you do, but have never heard them explain why fuel at 20 deg doesn't have this "ice" they claim but does when the fuel is at -20! Fuel and water don't mix! True gelled fuel is below the pour point, and that is rare, but in popular using of the term "gelling" is anytime the fuel is below the cloud point. It is hysterical listening to a fuel distributor try and explain why his "ice" only shows up 52 deg below the freezing point of water!
  2. Heat exchangers for heating fuel have always been around, while they may have not been common. I have an antique engine heater from the 20's? 30?'s. Motorola and Stewart-Warner have made combustion heaters since the 30's and 40's at least. Hot Box coolant heaters used to be a thing. The solutions have been around since trucks started switching from gas power to diesel. What has changed is the J-I-T "got to be there" nature of trucking. Gelling has been known about since before diesel trucks. The willing to properly address the problem and pay the price to do so has always been the weak point that brings down the "system". Running in -35F in rural Mt, and being one of 2 trucks on a lonely stretch of of road, vapor trails running 1/2 mile or more behind the truck, you get to value the time and money spent on being prepared. The other truck had Alaska plates! All others didn't try or didn't make it far from the truckstop.
  3. my take is: If I am going to put my life on the line going out in the real cold, I am going to properly outfit the truck. Never gelled even running at -35F Warm fuel doesn't gel. I had driver controlled, coolant type, fuel heater that I could turn on or off on the fly. I had an electric block heater for cold starts I had an Espar coolant heater for heat while parked overnight on the road. I would never trust my life to an additive. I have pumped "slushy" diesel (diesel that came out of the pump already starting to gel) into my tank and driven on, Would you do that with additives? It costs money to properly outfit a truck, but the money is paid back in spades not paying for a tow.
  4. I just realized I mis-read the 1st post, It isn't the hub that is cracked, but the bearing race. Knock out the race and inspect where the bearing goes. Get a new set of bearings, or at least an outer race, and see if it will press firmly into the hub. If so, you are good to go, if not you can look to replace the hub or have it built up and re-machined to hold the bearing. Building up and re-machining will cost a few bucks, but everything you have can be re-used. New hub means new drum and may be new wheels. If your lucky it will hold a new race and can go back together.
  5. https://graphicvillage.org/meritor/pb2006.pdf Another catalog. You aren't likely to find inboard drum hubs, but have a good chance of finding out board.
  6. They are on spokes, but not so sure about Disk. The next thing you need to know is the bolt circle for the axle studs and count and the diameter of the studs. 7" B/C and 5/8" dia studs 8 count are common, but 3/4" and other sizes are used. 580 outer bearing cone space a little over 4" apart are common on the spindle if in the range I mentioned. If it falls into the common hub, then you could replace with outboard drums and common hubs. https://www.webbwheel.com/online_catalog_hubdetail.php?hn=26431--MLT
  7. Ok, start with the bearing numbers, both inner and outer cup and cone. Get the seal bore and part where the seal rides diameters. Unless it has a real odd bearing spacing or brake spider placement, I suspect a newer outboard drum type hub could be fit. My guess is it will be a typical 20K/40K hub. Hub used on 20K single or 40K tandem axles. If you can get the aprox bearing spacing that will also be helpful. I am assuming std 16.5x 7 rear shoes?
  8. A big part of the problem is in the news biz it is far better to be 1st and wrong on a "scoop" than to be 2nd or 3rd and correct. Leads to no fact checking and false stories being taken as true.
  9. Peak fire season used to be 8 months of the year, from about may to late sept or oct. If you have to repair a res, when would you do it? in summer? no, you do it in the statistical low point, unfortunately fire season is now 12 months of the year out there. You don't want to do it in late "winter" when the snow melt is starting, that's when you want it completed to start re-filling! Late Dec-early Jan is the time to do it. It just happens this time it was an unlucky time. Anytime you close it and there is a fire, people are going to yammer about incompetent leadership, just as they will if it is not maintained. You can't have it both ways. They had 70 MPH winds, try firefighting in half that (35 mph) and see how well you do! expecting buried waterlines and hydrants to be able to maintain full pressure when being drawn on all across the system (because of wide spread fire) is not reasonable, but boy it makes a nifty sound bite to say "dry hydrants" to the masses and getting them yammering. No muni water system can supply enough to quell a large scale fire like that. Then add in "lost" structures that will all be "leaking" (gushing) from their water hook ups. Folks, this is a national and natural disaster, lets come together and at least feel for the people if you can't or will not help. Fighting an urban wildfire is a whole different ball game than a rural one where you can set fire breaks and keep it contained (or at least try to) and not lose 1000's of structures and lives. The Fire in Lahina Hi (sp?) was bad also for the same reasons High wind and urban area. The terrain around LA makes it easy for fires to accelerate and hard to fight. Lahina was at least mostly flat. questioning how and why they started is fair game, but as of yet there is little to no time to spend on getting that info,
  10. Then how do you explain away a 1948 KW watertruck being on Cal-fire payroll?
  11. Unless someone can provide proof, not just someone talking in to a phone, I say total and complete BS! I personally know someone who is a contractor for CalFire with a 1948 Kw watertruck with twin sticks. Firetrucks are exempt period!
  12. If you look at pictures of the real old days, you'll see many lic plates on one truck. Then came the "bingo stamp" plate that had places for state issued stickers for each state. So you no longer need full size plates for each state, just that states "bingo stamp" Today (I think, been out of it for a coupla years) Alaska is the only state or province that is not part of IRP, so trucks going to Alaska will have two lic plates, one from their home state and one from Alaska. You can travel between the US and Canada under IRP plates. There are other requirements, but registration wise the IRP is valid in both countries.
  13. I found Iowa fairly easy to work with. They, at least, separate out the "commercial" interstate stuff to one center in the middle of the state. You can do it all "on line" and are willing to help if you call them on the phone. In state stuff at the county courthouse is a different story, many times I know more then they do, and when I run into a conflict suggest that "we be safe and check with Ankeny", more than a few times they had to concede I was correct after calling the state truck center. On the downside, you had to register your truck for the maximum weight, and couldn't just "permit" the extra weight when you needed to move over legal. Michigan was the same. It meant I had to carry 160,001lb on my plate all the time in those two states. Any move over that weight would incur more tax, but were considered super loads.
  14. In Illinois, it was a registration for a set vehicle, I don't remember all the specifics, I think a hub meter and bond were needed, but it has been decades since I looked into it.
  15. I don't think it was weight, IIRC it was length laws that were the issue. truck and pup or doubles were allowed many places that a straight 48' trailer was not. There are still many roads (last I looked) where trailer length and OAL are restricted. The other weird thing about Calif in the old days (now unified with the rest of the country) was the "weight" was carried on the trailer plate, so if you went into Calif back then the trailer had to be registered for 80K or you had to buy a trip permit for the trailer.
  16. Just pointing out that it never has been or will be "fair". Some states have or had "mileage based" plates. Illinois used to be one, don't know if it still is. With those the plate came with a set "miles" (often a few thousand) and if you didn't use them up, that is all you paid, if you went over, you had to pay more. Mostly set up for special equipment that doesn't get used on the roads much, like well drillers etc. It allowed them to be driven to jobsites rather than trailering or paying the full registration amount for little use.
  17. It is and it isn't. Compared to what came before, it simplified it greatly. Before you had to register separately for each state you drove it. Mostly it is handled by the trucking company. Leased O/O run company plates and IFTA, the company does all the filings and record keeping. Those of us who were truly independent, ran under our own authority, had to do all the work ourselves or pay some service to do the work for us. A large number of independents, and even some small trucking companies, used external services for this. I did my own, as if I am the one to be held liable for mistakes, I wanted them to be mine and not someone I paid to do it correctly.
  18. That is true of most all registrations, a car that drive 3000 mile/year pays the same as one that does 100,000 miles. It is why the fuel tax exists, those that burn more (drive more/ move more weight) pay more.
  19. Fuel tax and registration fee's differ state to state, so trucks that operate in many states have to "apportion" out the fees they pay to each state they travel in, by the % of total travel they do in a year. There are federal programs to do this IRP and IFTA. IRP Takes the total number of miles the truck is driven, and separates out each states total, then figures out the % of travel in each state, the truck is assessed that percent of that states yearly registration. Fuel tax is done somewhat similar. When you fuel in that state, the pump price includes that states fuel tax. You then take the amount of miles driven in that state, using the adv MPG of the truck, you figure out how much tax is due the state you bought fuel in, the rest goes in a kitty to pay the other states, Since every state has a different tax rate, you will either owe the kitty or get a refund. You have to file quarterly fuel tax filings. all this takes a weekend every quarter and another for plate renewal. I had a lap top in my trucks in later years, and a computer program to enter the days run, logbook, fuel purchases, and miles run in each state and routes used. You have to keep paper records for years and can be audited at anytimes.
  20. Look at it like this: Commercial is determined by the use, not the vehicle design. Taxi's are regular cars used in a commercial operation, if you went to register an ex-taxi for your car, there would be no problem getting passenger plates. RV's can be as big and as heavy as a hobby truck, and can tow a trailer of any size, have air brakes and everything that a truck has, and still be an RV. Then why is there a problem registering a "hobby truck? It is because 99.9% are used in a commercial enterprise, Almost the opposite of the taxi example. From the outside, a hobby truck hauling hobby tractors, looks just like a commercial truck hauling tractors to the dealer. States see weight on the road, fuel tax not being collected and registration fees not being paid, when they see a hobby truck towing a trailer. Being able to shave the distinction between commercial and non commercial is a very hard distinction to write into the law, and unless it is differentiated, the powers that be will treat it as commercial. ATHS has worked to make the difference be acknowledge. In practice, hobby trucks should be treated no different than RV's are. Unfortunately, it is rarely done that way.
  21. Try getting them to find Marmon ("who made that?" Marmon made Marmon, "yes but who made it?") or Dart (Oh, you mean Dodge! no I mean DART!
  22. IIRC it is the Trico's that have air to the motor when in the off position (for the self park feature) and so have air through the control at all times. Sprague (sp?) don't "self park" and shut off the air when turned off and you have to manually crank the knob counter-clockwise past off to park. Both controls are still available last time I looked. Both motors use "back pressure" on the exhaust side to keep them from being "floppy". Too often someone tries to get more life out of a motor by opening up the exhaust restriction, and they you end up with fast-floppy wiper movement. As long as the shaft splines are good, and the case isn't damaged, there is little other than O rings and seals to go wrong with them. They can take being frozen to the windshield with the motor "on" without damage, that could kill and electric.
  23. Hauling things for payment of any kind, (even prize money) puts you in the commercial realm. Fines and impounding can be the result. Hauling your own stuff for no payment is a gray area, just because it is harder to determine on the side of the road if it is commercial or not. Remember, it is not what the letter of the law says, it is what the officer who has you stopped on the side of the road thinks. Yes, you may win in court, after your truck has been impounded and you have fought the fine in court. The 1st two things come before the court date! It is also why very few insurers will write policy's for larger trucks towing trailers that aren't commercial policy's. They just don't want to be paying out for commercial use on a private policy. Then there is the fact that taking it out of state without an IRP plate is likely going to cause problems. Same for fuel tax. Yeah, I know big RV's don't pay those things, but to the officer on the side of the road, a "Truck is a Truck".
  24. I used to rebuild mine HP100's cost $3.75 in O rings and good to go. Trico's area bit harder as they have shaped seals. Haven't done one of them, or needed to (yet).
  25. Broaching is typically cutting a slot, like for a keyway. Reaming is sizing after installation of a bushing. The bushing on mainshaft gears shouldn't need a keyway, just clearance for lube. There isn't load on the bushing when the gear isn't in use, it just has to let the gear slip on the shaft. Multi countershaft transmission the gears just "float" on the main shaft without any bushing. I haven't seeing anything of goggle that applies in this case. Here is what broaching can do
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