Geoff Weeks

I think the cost in gasoline will be the biggest deterrent. When I drove my K's to the ATHS show in Alburn, IN I took the smaller routes and just enjoyed the drive, and lower speed. That is another option.

I've bought used from Vanderhaag's and some new takes-offs. I only bought two when they had 5 and should have bought them all!. If there is a big truck salvage yard, might be worth checking what they have. Double coin is on the higher end of the cheap China tires, and I know many have had OK luck with them. Buying 10 tires for a hobby truck is a hard nut to swallow, but if you can pick them up one or two at a time, on the cheap it goes down easier.

I used to find good deals mail ordering tires, but that seamed to go down the tubes, later. I mean, having them shipped to my door, for ridiculous low shipping prices. I think I stated previously that I was using slight better brands (Hankook, Kuhmo) that came out of SE Asia countries other than China. With a Hobby truck, that is unlikely to "run the tread off" before age gets the better of the tire, I would at least look at what is available on line, shipped to your door. Price is likely going to be the deciding factor. No sense paying for a casing with good "retreadability" when the casing is going age out before the 1st tread is worn off. I've seen 1st hand the bias ply tires handle age much better than radial ply tires do. They do have their disadvantages especially in line-haul trucking, but for a hobby truck, I find them to last. I currently have a set of Kuhmo bias 8.25 x20's on my K-7 that are quite old but doing well.

Roof air are still made, again Red Dot or Kyser. My poor dog spent more than a day with me in my 6-71 powered, weed burner exhaust Fleetstar, Looking back I surprised he didn't bite me at the end of the day. No A/C in that truck either.

You realize of course, this now makes you a commercial trucker! Your B will now be subject to all the rules! Way to go! Chasing the dream and catching it!

I've seen a lot of stupid stuff, some of it done by those who should know better, much of it done by people who never were trained. There is never a good reason to hit a rim with a sledge, enough get hit by poor aim when a tire hammer is used to break the bead loose. I know my tires are mounted and the lock ring is seated with about 20 PSI in the tire! The rim is cleaned of rust and the tire lubed with rubber lube. If you do the job correctly, you have the core out and put 20 psi in and can watch the bead expand over the lock ring, feel or see the ring gap get smaller, all before there is enough stored energy to hurt you, then you let the air out so the tube can work out any wrinkles, then put the core in and inflate. If the lock ring isn't seated, hitting it with a hammer is more likely to make it come apart than go together. It is just plain wrong!

Smacking any rim with a sledge, is abuse! Smacking a tubeless rim is no better. RIms don't need nor should they be abused and expect to take abuse. Would you take a mounted aluminum rim/tire combo that is inflated and smack it with a sledge on the bead area? Would you expect it not to break a apart? Why would you do that with any rim? At the minimum you make a stress riser in the rim. As far as I am concerned, the Firestone RH 5 deg wheel is the only really questionable one, but even on those, if you really know what your are doing, you can separate the ones that shouldn't be place back in service. There are many better designs than the FIrestone RH 5deg, (semi drop center wheel) that I would not use them on my stuff. One afternoon, I serviced 5 of the Firestone wheels, out of the 5 only one could possibly be re-used.

Is this what you want? Carry Deck Cranes | Broderson I find my gin poles do everything I want a crane for

Just had one of those days, today, Pulling apart my Saab Turbo, engine sits on top of the trans, Lots of hard work, until I hit the wall and couldn't stand, and had to sit., couldn't find anything I just had it , time to quit for the day.

Could you be thinking of Buddy Sombarts Marmon cabover?

Looks like I really goofed twice, the CRD 117, looks to be a newer version, but if you look at the primary reduction case, the CRD 78 is different than the 117. So I'll go hang my head and not lead you further astray.

Sure, you can put an refrigerant compressor on anything with V belts. The condenser may take more work to fit, there are frame mounted condensers, of course roof mounts, which would be period correct. No :bolt on kits, but it is all possible. I built my own APU before they were widely produced, there are plenty of options in terms of parts to build a system, but buying a pre packaged parts, Red Dot makes many bunk units. IHC used under the passenger seat heater/AC unit that is very compact and is in the 1.5 ton cooling range and gobs of heat. Early (70's) 4300's had all the controls on the seat base, making it a complete unit that could be bolted to the floor pan, and would need 4 holes for coolant and refrigerant. The big question is if there is enough "head room" to put a passenger seat on top of the unit. Most newer cabs that take a full size air seat can, but trucks that used T bar or fixed seats, (lower profile) may not have the head room. Used parts, can be cheaper way to go.

I know nothing about this Mack axle (if you remember I thought it was an old Timken). That said, I would guess it originally had a graphite rope for a seal or a felt seal

Another option would be a Red Dot bunk unit or an IHC under the seat unit, both would require some holes in the floor, but none in the dash or firewall. I think this is the way I'd go. I have a Mack sleeper with a Red Dot unit in it, they are very compact.

What kind of heater does it have? I have always thought that on a antique, you could add an electric coolant pump, isolate the coolant through the heater core, and use a tube and shell heat exchanger as an evaporator. Essentially making a water "chiller" then circulate the cold coolant through the heater core. I not sure how well it would work on an old leaky truck with an old heater that could barely keep it warm in the winter, but it wouldn't require any holes in the cab. As far as Ice or a swamp cooler, I don't think either would be good enough.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi_gpvfmNCHAxVmmIkEHcRiNmcQFnoECCAQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bendixvrc.com%2FitemDisplay.asp%3FdocumentID%3D7117&usg=AOvVaw3KGYmvyJKDfP8-cMomQB61&opi=89978449 This is Bendix's trouble shooting for compressors. I find that compressors get blamed when other things are causing excessive duty cycle. 15%-to 25% MAX duty cycle. One of the 1st things they mention is excessive air use/excessive duty cycle for any slobber issue. If you replace the compressor but the air use and/or duty cycle remains high, it will not matter new, rebuilt or the one you started with, they will all slobber oil. I didn't have trouble, and didn't need to change compressors for slobber, I had to change one for a loose main bearing on a 3406 Cat (front bushing for compressor crankshaft was loose.) attached is another Bendix .pdf on oil slobber TCH-001-045a.pdf

Sun (UV) and heat will age rubber badly. With a truck sitting in the sun with the tire exposed almost all the way around, the heat will build pressure in the tire during the day and lose it at night. The cycling every day up and down will age a tire sitting out for 20 years. You can see the rubber is "crumbling" just from sitting.

It is not what it will hold overnight, it is how often it "blows off" going down the road that matters. I've seen leaks on the "wet" side, while the primary and secondary air tanks and components will hold overnight. Air line from compressor to the drier (if used) check valve in drier, air line to the wet tank, air line from the wet tank to other tanks, air line to air gov from wet tank, wet tank itself. air gov. All of those can leak and cause the compressor to keep cycling while the two main tanks hold just fine. I had one guy idling next to me in the truckstop, air system popping off every 15 sec, I told him he had problems, he said "I didn't know what I was talking about, his air system was the best in any truck he'd ever seen, stays rock solid on 120 PSI"! Best test I know, is run down the interstate at highway speed, when you don't have to touch the brakes for a while and time how long between when the compressor "blows off", Min acceptable to me is 10 min, 15 to 30 your just doing ok. 45 min and you have one tight air system. If you can pass that test, then you can condemn the compressor if it is still slobbering and the engine blow by is in check.

Blow-by in the engine can effect the compressor, so I wouldn't condemn it until the engine is fixed and the air leaks are gone. Compressors are made for "duty cycles" meaning that much (way more than 1/2) of time they are (or should be) running "unloaded". If they are compressing most of the time, they will slobber. Every time I see a two valve Mack head, I think of how similar they look to a Leyland 680 head! I swear, somebody copied somebody else.

Please do, spring brakes and weak air tanks, can do a lot of damage if mis handled. A tank that has rusted to the point that you can put a screw through it is very weak and can do a lot of damage when it explodes. Spring brakes can hurt you good if you try and take them apart without caging the spring.

Full cap and it will be fine LOL. Worse tire I ever had was a tubeless General, I had it on a chassie as a roller and it was just sitting in the yard when it exploded, Virgin casing, never been capped and the tread wasn't worn off it yet, Just blew while sitting!

Bad air drier/ compressor cycling too much. How often does it cycle? A lot of time, spent in city stop and go traffic it will be hard for the best system to keep moisture out in the hot humid weather. One that is in poor condition will have no chance. Hooked to a trailer running down the road with no brake application, 15 minutes between the air drier blowing off is the minimum I like to see, I had one tight truck that would do 45. On the other hand I hear truck going down the road and cycling multiple times in one miniute!

Do you know for sure it hasn't leaked it charge? Bad clutch/clutch coil is a sign the clutch overheated. If it doesn't lock up with 12 volts to the clutch, I would suspect other problems as well. Some coils have a "thermal fuse" buried deep in the windings. If the clutch gets too hot from slipping, it lets go and keeps the belt from snapping. No way to replace/repair the fuse, you have to replace the whole clutch. If the system doesn't have a full charge there is a safety system Often a switch on the receiver that doesn't allow power to the clutch (as JJ mentioned). So, new compressor, which will require evacuating the system, and a recharge, then see if you have further problems. It may just be a loss of refrigerant.

Looks like one I had to deal with, someone listened to a old farmer and put "black pepper" in the cooling system to "cure" a coolant leak! Expensive "cheap fix"!

I lifted him to the drivers floor and he scrambled up onto the drivers seat from there. When he was younger and more agile, he would jump onto my shoulders to get out. Later I had to get him a ramp, but with that, he only took a few steps down the ramp and then jumped off the side of it! Believe me! No one was more glad I retired then he was! Before him, Jesse was 76 lbs. I put him in and out the same way.