Geoff Weeks

Only thing I'd add is DO YOUR HOMEWORK! don't guess, look at BSFC figures and base your desired operating speed to match that, realize often a small change makes big a difference, that is both good and bad, as if you are close but not right where you need to be, it could be a wasted effort. I did my Marmon and gained 3/4 to 1 MPG in my operation. I was mostly on hiway 65MPH and could make my selection based on that. I had a 15 spd Eaton that could handle the low end, but went with 2 spd rears anyway. I did a full spreadsheet, looking at starting ratio, and what it would do to hill climbing power, where the engine would be at differing speeds in all gears. When I did the swap, everything was where the math said it would be, made a much more "driveable" truck for my use. That said, I have heard from many that made swaps based on "what someone else said would be better" or a seat of the pants "guess" and were unhappy (not surprisingly) with the outcome. Your truck and engine are new enough you should be able to get the BSFC graphs, you need to really log your usage and look at all you need it to do, starting in soft ground etc. before making a choice. It may take more gears in the trans to make use of the gears in the back to their best. If you just slow it down in the rear, you may have trouble getting out of soft ground loaded. It is a whole system, and needs to be looked at that way. In my opinion, 10 spds have too much ratio gaps, but I was working on older, mechanical engines, designed for many ratio transmissions (13 or more gears). Still the starting ability on soft ground is still something you need to keep in mind.

That is Canada, so likely 0.97 per liter. Gas was not anywhere near .97/gal in 1989.

All my trucks had the starter and air start tank on the drivers side, but they were Cat and Cummins. I don't think you would put the air start tank on one side the the starter on the other. My '89 had dual 150's, but some O/O types ran more than that. Then theft becomes bigger risk.

Old steel tanks like his and mine, USED to cost around $1.00/gal and Aluminum was $2.00/gal. I was in for sticker shock when I went looking before repairing what I had. They are very expensive now. I fixed what I had rather than pay the stupid prices. They were not all that much cheaper than the Aluminum one quoted above.

Ok, someone put a newer tank on there. Step tanks up to the late 70's have the Tolhiem access plate, as both Ford and IHC big Gassers used that in tank pump. That tank is from a later year, when the gassers were no more and diesel was the fuel of choice. When you put it back, do yourself a favor and either get some strap webbing or make some by cutting an old inner tube to put between the strap and tank. Everything flexes and it will rust and wear a hole under the strap.

Vlad, If his tank is like any of my step tanks, they have a plate on top for access to the Tolhiem pump that was original fuel pump for the truck. With that removed, there is plenty of room to get your whole arm in the tank. It is a large "D" shaped opening. My tanks tended to rust out under the "bands" and around the step area. I can take pictures of what I'm talking about, but it will be obvious once the tank is out.

Bocky, you bring up something that happened to me last week. I was traveling to my brothers house in DMZ IA, and saw Love's had the cheapest unleaded. I pulled in and started to pump, no where around the grade selection buttons did it say anything other than "unleaded, Super unleaded and "premium" But on the top of the pump there was a little area that stated all fuel other than premium were 15% alcohol while "premium" was 10%. Around me, they have the alcohol content labeled at the selection buttons. I stopped pumping (I was driving a pre 2001, which is not supposed to have that much alcohol). Buyer beware! I buy Premium with no alcohol for my '84 Saab, 10% for my Toyota, The K-7 burns a lot when it is run, but gets run not much. Still that was, what I would call deceptive on Love's part. You can (and most stations do) put the alcohol content above or below the grade selection button. They have seen the last of my money!

It is my understanding that the LV (as well as Ford SD) have in tank Tolhiem fuel pumps, no? so at least the evaporation problem that many of us struggle with (fuel evaporates from the carb, fuel pump) is a non issue and should prime quickly. I have similar step tanks on my K and similar rust problems. You can increase the filter size or keep many on hand. Clear filters can help see the problem before it plugs.

I know more than a few oldtimer that never pull the wheels for brake jobs, doesn't matter if inboard or outboard, they pull the hub and wheels as one. If you are working on a smooth shop floor, a big piece of tin layed under the tires and slicked up with soap and water, just slide them out. I was always doing it in dirt, so would use my boom truck when I could. Trailer hubs you can't do that, but they make a slider tray for dual, which is slick. Quicker to pull the hub and wheels together and allows for bearing inspection also. Only down side is if you find you need a drum, with out board you have to pull them apart, in board it can depend.

Kinda begs the question, what is the intended use of the truck? If you plan on using the 58's to their fullest, then stay with 24" TT, if you are not, but are still going to load the truck, I think those 58's would be an albatross in terms of parts when on the road. If it is a "hobby" truck then the 24" tires will out last your lifetime, so again no reason to change. Seams like a whole lot of money to spend if you don't need too.

Then I'd say it isn't a common occurrence. I've had SP-4 spring brake valves on a trailer fail, and will not apply the spring brakes until all the air leaks out of the tank, I wouldn't use that to condemn spring brakes. It was a one off failure that can and did cause problems holding a loaded truck (tractor spring brakes were not alone strong enough on the grade it was parked on). Any truck with a driveshaft parking/E brake is subject to that failure, not just 2 spds. It was the reason that trucks got away from driveshaft brakes in general. I have repair more than a few snapped axle shafts, and most were on single speed axles, but they are more common anyway, so can't say why they snapped but it would point to operator error. Never snapped anything on stuff I owned.

Yes, Paul you are correct. I didn't take the two posts as one connected incident. However my comment about spring brakes stands. most all tractors will have spring brakes on the wheel ends. It was why they were retro-fitted to older equipment still operating. Thank you for pointing it out. That said, I have never twisted off an axle shaft, and moved loads in 170,000 lb range, not much for some of your Roadtrains, but for the US considered heavy, BTW that was done through a 14" organic double disk clutch.

In the above quote, I was talking about shifting the rear only. Like any compound shift, you need to take into consideration what is happening ratio wise. If you pre select a compound shift (moving trans and rear) like any other you can get caught with neither in gear. I will upshift the trans, and down shift the rear as I complete the shift. So double clutch upshift, when letting the clutch out when in higher gear, make the change on the rear. This means a larger drop in engine RPM to make the shift in the main but gets speeded up before load is on it. How wide the step also plays a part, My K's have a big step between 3rd and 4th, you need to downshift the rear making that jump, if you pre-select low range when you 1st break torque, there is nothing to speed the driveshaft up to match the rear low ratio to what the driveshaft is spinning. If the engine is against the gov, you can't speed up the driveshaft, so neither will go into gear. Kinda like shifting a 13 speed, make the main upshift 1st and the rear ( or in case of the 13, splitter gear)2nd. Sound more difficult than it is, but with a gas engine the ratio jumps tend to be bigger than with a close ratio box with a diesel. Most gassers have a 5 main and 2 spd rear, many diesels may have a 5 speed main and 3 spd aux. for the same ratio spread. A little time in and becomes 2nd nature.

Fine then you are saying wait the decades for the money before doing anything! Companies will declare bankruptcy and courts will have to sell off what few assets there are. Neither Biden nor I am saying don't go after the company, but what is being said, is lets get going! We need the port open, and we need the roadway. If you want to wait until all funds are collected from other entities, the port will never be open again. We have already spent more money then the assets of the ship owner (responsible party) so are you suggesting we stop now? Think about it. I am not saying it is fair or just, but it is what it is.

Sure, if you want to wait decades for the lawsuits to make it through the court process. Eventually, moneys will be recovered, but chances are not 100%, and in the mean time, the port is closed and traffic diverted. The US is going to act as bank, finance the removal and replacement, the costs to our economy is such we can't wait for the lawsuits to be settled, and recover as much as possible when all is done.

No, you learn to park in low range! Never snapped an axle shaft in 1000's of mile pulling with them. You sound like a guy at work who managed to snap the shift handle off the top of shifter rod, can break an anvil with a rubber hammer. By the mid 60's if not before, tractors and most air braked trucks had spring brakes and axle isn't even a factor,

There may be a "European" bolt pattern disk hub that will carry the big bearings. Plenty of disks made for those hubs, but still not what I'd call common. That said, I wouldn't have made the change to begin with.

Brocky, I can see where flipping something on the dash might throw off timing. On my K's I pre-select,so on upshift there is already vacuum at the diaphragm, and once torque load is off the gears the shift takes place. downshift is a little more tricky, as you have to "break torque and quickly raise the engine speed to complete the shift.. Both ways are pre-selected. In the Marmon, with the gov diesel, it is a little easier to control the engine rpm, than it is with carb'd gas.

My Marmon has two speeds front and rear on the tandems. Air shift (piston type) and never had a problem, always shifted when I needed them to. I started out in low every time, they got used alot.

That is not a Loadstar, it is a V model. BTW I maintained a Loadstar school bus on air brakes, you could get a Loadstar with air brakes, just as you could a K-7 (around the same GVW range) and all "midrange" IHC's. Juice brakes were more common, but air was an option.

With any two speed you are not going to have lightning fast shifts. Air and Vacuum, use air pressure as a cushion, Electric needs a torsion spring. (note early diaphragm air shift also used torsion spring) that is known to break without warning. I have two single axle on vacuum shift and one tandem on air (piston type), I find both reliable and easy to "learn" My air shift is electric over air, air solenoid controls air pressure to both front and rear axle shift motors (pistons). The two vacuum shift are cable to valve with no other power needed.

Right kind of wheels, non syncro, 2 spd rear.... Life is good! Air, electric or vacuum on the 2 spd shift motor? Air is my 1st choice, vacuum 2nd and electric last.

Which side of the seal is it on? That looks like it could be a "weep hole" to allow any coolant that gets by the face seal to drain out and not destroy the bearings, also to vent air from the bearing cavity when there are temp changes. If you have a lot of coolant leaking from it than the face seal is shot. If I am wrong and it is on the impeller side of the seal, then disassemble, clean the casting and braize shut.

Not really, These trucks were used to pull semi trailers after WW2 when trucks were in short supply. They were geared to run 55 @ rated RPM. Mine will top out at 62-63 at redline. Smaller, lighter trucks were sold to small farms, etc had the flathead, and were more 45 mph trucks. The -6 and up had IHC designed OHV engines, lined blocks (for easy overhaul) and were trucks from the get go. I can only conclude they didn't understand the dynamics of driveshafts turning at high speeds. Like the OP'ers truck, it was designed for longer trips on hiway.

I was chasing a bad vibration, I used to be able to run the truck at 50-55 and it was un-drivable above 35. The rear shaft had bowed badly, not from any hit but from running above the critical speed. The more a dove into the problem, the only thing that made sense. I started laying out a replacement shaft and once I ran it through the Spicer calculator, I found stock would not work. The hard part was U joints were obsolete and I had to switch to a more modern joint. That meant changing yokes and had to make the tube a lot larger to make it stronger. Ended up putting more in the shaft than the truck cost me 20 years ago!