Terry T

where in IN is it? I am in the Ft Wayne area. If your friend has trouble getting past it and it is near me I would be able to help you out with pictures.

Your flirtin' with disaster paintin' it Cat yellow!!! A few years back when Shawn and I were putting together the engine for the motorhome, Genie came down and decided to paint the engine for his street stock that was setting in Shawns garage, grabbed a can of Cat yellow and said this will work, I looked at him and said I wouldn't paint it Cat yellow unless you don't want to finish the 1st race of the season. Guess what, he exploded the left side of the engine right off 10 laps into the 1st race!!! I have never seen an engine do that, other than top fuel stuff. We of course, to this day, blame the Cat yellow.

Larry, That would be a conestoga wagon. The "curtain sides" have a solid roof, front and swing rear doors with soft sides and a removable support on each side. You can load and unload with an overhead crane on a conestoga, but not on a "curtain side". These are taughtliners or "curtain sides". I couldn't find any pics on line of conestogas. T.

Rob, A company I use to work for had a customer that required dock loading in northern Indiana, but their customer required side unloading in Texas so we utilized taught-liners (curtain sides) for this customer. The driver swung the doors, backed into the dock and customer loaded trailer, Driver would then pull out, loosen the curtains at the bottom and secured the load with 4 inch straps just as you would a flat bed, then re-secure the bottom of the curtains. These trailers keep water out just as well as a very good tarp job. Many lumber operations used the taught-liners (still do) but the Conastogas have been utilized now with lumber operations as well as a lot of steel haulers using them too. T.

Some friends lost their son to SIDS a few years back. That one day each year is very hard on them. We are thinking about you. Terry & Kim

Well.... probably not woth much, but I am feeling generous today and I would give you $100.00. Seriously, I would really like to see pic's of this truck. Must be a beaut! I would not even begin to guess what to ask for it. The market is so depressed right now that it would be difficult to sell. Did you ever see the '84 (I think 84) R Model S/A with only about 35 miles on it that was for sale every place for mid 5 figures? It did finally sell, but not sure what it brought. I hope you can post some pic's soon. Probably looks a little better than my F.

Don't worry about the Astro, I was just kidding about that.

Then haul an Astro from IA back to IN? got the loading and unloading covered in the IN side, I bet Mike can handle the loading and unloading on the IA side......

I had that info posted at the ATHS website, but it was deleted as the thread turned very political and apparently there was some "mudslinging" among some of the posters. Personally I oppose any "Clunker" legislation as (as has been mentioned) they tend to be misguided attempts to make for a better enviroment.

No, that is a frame mounted tow hook, the fender bracket is at the bottom of the frame rails. I had to look a couple times too. Makes for a great optical illusion considering where the bracket is for the mud flat that is no longer there.

It is a fine line between BRAVE and STUPID.... Fire was mostly out, worse part was wading in the 5 or so inches of water that was on the floor of the barn, That's why I always carry my fire boots, which kept my feed dry, but I had to strip down to a tee shirt when I bent under the truck to hook so I wouldn't get my other shirts, & jacket wet. Easier to dry off my arms then it is 3 layers of clothes.

My choice would be

Kinda reminds me of this recovery too. Smelly job....

Barry, The fire compromised all of the valves and did create some small leaks. Was unable to pump off the propane so I was asked to move it to a shop owned by a volunteer FF from a neighboring dept, and park it out in his field to let it leak off. It was about a 4 1/2 mile trip. The truck had gotten very hot and the propane was nearly boiling inside. It was after dark when I moved it and it still had steam coming off of it as the outside air cooled the tank. when I pulled into Jerry's drive I notice that the "steam" was getting rather thick, and realized that it wasn't just steam, but the truck had rekindled during the trip, I called county dispatch, then dropped the truck and pulled away, I knew the tank would not bleve, but I also knew that if that cloud of propane made contact with the fire source (somewhere in or under the cab) we would have a nice little flash fire. The crushing of the back of the cab was done when Jerry brought around his backhoe to "tilt" the cab so the FF's could get to the fire. It set there the better part of the winter, but it did finally leak off all of the propane.

Several years ago, Century re-badged there 5030 (25,000 boom/30,000 under reach) to 5130 for single drive application and 5230 for tandem drive application. The dealers pushed the 5130 as they would sell them for a s/a application, thereby avoiding the additon FET (Federal Excise Tax) then when they were ready to install on the truck, the dealer cut out the area ahead of the axle cut out for the 2nd drive axle. With only one drive axle you are suppose to get better fuel mileage and purchasing a used single axle is typically cheaper than a used tandem. For simple traveling and for a lot of the towing that is done, you can be legal with a single axle, but if you find yourself in need of a tandem you have one with the lift axle. One thing I always believed, and a few tow operators are now trying is a tag axle (behind the drives). The thought here is that adding air to the tag can push more weight to the steer axle which typically lightens up when towing refuse trucks, dump trucks, and other vocational trucks. The above might have gotten a little involved, I guess I could have just said that many times a s/a is sufficent, but sometimes the weight of the casualty requires a tandem. With the lift axle you should see better fuel mileage, less maintainance, less tire & brake wear, and your wrecker is a bit lighter as well. I posted the pic of my Ford, struggling with the concrete pumper chassis, the steer axle was actually bouncing off the ground on rougher streets. My Mack had no trouble with that broke down Peterbilt.

Made me think of this Midliner that was loaded 80% when I towed it out of the burning building.

In the time you waste looking for a driveshaft that fits, then the money spent getting it, then you get it and find the spline is shot anyway. You will be time and money ahead to just have one built for you. All the shops around me have a one to two day turn around. 65% of the Dump trucks, straight trucks, etc on the road today have a custom cut or built drive shaft in them. Anything built for vocational use and set on a lot as a stock truck is typically built too long so everything is cut down to fit the customers requirements. Don't waste your time looking for a driveshaft that does not exist. Just get your measurements and call a reputable driveline, clutch shop, etc in your area and have them build what you need.

The compaines that I grew up with and work for until 1992 were IHC/Mack with a few GMC's tossed in for good measure. We had 21 MH's during their run and most everyone loved them. They rode very well, & the layout inside was nice. I enjoyed driving them. I must admit though, when we began getting the CH's I was in "dog" heaven! I do remember a ground issue with one I drove once and that was with the dimmer switch. The run I made in this truck was two rounds from Ft Wayne to Lafayette IN starting at midnight. Half way to Lafayette I hit the brights all was ok, dimmed them and went to just one left head light, no dash lights everything was screwed up. Was ok when I went back to brights, just glad it was spring and the sun was up by 6:30am.

Steve is (was) a member here. http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/northberge....xml&coll=3 COPS: TOWING CO. IN CRASH & BURN SCAM Boss, four drivers arrested; probe 'looking at lots of illegal activity' Saturday, December 06, 2008 By MICHAELANGELO CONTE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER NORTH BERGEN - The owner of a towing service with a township contract and four of his drivers stole trucks and tried to launch them from a cliff in a scheme to get the recovery fees, police said yesterday. "I don't know how big this will become," said North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, implying at a press conference yesterday that the charges related to HighPoint Towing may be the tip of the iceberg. "All other agencies are now actively working on this." HighPoint owner Steven Avella, 53, was arrested on charges of arson for hire, conspiracy to commit theft and two counts of insurance fraud, police said. Police said he paid his workers up to $600 to take the two trucks. Driver Vincent Garrison, 28, of Union City, was charged with arson for hire, theft, conspiracy to commit theft and possession of burglary tools, police said. Driver Brian Sheppard, 29, of Secaucus, was charged with aggravated assault by auto and witness tampering, police said. Driver Rafael Morales, 40, of Union City, was charged with theft, possession of burglary tools and conspiracy to commit theft, police said. Former driver Christopher Baulch, 30, of Lyndhurst, was charged with theft and conspiracy to commit theft, police said. "Without giving away too much about our investigation, there is a lot of illegal activity we are looking at," said Lt. Frank Cannella, adding that there was no evidence the owners of the vehicles had any involvement. Police say the drivers were paid by Avella, 53, of Union City, to steal two trucks that the drivers then attempted to launch from a cliff behind a Paterson Plank Road car wash, police said. The trucks got caught up on trees at the top of the cliff to Tonnelle Avenue. A truck carrying a dumpster was stolen, driven off the cliff and salvaged by HighPoint on Oct. 5, police said. On Oct. 17, they did the same thing with the cab of a tractor trailer, but the township uses two towing services and HighPoint's shift was almost over. Cannella said the drivers feared the other company would get the $18,000 towing fee, so they lit the truck on fire to get immediate action. That incident also triggered the investigation, Cannella said, adding that the truck was totaled and the insurance company paid the owner $118,000, police said. The towing company has locations on Tonnelle Avenue and 54th Street in North Bergen and 22nd Street off Bergenline Avenue in Union City, police said. HighPoint has towing contracts at the state and federal levels as well. Workers at the North Bergen garage chose not to comment on the arrests yesterday afternoon. Avella is being held at Hudson County jail in Kearny on a bail of $75,000 cash only. The four drivers posted bail. Additional local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies were involved in the probe.

I have owned two '78 T/A's. A black one with an automatic and a gold one with a 4 speed. I haven't owned a U Model yet. I would go with the U. T.

When I started driving the '95 CH613 Wrecker I was suprised when I could not idle up while the low air buzzer was on. This truck belonged to the Mack/Volvo dealership so I asked the senior mechanic about it. He stated that as long as the brake lights are on, the cruise will not set, and until it is aired up the brake lights are on so he wired in an on/off switch for the brake lights between the low air indicator and the brake light switch. Flip the switch and problem fixed. This switch also had no effect on the brake lights from the pedal, so if I forgot to flip the switch back, I did still have brake lights. I am not a mechanic so I really cannot tell you anymore than that. T.

That trailer has singles, like Rob said, no problem, I ran along at 55-75mph all the way across Indiana and Illinois without an issue. If I ever buy a goosneck of my own, I will have duels under it, but that is just my preference. T.

Not sure of the weight, but I attempted to move my B61 s/a without body on it, just the chassis & running gear with an IHC 4700 Rollback and it was way too much for the truck. This is what I used to move a S/A B Wrecker from NE Indiana to eastern Iowa. T.

I would like to see pictures of that. Would also like to own it! Use to be you could get an X-fire truck dirt cheap and they almost always had low miles and somewhat low hours on them, but time has caught up with that and the great deals on fire trucks are gone. A department that I was on in the late 1980's had a 1967 IHC Loadstar tanker that was 2nd due on fires. When it was sold in the early 1990's it had less than 5,000 miles on it, gas engine so no hour meter, but it had a remote engine pump so the engine had no pump hours on it. Sold for something like $1,500.00! If only I knew then what I know now..........