Run the truck all night in negative temps or plug it in?

Power Service is on sale at Napa if you don’t already have a distributor. Says monthly special so December might be it.

 

When you get home or park do paperwork or clean truck for 30 minutes then roll truck back and forth a few times . This prevents most brake freezing issues

 

I've never been real keen on playing chicken with that one either. If the truck is sitting in your yard that's one thing. Out on the road I'm not taking chances because you're in a world of trouble if that thing doesn't start. Basic situational awareness.

 

A propane torch works for frozen brakes. Usually the shoes are “chocked” by ice on the drums.I’ve had to hammer them. That works, sometimes can be a tough job. Torch on the inside of drum works in seconds.

 

I just bought 2 of those. Had some credit at the Dealer. Got some filters, etc. I didn’t realize it was Fuel Treatment. I thought it was air system conditioner. Lol. Surprised to see a low price when I checked the receipt. I plan on getting more. Only thing I’ve used for years is the little white bottle of fppf, when fueling, to disperse water. It’s gotten too expensive though, it’s just liquid ether. Also I finally dropped the bottle itself into the tank. Found a piece of it in the filter. Oops!! Tanks been shut off since. Needs to come off and get cleaned. Even if the fuels good, low tanks will have ice frost inside from condensation. Once fueled up, it’s water, and ends up in the filers. I try to keep a bottle of air line antifreeze conditioner, and always 2 or 3 bottles of rubbing alcohol in case my air lines or dryer freeze up, using the conditioner afterwards. I’ve never gelled up. Water is the real enemy. I changed both fuel filters before Parking for Christmas. Letting it sit till tomorrow, it’s warming up above freezing. It should fire right up. Using treated winterized fuel, I don’t think additives are needed. Won’t hurt, maybe help the injectors stay clean and last longer.

 

Polar Power is all I knew growing up. My first real job after high school used it. They had been in business forever so I figured they had done all the trial and error over the years. Small oil company with a fleet of trucks.

I went to check the oil the other night. Shut down for 15 minutes. Added oil and fired back up. Got that awful frozen air noise. Happened so fast. So I took care of that as well.

Went to Napa and Tractor Supply yesterday for stuff I needed. Both places I checked fuel additive inventory out of curiosity. Napa had some. TSC had none at all.

 

If you’re running an old pre-DPF truck the best and cheapest anti-gel you can get is a little bit of unleaded in your tank. We ran a single 120gal tank at the flatbed company I drove for and we’d leave room for 8 to 10 gallons of gas if it was going to be -20 or colder. Later on when we started running Alberta and BC I would always try and top off on Alberta before coming south if we were going to have a cold snap.

 

I used to leave my rig running all weekend if it was gonna be cold enough that I though it wouldn’t crank .

yes it used fuel. But when I got back to the yard I’d hop in and start making money , the other guys would spend ALL day trying to get their rigs cranked .

Before I hitched up to a trailer i would always pull start one or two other guys trucks after they promised to pull start two trucks …

some rigs I would have to pull for half a Mile before they’d fire off .

 

If I'm running in snow and slop I drag the trailer brakes for a mile or so and warm the drums up good if I have to drop the trailer. That gets them warm so that you don't have ice and water in there when you set the brakes. If I stay hooked to the trailer I don't set the brakes and have trouble with them freezing up.