transporting a new truck

It's really not that bad btu over the years there has been bumper lights, flahers, pto's, load lights, MULTIPLE cb's and stereos not to mention tshicken lights. And every time they added something they added more buttconnectors but when they removed the stuff they just cliped the wires and left all the connectors. If you look at the wires for the turn signals there is like a dozen butt connectors attached and wires all jumbled up and when you pull apart the wires you realize they dont' go anywhere, or they go righ back to another butt connector. It's mind numbing.
I have a few rolls of Marine grade wire and a few boxes of marine grade connectors. That wire sucks to work with but if you rewire with it you won't look at it again for 10 years, guaranted.

I bought an 86 pete 359 flat top. I know it's old but I just love those trucks and I only gave $5k for it. worse case I could strip it and sell of parts for more than that. It's got a real good running 400 cummins with new bearings, injectors, tubes, injection pump, exhaust, windshields clutch and driveshafts. the 13 speed shifts nice and crisp although it does rattle the stick which drive me nuts.... pet peeve of mine... It does need tires though, at least 2 could live with 4 but in reality none of them are great.

 

Wow does that muffler guard look bad. Anybody know somebody who is replacing a set of straight pipes that are a bit rusty? I want to powder coat a set so I hope to be able to find a set used that will and blast clean.

 

yup, headach rack, lots of new stuff too. truck runs liek a champ I couldn't believe how well it ran. He told me it will do 5mpg to 5.5mpg loaded. Not sure but after bobtailing it home I figure it was about 930 miles (speedo sending unit is bad and had the seedo pegged whole trip, odometer says I traveled about 9k miles!!! talk about tripple digit truck!) I put about 140 gallons in it and I think I have about 20 gallons left, I have to stick the tank to see(oh ya, fuel gauge doesn't work either) so 120 gallons at 930 miles is what 7.75mpg or so, I don't have my calculator handy. Granted that's bobtiling but these mechanicals don't do much better bobtailing than loaded. at least my cats didn't

This thing used to be a car hauler at one time, if you look in front of the battery box you
ll see a big black square. it's 1/4" plate steel bolted to the frame on both sides and about a 3 inch square tube going between them. left overfrom the overhead rack. That has to be 1000 pounds of steel betwen that and the 1" by2" steel blocks welded to the rear frame for the RGN he was hauling with it. Got to get all that off of it.
The worst part to me is the fifth wheel is set up as an in cab air unlock but the air ram is gone so there is just a steel bar sticking out the front of the fifth wheel where the ram did mount to. You can do it by hand but you have to reach WAY in so I need to fab up something so I can reach it untill I can afford to do something more permenant.

 

he had the entire fifth wheel slide, rails and all moved back for that rgn. if you look in the picture that fifthwheel is all the way up. Great for hauling medical scanner like I have been doing but not good for much else.