THE ADVENTURES MK III - Still doing it my way

Discussion in 'Schneider' started by dieselfuelonly, Nov 5, 2014.

  1. TennMan

    TennMan Road Train Member

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    Hazzard County Jail !!!!!
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    I would install a stripper pole for under the shower and hire a dancer to perform while it rains sitting in my driveway.

    But I'm Twisted like that.
     
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  3. mickimause

    mickimause Road Train Member

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    Central Michigan
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    No snow yet...gonna wash your mouth out with soap for talking like that!!

    Butane season now, which means I sit & wait almost as much as I drive ..
     
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  4. Box of Tj

    Box of Tj Light Load Member

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    Nov 22, 2014
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    I would get a real nice laminate. Cheaper, more durable. Actual hardwood can warp and do some crazy things with vibration and god forbid you spill anything. Unless that's what you meant, then disregard...
     
  5. dieselfuelonly

    dieselfuelonly Road Train Member

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    Guess I should update.

    Still driving dumptrucks, working for a local company that could give me some more hours than I could get with my neighbor since things really slowed down for him. It's ok, but unfortunately if I only drove I wouldn't get that many hours, so sometimes I work in the shop, sometimes I run equipment, sometimes I'm just a laborer. I drive several different trucks depending on what we're doing. Got some old Macks with the Maxitorque 6-speed that you can make a sandwich in between shifts with. Also have some decent T800s with 8LLs and CAT 3406s for the longer runs. My favorite is this old Autocar that we use for hauling busted concrete, etc. The original engine is long gone so someone threw in a monster Cummins that was designed for industrial use, probably a genset or a piece of equipment or something. Turbo rivals my deuce and a half when it comes to noise. Not exactly road friendly but it has so much power it's absolutely stupid. Only the signal lights (barely) work. Jake doesn't work, probably doesn't even have one because why would an industrial engine need a jake. The splitter isn't hooked up on the 13 speed so it only runs as a 9 speed. In the mornings you have to hold the top of the shifter down or it leaks so much air it won't move the solenoid to get it in high range. Literally the only things that work on this truck are the bare minimums that allow it to go from A to B and dump. But everyone else hates it so I always run it when I can because I have a good time with it, lol.

    Pay sucks. I could work 5 days driving my big truck and take a week off and still make more than I would here working 2 5-day weeks. But, I'm home every night and I have weekends off which is nice. I'll stick with it at least through the winter/early spring. It's giving me some time to work on my T600 doing some stuff I couldn't do if I was trying to run the truck on the road. I spend a bit of time each weekend on it.

    I was usually good about checking on the T600 while it was parked, but I did have a busy few weeks and forgot about it. Rained a ton and the sunroof was leaking (yeah yeah still haven't fixed it) and it made a mess. It was during that time of the year here where it may get down to the high 30s at night and then be 70* during the day. Got all humid and wet and moldy on the inside. Finally a good excuse to take it all apart.

    Gonna take everything out of the cab and sleeper (short of the dashboard because that looks like a nightmare). Every bit of carpet carpet/leather side paneling/leather roof padding in the truck will be GONE. Seats are due for replacement anyway after 1.3 million miles. Especially now that they have a nice layer of mold.

    I'll probably cut out some nice wooden panels to replace all the padded leather panels that KW originally put in. Still got a lot of taking apart to do first though before I worry about what will go back in. Not sure what I'm going to do for the cab floor yet. Since it angles up near the throttle/brake pedals, I'll probably just try to do some rubber or spray-on type floor that will be easy to clean. I'm thinking maybe I'll use that cork flooring stuff in the sleeper. It's easy to keep clean and is nice and soft compared to a regular hardwood floor. I just can't stand carpet flooring.

    I'm gonna take out all the cabinets/shelves/etc and probably trash them. They're pretty useless. I'll just build my own instead. The couch will come out too because I never really used it, I always had it folded down as a bed. Sleeping on the top bunk was OK in the winter but too hot during the summer. What I'm thinking about is actually building a bed that goes sideways in the sleeper, behind either the driver or passenger side. I need to check to make sure I could lay down comfortably, but I think it should work since the sleeper is 86" and I'm around 5' 11" or so. Then I could build a desk on the other side and have room for a chair to actually sit comfortably in. That's one thing I've yet to find in a truck - a comfortable place to sit upright and use a computer or write in a notebook, etc. I'll probably take out the factory fridge and build some cabinets around a dorm-style fridge with an actual freezer. Then just make shelves and stuff as I see fit. Instead of cabinet doors I think I'll just put a bit of an tilt to the shelves so they angle towards the walls. Dunno how easy that will be. I'm not much of a woodworker.

    Sleeper heater core will get removed since it's already disconnected anyway. I'll probably be removing the APU and all of it's components as well so I can get around to building my own system that runs off all 120v instead.

    Long way to go but I've got plenty of time to work on it now, and I've needed a good project to keep me busy...

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  6. 91B20H8

    91B20H8 Road Train Member

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    Oct 17, 2012
    The Heart of the North, Mi
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    glad to hear yer still kickin,start lookin in the junkyard RV places for ideas maybe?
     
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  7. MThunter

    MThunter Bobtail Member

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    Sep 24, 2015
    Louisville, KY
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    Good to hear from you, DFO. Although your hiatus made it possible for me to read every post in all of your threads since you started with Schneider. Quite the saga. Thanks for sharing it. I wonder if you've considered being a diesel truck mechanic? There definitely aren't enough, especially good ones. Just a thought. You're a smart guy and you'll do really well at whatever you put your mind to.
     
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  8. Lone Ranger 13

    Lone Ranger 13 Road Train Member

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    Sep 27, 2012
    Asheville, NC
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    DFO. Good to hear from you . Been off 2.5 years myself due to elderly parents. I get restless and bored sometimes and get the urge to put my 2003 379 back on the road. I buy insurance and apply to a company and then can't follow through. Just did it again. Spent $2800 on repairs. $1500 to get a turnaround spot in my driveway (so I don't have to back in of a curvy road ). Got approved and got a packet from a good company. Just need a drug test.
    My neighbor builds building sites around here. I think he only got through 8 th grade a told he would be a failure. He's got a three month backup of work , but found the time to fix my driveway . Told me $1200 for 2
    loads of busted up asphalt, 1 load of gravel, bulldozer time and tractor time ...... and just went ahead and bushhogged some my overgrown land and the sides of my driveway. I said,"that sounds like a good deal". He said ,"it is, but you are my neighbor ". So I got him up to $1500. But at the bank I took out $1700. Tried to give it to him. He would only take $1500. I asked what the non-neighbor price was . $2000 he said. Anyway, I mentioned he wasn't well educated. I suspect he is a millionaire. He owns 30 acres next door. Around here, it's probably worth $30k per acre. And he told me he's got a $550k house up for sale. He suggested I turn my truck into a dump truck.
    Anyway, here's my little contribution to the famous DFO thread.
     
  9. sadwar

    sadwar Road Train Member

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    Jul 8, 2012
    Lockport, IL
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    Roll on dfo....

    Roll on....
     
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  10. mickimause

    mickimause Road Train Member

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    Jan 1, 2014
    Central Michigan
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    Awesome to hear that you are doing well! I miss your updates - the humor you see and write, even in the worst of things, helps keep me going!

    Take care of yourself, and good luck with the truck mods! And keep up posted!!!
     
  11. Opus

    Opus Road Train Member

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    South GA
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    Brother DFO!!!! Good to hear from you!!!

    My experience is that you keep on doing stuff you really don't like until you luck up on something you really do like. Life is funny and God has a plan for you, (He just ain't gonna tell you what it is.......).
    To paraphrase Casey Kasem, "Keep your head up, and keep reaching for the stars."

    Have you ever considered a nice laminate for your floor? Really inexpensive, should stick well to metal, is flexible for that part near the pedals, cleans up easy, and you can replace it when it gets wore out. If you install it while your cabinets are out, you won't have to do as much trimming. I'd make a template out of paper and trim it in the shop and install that way. Or hire a pro to do it for like a hundred bucks or so.

    Good luck, brother and keep in touch.
     
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