So..... How's your day going????

Good looking rig. That's what our 40+ year old trucks look like down here in the southwest. Rust free other than some surface patina. A shame what that road salt does to cars... you'd think with technology nowadays we could come up with a better idea to fight winter with. Or a better way to defend cars against it. Guess it doesn't much matter anymore since all the good cars and trucks are mostly left abandoned in a field somewhere

 

That's minor mate. Could have been impossibly worse, like Johnny Cash's Cadillac with a 3 foot title!!

 

Too Many Junkyards from Oklahoma westbound All Along The Watchtower of I-40, for one example.

CHEERS!!​

 

10th digit of the VIN tells the model year. This applies to all motor vehicles.
1995 was the last year for TBI engines. 1996 was the new injection system. Higher horsepower engines. All new stuff behind them.

 

My dad still says that his old truck was a 1976….it was a 1986. We know what he means! LOL

 

That’s funny. Sign of getting older. My Dad did the same.He’d slip and call a previously owned 70’s car a 60’s.

 

Yesterday I woke up, 4 hours from my delivery, with no time to spare. I start running, trying to get as close as possible before the phone calls start. I think I hear a ringing this noise. Turbo fins? No way. Bad a/c clutch? Maybe. Keep running. I hear a faint buzzer. WTF is that? Must be my imagination. Too much stress. Keep running. Suns coming up, gotta beat rush hour. I noticed my power window moving slowly. Look at the voltmeter ( hidden by the steering wheel) Almost in the red. Turn headlights off. Keep running. Thank God it’s not raining. Check the map, where the hell am I? Freightliners 6 miles ahead. Good, perfect timing. I stop there, turn off inverter, (the buzzing noise) open the hood. Hoping it’s just a belt, knowing the belts fairly new. Alternator bearing is toast. Dealer is out of stock. Phone starts ringing. I assure the Broker I’ll pick up by 1:00 pm. Explain the situation. Assure him I got it under control. He’s very understanding. I buy a battery and keep rolling. Deliver, and head to the pick up. Everyones happy. Truck starts shutting down, but keeps running. I stop, swap the new battery in. Showing some voltage now. By now the cooling wheel behind the pulley is ringing pretty loud. Goes away at higher RPMs, so I keep running. Get to P/U. at 12:30. Stop, before going in, pulleys ringing very loud. I imagine it flying through my new radiator. I take a chance, shut Truck off, take belt off. It barely starts back up, off the one battery. No more noise. 3 hrs later, I’m loaded. 2 hrs later, I’m at another Dealer. Buy an alternator. They swap the pulley for free. Now it’s dark. The one good battery’s getting very low. Put new alternator on, drive 3 miles with lights on to get fuel, park on the down hill entrance ramp. Shut it off, put the belt on. Out of curiosity I tried to crank it. No Go. Put it in gear, turn key on, roll it a bit, let clutch out. Success. Lol. Wake up today, it’s still charging like crazy. I’ll swap the one dead battery back in tomorrow. Eventually add the new one, so I have 4 instead of 3. What a day. I deliver on Saturday. P/U on Sunday. Almost ruined my week. I really can’t afford that. Today’s my Birthday. That’s my gift. I’ll take it!!