Project Big Blue

[chillman88]

I wanted to "like" this, but I have to it instead because of all of the extra issues that you've had.

On the bright side, he's ironing out the kinks on someone else's truck so he can get ours right!

 

[IDIBRONCO]

On the bright side, he's ironing out the kinks on someone else's truck so he can get ours right!

Sounds ok for us.

 

[Dane Rickford]

I wonder if Wes will want an employee/apprentice in a couple years, it sure would be neat to learn everything there is to know about these engines, turbos, and pumps

 

[chillman88]

I wonder if Wes will want an employee/apprentice in a couple years, it sure would be neat to learn everything there is to know about these engines, turbos, and pumps

He does, but you're not a cute blonde Texas girl so I don't think it would work

 

[Dane Rickford]

He does, but you're not a cute blonde Texas girl so I don't think it would work

I didn’t know that was a requirement I guess I’ll have to go work for Justin instead

 

[Laine D]

I wonder if Wes will want an employee/apprentice in a couple years, it sure would be neat to learn everything there is to know about these engines, turbos, and pumps

Make that 2 employee/apprentices lol

 

[IDIBRONCO]

He told me that he's pretty picky on the work that comes out of his hop and even a couple(?) of the guys he went to school with didn't do things like he wanted. I guess that's good for us. Just not for high volume.

 

[Dane Rickford]

That’s exactly how the saddle maker who taught me how to build saddles is. He told me the first time I take a short cut, it’s time to stop making saddles. I think that philosophy can be applied most everywhere in life

 

[chillman88]

That’s exactly how the saddle maker who taught me how to build saddles is. He told me the first time I take a short cut, it’s time to stop making saddles. I think that philosophy can be applied most everywhere in life

Very true but also very rare sadly. I work with LOTS of guys that don't care at all and it drives me NUTS

 

[Dane Rickford]

Very true but also very rare sadly.

Indeed, very sadly it’s becoming more and more rare

 

[Laine D]

Fa

That’s exactly how the saddle maker who taught me how to build saddles is. He told me the first time I take a short cut, it’s time to stop making saddles. I think that philosophy can be applied most everywhere in life

there aren’t many, if not any cheap Shortcuts that lead to a good quality product.

 

[onetonjohn]

On the upside if you focus on quality and always do your best, you will likely never be unemployed.

 

[Scotty4]

No shortcuts. Only tricks of the trade that come with experience and lend to speed. Lots of kids don’t want to put in the time!

 

[Dane Rickford]

On the upside if you focus on quality and always do your best, you will likely never be unemployed.

No shortcuts. Only tricks of the trade that come with experience and lend to speed. Lots of kids don’t want to put in the time!

This is very true. That’s a lesson I learned real darn fast with horse training. Under normal (by normal I mean the absence of a pandemic ) circumstances I’m completely swamped with work, simply because I refuse to do a bad job

 

[Thewespaul]

Thanks for the kind words guys, not looking for help right now but if anyone knows how to get more hours in the day please inform me!

Last weekend I had a trailer rented to pickup one of my containers with the Dually on Saturday, Sunday I hooked it up to big blue and loaded it with a 94 F350 idit 4x4 crew cab long bed truck on big tires and an rsk that weighs in at 10.5k empty, took it to town to pick up half a pallet of concrete slabs to level the containers, filled the truck up with fuel and hit I-10 towards comfort to hit some long hills and steep grades, some in the 7% range, with a combined weight of at least 20k lbs.

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It was enough weight for the mud flaps to almost be touching the ground on level ground, but still had plenty of clearance with the 5” single piece driveshaft, and most importantly plenty of power!

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As y’all can see from the video no problem pulling that load up any grade I could put in front of it. Temps stayed good the whole time, and cruise control never came close to wot to maintain speed. Engine braking works fantastic with the built trans, but seems the rear brakes are still not contributing much despite the adjustment when I did the rear end. Just before pulling into the shop to unload I topped the tank back off and checked mpg.

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12 mpg with that much weight behind it is pretty good. There’s idis out there that get that kind of mileage empty, and considering my dads 2015 duramaz gets 14 empty, it’s pretty impressive for an mechanical dinosaur. Got an email today the new housings are on there way, so dyno results will be coming soon. Despite what it reads on the rollers, the real world performance is outstanding and it checks all the marks for an awesome ride, cold ac, comfy ride, all the right noises, no leaks or oil consumption, and tons of waves and thumbs up from everyone that sees it. Very pleased with how the truck has turned out, it’s exceeded my expectations for the project, excited to see what @94bluebeast thinks about his previously 160hp truck once traveling opens back up!