IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
There's always next time when there's just snow.
So what did you do with your truck today?
- Thread starter GOOSE
- Start date
XOLATEM
Full Access Member
You reminded me of the 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' book by a guy named Pirsig.
He talked about the two 'maintenance' camps...the first one follows the recommendations either by the manufacturer's, bike shop's, or current gearhead wisdom....and the other camp is the 'wait until it don't run and then fix it or pay someone else to'...
Pirsig opted to do his own valve adjusting at the prescribed time no matter where he happened to be at the time. I believe he carried the tools and used a restaurant or gas station parking lot.
I believe that someone sells specialized tools to knock out that little chore with less frustration than in the past....you just motivated me to find them and add to my collection. I was hoping to build another engine for the 'ol girl over the winter...if I can quit SHOVELING SNOW !!!....
Currently I have a flywheel puller and a case splitter...valve adjustment tools sound good.
THANKS ! again...
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
Most people I know are this way. On vehicles too. If I had the time, and a heated place to work on stuff at home, I could probably make a decent amount of side money fixing their toys.
If those tools exist, I don't know about them. In my opinion, you'd have to have something for every valve clearance. I've even seen some specs that had .002"-.003" variance between max and minimum specs. I do it the old fashioned way. With feeler gauges, wrenches, screwdrivers, and a lot of four letter words. Come to think of it, my feeler gauges are good for multiple valve clearance specs. Maybe I already have the tool?
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
Today I was back at the firewood again. I like to cut wood in colder, windier weather so that I can do more pleasant things during nicer weather. There's a really big mess that I have to deal with. The picture of the branches on the shed is just an example of what I have to deal with. There's also a jumble of small trees, weeds, and junk on the ground that all has to be maneuvered around too. I did narrowly avoid a disaster. The first thing I did was to cut down a small tree that had a big branch hanging in it. Naturally, the tree wanted to go the wrong way and ended up pinching the bar on my saw. Since I was almost through anyway, I just hooked up a chain and used the truck to pull it down. It all worked perfectly. The tree started falling, my saw fell out, and the hanging branch fell harmlessly. Then a HUGE branch that I didn't see fell down right where my saw was on the ground. I got out to look and saw that the branch was literally touching the handle. After I picked it up, I saw that it wasn't a miss because the top cover on the saw is cracked with a small piece broken out. It still cut so I finished cutting the load. I could have cut a little more, but I was down to about 1/2 tank of fuel left in the gas can so that seemed like a good place to stop. It was almost a full trailer load anyway.
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I read that book so many times as a teen and now as an adult !
I always skipped his preachy parts and read the mechanical descriptions over and over. I still try to use some of his prep mindset in my long trips and even daily driver life.
He did crAck me up with his travel companion's newer bike had difficult to locate parts. I find it the opposite nowadays although I work on cars not bikes.
His hints about leaving teaching made me read up on the rest of his life
I wish I could do a trip like that one day in my life. Just be on the road, no cell phone, no internet, no one reaching out needing something
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
Apparently this was my weekend to keep a family warm. Yesterday I helped to cut another load of firewood for the son. This time it was for surplus, not to burn immediately. Today, I hauled another pallet of wood pellets for the parents. We had to wait for at least 1 1/2 hours for the guy with a skid steer to get there to unload the pellets. I told her at 11:40 that if he didn't get there by noon, I was going to unhook from the trailer. At 12:02 I opened the driver's door to get in and unhook the trailer when I saw the other guy coming down the highway with his skid steer on his trailer. He still took a while to get there to unload, but it only took maybe 3 minutes for him to unload the pallet and put it inside their garage so that went pretty quickly. After the mandatory BS session, there wasn't enough time for me to do anything for myself this weekend so I just went home.
It's a good thing that I like them all. At least there's warm weather right now so I can do stuff after work.
It's a good thing that I like them all. At least there's warm weather right now so I can do stuff after work.Attachments
Saturday was not my day.
Had water line issues at a job site, took most of the day, had been planning on setting up forms to pour concrete, which, we got a little bit of that ready.
But…
Lost the engine in my 91 on the way to work that morning.
Started knocking, blew a bunch of oil out of the head gasket around cylinder number 6, horrendous blowby. Still ran, but obviously hurt.
I’m planning on dropping a different engine in it next weekend, with head studs. I’ll tear down the engine I blew, if I have time.
For the now, I have to drive a Dodge…
Had water line issues at a job site, took most of the day, had been planning on setting up forms to pour concrete, which, we got a little bit of that ready.
But…
Lost the engine in my 91 on the way to work that morning.
Started knocking, blew a bunch of oil out of the head gasket around cylinder number 6, horrendous blowby. Still ran, but obviously hurt.
I’m planning on dropping a different engine in it next weekend, with head studs. I’ll tear down the engine I blew, if I have time.
For the now, I have to drive a Dodge…
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
I would say that I've had days like that, but I haven't had to stoop low enough to drive a Dodge so I guess that I haven't.
Dirtleg
Full Access Member
Well today when coming over the mountain in the 93 F350, just before a steep downhill switchback, there was a very large rock hiding in the now soft snow on the edge of the road, and I nailed it with my right front tire. Never even saw it, but it was by far the hardest impact I have ever had to a tire. So tire instantly blew the sidewall and delaminated the tread badly.
Normally I keep a spare in the truck but since I have a hood in the bed it was not there due to space concerns. Idiot. So had to call my wife, have her pick me up, drive me to the property where the spare is, inflate it as it was at about 7 psi, and bring me back to the truck. Only to discover the impact socket I had brought for the Milwaukee was too thick walled to fit into where the lug nuts are. So back over the mountain again, this time with a better selection of tools and got the tire swapped. Thankfully I keep the original jack and crank rod in the truck. First time I have ever needed them on this truck.
Tires on it have plenty of tread left, but they are pushing 8-9 years of age. Not dry rotted or anything but I am not going to install 1 new tire with 3 tires that old.
So ordered tires and made an appointment for installation next Monday. Oof. That was spendy.
Normally I keep a spare in the truck but since I have a hood in the bed it was not there due to space concerns. Idiot. So had to call my wife, have her pick me up, drive me to the property where the spare is, inflate it as it was at about 7 psi, and bring me back to the truck. Only to discover the impact socket I had brought for the Milwaukee was too thick walled to fit into where the lug nuts are. So back over the mountain again, this time with a better selection of tools and got the tire swapped. Thankfully I keep the original jack and crank rod in the truck. First time I have ever needed them on this truck.
Tires on it have plenty of tread left, but they are pushing 8-9 years of age. Not dry rotted or anything but I am not going to install 1 new tire with 3 tires that old.
So ordered tires and made an appointment for installation next Monday. Oof. That was spendy.
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
I've been having issues with birds perching right over where I park my truck in my driveway and then marking the windshield.
I decided to eliminate that issue this week. I had to cut down one smallish tree and one tree branch on a different tree with dead parts right above my truck. I actually cut the branch off Monday, but I waited until today to cut the tree because there wasn't much wind. I started off the right way. I cut a wedge into the tree opposite of my house to make it fall away. As I was cutting into the tree from the other side, it naturally wanted to fall toward my house so I stopped as soon as I saw the tree leaning toward my house. I was smart enough to attach a chain to the tree about 10' up before I started cutting so I drove the truck into the empty lot next door and hooked up more chains. Once again, the mighty IDI pulled the tree over when I was just wanting to put tension on the chains. It didn't take much effort to pull it across my driveway into my front yard either. Then I proceeded to cut it into firewood for next year. The branches will have to wait for later to be picked up. I ended up with a trailer load of wood that I'm going to give to someone else. I didn't have to cut any for myself this year and, at the rate the winter's going here, I won't be burning much until next year. I'm glad to FINALLY have this job done. My windshield was clean when I came home for lunch today, but the birds had hit it before I got home after work. It's like the little B words knew and had to get one last shot in!
I decided to eliminate that issue this week. I had to cut down one smallish tree and one tree branch on a different tree with dead parts right above my truck. I actually cut the branch off Monday, but I waited until today to cut the tree because there wasn't much wind. I started off the right way. I cut a wedge into the tree opposite of my house to make it fall away. As I was cutting into the tree from the other side, it naturally wanted to fall toward my house so I stopped as soon as I saw the tree leaning toward my house. I was smart enough to attach a chain to the tree about 10' up before I started cutting so I drove the truck into the empty lot next door and hooked up more chains. Once again, the mighty IDI pulled the tree over when I was just wanting to put tension on the chains. It didn't take much effort to pull it across my driveway into my front yard either. Then I proceeded to cut it into firewood for next year. The branches will have to wait for later to be picked up. I ended up with a trailer load of wood that I'm going to give to someone else. I didn't have to cut any for myself this year and, at the rate the winter's going here, I won't be burning much until next year. I'm glad to FINALLY have this job done. My windshield was clean when I came home for lunch today, but the birds had hit it before I got home after work. It's like the little B words knew and had to get one last shot in!Attachments
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
DougBoy66
Full Access Member
I have that same problem with someone leaving limbs in my yard. I've seen him on the Ring camera. The guy looks just like me 
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
Yep. I swear when I catch that guy, I'm going to kick his tail!I have that same problem with someone leaving limbs in my yard. I've seen him on the Ring camera. The guy looks just like me
Dirtleg
Full Access Member
Seems like a common issue. Staring at this cleanup right now.
Every one of these Pines has to go. They are all dead/dying. Really have a deep hatred for the jerk who dropped all this in my lap.
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