Chasing a dream

For those not in the know...







Also, get that fan clutch on there so everybody can see how cool you are! See what I did there?! :lol:
 
rockcity said:
So what y’all doing for your birthday? Hiking again? 😂
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Nah, we went out last night and my sugar mama treated me to probably one of the most fantastic meals I've ever had. Authentic German place called Bodensee, and it was amazing. 12/10 would eat there again, highly recommend!
 
I’ve really failed to update here. Been pretty wide open, also figure it’s just not that interesting lol.

But it seemed to me that the truck ran cooler on the way home from GA with the fan clutch that @Croatan_Kid sent me. I can actually hear the fan now. I never did pull a long grade, but I’ll know in the morning as I’m heading to St Loius MO with a stop in TN on the way so I’m going up Black Mountain.

While I was here in town for the last few weeks I spent most of my time working, and had some work done on the truck and buggy.

I had @WARRIORWELDING build me a generator box that goes behind my toolboxes that is nothing short of spectacular!
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Now I don’t have to take it on and off, and the door allows me to easily hook up my camper cord without opening the door, and it’s vented to run right in its box. There’s also a hidden lock that would take a lot of effort to cut. Anything can be stolen, but they’ll have to work for it.

I also had the buggy tuned at Scarlettes Performance in Winston Salem. The throttle is very crisp now, rev limiter is set at 6200, and it doesn’t smell super rich anymore. I had to replace the ECU because whoever put the tube on it last had a passcode.

Then today I was going over the truck and when I checked the tire pressure, one of the valve stems stuck wide open. That was an ordeal, long story short I wound up at a truck shop and they replaced the entire valve stem and checked all the tires for $34. I was pleased.

We are all loaded up and headed out very early in the morning. Now it feels like the real journey is starting.

I have a lot of video I’m working on editing, much of which includes an interview with Lee Ravenel at Partially Committed Racing, and @mcutler. The interview with GoForth Tire is already up and I can’t wait to release the others. Hoping to make more with other folks but I’ve quickly learned that it’s not easy to get with these folks. Some are very busy, and some are just plain not interested in meeting with this random dude about is puny YouTube channel lol. And some are just plain rude. As people are open to it along my travels I will share it.

So here we go, headed west and really getting into the meat of this journey. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. My wife is very excited, and that makes me excited.
 
I commented on one of you recent reels but I’ll do it here too. Find yourself a decent TPMS kit. I bought one for the pusher and Jeep when we traveled and I had live updates every few seconds of psi and temps of each tire. Saved a ton of time checking tires before a trip and kept an eye on psi and temps while driving the pusher for long miles. Blow outs can be disaster out in a large rig with a trailer. Monitoring temps and psi live helps to spot an issue before it’s catastrophic and you get a blowout.


Edit: you can monitor up to 18 tires at the same time and at different psi, so the camper tires can be monitored along with the truck tires. Pretty slick.

Edit again: I bought and used the Tire Tracker TT-600. Really liked the ease of use and programming. I also had to get a signal booster because of my 60’+ OAL
 
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Knowing Drew, I am sure he thought about it, but that genny box looks like it might make getting to the leaf spring bolt a real pain. That should be a rare occurance, so maybe taking the genny box off is easy enough.

x3 on the TPMS. I need to pick up a set for my trailers myself. I have heard of folks that claim that they caused valve stem failures due to the extra weight, but with metal stems, I dont think it would be much of an issue.

I saw one of your reels. Looks like the clutch didnt solve all of the temp issues?
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Knowing Drew, I am sure he thought about it, but that genny box looks like it might make getting to the leaf spring bolt a real pain. That should be a rare occurance, so maybe taking the genny box off is easy enough.

x3 on the TPMS. I need to pick up a set for my trailers myself. I have heard of folks that claim that they caused valve stem failures due to the extra weight, but with metal stems, I dont think it would be much of an issue.

I saw one of your reels. Looks like the clutch didnt solve all of the temp issues?
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It was an issue. Trimmed to fit. I also made sure a bit of daylight was between it and the bracket. The top is open and the filler neck is accessible to repair if needed.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Knowing Drew, I am sure he thought about it, but that genny box looks like it might make getting to the leaf spring bolt a real pain. That should be a rare occurance, so maybe taking the genny box off is easy enough.

x3 on the TPMS. I need to pick up a set for my trailers myself. I have heard of folks that claim that they caused valve stem failures due to the extra weight, but with metal stems, I dont think it would be much of an issue.

I saw one of your reels. Looks like the clutch didnt solve all of the temp issues?
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Yeah just a few bolts and that whole box will come off. I was picturing it being welded on, but like you said Drew thought of everything, It really is over the top nicer that what I was picturing.

As for the cooling, I do still have an issue. I had to pull over on Black Mountain. I've come to the conclusion that one of my thermostats is stuck. I could explain my theory but it's hard to explain typing it. I am replacing both with Mishimoto low temp stats that will open up a little sooner. The truck is doing good overall though and getting about 8-8.5mpg and handling the load very well. I rolled into St. Louis yesterday evening. I can see the Arch from my camper.
 
braxton357 said:
Also, did you ever change your water pump? Is it pushing coolant out at all or just getting hot
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I have not changed the water pump, I haven't ruled it out though. It does not push any coolant out, or anything. I check it often and never need to add any. I did have to add some several months ago as it was leaking from the radiator hose when it was very cold outside, but once warm it would not leak. I snugged up the hose clamp and it doesn't leak anymore.
 
I don't know if the starter flywheel/gear is the same as a pickup, but if it is I have a lock tool for it so you can get the crank bolt off to change the water pump. Other than that, it's pretty straight forward to change.

Just need a flywheel lock tool, a 36mm 12 point socket, and some muscle to break the bolt loose.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Maybe a stupid question, but have you confirmed the temp gauge/sender?
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I have not, and given the electrical plagues on these trucks I probably should!

shawn said:
How hot is it?
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It got to 240° on black mountain. That’s when I pulled over. I forgot to turn the heat on before that, may have made it without needing to pull over had I turned it on before hand lol.
 
77GreenMachine said:
I have not, and given the electrical plagues on these trucks I probably should!



It got to 240° on black mountain. That’s when I pulled over. I forgot to turn the heat on before that, may have made it without needing to pull over had I turned it on before hand lol.
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Is the cap opening? Is the cap holding pressure? Do you have an IR gun that you can get the tank temps?
 
shawn said:
Is the cap opening? Is the cap holding pressure? Do you have an IR gun that you can get the tank temps?
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Cap does hold pressure. I do not have an IR gun and I need to get one, they are so useful for so many things.
 
Wait, let's back up. Overflow system or degas? Have you tested the cap?
 
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