Jeff Balazs

Paul; I think it almost certainly has to be a valve issue. For a piston to have zero compression something catastrophic would have had to happen. Surely you would have noticed a hole or the piston not traveling up and down. Out of curiosity which cylinder was it? Jeff

It sounds like you need to re gain some leverage. On Oil Soups install he still has the lever linkage on the side of his transmission so he can use the advantage it offers. And if necessary add to it. Maybe you could find a way to add a lever to the linkage you have on your modified arrangement. I spent a bit of time looking at this when I was considering a tranny swap. It seemed to me that it would require adding a bracket with a lever off the frame near the end of the original Ebrake cable. Jeff

Unless you are re powering or doing some pretty substantial mods most of us just work with the standard arrangement. These can generally be bushed or repaired and will last for many more years of service. Jeff

Amen. I have never seen so much come out of any other engine either. Jeff

Hopefully that works out for you. One other thing you can do to get a bit of adjustment in the system is to put one of the old style cable length adjusters on the section of old parking brake cable just ahead of the connection to the lever on the side of the transmission. They were made to help compensate for cable stretch which the inner cable is subject to. I salvaged one off my truck and have it in use to do just that. Pretty low tech but they can be useful. Let us know how it all works out. Jeff

Fred; All I meant by good I is that it is properly dialed in or tuned for your particular engine. Jeff

Well I would expect that if it is a good set up you should definitely see an improvement in fuel economy. If it goes the other way then you know you have a problem. Jeff

It will be interesting to hear how you get along with this. Be sure to have some baseline acceleration and mileage figures to compare against. If you can what would be very telling would be an acceleration test over the exact same course before and after. Jeff

I just crawled under mine and there are definitely no spacers. The bracket between the pedals is more like 3/4" wide though. I suppose if you have too much play you could try adding a thick washer between the bracket and the pedal. Jeff

There should not be a spacer there. I wonder if you need to put a bushing in on the pedal......could be very worn? Jeff

You are right.....not going to happen here. The Trials events I was referring to were not races. Posted speed limits and traffic laws had to be observed. What they were was more like a observed endurance Rally. Most mechanical parts were marked and the drivers had to make their own repairs and finish section in a specified time. Things like punctured tires or loose parts could be repaired but replacement of major components were not allowed. It was a way for manufacturers to improve the reliability and road going performance of their vehicles. It was an extremely popular form of motorsport back in the day. 10's of thousands of spectators would set up along the roads to watch. I for one would love to see a vintage class of it return. I think it is far more valid than races held on closed circuits......but that is just me. Jeff

That is 5 1/2 pages too many for me. The part that I appreciate is the reliability aspect. It would be considerably more interesting to me if it was a road based event similar to the old European Six Day Trials events. At any rate have fun with it. Jeff

No doubt. I first read about this sort of racing when I was building my truck. Very cool stuff. Of all the various motorsport events this one actually holds my interest. Too many rules for me but the concept is interesting. You might be surprised at how much difference having the rear discs makes. I don't have any numbers on how I have the front to rear bias adjusted........but the rears do more than most drum set ups and have a much better feel to them. Jeff

I put a Grand Cherokee rear axle with 12" discs on my 52 3/4 ton truck. Got 3.55 ratio as part of the swap. I bring this up because I have the RH kit on the front and when it is paired up with these rear discs it makes for a superior braking system. It really shaves speed off fast.......and doesn't seem like it is working all that hard doing it. The truck weighs 4045# per a certified scale. Jeff

Or if you don't feel like doing any work on it .......a smear of grease in the right spot would probably quiet it down for a while.

It sounds like you have a plan. If you try it and you need a bit more mechanical advantage you could always lengthen the lever at the side of the transmission. Let us know how it works out. Jeff

That is exactly what I did on mine. May not be factory correct but I think It looks better than seam filler. The gap at that seam would have to be perfect for it to look right otherwise. You can take this with a grain of salt though as I left almost all the scars and dents in my truck when I had it painted. I like this look better than I do a flawless finish on a 60 plus year old work truck. Jeff

The later trucks have a straight pull handle under the dash......no mechanical advantage there. But they did use a lever in the linkage just ahead of the ebrake. Seems to me you are going to have to build mechanical advantage like this into your retrofit in order to make the existing handle work. Jeff

Don; Sorry to hear this. This stuff stinks. I have type 2 and I hate the way it makes me feel. All forms of this are miserable and just seem to further aggravate other conditions. There is some evidence that major modification to dietary intake can make a substantial difference in your quality of life........but it isn't for the feint of heart. I think our age and conditions have a tendency to sneak up on us. One day we feel indestructible and then we wake up another day and things are suddenly a bit less rosy. When it starts to physically take away the things we want to be doing it really becomes a cruel form of punishment. I hope you get some relief as I am certain the desire to continue to enjoy these things is still there. Jeff

That is cool. Sure looks like a 52 3/4 ton to me. I found vestiges of blue on mine. Have often wondered what sort of a life it led before coming to me. Perhaps it was something like this scene? Maybe that car with the hood up is the one the T- boned my truck in the drivers door? Jeff

Just hosed it off. We got about 10 minutes of rain in the morning.......just enough for the dust on it to puddle so I helped it along. Other than that just driving it. Jeff

Thanks John; That is a good starting place. The sites I was looking at had applications but no dimensions. Hopefully there are some there that will fit the old truck. The rubber ones I got from Roberts (I think) are rubbish. Wise Way Tu & Company should never be allowed to make rubber parts........ Jeff

Hi All; I am looking for quality replacement boots for the tie rod and drag link on my truck. I put new tie rods on with new rubber boots on during my build and two of these have already split. I would like to refit with a better grade boot perhaps polyurethane?. Not sure how to go about getting the correct size boot for this application. Any suggestions. Thanks, Jeff

Dave; If you look closely it appears to be outside the tube ....to the right of it. I am guessing it is wedged between the block and the tube. PB blaster should help....make an extension tube for the nozzle and get plenty of it deep into the tube and surrounding cavity.The only way it is going to do the job is if the the hook on the end of the tool is in one of the slots on the top side of the tube. Jeff

Paul; From your photo it looks like you have the tool along the side of the WDT instead of inside it. It needs to be inside to have any chance of working. Jeff