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Posted by Ken See on Monday, August 17, 2009 at 15:35:44 :
Well like all rallies, the day is not complete without some truck adventure. Saturday my truck starting having hard starting problems, not every time but enough to be a concern. Then Tom Covino blows a gasket. Not him, but the head gasket on his truck while on a knarly trail some of us use to head home. The woods fill with steam, and the Covino women are all scrambling around saying Tom's truck in on fire. They were nervous because Tom had his young son and wife with him. He was simply idling waiting for me and my hard starting M37 to catch up. Plus Bob C. and Mark Davis were playing safety engineer by marking bridge deck holes and clearing storm damage. I tow Tom Covino him a ways, but then conk out again. Now we have two trucks down. I have a oil pressure switch on the elect fuel pump. Mike Burnham thinks low idle lowers the oil pressure, cutting out the fuel pump. We bypass the switch and touch the wires together and it starts right up, so we're impressed with Mike's diagnosis. Without a way to jump the connection, we plug it back into the switch and off we go. Tow Tom Covino through some famous BFRs and rivers, all the way through town, 2 missed turns, one stop for directions, one U turn (got real lucky with that one), and a thumbs up from the local police which was a pleasant surprise after I figured she wanted to pull us over. Get the trucks back, starts up just fine the rest of the day and Sun AM. Pull Rob Blair's entire rig Sunday AM, with Dave F. and his tractor pushing, across the grass to get him going. Pack myself up, move the truck out front, watch everyone leave except Tim H who takes all day to pack. Time to go mid afternoon, but nothing, no start. Fuel is pumping just fine, so next stop electrical. Find no spark, pull the distributor out, pull the rotor cap and find some fine fuzzy stuff inside the rotor cap. What's the fine fuzzy stuff? It's insulation from the condenser wire that rubbed on the spinning rotor finally exposing the the wire. Super glue and elect tape on that, reposition the wire away from the rotor (who's the idiot that installed the condenser that way?), and the truck starts right up. We don't even have the tools put away and a nephew asks if I can move the truck so they can pitch horse shoes. Ok, give me a least one minute to enjoy a running truck and finish my Yuengling. By then it's late afternoon, I say goodbye and pull out. It stalls at the end of the driveway, my heart sinks once again but it starts right away and off I go, no problem all the way home. Came across a real nice German Shepard in the middle of a state forest all by himself a long way from anywhere. Didn't know what to do, tried to call him in but was real shy and wouldn't come over. I Felt bad but had to get going, I hope he's ok. Speaking of animals, my brother Frank (riding his Husky all day) saw a moose in the forest on Saturday while riding with our trucks. Anyway my distributor problem on the way home was s after my other hassle on the way there Friday afternoon when I hear a heavy metal clank followed by a dull thud. Glance in the mirror and see my e brake drum rolling down the road. No cotter pin, nut spins off. Had no cotter pin since I installed the t case maybe 5-6 years ago. Tcase was rebuilt in a local truck shop, and was given to me by Don Beckwith, without a cotter pin. I never noticed until Fri afternoon. With no nut, I put a nail in the shaft and drove the rest of way there (15 miles or so). Plus I burned my hands when I picked up the drum off the road. Tcases get real hot. At the rally, I steal a nut and washer from a tcase NY Paul brought for Tim Holloway. Never a dull moment. This is only a small slice of the events this past weekend. The rally was a great time, like all rallies, thanks to Christine and Dave Fraser and all who attended. Each year new faces show up and they're amazed at the fun we have. They said we took 27 trucks on the ride, with some left at the house, so that's a great turnout. So next year back to Vermont. If you've never been up there, and think you can do it, then come on up. Long post, I must have too much time on my hands.
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