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- 113
- Location
- NORTH (Canada)
Summary : Just under 1000 miles (1600 km), two and a half days on the road and got to meet up with Westfolk. Unproblematic export/import (because I did my homework beforehand). Now parked in my driveway, with stuff to do before she can get plated.
I became a member on this site years ago and spent most of the time reading and learning. Finally, after about three years of searching, I found a truck I wanted and the time felt right to pull the trigger. I want a winch and I want dropsides. This combo is rare. And, no, my truck is not a factory-original w/w but the winch was added afterwards. I do not care. It is there!
I squeezed the previous owner, who is a farm-smart guy but does not know much about the trucks, for as much info as I could and asked him to take some specific pictures. The truck had been sitting, mostly indoors, for the last 4 years, with only 6 hours of operation.
I ordered parts I figured I would be needing (belts, coolant hoses, lightbulbs, filters etc.) and a couple of tools (geared lug wrench, compressor wrench set, power bleederI ) and had them shipped to the truck's location before I flew down to Richmond.
After doing the paperwork (isn't the DMV singularly unhelpful with anything that is off the beaten track?) and finalizing the purchase, I worked on the truck for a day and a half to get her ready for the trip ahead.
Issues I needed to address right away:
- 1 tire leaking air
- last oil and filter change years ago
- brakes soft
- some lights do not work
- parking brake does not work
The power bleeder worked like a charm and I replaced all the brake fluid (DOT5; makes you cry to buy it at NAPA and see it dripping to the ground....at 10 cents a drop or so...)
I got the lights working, but the brake lights are iffy and may or may not work. Switch? The parking brake cable was broken right where it enters the cab; I had a very short end to work with and we tried crimping it back together with a cool crimping tool and steel sleeves, but it would not work. Ok, so the trip will be without the parking brake.
Changed the oil, but the filters never showed up in time. I figured that, with 22 quarts of fresh Rotella, the filters, having seen only a few hours of use, would be ok.
I got the tire fixed with a new tube and the old tube patched; that way a had a serviceable spare and a spare tube on top of that.
After lots of cleaning and lubing, checking all fluids and topping off where needed, I finally headed out for a few short drives, maybe 20 miles or so each, to see how she runs and also to "break her in" after having sat for so long. I figured that this might be a good idea, but I do not know if that is true.
I learned that nobody - NOBODY - stocks 24V light bulbs. I would not have expected anyone to have headlights, but stop/turn/tag lights? Come on!
On Saturday at about 10 am I headed out onto the road, about an hour south-west of Richmond. I had gotten good route advice from Westfolk, but in a moment of irrationality I decided to replace it with, as it turned out, bad route advice from a local guy who knows all the roads.
Long story short, I made my way towards Eldred, PA via Mechanicsburg and State College. The mountain roads were a blast, though.
After 13 hours behind the wheel I packed it in in Clearfield, PA. I noticed that she was spraying oil from the side panels. Checked in the morning, oil spray all over the engine compartment, but running on high idle showed no leak. Maybe the missing slobber hose causes oily crap to spray all over the place? I went to a local LOWE'S and got a length of hose. Pressure-washed the engine bay. Ok...ignore the oil spray for the time being. Also, coolant dripping on the ground. Let's not ignore that for the time being - the coolant temp gauge is inop, so taking a chance here is stupid. Could not find a leak either, so I topped off the rad and headed out towards Westfolk.
It was really nice to meet him, he is a good guy. Helped me troubleshoot and we settled on tightening the valve cover bolts some. I also bought fiberglass troop seats off him and now the truck looked very purdy and complete.
Day 2 on the road saw me finish off in Watertown, NY. I noticed that the batteries were oozing acid on top and the battery/alternator gauge was reading a tad high when driving (at the border between green and upper red).
Following Westfolk's advice, I balanced it out by running, for periods of time, with the accessory switch off. It worked - no more oozing.
Export via Ogdensburg was fine...as "fine" as dealing with Homeland Security can be. Import into Canada was friendly and efficient as well. Perhaps the fact that one of the officers there collects MVs helped?
I was on the road in no time and made it to my wife's work by 1 pm on day 3. Well...ALMOST to my wife's work. About a mile/1,5km before I got there, I noticed that the truck was a little hesitant accelerating. It idled well at the red light. Tank showed 1/4 full. Acc switch was on, so the in-tank pump was working. I was thinking of clogging filters, when she shut don on me at the next light.
Lesson learned: Just because the fuel gauge shows 3/4 full when the tank is completely full does not mean that it is half full when the gauge shows 1/4. The tank was bone dry. I used second gear and the starter button to pull her out of the traffic lane and a friendly trucker gave me a ride to the gas station. I now have two bright red puny plastic canisters that I do not need.
Anyways..I made it home.
Now to the licensing part:
Ontario requires a safety inspection of all vehicles. I ran her up to the truck garage this morning, knowing fully well that I won't pass because of minor things I knew (one high beam filament burnt out, parking brake inop). I went there anyway, because for 85 bucks I would avoid the disappointment of fixing the defects I already knew and then fail the inspection because of something the tech considers vital but I didn't.
The tech was friendly and found that
- one drag link needs to be adjusted
- all (ALL!!) axle seals need to be done
- one wheel stud needs to be replaced and a tire switched (Note: check toe-in)
- all brake hoses should be replaced
I guess it was too high an expectation to NOT have to do major work, but still.....the tech told me that he needs to pull ALL brake drums to inspect shoes and linings - so, even when I do all the axle seals myself, I still have to pay for his labour to take all 6 wheels and drums off again.
Not good. I guess I might be better off ordering the parts and have the garage replace the seals and check the brakes at the same time......better slaughter that piggy bank!
I had looked at the insides of the wheels when I went over the truck before the trip and had seen one that looked like there might be oozing from the brake drum. The major (actually, they are not that bad) leaks happpened during the trip. Obviously, you cannot have leaking seals at a safety inspection. Oh, well.
I do not contest the brake hoses. They are intact, but certainly old. I carried a couple of spares on the trip.
Soooooo..that is the long story of bringing my first Deuce home! If you really read all the way to down here, you ARE a fanatic!
I became a member on this site years ago and spent most of the time reading and learning. Finally, after about three years of searching, I found a truck I wanted and the time felt right to pull the trigger. I want a winch and I want dropsides. This combo is rare. And, no, my truck is not a factory-original w/w but the winch was added afterwards. I do not care. It is there!
I squeezed the previous owner, who is a farm-smart guy but does not know much about the trucks, for as much info as I could and asked him to take some specific pictures. The truck had been sitting, mostly indoors, for the last 4 years, with only 6 hours of operation.
I ordered parts I figured I would be needing (belts, coolant hoses, lightbulbs, filters etc.) and a couple of tools (geared lug wrench, compressor wrench set, power bleederI ) and had them shipped to the truck's location before I flew down to Richmond.
After doing the paperwork (isn't the DMV singularly unhelpful with anything that is off the beaten track?) and finalizing the purchase, I worked on the truck for a day and a half to get her ready for the trip ahead.
Issues I needed to address right away:
- 1 tire leaking air
- last oil and filter change years ago
- brakes soft
- some lights do not work
- parking brake does not work
The power bleeder worked like a charm and I replaced all the brake fluid (DOT5; makes you cry to buy it at NAPA and see it dripping to the ground....at 10 cents a drop or so...)
I got the lights working, but the brake lights are iffy and may or may not work. Switch? The parking brake cable was broken right where it enters the cab; I had a very short end to work with and we tried crimping it back together with a cool crimping tool and steel sleeves, but it would not work. Ok, so the trip will be without the parking brake.
Changed the oil, but the filters never showed up in time. I figured that, with 22 quarts of fresh Rotella, the filters, having seen only a few hours of use, would be ok.
I got the tire fixed with a new tube and the old tube patched; that way a had a serviceable spare and a spare tube on top of that.
After lots of cleaning and lubing, checking all fluids and topping off where needed, I finally headed out for a few short drives, maybe 20 miles or so each, to see how she runs and also to "break her in" after having sat for so long. I figured that this might be a good idea, but I do not know if that is true.
I learned that nobody - NOBODY - stocks 24V light bulbs. I would not have expected anyone to have headlights, but stop/turn/tag lights? Come on!
On Saturday at about 10 am I headed out onto the road, about an hour south-west of Richmond. I had gotten good route advice from Westfolk, but in a moment of irrationality I decided to replace it with, as it turned out, bad route advice from a local guy who knows all the roads.
Long story short, I made my way towards Eldred, PA via Mechanicsburg and State College. The mountain roads were a blast, though.
After 13 hours behind the wheel I packed it in in Clearfield, PA. I noticed that she was spraying oil from the side panels. Checked in the morning, oil spray all over the engine compartment, but running on high idle showed no leak. Maybe the missing slobber hose causes oily crap to spray all over the place? I went to a local LOWE'S and got a length of hose. Pressure-washed the engine bay. Ok...ignore the oil spray for the time being. Also, coolant dripping on the ground. Let's not ignore that for the time being - the coolant temp gauge is inop, so taking a chance here is stupid. Could not find a leak either, so I topped off the rad and headed out towards Westfolk.
It was really nice to meet him, he is a good guy. Helped me troubleshoot and we settled on tightening the valve cover bolts some. I also bought fiberglass troop seats off him and now the truck looked very purdy and complete.
Day 2 on the road saw me finish off in Watertown, NY. I noticed that the batteries were oozing acid on top and the battery/alternator gauge was reading a tad high when driving (at the border between green and upper red).
Following Westfolk's advice, I balanced it out by running, for periods of time, with the accessory switch off. It worked - no more oozing.
Export via Ogdensburg was fine...as "fine" as dealing with Homeland Security can be. Import into Canada was friendly and efficient as well. Perhaps the fact that one of the officers there collects MVs helped?
I was on the road in no time and made it to my wife's work by 1 pm on day 3. Well...ALMOST to my wife's work. About a mile/1,5km before I got there, I noticed that the truck was a little hesitant accelerating. It idled well at the red light. Tank showed 1/4 full. Acc switch was on, so the in-tank pump was working. I was thinking of clogging filters, when she shut don on me at the next light.
Lesson learned: Just because the fuel gauge shows 3/4 full when the tank is completely full does not mean that it is half full when the gauge shows 1/4. The tank was bone dry. I used second gear and the starter button to pull her out of the traffic lane and a friendly trucker gave me a ride to the gas station. I now have two bright red puny plastic canisters that I do not need.
Anyways..I made it home.
Now to the licensing part:
Ontario requires a safety inspection of all vehicles. I ran her up to the truck garage this morning, knowing fully well that I won't pass because of minor things I knew (one high beam filament burnt out, parking brake inop). I went there anyway, because for 85 bucks I would avoid the disappointment of fixing the defects I already knew and then fail the inspection because of something the tech considers vital but I didn't.
The tech was friendly and found that
- one drag link needs to be adjusted
- all (ALL!!) axle seals need to be done
- one wheel stud needs to be replaced and a tire switched (Note: check toe-in)
- all brake hoses should be replaced
I guess it was too high an expectation to NOT have to do major work, but still.....the tech told me that he needs to pull ALL brake drums to inspect shoes and linings - so, even when I do all the axle seals myself, I still have to pay for his labour to take all 6 wheels and drums off again.
Not good. I guess I might be better off ordering the parts and have the garage replace the seals and check the brakes at the same time......better slaughter that piggy bank!
I had looked at the insides of the wheels when I went over the truck before the trip and had seen one that looked like there might be oozing from the brake drum. The major (actually, they are not that bad) leaks happpened during the trip. Obviously, you cannot have leaking seals at a safety inspection. Oh, well.
I do not contest the brake hoses. They are intact, but certainly old. I carried a couple of spares on the trip.
Soooooo..that is the long story of bringing my first Deuce home! If you really read all the way to down here, you ARE a fanatic!
Got DEMOTED to 2nd. Lt from Capt for not showing up on time.......cause my truck broke down...dats me story and me sticking to it!
