Search results

Copy that. Thanks. I'll drain and refill the diffs before I head for Seattle. I don't have an infrared thermometer (yet) but they had to be a lot hotter than 120, with no load whatsoever. I'll be doing some seals and checking bearings anyway, but I won't get too excited about any oil coolers.

Thank you Sim. My Dad had mentioned a similar setup to chain up an axle in case I burned up a diff. They ran a little hotter than I liked at 2100 rpm in overdrive. You ever thought about running oil coolers in yours? I already had to put the spare on and ended up buying a new 20 ton...

Thanks Madjack. I initially wanted the 14x20s then I decided on the 395's due to the availability. I like them and they're definitely big in person. Oldmoose, I'm only 5' 6" and I even felt a bit tight in there between the steering wheel, but the ride was no where near as bad as I was...

Thank you Sim. I will. I checked it at every stop and kept an eye on it down the road, but it'd be nice to have one less thing to watch. I'll have to actively resist the urge to ask you a million questions before my Florida/Seattle trip. You have a great setup.

Eastern Philly to Florida leg complete! Somewhere between 900 and 1,000 miles. Lot's to say, lot's to share (and a few photos) but I just got out of the truck a few hours ago and I need to rest a bit and gather my thoughts and I'll try to write something (hopefully) entertaining and...

Love at first sight! Eastern sent me some photos. They've gone through the truck, taken a test drive and all seems well. They mounted the fifth wheel (securely enough for travel, not use) after they removed the van body. I really like the looks of the 395/85s, size wise. Hopefully...

Thanks JC. I've been hearing that from enough people that I'm shopping around for a set already. One of the guys I'm working with now has driven a brush truck built on a 5 ton chassis and he said even with that big tank of water on the back it feels like a truck with the axles welded straight...

Ducks are lining up in a neat row. I bought my plane tickets for me and my dad to fly into Philly on July 8th. I confirmed with Eastern that the truck will be ready and on Monday, July 9th the adventure will begin. I'll post trip updates, lessons learned, etc. I'm at sea now so not able...

Just to streamline things for others (there's a lot of info AND confusion about 5 ton sprag clutches), yes, cutting off the air to the transfer case puts the sprag setup in neutral and combined with desplined hubs will give a "free wheeling" (not turning) front axle assembly. I'm considering...

Thank you Porky. I will do that right now.

From what I can gather, it looks like you can install a valve and shutoff the air supply to the transfer case (by shutting it off before the main gearbox) and that will put a (working) sprag setup into a spring loaded neutral. So it seems like desplined hubs and no air to the trans would...

Thanks guys. 98, I appreciate the input from someone who's put some time in the saddle. I went with the taller tires for the "gearing" but it sounds like they might end up being my "suspension" too. Teletech, between what you and 98 have said, it sounds like I might need to find...

Thanks Wedge. I figured those spring packs wouldn't be moving a whole lot with almost no weight on them way back there. I'll try going as low as I can get away with and go from there. My cousin (the truck driver) runs to California about every week on I-10 and the joints beat em up, so he...

Thanks Winfred. I'm only 140 lbs so I'm hoping the seat can be dialed down enough to not throw me against the roof. I'm optimistically hoping that it's an old design when the average soldier wasn't much heavier than me, so maybe I'm in it's "intended weight range". Thanks for the tire...

Thanks 98. I think I'll take that advice and give the stock seat a try first. I didn't know, but I guess they at least have a spring and dampener. Once it's in the NW, it'll be staying local for quite a long time. If it beats me up too bad heading South, I'll look into an air ride once I get...

He'll just be on the Philly to FLA leg. About 900 miles. I sure hope it's not too rough for him. The whole point is for him to have fun. He drove from Florida to Seattle, picked me up and we drove to the Arctic circle a few years ago. Then last year, he and my mom did it again except they...

Is this a normal seat? It's on ebay. Doesn't look toooo bad, but I've never ridden in a 5 ton, especially empty. Hoping the extra long wheelbase will help some.

I don't have the same problem with fitting into things as you taller guys. I'm a little guy at 5'6" but I guess too "deep" (front to rear) of an air seat would be getting close to the bottom of the wheel for anybody. I might wait until I get to Florida for that part. I can sit on a block of...

I'm becoming more and more glad I put this on here. I'm getting a lot of good input. Fasttruck, I thought about mud flaps and would like to have something not just to be legal but because I ride a motorcycle and have had some close calls with stones flying out of people's mud tires who have...

Thanks Sigo! I'll have the credit card ready to go. I'll take my time and not rush things. I've already prepared myself emotionally for the possibility that this might turn expensive! (beyond the fuel, of course) I figure there're way worse things to spend money on than old, giant trucks...