1stgenoverland
Adventurer
Been slowly working away on this truck for the last two years, and, I thought I should start Sharing what I've been up to on Expedition Portal. I've been on here for a number of years, but mostly floating, with the odd post.
Anyway! Lets begin.
So, Its a 1991.5 (That's for the cummins nerds) Dodge w250, With the ever reliable 12 valve cummins and the Horrifically built Getrag 5 speed...Though I'm going to say that mine is blessed. I can't quite say exactly what its history is, but pieced together, It was originally bought as a cab chassis, for a logging company, and they painted it all these colours, and installed the loggers box on the back, and released it to the bush. It lived its first few years being abused by a logger, pounding down logging roads, backroads and tracks in the bush. When that Logging company sold out and left town, the truck went up for auction, and an older gentleman, from a small, on the coast of British Columbia, purchased it. He probably drove pretty nicely, but small island life lends to some dodgy repairs, lack of maintenance, and more rough roads. I saw the truck driving around from time to time, and always admired the fact that it was still together. A friend of mine told me that he was pretty sure that a rather large excavator bucket road around in the back of it at times, and my suspicion is that it was dropped in there at some point, because the back corner of the frame was bent down and possibly in the middle behind the cab. Hard to tell. But as it goes, it wound up under an old cedar tree, the Old guy passed away, and his son, who, at the time of me coming across the truck, was in his 60', had the truck. He wasn't doing much with it.
I happened to move to this little island a few years ago. I needed a break from town life, and my dad had retired over there, which gave me a place to land. The island was ripe with opportunity for a mechanic, because they didn't have a certified one over there. A new friend with a fabrication shop was looking for someone to work for him, and with my small amount of Fabrications skills, it made sense to work for him, and then do mechanical work to fill in the gaps. It was a pretty good deal for me, and it provided me with some shop space. It took a few short months, and I realized I was going to need a truck, but not wanting to push my finances, I figured one would turn up eventually.
John phoned me, and said he had this old truck in his yard that wouldn't start, and that he'd like to get it going. It had been awhile since it had been ran, so, I went over with a battery and had a crack at it. The starter was the issue, so I removed it, took it up to the shop and rebuilt it on the workbench.
After Rebuilding the starter, I returned to the truck, I installed it, and the truck, like every old cummins, hardly turned over, and it roared to life. We of course checked a few vitals and I drove it around the yard a bit before I asked "What are you doing with this truck?' He didn't really know what he wanted to do with it, and I offered to buy it. To him that seemed like a good idea, and we agreed on a price. His main thing was that he didn't want the truck to go to someone who was just going to drive it further into the ground. He knew me though, through my Dad, and had seen a few wrecks that my dad and I had bought over the years and rebuilt. It was the right fit, and I promised to make the truck right. That first drive home really showed me how rough the truck actually was. I'm not sure many people have experienced death wobble, but it's pretty unreal and really shakes the hell right out of you. It happened on my approach to a tight corner, I hit the brakes, and the rears locked up. That made the back of the truck drift out, while the front was shaking, and I was heading straight for a pond which was at the bottom of a steep embankment. A full on "Jesus take the wheel" moment. I avoided that catastrophe and headed home. The truck was parked up, and I began ordering parts.
Anyway! Lets begin.
So, Its a 1991.5 (That's for the cummins nerds) Dodge w250, With the ever reliable 12 valve cummins and the Horrifically built Getrag 5 speed...Though I'm going to say that mine is blessed. I can't quite say exactly what its history is, but pieced together, It was originally bought as a cab chassis, for a logging company, and they painted it all these colours, and installed the loggers box on the back, and released it to the bush. It lived its first few years being abused by a logger, pounding down logging roads, backroads and tracks in the bush. When that Logging company sold out and left town, the truck went up for auction, and an older gentleman, from a small, on the coast of British Columbia, purchased it. He probably drove pretty nicely, but small island life lends to some dodgy repairs, lack of maintenance, and more rough roads. I saw the truck driving around from time to time, and always admired the fact that it was still together. A friend of mine told me that he was pretty sure that a rather large excavator bucket road around in the back of it at times, and my suspicion is that it was dropped in there at some point, because the back corner of the frame was bent down and possibly in the middle behind the cab. Hard to tell. But as it goes, it wound up under an old cedar tree, the Old guy passed away, and his son, who, at the time of me coming across the truck, was in his 60', had the truck. He wasn't doing much with it.
I happened to move to this little island a few years ago. I needed a break from town life, and my dad had retired over there, which gave me a place to land. The island was ripe with opportunity for a mechanic, because they didn't have a certified one over there. A new friend with a fabrication shop was looking for someone to work for him, and with my small amount of Fabrications skills, it made sense to work for him, and then do mechanical work to fill in the gaps. It was a pretty good deal for me, and it provided me with some shop space. It took a few short months, and I realized I was going to need a truck, but not wanting to push my finances, I figured one would turn up eventually.
John phoned me, and said he had this old truck in his yard that wouldn't start, and that he'd like to get it going. It had been awhile since it had been ran, so, I went over with a battery and had a crack at it. The starter was the issue, so I removed it, took it up to the shop and rebuilt it on the workbench.
After Rebuilding the starter, I returned to the truck, I installed it, and the truck, like every old cummins, hardly turned over, and it roared to life. We of course checked a few vitals and I drove it around the yard a bit before I asked "What are you doing with this truck?' He didn't really know what he wanted to do with it, and I offered to buy it. To him that seemed like a good idea, and we agreed on a price. His main thing was that he didn't want the truck to go to someone who was just going to drive it further into the ground. He knew me though, through my Dad, and had seen a few wrecks that my dad and I had bought over the years and rebuilt. It was the right fit, and I promised to make the truck right. That first drive home really showed me how rough the truck actually was. I'm not sure many people have experienced death wobble, but it's pretty unreal and really shakes the hell right out of you. It happened on my approach to a tight corner, I hit the brakes, and the rears locked up. That made the back of the truck drift out, while the front was shaking, and I was heading straight for a pond which was at the bottom of a steep embankment. A full on "Jesus take the wheel" moment. I avoided that catastrophe and headed home. The truck was parked up, and I began ordering parts.
