72 IH + ‘85 Alaskan = Questionable Judgment...

[Nailhead]

I mean....what's the possible explanation for that pattern? A plan to be able to easily rock it if and when you get stuck? Lots of slow speed vehicle placement in close quarters?

Absolutely no idea.

Separating the real men from the hipsters? Who knows.

I truly had no idea it would be this big an obstacle to the enjoyment of the drive.


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[utherjorge]

Are you able to start in 2? I know an old F350 with a four speed had a granny gear that was useless for anything other than towing. Does yours have the power to start rolling in 2nd everytime?

 

[rruff]

I think my Dad called it "dual low", on his '69 Chevy pickup. I drove that thing a lot, and no... 1 was only used for pulling wagons in the dirt and other low speed work. It would make 2wds a lot more useful offroad if they'd kept that up...

 

[chet6.7]

What is the second gear ratio?
Every manual pickup I ever had could start off in second gear. I have an automatic now, I miss the stout first gear of previous trucks when I want to crawl. The shift pattern of your trans would be good for a ten point turn at the end of a logging road.

 

[Nailhead]

Granny is mandatory when you’re getting nearly 10,000 lbs moving, I’ve found. Attempts at starting in second with the old four-speed resulted in nasty clutch judder, and I’m not going to attempt that again; too much potential for destruction.

It’s not the start that’s giving me fits; it’s reprogramming myself to a new shift pattern while getting the rev match right. Old dog, new tricks.


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[Nailhead]

Something I meant to cover a while back:

I relamped all the interior lights with these Aerolights LED replacements. They have a really nice light quality to them.


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[Nailhead]

What is the second gear ratio?
Every manual pickup I ever had could start off in second gear. I have an automatic now, I miss the stout first gear of previous trucks when I want to crawl. The shift pattern of your trans would be good for a ten point turn at the end of a logging road.

Yeah, I’ve heard from a few on the BookFace that, once a person becomes accustomed to that shift pattern, it’s actually quite handy in certain situations, maybe like you mention.


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[chet6.7]

I understand having to discard a well learned movement to replace it with a different one can be a pain, 50K shifts from now it will seem normal.
It will be good to see it back on the road.

 

[Nailhead]

I understand having to discard a well learned movement to replace it with a different one can be a pain, 50K shifts from now it will seem normal.
It will be good to see it back on the road.

Fifty thousand??

Crap— I hope it doesn’t take that long for this to become familiar and reflexive.

Thank you for the sentiments. I just wrapped up my punch list:

The Hardware Store Cat be like, “you’re back again??”

Time to go for a drive and practice shifting like a suburban ‘80’s teen.


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[Nailhead]

I thought I’d add a splash of color to the back with my lovingly painted gas can holder.

Sure enough, the Curse of Ft Wayne took its cut:

The last bolt seized to the nut while tightening it, the ratchet slipped off the bolt, and I smashed my thumb. Then (the part that REALLY pisses me off) I chipped the finish on the rim of the can holder rattling the bolt in two.

Lately, too little I do to this thing is wholly satisfying.

Is the juice worth the squeeze?

I don’t really know anymore.

Where’s the line between persistence and masochism?

I don’t know that either.

I do know that thoughts of the local artillery range cross my mind more & more. They take donations, if I’m not mistaken.


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[chet6.7]

Fifty thousand??

Crap— I hope it doesn’t take that long for this to become familiar and reflexive.

Thank you for the sentiments. I just wrapped up my punch list:

The Hardware Store Cat be like, “you’re back again??”

Time to go for a drive and practice shifting like a suburban ‘80’s teen.


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I was joking about the 50K because to me getting the 1K in seemed liked 50K when unlearning a bad habit.

FWIW
''The 10,000 rep rule is a lot like the 10,000 hour rule that maybe some of you have heard of. When you have a bad habit, like for example a QB with a long stride, it will take 10,000 reps for you to master that skill and 1,000 reps to break the bad habit. But when I say reps I mean consistent reps. You can’t do 50 good reps then 50 bad ones. The reps have to be consistent and in a row and today we are going to talk about breaking it down. There are 7 days a week so let’s assume that you take 1 rest day. You do 100 reps a day that is 600 reps a week. So, it will take you less than two weeks to break a bad habit and yet I still see some guys who have been corrected on mechanical issues and they don’t do it. You have to put the time in. There is no way around it. So then if you want to master the skill, which takes 10,000 reps, you will need about 17 weeks to do so. That is completely doable. That is 4 months of work. That’s your off season. Once this season ends, if you have developed bad habits, get your 10,000 reps in. Make it apart of your day so you can master that skill and better your game.''

 

[Nailhead]

Practicing the drive:

Getting more comfortable with this gearbox.


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[Nailhead]

On that drive, a sticky throttle cable was driving me crazy. It would stick at about 1700, and I’d have to pry up on the pedal with my foot to close the throttle. Good fun with a standard transmission.

I pulled over twice, and could not duplicate the problem. When I got home, I tried to duplicate it, and could not yet again, so I did this:

It still sticks, but not as often. I have tried and tried to reproduce it but cannot so far. I guess I’ll just keep sticking springs on there until it goes away.


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[Nailhead]

Brake time:

A leaky master cylinder and old brake hoses were the problems.

I got one hose done:

The other had a flare nut on it that would not budge in a location that was just barely accessible, so I guess that’ll have to do for the time being. I’d have to cut the brake line to get a socket onto that flare nut, replace the hose, then bend a new brake line and install that. Not happening right now.

As I was bleeding the brake on the other side, I absentmindedly spun the drum, and noticed roughness & noise. Wheel bearing time:

The guys at the part store said they’d run it:

But I decided on caution and got new:

They had them both on the shelf, which was jaw-dropping— that never happens.

All done, good to go.

I think.


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