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

[Nailhead]

Quite a project that was.

First, I obtained the eye-to-eye distance from several Binder Planet members who were owners of unsullied 4x4 IH one-tons, averaged them, sent that figure to the fabricator, then waited for the Brown Truck while I worked on the dead one:

And then this arrived:

I was ecstatic; this was going to be resolved pretty easily. Uncommonly easily.

Wrong:

Stan, we’ll call him, clearly had no idea what tie rod ends a 1310 uses. They’re massive, way bigger than the GM one-ton rod end on the left. They also did not fit the tie rod sent.

After a phone call, I sent the new tie rod back, confident all would be resolved in short order.

Wrong again: after months of phone calls, promises, and product research on my part:

familiarizing myself with stud diameter, threading, and taper large diameters, I found that Moog ES-176R and ES-176L were what was needed. Still no action on the other end (something about not being able to find the proper tap was the latest), so we took an M715 tie rod:

And had this made locally:

This was March. The defective replacement tie rod arrived in October.

All’s well that ends well (with a refund), if slowly.


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[Nailhead]

With this epic undertaking behind me, I could take care of some odds & ends.

Installed me rebuilt brake booster:

After setting the pushrod length with a jig made from a template in the factory service manual-

Vacuum issues were one of the factors contributing to my Hagerman mishap: engine vacuum would disappear IMMEDIATELY upon engine shutdown rendering the brakes nearly useless and me very resistant to stop on hilly ground. Press on regardless. In an apartment house. Not the best MO, obviously.

The booster resolved this vacuum reserve problem some, but not 100%.


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[Nailhead]

Replaced the front output seal on the 205, also:

The old one flowed oil like a downspout, and made a top-off a daily routine on trips:

Leaks nary a drop now, even though I was not able to access the breather & clean it.


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[ober27]

I've really enjoyed this thread.
You seem to continually conquer what seem to me insurmountable hurdles.
I had a couple of Internationals in my younger days, so it's interesting to see yours. I think my days of old trucks are behind me, but I really have a hankering for an Alaskan camper. I'm learning a lot from your experiences.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Nailhead]

I've really enjoyed this thread.
You seem to continually conquer what seem to me insurmountable hurdles.
I had a couple of Internationals in my younger days, so it's interesting to see yours. I think my days of old trucks are behind me, but I really have a hankering for an Alaskan camper. I'm learning a lot from your experiences.
Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! I’m glad to hear this benefits somebody in some way.

As for hurdles, it occurs to me that subject could be seen at least a couple ways: 1. With respect and admiration in the way it seems you’ve expressed. 2. With a questioning of my intelligence, in the way I do pretty regularly.

On that note, wait’ll we get to the latest hurdle…


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[Nailhead]

An issue lingering from the Hagerman trip was a problem with the water fill-up line:

I had relocated the fill fitting from the side of the camper to the rear to clear the tool boxes, using 3/8 hardline all the way. Why not? Shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Wrong, again: Alaskan didn’t see fit to secure the tank to the floor, so it was free to move side-to-side on uneven ground, and move it did, kinking the hardline.

Time to try out my new beading tool:

Cool, this works nicely:

Some vinyl water hose and a flare, and problem solved:

I also added a couple pieces of 2” aluminum angle to hold the tank in place, as seen in the back ground above, and here:

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[Nailhead]

Seemingly no sooner than I got this solved, another train wreck came my way.

I’d just learned about Cat Scales, and I was excited to weigh the truck so I could order rear springs. I’d looked around town for a couple years, didn’t find any easy options, and then I find out I can get my truck scaled out— axle weights included— from an app. Hell yeah!

As a prerequisite to weighing, I had to load up the truck like was taking an epic trip: big cooler on the back, solar suitcase and inflatable kayak inside, with dumbells in the cooler and on the inside to approximate food & beer.

I also filled the water tank, and in the process some things happened that I dismissed in my enthusiasm to get weighed. I didn’t see any returns through the vent hose like I usually do when the tank is full, and the front wall of the camper suddenly bulged forward, prompting me to immediately shut the water off. Then when I removed the hose, water came shooting out the filler. Huh… weird. Whatever, let’s go!

Cat Scales are super easy, IIRC: open the app, drive on the scale, weight is provided, credit card is charged:

Large-boned:

Cool— now I can replace these beat springs.

I get back home, open the camper door to unload the weight I’d added and noticed to my growing horror things aren’t looking quite right in here, s I start raising the top. This foreboding is compounded exponentially when I step on the water tank cover (like I always do) to access the cabover, and it falls onto the tank within:

Something is really ************ up in here.

The explanation for the squeak I heard when the front wall bulged starts to reveal itself:

The bulging water tank had pushed the dinette almost an inch to the rear on both sides. Apparently, the vent hose was plugged (upper hose in pic):

Several hours spent with ratchet straps, various jigs, hammers, and even a small hydraulic jack, and I had everything essentially back in its place:

All this panic and work caused by bug building a cocoon in the tank vent. No lasting harm done, and took the opportunity to add a hold-down to the water tank:

I still haven’t come up with a way to exclude bugs from that vent, though.


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[Mickey Bitsko]

What's the purpose of the vent?

 

[Buddha.]

What's the purpose of the vent?

To let the air out as you fill with water.

also

To act as an overflow to let some water out if you overfill. This second feature can help to prevent damage like what was just described.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

I don't understand, the tank vent is in the tank, is the vent, that chrome piece in the 6th picture?

 

[Nailhead]

The vent is the upper black plastic hose in this pic:

going from the top of the tank out through the camper wall.

When I see water running out between camper & cab, I know the tank is full. Usually.

I’m not seeing the “chrome” piece you’re referring to. I think the only chromed item in there is the faucet.


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[ITTOG]

Man, your luck sounds about like mine. There is always something to kick you down when you are feeling good.

As they say, if you didn't have bad luck you wouldn't have any luck at all!

 

[ExpoMike]

Bummer about the vent being plugged and the issues from it. You should be able to get a brass screen vent to put on the outside part of the line. Would allow it to vent but not let bugs in.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Worse case, get an inline filter that would be used for something like drip line. If you can’t get a screen cover for it on the outside.





Can you share more about your IK?

 

[Nailhead]

Man, your luck sounds about like mine. There is always something to kick you down when you are feeling good.

As they say, if you didn't have bad luck you wouldn't have any luck at all!

Ohh, it gets better… or worse, really.

No kidding, right?


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