Lowly the Lorry. . .

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Vancouver Area Storage?

Calling all Vancouver BC area EXPO members:

Do you or someone you know have a place where a truck like Lowly could be parked/stored? Preferably covered, but I'm not going to be too picky at this point. Hoping I can find a spot as close to the US border as possible in the greater Vancouver area. I am willing to pay for said storage.

Feel free to PM me if you have a lead.

- Sheik

 

[mog]

Paperwork from the shipper states the weight at "12000 KGS"

Thanks to Google convert, that comes out to 26455 lbs or 13 tons. Is it just me or does that seem way too much. If I'm hauling around bricks of gold bullion, no one has informed me yet. And this was the weight of the truck before I loaded it with mog's donuts!

I've been tempted to stop at one of the many roadside weigh stations to get an accurate weight, but I'm trying to stay on the move and not attract any attention

- Sheik

Seems way too much.

I think they just standardize the weight given the size of the vehicle. In searching the history of my truck, it seems all <supressed> trucks sold by <supressed> to <supressed> were all listed at 6,275.0 kg (13,834 lbs) regardless of the make of the truck (all were DOKA firetrucks).

For reference, my truck will all of the stuff (including shelves, water tank, pump, etc) removed from the firebox weighted 14,460 lbs (6,559 kg) on Copeland's scales. So removing all of the stuff did not make it gain 600 pounds.

The 400 boxes of Tim Horton Donuts = 4800 donuts (I will be conducting an inventory). At 3 ounces each (Including the average tare weight of the box), that is 14,400 ounces or 900 pounds of donuts. And the 'hitchhiker' appears to weight about 108 pounds, but she is riding in the blocker car, so that should not effect Lowly's operating weight.

Drive safely and leave the crashing through the roadblocks to the Trans Am, as some of those donuts are cream filled!

 

[mog]

Sheik emailed me some photos and his adventure is starting to sound like a movie I think I saw in the late 1070s?

I knew I had seen something like that.
It was called 'Mountie and Da Sheik'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountie_and_Da_Sheik

I found a Blu-ray/DVD copy on eBay

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Great story !
Fwiw shipping paperwork from my prior U1300L 'MOG stated it weigh 2400kg.
That proved handy to my wallet at DMV when they wanted a weight document to assess taxes upon.

Currently in contact with the insurance outfits in BC, getting them ready for our impending arrival. ICBC (BC's governmental insurance control agency) has regulations stating that if a vehicle is over 3500 kg then it doesn't have to pass safety inspection for insurance/registration purposes. In speaking with the insurance broker (whose rates are controlled by ICBC) they were informed by ICBC that I would have to get inspected no matter Lowly's weight because he is a fire engine. I told them they need to double check that because government agencies typically aren't allowed to make play calls outside of their own playbook. If I don't have to get a safety inspection then it will be that much quicker and cheaper to get that stuff taken care of when we roll into BC.

I'll likely stop at one of the numerous scales found along the transcontinental highway and ask if I can get the truck weighed. I'll let you know what the bathroom scales reads. . .

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

BC or Bust!: A Roadtrip Update. . .

Woke up this morning in Thunder Bay, Ontario to 5" of fresh snow and driving winds! Thankfully my checked baggage made it to Halifax or we would be severely underdressed for the sorts of conditions we were to face today.

After fueling up we headed northwest up Hwy 17 toward Manitoba. Going was slow due to gusty winds and limited visibility. Also, Lowly's windshield washer fluid reservoir and/or tubing to the wiper's "snotters" was frozen; no wiper fluid = frozen wipers & dirty windscreen :-(

Refueling the truck was a test of cold-weather survival skills as most diesel fill nozzles I've come across on our trip don't have a latch to keep the flow going, requiring one hand on the trigger at all times. I learned to try and position the truck as a wind break in order to lessen the severity of the wind-chill.



We finally clawed our way out of snowy, blowy, stormy Ontario; hello Manitoba!


The prairie began to open up and despite a constant headwind, we were able to start making good time again with flat, straight, snow-free highway. The sky was clearing and provided a very nice sunset.



As we passed Winnipeg, Manitoba we didn't account for the fuel drain the headwind was imposing on our flat-fronted beast. We figured on plenty of fuel to get us to Brandon, Manitoba but Lowly began to stutter about 7 km shy. We limped another couple of kms to an obvious and well-lit highway crossing before calling CAA (AAA's northern equivalent) to call in a mid-highway refueling. After a splash of diesel Lowly thankfully turned over and dutifully chugged back to life allowing us to make it into Brandon and top off the tank.

We pushed on into the night, successfully crossing Manitoba; hello Saskatchewan!



We are holed up at Moosomin, Saskatchewan's Motel 6, easily the finest Motel 6 we've ever encountered. Tomorrow we push on for Alberta and Canada's Rockies!

- Sheik

 

[Wyuna]

i'd imagine the fuel use would drop if you drove at 90kmh

it'll be an interesting test to confirm while you are on the road.

also watch out for those smokey's:smiley_drive:

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

BC or Bust!: A Roadtrip Update. . .

Apologies for the delay in getting out this update; yesterday's long drive turned into a very late drive.

Rolled out of Moosomin, Saskatchewan with every intention of this being one of our easier days with the lure of a hot tub soak in Canmore Alberta at its end. Our plans were put on hold almost immediately as the truck was not providing the power it had just the night before when we stopped for the night. I assumed it was a stiff headwind that was rolling across the Canadian prairie but that soon proved false as the truck continued to lose power.



We were able to call ahead to a diesel truck repair shop in Granfell, SK and they told us to limp on in. We had begun treating our diesel with anti-gel additive once the temps had dropped but figured that the low temps of our night in Moosomin might have gelled the fuel filter. The sleuthing began there where we did find a dirty filter but no gel. No replacement was on hand so we soaked the filter and back-flushed it in an effort to clean it until a new replacement could be sourced. A test drive resulted in no difference in performance.



The diesel particulate filter (DPF) was then dropped and inspected along with inspection of the air filter and a peak into the turbo to check on its condition. After a truck stop lunch of patty melt and dill pickle soup the shop steam cleaned (hot power washed) the DPF resulting in a sooty, slimy pile of goo on the shop floor. The cleaned DPF was reinstalled and another test drive ensued - success!

A huge thank you to Rod & crew at Wolfe Industries (https://www.facebook.com/wolfeindustriesltd/) in Granfell, Saskatchewan for their friendly, timely and successful help in getting us back on the road. They even gifted us a couple of Wolfe hats!



Lowly was once again running like a top with more power than I had experienced up to this point. A DPF steam clean might be in order if your truck is slowly losing power.

We were roughly 4 hours behind schedule at this point but we pressed on with Canmore still remaining our finish line for the day. We made it through Saskatchewan; hello Alberta!



A quick weigh on the scale to hopefully satisfy the BC insurance/registration syndicate that Lowly is in fact over 3501 kgs and won't need a safety inspection and we were on our way for a late night/early morning arrival at our lodgings in Canmore.



A long day made longer, but thankfully Lowly is still running after that power loss scare. The adventure continues, but this road trip is likely in its last days!

Stay tuned. . .

- Sheik

 

[nick disjunkt]

Good to hear you sorted it out so quickly. The DPF must be a retrofit as no trucks of Lowly's age were fitted with them from new in the UK. Does the DPF have a manufacturer name on it? Eminox? PURItech?

 

[Sitec]

Fantastic trip so far. I too am surprised you have a DPF on Lowly. Your 'N' reg rego plate reflects 1995, and as Nick said, no older trucks have DPF's... Keep trucking. Following with interest and envy!

 

[Wyuna]

If it is a retrofit DPF, wouldn't you ba able to legally remove it?

theses things always seem to cause issues when they are designed for new engines.

If its retrofitted, i can just imagine more issues.

enjoying the thread:smiley_drive:

 

[charlieaarons]

If it is a retrofit DPF, wouldn't you ba able to legally remove it?

theses things always seem to cause issues when they are designed for new engines.

If its retrofitted, i can just imagine more issues.

enjoying the thread:smiley_drive:

I second this suggestion.
Your mpg might increase after this cleanout.

 

[PKDreamers]

Hi,,
If it is not a DPF , it could be a spark Arrestor they where fitted to sum fire trucks.

 

[grizzlyj]

I seem to remember Boris Johnson insisting all London firetrucks be changed for new because of the older fleet's emissions. Maybe not all Brigades thought splashing that much cash was a good idea and a retro fit DPF was more sensible?

I know one UK crane hire firm had retrofit filters that just plugged onto the exhaust outlet depending where they were needed to be working, so got swapped between vehicles. Inside part of an art gallery in our case for instance

Selling that DPF in somewhere like the UK may have been quite worthwhile if you had known before!

Cleaning out the fuel tank might be a good idea when you can

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Hi,,
If it is not a DPF , it could be a spark Arrestor they where fitted to sum fire trucks.

It is definitely a DPF as I've worked with them in the past with a client of mine who was attempting to develop a new device that uses plasma for reducing exhaust emissions. Some of the CAD solid-modeling I did for them is on their webpage:

http://thrivaltechnologies.com

Very interesting to hear that the DPF is likely an add-on! Next time I'm under the truck I'll try and remember to look for a manufacturer's label.

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

BC or Bust!: A Roadtrip Update. . .

Woke up to bright sun, surrounded by the majestic Canadian Rockies in Canmore, Alberta.



Noshed some Tim Horton's for breakfast and hit the road. Made it through Alberta; hello British Columbia!



Rolled into Golden, BC around lunchtime and stopped off at the insurance company I had been in contact with for the past few days. I chose them because they were the first place we could get the truck insured/registered once we got to BC. I wanted to make sure we had as much time as possible to work through any issues before heading further west.

We ended up having issues! Lowly was apparently repainted before being sold out of the fire service and the location where his VIN plate would live on the driver's side doorjamb had two mounting holes but no plate; I assume it was removed for the paint job but not reinstalled. I checked with other MB truck owners who had provided me with VIN locations on their truck and it was obvious that the plate was not where it should be. I'll be calling back to the UK once I get home and see if I can find the needle in the haystack. Thankfully the VIN on the frame matched my documentation and the registration office went ahead with getting me registered. Dodged a bullet on that one! Johnston Meier Insurance in Golden, BC was a pleasure to work with and would highly recommend them for anyone doing this sort of thing.





Plates mounted on the truck, we climbed back in and made the long, mountainous drive down to Vancouver.

Stay tuned. . .

- Sheik