Hillbilly Hauler, or.. my first diesel

[Beagle]

The spring / helper idea is a good one - I load it up a lot running water to location X right now so that would fix me up for the 1/2 of the time I'm running back to town unloaded. 1000 - 1500 pounds of water smooths it out quite a bit. If I filled up the tank (2200 pounds), it's really a little too much. They are almost bottomed out. I'll stay with E rated tires, it gets used too hard for anything less.

[STINEY]

Isn't the alias for LocationX "TheLake"?

And you haul water to TheLake?

Just curious....carry on.

[Beagle]

85 miles North is Texoma - that is the lake and it has water but no electricity
85 miles South is LocationX - that is in Carl's Corner (Yes, that Willy Nelson) and has electricity but no water
Lewisville is home and has both water and electricity and is for sale! (as soon as I get all of the crap out of it - think 2 containers 45x8x9.5... )

See how this works? lol.

[STINEY]

That makes perfect sense. Careful, you've displayed reason and sense both in the same planetary rotation. Its getting scary.

[Deaf Bob]

So instead of a 85 mile jaunt on any given day, you are gonna go 170? Trips WILL become fewer and further apart.. ( my experience, I'm lazy)

[STINEY]

We do 350 to the lake. It is a big lake though, and the quiet driving time after everyone passes out is nice.

[Deaf Bob]

We do 350 to the lake. It is a big lake though, and the quiet driving time after everyone passes out is nice.

We go to derbys that far away about 2-4 times a year.. Less all the time. Used to be 6-10... How often do you go? 2-3 times a summer?

[STINEY]

Couple-dozen times per year. It was a much larger pia when we had to drag a trailer, now just toss some clothes in, corral the boys and tell the dogs to load up and we're gone.

[Scott Liggett]

I think the lip at the end of the tailgate on new trucks is for aerodynamic gains. It's something I'll include when I build a camper for it if I don't go buy this first. Sure looks like a hillbilly solution for 150.00... not even sure I can get all the lumber in at 150. :

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n975407[/ATTACH]

49* F .. that's how cold it has to be for truck to not start with no functioning glow plugs or getting block heater plugged in. Guess I'll be ordering a glow plug kit today... at least it will be 79* when I work on it!

Just think of the hotel room savings you will have. Park and sleep at truck stops. They have showers for near nothing. It will pay for itself in one weekend!!

[Beagle]

Shower at the local Petrol is 13.00 !!

DeafBob mentioned a Harbor Freight water pump for the new water supply system. I thought he meant for my deep well, but may have misunderstood. I thought about it some more and it made sense to put one on the 275 gallon water tanks. I've got hot water and 35 psi now... They have a 3/4 HP and a 1 HP , difference between the two is one of them has a cast iron pump and the other more expensive "1 HP" has a stainless pump which isn't as quick to bust if it gets frozen. The motors are the same... exact same, neither 3/4 HP or 1 HP... 4.5amps at 110v is about 3/5 HP. Anyway, no more showering in the ditch or carrying 3 gallons of water with you to the privvy. Yay!

[Deaf Bob]

Good to know I helped somebody! .. My water level is 3-6 feet in the well opening and the foot valve is at 45 feet.. Works for whole house and garden..

[Beagle]

Good to know I helped somebody! .. My water level is 3-6 feet in the well opening and the foot valve is at 45 feet.. Works for whole house and garden..

Foot valve... yeah, I read that and thought "it's to keep it from losing it's prime." I put an inline check valve in the inlet side after trying to figure out why it was constantly cycling. Prime isn't a problem, the tank is higher than the pump. I turned off the "inlet" valve (outlet on the water tank) and it blew the pipe off - was pressurizing my water tank! Ooops. Another trip into town... pffft.

[Deaf Bob]

Live and learn..

[Beagle]

25.00 a gallon for concentrated diesel antifreeze, damn thing holds 8 gallons... (4 gallons antifreeze for 50/50) Supposed to last for 300,000 miles though. The coolant looked so good when I changed the water pump I decided to splurge and use distilled water this time. There's a first time for everything I guess, but 110.00 for a coolant flush? Ouchie. Plus side is it doesn't need supplemental junk to prevent cavitation.

In a not so first time fashion, I waited until it was freezing to dump the water and put coolant/antifreeze in it. I guess it's cheaper than a new truck... if this block broke, the truck would be a total.

Oh - mileage update, got a little over 23 mpg out of the last tank with two riding mowers in the bed. Apparently, putting a half cup of two stroke oil in the tank does improve mileage. This time of year, I have to plug it in since I was lazy and didn't put glow plugs in it yet. I think plugging it in for an hour fixes a lot of my winter time fuel mileage issues. I read somewhere that International specified a 204* thermostat but Ford put 192* thermostats in the trucks. Supposedly, if I get the right thermostat in it, the fuel economy will get better. Wish I had done that before the investment in antifreeze. haha. (has a hose end, I'll capture it when I change the t-stat maybe).

[Beagle]

I didn't really think this worth an update but the kid at wal-mart amused me. I bought some tires in Denison last year and your choice of tire stores in Denison on the weekend is pretty much Wal-mart. Their selection was limited to stock size so I put a pair on so I could get home. I figured on buying wheels and new tires by now, but my cheapness knows no bounds (didn't find a deal) and with Christmas season upon us, I decided to stay with the stock pizza cutter size (235/85-16 e-rated LT) again even though the 265/75-16 is less expensive. This is where things get goofy - I ask for the tire by size and they scan the truck's VIN decal and ask me if it's a 4.6 or a 5.4. Ford did a F250 light duty on the then new 1997 body style so the computer thinks that is what it is. Junior can't put a tire on the truck because I say " doesn't matter, but it's a 7.3" and he says "Not an option"... took a supervisor to tell him "Put in whatever, doesn't matter to the tires."