KRB

You've been racking up the miles lately. Where did this trip take you?

oliver foster

Down VT and into NY state. Then south west towards Pennsylvania.

After we loaded up the getrag combo, I headed homeward, arriving home well after midnight.

I am married to my outdoor boiler for almost 6 month of the year, so now is the time of year I can get in the longer road trips.

NJTman

Was traveling through PA over the weekend, and actually saw 2 of those "outdoor boiler" units in peoples yards. We were in the coal belt, so i would assume they used it for coal. It was really cool seeing one in person, even though I was just toodling past.

KRB

I hear that. Between my outdoor boiler and bovines, I'm stuck on the farm for about 5 months too.

edwinsmith

I think it's good that you boil your bovines outdoors.

Fordzilla

The only outdoor boilers I'm familiar with are the kind found deep in the Arkansas woods near fresh water sources...There's usually a really fast car nearby, and the guys watching nearby with their shotguns ain't bird hunters......Ben

CruisingRam

It's comments like these that make me absolutely NOT miss living in Alaska LOL

KRB

Everybody's a comedian...

Just to set the record straight, We like our beef grilled and with more barrels of bourbon than people in the state, there's very few of those backwoods boilers around anymore!

edwinsmith

I think I read somewhere that you can make up to 200 gallons/year of moonshine legally. I just worry about who's drinking 200 gallons of moonshine every year.

oliver foster

I got the truck up on the lift last night. I checked for loose bolts on the major items I had bolted to the frame and steering system. I had marked a bunch of bolts and nuts wth a paint pen during the final torque down, so I could visibly see if they had loosed up.
All the u joints, king pins and tie rod ends took grease easily.
Cab / bed core / support bolts, along with the transmission crossmember bolts where all still snug.
I see very minor oil seep coming from the Getrag, so I will be sure to squeeze in a bit of 5W30 through the top bolt hole on the PTO cover.

I did note a bit of wear on my front soft brake line from the crossmember to the axle, where it had been rubbing on the hard brake line close to the diff.. I modified the bend in the hard line for clearance, but will keep an eye on it to see if it still ever contacts when it is back on the ground.

Starting to get it road trip ready for the trip to Carlisle next week.

oliver foster

The trip down to Carlisle was smooth. The show itself was a great time with good people.
But that was almost 2 months ago...Boy summer flies by this far north.

The girlfriend and I took Project Covid out for a short road trip with some camping thrown in to New Hampshire over the weekend. We headed down to see Pantera and Lamb of God in Gilford NH. I am glad we got some seats under cover as it rained from 5 PM on for most of the show. The general admission area in the grass behind us, turned into a muddy mosh pit by the end of the night. I have never seen Pantera before and I will say they put on a great show. LoG always puts on a good show.

After the show we headed back north and grabbed a few hours sleep in the truck in Franconia Notch which is State forest land.
The truck did great and the girlfriend noted the truck is more comfortable than the regular cab W250s I drive. Between the captains chairs. the longer wheelbase and softer suspension it is a comfy ride. The cross over steering is nice and responsive, for a 1st gen., going down the road too.

KRB

Thanks for the update! Sounds like you might have found the perfect match for wheelbase & springs?

The concert mosh pit reminded me of what happened at Burning Man this year but a much smaller scale!

oliver foster

Well it seems like another VT summer is in the books. We have had a few hard frosts, a few stray snow flakes and hail, but today they are calling for what might be our first measurable snowfall.

I pressure washed off Project Covid last week on a warm sunny day and it is parked in the shop with a small list on the dash of things I could fix to make it better. All in all it drove great for the summer. I got in four out of state road trips, with a total of 7 nights camping out of the truck.

One of the biggest thing on my "things I could fix" list is trying out a bump in timing. It seems to white haze a little more when I fire it up than I would expect. It hazes like I would expect a cold 12V to at 10F out, when it is 60F out.
A little more timing should help bump up my MPG a bit too.

KRB

7 nights truck camping is a great measurement of success IMO!!!

We had our killing frost Monday morning but it should be weeks (or months) before a snow.

Wish I had a wood heated shop I could hibernate in too!

oliver foster

The weather has been nice and the salt has been washed off the roads. Time to roll this truck out of its over wintering spot in the shop and out into the sunlight.