Half-Ton Hauler

[bake74]

     Do not know if you made up your mind or not yet, but here's my 2 cents.  I used to drive semi's also, but for years have hauled and towed all kinds of differen't trailers with a 1/2 ton chevy with 3/4 ton axles.  I have used a weight distrubution hitch and without, ( though heaveir loads I perfer the wieght distrubution hitch ).  I have really never had any issue's.  In fact in most cases my chevy tow's as good as my 02 f350 deisel work truck.

[velojym]

I don't feel any real desire to get rid of Earl... got kind of attached over the last couple years. It's just a matter of having time/space/money
to get 'er done.
I know the cheapest and easiest way would be to just put together a 350/350c in the garage, and sneak it in when the neighborhood busybodies aren't looking, but I'd really like to give a little TLC to the engine bay while everything's out. I suppose I can do that and make it look like it ain't a work in progress... maybe.

Really miss my country property with its barn right now.

[velojym]

Events, and advice from my better half and Dave Ramsey... I need to get rid of one of our vehicles.
Logic aside, I have to sell either my c10, which is paid for, or my '05 Trailblazer, which I still owe over $8000 on.

Wow. This was a sort of eventful week. I had to buy tires for the TB, have the tranny flushed, and got Earl running.
At this point, Earl's problems are helping the Trailblazer maintain a spot in the driveway, and will hopefully give me the ability to go a little deeper
with the pickup.

As for Earl, while I was poking around under the hood (the fuses were all good), I tried to check out all the wires near the junction block on the firewall. I didn't even know where to start, as nothing seemed to go anywhere. I know I'm gonna have to rewire this truck, which will be a lot of work, but at least I'll finally know where it all goes. Some of the connections I found were twisted and taped, no solder or other connectors, and as I mentioned before, routing doesn't really make sense.
After I shut the hood, I took a half-hearted twist of the ignition and... lo and behold, the fan came on. A few pumps of the pedal, and Earl was alive! ALIVE!!!
I have a lot of work ahead of me, and I've never really done any sort of major automotive work, just airplanes... which is a lot more different than I used to think.
I'll take a few pics and post 'em before I start digging in. I also have to either arrange my garage or find another place to do the work. I'm actually thinking about signing up for an automotive repair class at a local college, if it'd allow me to do the work I need to do.

[velojym]

Not real comprehensive yet, and I took a short "running" video which I haven't uploaded yet, but these are a little better than my old profile pic.

[velojym]

Ah, here's some vid. It's been a couple weeks since I started it, having been on the road a good part of that...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6vy0lA14OA

[87454westernhauler]

sweet truck.

[velojym]

I haven't been able to do much with Earl lately, as I'm only casually trucking and working at the airport for gas money while I finish my flight training. I do take it out every week, to keep the battery up and get the engine up to temp, stir up the oil and all that.

Today I heard a swish-scrape, swish-scrape... it changed with the truck's speed, so it's a drivetrain noise, and hopefully just brake pads or something simple like that. We're waiting for word on my better half's application for a position in Birmingham, with a nice pay raise and the potential for some nice houses (for her) with some nice workspace (for me). One has the equivalent of a six car garage. I could pull Earl inside and completely re-do him if'n I wanted.
Won't have to do that, I think. I was just laying under the truck poking around, and once again was amazed at how clean and rust free the bottom of the cab is.

[velojym]

My better half got the job, so we're sorting and packing for the next couple weeks. Earl is gonna have to make the trip under
his own power, but I don't think there'll be any major problem.

When we get there, I'll have to find something productive to do, and am in touch with a guy who wholesales Italian ice to
folks who are willing to use at least a trailer (no pushcarts), so Earl's mission won't really change all that much from what
I described above, though fuel economy won't be quite the bogeyman it would have been if I'd been using the truck for
hauling more. I'll still probably keep it in mind, though.
We're also looking for a house with a decent sized shop separate from the garage, so the wife can park her car inside, while allowing me
an enclosed area to work on Earl. I'll just use the Trailblazer to tow the trailer for a while until the truck is ready... provided I decide to
do the above.

[Cheyenne]

That a nice truck looks solid

[velojym]

Thanks Cheyenne.

We're in Bama now, but still in temp housing until the bank pulls their collective heads outta their nether regions. We're ready to close right now, but they don't have all their stuff together so we're having to wait.
Earl is still in Little Rock, and we'll be going back for the truck and the rest of our stuff after we come back from
the wife's family reunion in Savannah.
We've talked about hauling Earl back on a Uhaul trailer, and I'm kinda going back and forth on the idea. It'd be far cheaper to just get a trailer and use Earl... but dang it's been hot out lately. If we do that, we're gonna have to leave muy early to get back here before the heat of the day.

Man, I've become such a wimp since I started driving later model cars...

The Italian Ice thing is still on the table, and while I actually considered putting a custom vending body on Earl, I don't think I want to destroy the pickup utility.... besides, I think it'd end up being more expensive than a trailer anyway. As the truck would be part of the system (holding the generator and a supply locker in addition to towing the trailer), I think maybe a build thread for the whole rig would be in order.

I'm in the Cap'n's general area, too... gotta see what he has to offer.

[velojym]

Jacquie's employer was footing the bill for the truck itself, and the trailer rental was cheaper than the gas to drive Earl... plus it was a lot easier to load everything into a 17' truck anyway. So... I towed Earl. He rode good, but as mentioned in another thread, tossed part of a fan blade on the way home from Tuscaloosa.

In other news...
There's a big black dually sitting about a mile up the road from this McDonalds (don't have internet access yet at the new house), and it has a For Sale sign on it. I'll take a pic on the way home and post it when I can. The though has tickled my mind, however, that it could be used to pull the aforementioned trailer. It also looks pretty awesome, from the road anyway. I'm gonna go check it out in a few minutes.

[thirsty]

Just buy it! You can never have too many squarebodies..haha

[velojym]

I'd have to square it with the wife, as she generally holds the reins to the happiness level in our house.


It isn't as purty up close, but like most of these trucks, it has a lot of potential. The sign in the window
tells me it has a 454/t400, and the interior is pretty nice, though it needs a good cleaning.

IIRC, the price was 3750.00

[big bear]

ooo nice !!!! excellent find man.  id be all over it.  good price, looks clean.  keep us posted.

[beastie_3]

Nice!