Community Forums

RedneckExpress · 11-23-2011, 06:43 PM

Think happy thoughts Dan, my truck needs new rear leaf springs and that looks like its going to come to the grand total of $630 for the ones I'm aiming for.

Wallaby Dan · 11-23-2011, 07:05 PM

Yep, We crossed our posts. Thats not real bad for new springs. Still they are what you need, not want, right? What year is your truck? Might be able to come up with a set from a u-pull-it. i like those as you can walk around and see the parts on the vehicle so i know what i am getting what i really want. And if i need something special, I can graze around and find something that will work for me!
Anyway, Hope you have luck like i did today! Dan

fleamarketer · 11-25-2011, 09:32 PM

About 16 months ago you where telling me you didn't have it in you.

I was yelling at you telling you you did.Sooooooooo this old guy is right again huh-hun.

Good thing right Dan??.

Wallaby Dan · 11-26-2011, 11:53 AM

Gary, I didn't then. The meds they had me on were too strong as i had lost weight. When i bought the truck i was still having issues because of those meds. When the doctor took me off of those 5 meds, My battery's seemed to charge right up and i was feeling sooo good!!! If not for that, I am wondering if i would be here right now. Thats twice that the VA here almost killed me. You remember the last time before, right?? The depression was caused by the meds they had on me then. Again, i had lost some 50-60 pounds back then. I lost about 60 pounds again and again the meds made me kinda weird but not quite as bad but still not good. I need to get down to 180. Thats where they want me to get to. I am floating in the 190 range right now. I would love to get down to the 160 range. That is what i weight in the military. If i don't get there, its ok. Like i said, Pill pushers are not good doctors at all. This new doctor has done something else. Instead of having me on pain pills all the time, he gave me a script and use as needed. Only if i need it. Wasn't like that before. I may gain some pounds over the holidays but should be able to get it back off after. I am feeling so much better that maybe i can do a trip next year! Will be the truck only but still we can, (when i get the back bed and cap finished), Use the truck or a tent, or both. I only need a few more things to get the truck ready for that kind of camping. Beats nothing!

Anyway, I am doing good. The truck is coming along really well and we are doing better too! I had a great Thanksgiving and hope you had one too!! That goes for the rest of you all out there!! I'm not going to be doing much to the truck this coming month as the Christmas Holiday is only about a month right now and we do have some Nieces and Nephews too. I will be putting new umbrellas to the valves and a new valve cover gasket. That and maybe more bodywork too. Maybe a few minor things to the cab. I may do the cab exterior lights too! One thing i really need is a new keyboard for this computer! Its sticking and i have sprayed the dust out of it and twice i have taken the thing apart to clean the guts out too! It just must be getting tired.I am going to try one more time. And i hope i can get it fixed. If not, i will get one for my Christmas Gift to me! Have a good one my friend and will check in later, Dan

Almost forgot, I took a couple of shots of the new tires and a couple of the next area for body work. Once i finish that area, I can install the cab lights across the cab. Later, Dan

Wallaby Dan · 11-29-2011, 07:19 PM

I started the body work today. The top of the cab has two different dents. The one on the passenger side was the worst. The drivers side was dented too but not as bad as the passenger side but did both of them. Still have to fine finish it. Tomorrow... I am tired and sore from the worst part of it. Tomorrow i can finish the fine stuff and prime it. I may have to wait on the rest till after the winter is done. I was having a hard time getting the mix right and would take about 1/2 hour to harden. That really slowed the work down too much. Pictures are on the Picasa site. I am going to lay down , take a couple pain pills and call it a good night, Dan

Wallaby Dan · 11-30-2011, 05:34 PM

Did a fine a job on the cab and then couldn't find the can of grey sandable primer. Did find a can of Red Oxide so it was done in red. The end pattern is just telling me that the Christmas season is here!

Wallaby Dan · 12-05-2011, 12:20 PM

Welcome to Arizona! Were closed do to lack of heat and snow or snizzle or ice!!! We have another hard freeze warning again! I wish someone would find the switch and turn the heat back on.... Cannot do anything much with this weather! This is the worst yet!! What happened to Global warming??

Burr in Arizona, Dan

Wallaby Dan · 12-19-2011, 12:50 PM

Continue cold and wet, Snow on the mountains. I started to work on a rear of the bed on the drivers side. Someone really didn't know what they were doing. I am going to grind off the body putty they slapped on and the running paint too. That whole side needs to be sanded down and fine finished. I need to make a fender brace to help that back corner. I have a small lead on a pickup camper that i might be able to get for almost nothing. I can fix that up for the trip next year. Gives us more room and a more comfortable bed and being able to stand up in it. Hope they will let us have it. If it was just me without Deb, I would make that my permanent home and get a small trailer for the stuff i may need, and go on down the road with that. But.. That could be a future thing for me. At least i have a plan if something happens to Deb.

Later, Dan

RedneckExpress · 12-20-2011, 02:59 PM

How big of a pickup camper is it dan?

Wallaby Dan · 12-20-2011, 05:18 PM

The one for sale is for a 8 foot bed and a 4 foot over the cab bed. It needs a external fresh water tank as there is none in the camper. Would have to use one of those porta-potty's, and would need a heater. It has stove and sink. a cooler for a fridge and only a dinette area. Has two big closets, one could be made into a bathroom. I can almost pick it up by myself. Now with stuff in it it may be too heavy to move without help. It doesn't have level cranks so getting it off the truck would be a pain but still doable. it is a older unit from the 80's i think. The wife wants more than it is worth. $1000.00 bucks. I told her $300.00. it doesn't have any sign of leakage and the walls are solid. The exterior is aluminum and has a metal roof. It don't have a ladder but there was one from the garage and the roof really looks great. it has been covered with some kind of white .. rubber,? It has one vent and is not a powered vent. No antenna and sat-dish. Not much there and he pulled his boat behind the truck when they went up to the lakes up north. I would have to put in a lot of things for me to be able to live in it. I have a small fridge,(ac only). I can wheel and deal for a 3 gallon water heater. The stove and oven works and they have a 5 gallon tank that takes up room where a microwave could go. That's above the stove. She said the porta- Potty started leaking when they made there last trip. He died this fall so she is doing this all by herself. I am thinking that i could add a basement to the floor and put in fresh and black water tanks and just have the one black tank. The shower and sink i think can run right out on the ground.. not sure about that. If i need to i could add a grey tank somewhere down there. The sink runs right to the ground right now and that's the way she said it had always been. The truck has already been sold and the boat too. I think she wants too much for it but never know. I will check in on that next week. She might be able to unload it for that price. Not me!

With the unit having need of the upgrade stuff i think it will be a better deal if around $300.00. Don't know how this one will go. Will let you know. Dan

RedneckExpress · 12-20-2011, 06:04 PM

Stripped down unit like that, $300 would be the highest I'd go, hell I'd go lower for a bare bones wooden box unit.

I paid $1500 for a 1974 fully equipped 11' slide in that was fully self contained and at the time only needed some minor caulking work.

With a classic cabbed truck, adding a basement would make the catcher's mitt area above the cab enormous and cause some serious handling and drag issues.

Basements only work when you've got a newer truck with a taller cab. You'd need to part out the motorhome to use to make that truck camper really good for camping, especially dry camping.

Also, I can't remember, are you running a C10 or C20 Chevy? Most truck campers need a 3/4 ton w/16" rims to handle the loaded weight. Hell you saw what happened with mine, I ended up doing a 1-ton conversion on my truck to get the extra load capacity I needed.

Speaking of which, I've got a Dana 60 w/4.10 gears for sale, but you'd have to come to Oregon to get it

.

And to respond to yer comment from a while back that I missed some how. Problem with Dodges and U-pull-its, is 1st gens in Oregon are like Hen's teeth. We've got fields of Chevys and Fords, but very very few first generation Dodges.

Back to the camper, if it's not got a ladder on it, it likely doesn't have a roof designed for walking on, like mine (No plywood under the roof skin, its just stretched over the widely spaced roof framing.

Wallaby Dan · 12-21-2011, 11:54 AM

I believe you are right on about the roof. I am not sure how he covered the roof but he may have taken it to a dealer downtown. I also think that you are right about the price. As for the truck. I have a few ways i can go. I can add a automatic trans and tow it behind the motorhome with the flatbed trailer Or keep the stick and tow it all wheels down. Third is to have the small camper in the bed and haul a small trailer behind it. The title says 8500 pds on this C-10. But it also says that the max gvwr is 5000 pds on the door panel. That's on the truck but that would give me 3500 pds of towing. That does seem a bit over what the 250 I6 should or could handle. The trucks dry weight is 3700 pds give or take a few pounds. I still have the flatbed trailer that i can load the truck on and tow behind the coach yet, But i can also just use the camper when going on the short trips and use the coach for the rest of it. The last way and my favorite is to trade in the motorhome to a dealer for a travel trailer. So..These are my options with the truck. With a bit of work i can fix the coach. It needs a timing chain, the front brakes fixed and the back brakes need flushing out. I need to replace all three battery's on it too. I am thinking that the engine in the truck would be the deciding issue. A V-8 could be put in to help out with tow weight. I thought about a 305, should help out and still give me some good gas millage when not towing. I know where i can get a 6.0 and a 5.7 V-8. But don't think i need that much power. I am not sure what way to go right now. I think that that camper and a small trailer behind would be great for smaller trips to family. and the coach and or trailer to move to different areas. I don't want to travel around the country running the coach or pulling the travel trailer behind the truck all the time. I need to get down lower in altitude so i can breath better. I am fighting against using O2 all the time.
Anyway i have options but need to see what falls out and go from there...
Dan

RedneckExpress · 12-21-2011, 12:19 PM

5000-3700lbs = 1300lbs of load capacity. You can get away with going over your GVWR a little so long as you're under your RGAWR (Rear Axle Gross Weight Rating).

The 350 is Chevy's gem engine, once tuned she will work flawlessly for a long time and work well. My brother and I overhauled the one in our family's 85 Chevy Suburban. With her stock gears (which are a little tall for towing) she was getting between 14-17 mpg carrying passengers around.

That I6 plus having a low gear ratio (3.02, 3.12.... anything less than 3.73 basically) will make that truck a pig trying to go over any kind of grade.

Another option is to go with bigger rear gears (4.10s) and then get a double over drive added to an automatic transmission so that you can run lower rpms when empty and the slightly higher rpms when loaded to keep the engine in the wanted power bands.

Wallaby Dan · 12-21-2011, 06:12 PM

I replaced the rear-end ratio to 3.73's and that helped the 6 a lot. I think i should have gone to 4.10's though. It don't have to do the miracle mile and i only do the 55-60 mph as you hurt your mpg so much and i am not into spending more on fuel if i don't have to. Call me tight but if you have 100 coming in and you are using 98 then you are hurting your wallet too much. I like doing a tank or two at a time and park it for the rest of the month and then do it again next month and so on. I am at a loss as to what way to go right now. I don't really want to keep this beast but may have to and use a truck camper to use when we want to go on a trip. If i move somewhere else i can pull the truck on a flatbed behind the motorhome and park it when we get there, and use the truck the rest of the time. Prices have gone up way ridiculous!! Trailers here are way out of reach unless you have a rich uncle to loan you enough to get one. I have seen 1980's travel trailer going for over $10000.00!!! Crazy! I thought i might be lucky and sale this one for something like that, but i just ain't that lucky. I thought about what you said about the basement under the slide-in. What if i added a skylight and put a holding tank for grey and black water there in one of those two closets and then build up the floor for the shower and bath. If i did that for the grey and black tanks i can use the space over the front side of the bed on the drivers side for a holding tank for fresh water. I can place a couple of battery's on the front of the bed on the passenger side. I can move this camper with my arms! it can't weight more than around 400 pds in its current condition. I will keep you up on what i find out. just thinking right now. But sounds do able. Later, Dan