Topic: What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?

[Gurp]

Took my 05 Ram 2500 for its first decent size haul today. Sold my broke down diesel to a buddy for real cheap and we hauled it up to his other buddies garage. About 50 miles tow. 5k trailer and a 9800lb truck. The dodge did pretty well for being a gas truck.

[grcamna2]

Took my 05 Ram 2500 for its first decent size haul today. Sold my broke down diesel to a buddy for real cheap and we hauled it up to his other buddies garage. About 50 miles tow. 5k trailer and a 9800lb truck. The dodge did pretty well for being a gas truck.

Does that Dodge have a hemi engine ?

[Gurp]

Took my 05 Ram 2500 for its first decent size haul today. Sold my broke down diesel to a buddy for real cheap and we hauled it up to his other buddies garage. About 50 miles tow. 5k trailer and a 9800lb truck. The dodge did pretty well for being a gas truck.

Does that Dodge have a hemi engine ?

Yeah 5.7 hemi. Automatic.
Quad cab with a long bed. It's a bear to find a parking spot for. Lol

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

[grcamna2]

Took my 05 Ram 2500 for its first decent size haul today. Sold my broke down diesel to a buddy for real cheap and we hauled it up to his other buddies garage. About 50 miles tow. 5k trailer and a 9800lb truck. The dodge did pretty well for being a gas truck.

Does that Dodge have a hemi engine ?

Yeah 5.7 hemi. Automatic.
Quad cab with a long bed. It's a bear to find a parking spot for. Lol

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

Big cab and the long bed 

[dave500]

Yeah 5.7 hemi. Automatic.
Quad cab with a long bed. It's a bear to find a parking spot for. Lol

just keep a can of white paint and a brush in the car,park where you want then paint a parking bay around it?

[Gurp]

I don't like a short bed very much and having kiddos the big cab is great!

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[Stev-o]

Pulled the starter out of the '69 Mustang.   Last time I drove it, out for a lunch run, car ran great but once the engine is at normal operating temp, the starter does not want to crank the motor over at full power, I hear the dreaded "er er er", heatsink issue [starter is close to the headers]  My buddy had same issue in hie '56 F-100 with a 351 V8 and installed one of the modern high torque starters. So I ordered one and am in process of replacing....





You guys run across this issue?

[BenelliSEI]

Steve…. Had the same issue with a huge Oldsmobile  “Vista Cruiser” wagon I used to tow with. We’d never shut it off until we got to the racetrack! Next morning it would start fine.

Another racer solved the problem (he worked at a GM dealership). The starter was not shimmed correctly and when the flywheel and bell housing got hot, they would jam up. He loosened it off and did it right and it worked perfectly. He warned the electric motor bushings were probably cooked, but it was still in the car when I sold it. Make sure the new one sits square and has enough pinion clearance.

A huge advantage of the torque starters is they throw the pinion gear into the flywheel from the side that has never been beaten up (opposite to the stock one). Should be nice and smooth!

[Kelly E]

Took my 05 Ram 2500 for its first decent size haul today. Sold my broke down diesel to a buddy for real cheap and we hauled it up to his other buddies garage. About 50 miles tow. 5k trailer and a 9800lb truck. The dodge did pretty well for being a gas truck.

Does that Dodge have a hemi engine ?

Yeah 5.7 hemi. Automatic.
Quad cab with a long bed. It's a bear to find a parking spot for. Lol

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

I just park my big truck in the outback of the parking lot. It's about 20' long and turns like a big ship with a stuck rudder.

[Gurp]

Took my 05 Ram 2500 for its first decent size haul today. Sold my broke down diesel to a buddy for real cheap and we hauled it up to his other buddies garage. About 50 miles tow. 5k trailer and a 9800lb truck. The dodge did pretty well for being a gas truck.

Does that Dodge have a hemi engine ?

Yeah 5.7 hemi. Automatic.
Quad cab with a long bed. It's a bear to find a parking spot for. Lol

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

I just park my big truck in the outback of the parking lot. It's about 20' long and turns like a big ship with a stuck rudder.

That's usually what I try to do. Being in a more rural area a lot of places have very small/tight lots and street parking.
It's gets parallel parked more than I like haha.

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[Stev-o]

Steve…. Had the same issue with a huge Oldsmobile  “Vista Cruiser” wagon I used to tow with. We’d never shut it off until we got to the racetrack! Next morning it would start fine.

Another racer solved the problem (he worked at a GM dealership). The starter was not shimmed correctly...

Hey John...yes, we added two shims and have it positioned properly [a buddy stopped by, he's a pro mechanic].  The new starter seems to be working fine but did not get a chance to drive and check it with engine hot. Next week...

[Kelly E]

GM starters usually need shimming. My little truck takes 1 thick and 1 thin one on the current starter.
 I have installed a gear reduction starter on my 93' F250 7.3L diesel truck and it cranks over much faster than the stock starter.
 I've also put one in the 72' MGB GT with excellent results. Once the 10 to 1 compression motor for it is done the gear reduction starter will be needed.
The best part of the gear reduction starters is they are usually smaller and easier to install.

[BenelliSEI]

Steve…. Had the same issue with a huge Oldsmobile  “Vista Cruiser” wagon I used to tow with. We’d never shut it off until we got to the racetrack! Next morning it would start fine.

Another racer solved the problem (he worked at a GM dealership). The starter was not shimmed correctly...

Hey John...yes, we added two shims and have it positioned properly [a buddy stopped by, he's a pro mechanic].  The new starter seems to be working fine but did not get a chance to drive and check it with engine hot. Next week...

Good for you guys. You’ll love it.

[Terry in Australia]

It’s expensive, but it wouldn’t worry me enough not to own a big gas guzzler if I had the room to park one. I went through the “Muscle Car” phase when I was in my 20’s and 30’s, and wish I’d kept one of them, but rust was always a problem with pre-1990 built cars so I’d need to be able to park it under cover for fear that it would rust into the ground.

Now that Australia has lost its Ford and GM manufacturing plants (not to mention Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda and Toyota) we’re getting all our new cars imported from the US, Europe and Asia, and I don’t know how people can afford new cars and trucks, they’re ridiculously expensive here now and the trucks are getting bigger with each new model, my little Mitsubishi truck looks tiny compared to the current range of trucks that folks are getting around in, and I earn (well, get paid) well above the average salary here.

Still, I’m not driving as much as I used to, so a 50 litre tank of fuel in my turbo Subaru lasts me around a week and a half, and my average 120 mile weekend rides probably cost around $20 for fuel, so it’s not a big deal.

[Kelly E]

It’s expensive, but it wouldn’t worry me enough not to own a big gas guzzler if I had the room to park one. I went through the “Muscle Car” phase when I was in my 20’s and 30’s, and wish I’d kept one of them, but rust was always a problem with pre-1990 built cars so I’d need to be able to park it under cover for fear that it would rust into the ground.

Now that Australia has lost its Ford and GM manufacturing plants (not to mention Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda and Toyota) we’re getting all our new cars imported from the US, Europe and Asia, and I don’t know how people can afford new cars and trucks, they’re ridiculously expensive here now and the trucks are getting bigger with each new model, my little Mitsubishi truck looks tiny compared to the current range of trucks that folks are getting around in, and I earn (well, get paid) well above the average salary here.

Still, I’m not driving as much as I used to, so a 50 litre tank of fuel in my turbo Subaru lasts me around a week and a half, and my average 120 mile weekend rides probably cost around $20 for fuel, so it’s not a big deal.

My big ass 93' F 250 diesel 4x4 has a 4"" lift but the new trucks are taller. These days it would cost me $60k to replace my old hay wagon but my hay wagon will probably outlast the new ones. I paid $16k for it in 98' with 60k miles on it. The motor has a 400k mile lifespan. The cool part is the 92' to 96' Ford F trucks are popular enough to make it into the restoration catalogs making many parts easily available. Here's the hay wagon in her winter coat of dirt and mud.

[grcamna2]

Solid Machine 

[Terry in Australia]

It’s expensive, but it wouldn’t worry me enough not to own a big gas guzzler if I had the room to park one. I went through the “Muscle Car” phase when I was in my 20’s and 30’s, and wish I’d kept one of them, but rust was always a problem with pre-1990 built cars so I’d need to be able to park it under cover for fear that it would rust into the ground.

Now that Australia has lost its Ford and GM manufacturing plants (not to mention Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda and Toyota) we’re getting all our new cars imported from the US, Europe and Asia, and I don’t know how people can afford new cars and trucks, they’re ridiculously expensive here now and the trucks are getting bigger with each new model, my little Mitsubishi truck looks tiny compared to the current range of trucks that folks are getting around in, and I earn (well, get paid) well above the average salary here.

Still, I’m not driving as much as I used to, so a 50 litre tank of fuel in my turbo Subaru lasts me around a week and a half, and my average 120 mile weekend rides probably cost around $20 for fuel, so it’s not a big deal.

My big ass 93' F 250 diesel 4x4 has a 4"" lift but the new trucks are taller. These days it would cost me $60k to replace my old hay wagon but my hay wagon will probably outlast the new ones. I paid $16k for it in 98' with 60k miles on it. The motor has a 400k mile lifespan. The cool part is the 92' to 96' Ford F trucks are popular enough to make it into the restoration catalogs making many parts easily available. Here's the hay wagon in her winter coat of dirt and mud.

That’s a good looking truck Kelly, and if you think they’re expensive in the US, they’re out of this world here in Oz. I saw a 3 year old Ford Ranger “Raptor” for sale on FB Marketplace for $98,000 AUD, or about $62K USD the other day, and wondered what a new one would cost? My little truck was cheap @ about $2K USD but of course it ended up costing me around $6K USD by the time I got it into its current state, but am happy with it now.

If it was a bit more comfortable (I’m tall, so not much legroom, and no aircon or cruise control) I’d keep it forever but if something better comes along I’ll buy it and move the little truck on. I don’t want anything too tall because I want to be able to load a bike in the back, but if I can find a Ford or GM “Ute” (that were common here in Oz before GM and Ford quit manufacturing in Oz) that hasn’t been flogged to death by a 20 year old, I’ll grab it.

[Kelly E]

We use an old travel trailer frame that we built into a 12' flatbed with 12" tall side rails to haul bikes. Loading a large street bike all of the way up into a pickup bed sounds terrifying. Our 12' trailer deck is only knee high and I can ride a bike up on it with the good ramps. We also turned a golf cart tilt bed trailer into a one bike trailer. The wheel chock bolts to either trailer. It's really easy to load up a dead bike with two people. I rewired it, installed new better lights and when the current 13" tires wear out I have a set of 14" wheels for it.

[dave500]

I love the old spreadbore Rochester Quadrajets!we got em here on our holden 308 cube v8s factory and also the later 253 v8 which first had the WW2 stromberg two barrel,any chev or pontiac here had them aswell as holdens that came with the tick the box 350 chev motor in the old glory days,anyway i stocked up on wear parts a while ago and glad i did,i had a "choke pull off"go bad and could feel the secondary air valve opening too fast and sure enough this diaphram was cooked,simple swap out and good to go,in days gone by so many of these great factory carbs were thrown away in favour of holleys or edelbrocks?i love em and if i see em cheap at swap meets etc i hoard them and the parts!

[RAFster122s]

Smaller displacement bikes can get very high mileage at the expense of small on HP and torque usually. I think of how funny someone tall might look like a monkey and football expression comes to mind. The Honda Grom would be a case in point Id be looking like a circus bear riding a small kids bike if you saw me on a Grom...
100-120 mpg in US fuel and the like...

Australia has different distance on their miles??
5280 feet or 10km is 6.2 miles
If mikes are the same distance then comparing mpg or mpL is easier to get an idea...
My VStrom 650 gets between 45 and 54mpg, depending on kinds of road it is used on...

[Stev-o]

I love the old spreadbore Rochester Quadrajets!

Hey Dave..is that your carb?   My buddy had the same issue with his choke issue ['68 Firebird w/400 V8]
Ordered the part from this website and all good...

https://quadrajetpower.com/

[grcamna2]

I love the old spreadbore Rochester Quadrajets!we got em here on our holden 308 cube v8s factory and also the later 253 v8 which first had the WW2 stromberg two barrel,any chev or pontiac here had them aswell as holdens that came with the tick the box 350 chev motor in the old glory days,anyway i stocked up on wear parts a while ago and glad i did,i had a "choke pull off"go bad and could feel the secondary air valve opening too fast and sure enough this diaphram was cooked,simple swap out and good to go,in days gone by so many of these great factory carbs were thrown away in favour of holleys or edelbrocks?i love em and if i see em cheap at swap meets etc i hoard them and the parts!

I like the Quadrajet carbs.
They made a lot of sense especially on my 'Gas Hog' 1967 Buick GS400 Gran Sport with the 400ci 4-Speed.

[Terry in Australia]

Today Spotty and I sanded all of the rust off the trailer frame, and painted it in anticipation of installing a new deck. We were going to buy marine ply to replace the original rotted cheap Chinese plywood that it came with, but couldn't find the size we need at the local big box hardware store, and the smaller pieces were horribly expensive, so we're thinking about aluminium checker plate. Even if it's a tad more expensive than wood, we don't have to paint it, and it won't rot.

Trailer and DS6 Sunday 21 January 2024 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Trailer and DS6 Sunday 21 January 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Of course as soon as we'd finished painting it the rain started lightly falling, but fcuk it, it's "ceramic enamel" (whatever that is) so wasn't going to run off. The trailer looks warped, but it's not, it's a folding trailer and we didn't bolt it back together before painting it, as the bolts all need replacing. All in all, it was a good day.

[Kelly E]

We replaced the plywood deck on the 12' trailer with steel diamond plate but since yours is a foldable trailer I would use aluminum.
Our plywood deck lasted ten years before we didn't trust it.

[Terry in Australia]

We replaced the plywood deck on the 12' trailer with steel diamond plate but since yours is a foldable trailer I would use aluminum.
Our plywood deck lasted ten years before we didn't trust it.

Thanks mate, yeah it got to the stage where you could put your foot through the cheap plywood floor, but I did leave it in the weather for a couple of years. I’ve ordered the aluminium checker plate, due to the odd size they have to cut it from 2 sheets, but that’s great as I’ll use the leftover pieces to build a bike ramp for my bike loader.