42 chevy

All; After speaking with Jeff J about this issue, he has offered another to check. As stated, I replaced the bad diaphragm in the relay valve. Now that has been fixed, he thinks it could have been masking a leaking brake valve. He told me if the brake valve is leaking "at rest" the air needs to go somewhere. So when it stops raining here, I will remove the line from the valve that goes to the relay valve, if it is leaking, then, problem found. I will keep you posted. John G

Calling all series 5 owners HELP. I am stumped. My relay valve was leaking when the brakes were applied, According the Bendix manual, that means the diaphragm is leaking. Inspection confirmed the the diaphragm was cracked, it was replaced, the unit was bench tested. Now the air is leaking out of the exhaust port and I cannot build air pressure. The supply valve looks OK, as the manual states that is where the problem is. I have read and reread the manual and I am stumped. What am I missing here? John G

Here are pictures of the right side of the engine, for some reason I could not edit my previous post. John G

N.O.S.; As we have discussed before, we know you like your boom curved:-D John G

I am at work at the moment, so I cannot look at the publication, it is a tankograd publication that is been long out of print, I will get the publication number and post it later today. It is no longer available from Tankograd, I bought my copy off of ebay several years ago. John G

Do you know if this is an updated version of the first version( A Series 3 was on the cover) that is now out of print. John G

Awhile ago, I acquired a spare Continental 22R that was rebuilt in 1977. The engine was painted red when it was rebuilt. I did some exploring and removed several layers of paint. red, olive drab, a smattering of yellow and a light blue. The air compressor was red, olive drab and a green that was close to a detroit diesel green. I decided to repaint it back to it's original color, or close to it. I chose a Pontiac engine blue for 1957 to 1963 engines. To make the job easier for cleaning and painting, I removed the water pump and compressor. Upon further inspection, I did not like the "feel" of the water pump when I turned it by hand, I disassembled it, found the packing had dried out, the grease was hard and some rust scale. I bead blasted the housing , installed new packing and finished it off with fresh water pump grease. Good as new. I inspected the compressor and found that the unloader valves were stuck, a little turning with machine oil "light" and they freed right up. I painted the compressor with TM-9 paint using their "munition" color. Left me know if I got the colors close. Now I just have to do the other side of the engine. John G

That's great news, I was hoping for an update soon. John G

Sam; My impression was that he was implying that the 969 had no problem towing it (i.e. the 969 did not struggle towing the load.) John

Mike; After viewing your youtube video, I see you encounter the same problems we have in the US. No one respects a big vehicle towing a load, the person driving the black car that pulled out in front of you could have waited. Those drivers are clueless and impatient. John

All; Lets just say someone was watching over me on Monday. I was down at the steam asscociation where the Ward's are stored and I was in the process of moving them back into the building where they are stored. I started both trucks up without issues and went about moving some tractors around to make room for the trucks. As I was walking back towards the series 5, I noticed white smoke coming from underneath the truck in the area of the cab. I got back up into the cab and did not hear any abnormal nosies and I checked the gauges and the oil pressure gauge was showing ZERO :wow:. I shut the truck down and walked over to the passenger side of the truck and observed the running board and gas tank were covered in oil. I suspected that the oil line from the block to the gauge had burst and my suspicions were confirmed when I opened the hood. On Tuesday, I proceeded to replace the line. Before doing so, I put 3 gallons of oil in the crankcase (the engine holds 4) which brought the dipstick up over to the full mark to compensate for the oil filters to be filled up once the engine is running. I cranked the engine over without the ignition on and nothing unusual was heard. I then started the truck and the oil presuure shot right up to 40 psi. I heard the oil shooting out of the broken line, shut the truck down and proceeded with the repair. So the lesson learned here is, anything can happen at anytime, if any line looks suspect REPLACE it. The flex line was brittle, it broke into 2 pieces when I removed it, but it looked O.K. at a passing glance. Always check your gauges, as the result of not doing so, could be catostraphic. As stated, when I was walking towrds my truck when I observed the smoke, I was on the passenger side and I did not observe the oil on the running board, so the line was leaking prior to my arrival but must have burst when I got into the cab. As you can see in the attached pictures, the oil ine was originally placed between the fuel line and the block. John G

Where do the washers go on the finished assembly and what is there function? As always, I look forward to the updates. John G

Sam; When it was stated that the rear differential is put in reversed to the front, it is the whole axle assembly that was turned around, hence the offset with the driveshaft from the leading axle to the rear axle. Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in as to why this was done. The same holds true for the M1A1. John G

Took the Ward LaFrance to the local Father's day show today. I got an award, the announcer told the crowd it was the largest vehicle there and could probably lift the whole parking lot. I let a lot of kids climb into the cab and they had a great time. The green color vehicle parked next to the truck is my neighbors 1917 Model T huckster pick up. The 2 kids sitting behind my wrecker are my pit crew, one is neighbor and the other is my son. They helped pulling out the outrigger on the right side and later, putting it back in. John G

Is that a UK law, not aware about in the state of Maryland in the US. John G

Last evening I drove my Ward LaFrance series 5, 25 miles from where it is stored to my house for a car show on Sunday. The Mrs was following behind with the 4 way flashers on for safety and to run "blocker" if needed. Truck ran fine with no issues at all. A few points to relay about road speed, as I was thinking about this thread as I was driving. It took a couple of miles for the flat spots in the tires to "round out " so ride went from lumpy to smooth. The max rpm's on a Continental 22R is 2400 rpms with a max speed of 45 mph. The trucks "comfort zone" was 1800 rpm's at about 33-35 mph. As you drive, the truck "talks" to you, as you listen to the transmission and transfer sing there whine. I was driving on a relatively flat road so I was in 5 th gear and had to drop down to 4th on the slight hills. You plan your shifts and road speed as you approach a hill. It took me 1 hour to go 25 miles. The front end had no shimmy, as I am not using NDT's. I had to stop one time to crack the windshield open and open the cowl vent as my feet were getting roasted by the engine heat, mind you it was dusk and the temperature was 72 degrees. I can only imagine how brutal it would be on a sunny warm/hot day. Drive these trucks as they were intended to be driven, you won't get anywhere fast, but you will enjoy the drive. John G

Marco; I would be surprised at a top speed of 32 mph, it would be closer to 22 mph flat out on level ground. You would be hard pressed to find any gears that would work in trying to change out the reduction unit. These trucks were built to pull heavy loads SLOW, wether they were laden or unladen. The ideal oparating rpms of the Hercules diesel is 900 to 1100 rpms. Many operators in theater and post war found out the hard way whats happens when you overspeed the Hercules diesel. If you are going to drive it, go slow and enjoy the countryside. You should be commended for driving it that distance. John G

I spoke to Jim last week and he is trying to get this done for War and Peace I believe. I sent him off some decals for the oil filters and air cleaner for this engine. Looks smahing John G

Works for me. John G

I have a few sets left. Let me know if you are interested. John G

Marco; You are spot on with the colors, however, I am not sure about the compressor color. John G

Michael; I had previously removed the sump pan just to clean the pan out, and everything you said was true, I even replaced the flywheel seal, since the engine was running, I did not check bearing clearances. John G

Michael; I have tried several differant gauges , all with the same results. John G

All; According to my manual, "Once the engine is up to operating temperature and road speed ( I am assuming 1800 to 2100 rpm,s) the oil pressure should be 25 to 30 lbs and can drop back to zero at idle." "this is acceptable as long as the oil pressure rises with engine rpm" What I am experiencing is 40 lbs on start up (1800 rpm's) and then after warm up, zero pounds at idle, 10 pounds at 1000 rpm's and 25 to 30 lbs at 1800 to 2100 rpms. The viscosity meter sits right at "Thin and Ideal" at all times. A new viscosity meter sending unit is on the engine and all gauges have been rebuilt. There are no strange noises coming from the engine. Oil is Shell Rotella 30W. I have played around with adjusting the oil pressure regulator, the plunger moved freely. The only differance in oil pressure readings is a higher reading at at higher rpm's , with no differance at idle. The manual cautions about excessive oil pressure as it could "squeeze" out oil from the main bearings. I suspect that there might be some wear in the main bearings, but I am not going to pull the oil pan and play around adjusting shims and/or pressurize the system with the pan off and see where oil leaks or drips from. Can anybody chime in and tell me what their oil pressure readings are on an RXC. Thanks John G

If you look at the picture closely, I believe the larger diameter drum does not have more capacity than the "standard " drum, however, the larger drum would change the "gearing ratio" and it would spool up faster. John G