TooTallMike

So CW has hidden talents? Well I was a church choirboy in a former life - I even sang the solo to Once in Royal David's City. I still know the words to most hymns and carols but you do NOT want to hear me sing :shake:.

I also collect cacti (low maintenance!), enjoy learning and using foreign languages & maintain an interest in low-carbon and renewable energy systems with a view to one day integrating them into a house to become fully energy-neutral.

Work is engineering & automation for theatres and entertainment venues so I also have an interest in theatrical machinery and backstage equipment (I'm far less interested in what goes on at the front of the stage!)

- Mike

Or just buy a smoke machine from a entertainment industry equipment suppliers or Ebay. Much cheaper, lightweight, self-contained and designed for the job. That's if you don't want to make it yourself of course .

- Mike

Hi Shakey,

Nice truck! What engine does it have?

As for the chronology of wreckers, I can offer a little info but there are many more. I'll fill the gaps in when I'm back with my copy of Crismon!

WWII:

medium wrecker - Diamond T 969

heavy wrecker - Ward LaFrance M1 series 1 - 5

aircraft wrecker - Brockway, Corbitt, Federal, Biederman

others: Mack LMSW etc. & many other manufacturers.

Post-war:

M62

M816

& many many others

- Mike

Beg to differ young Grasshopper -

 

The quick release valve is situated just behind the front winch on the chassis crossmember - Check your manual young man - thats a beer you owe me.

 

Markheliops

Quite right Mr Mark. & 10 points to you. We'll think of an oily greasy job for Grasshopper in penance for not knowing all about our fabulous trucks .

Now Mark - put on your best happy face and go and find out what the problem is: it may be a loose pipe or hose or some similar and equally easily-repaired thingummy. You have another truck there and a big pile of spares so it shouldn't be too bad.

You may note how easy it is for me to say this from 2000 miles away but it really can't be THAT bad. I'd suggest you put the kettle on, run the truck up to full air pressure, leave it running and wedge the brake pedal down to find out where the leak is. Then have tea and choccy bikkies. This will make everything seem better so you can do the repair and get to the show .

- Mike

We'll be there in some kind of force. I'll take the truck if the sun's out, otherwise, well we'll see...

- Mike

No thats still to come:rofl:

Oh gawd!

 

They had spent 2 hours trying to locate the transfer box rear mounting boss in the cross member, with no success.

Make that 6 hours.

One of the reasons I wasn't in a very good mood!

Looks like Chrisg may have saved the day! :bow:

As the unofficial El Presidente of UKWLFOC I know of around 20 owners with around 30 trucks in the UK. There are probably 100-150 worldwide.

- Mike

Well. I'm just back after a long evening of transfer box removal. What a b@stard job! It took 4 of us an hour to get it out from the moment the last fixing bolt was removed. However it came out safely and relatively under control.

We took the main casing cover off and the problem was immediately obvious: the rear bearing on the input shaft has completely decomposed. There was a mounting plate on the rear of the box which was totally inaccessible and invisible from above or below and the six securing bolts were all finger tight and the plate was loose. This is where all the oil had been leaking from and I imagine the regular loss of oil took its toll on this bearing, which is at the highest point in the box and therefore receives the least splash fed oil. All of the rollers from the bearing have passed through the gear train but remarkably all the gear teeth are intact and undamaged. The same cannot be said for the rollers! I have the parts book so tomorrow morning I'll call Orbic bearings and see if they can help.

The plan is to replace all of the bearings in the transfer box and re-install it. This is my preferred option at the moment as it was what I'd intended to do this winter anyway and the one from the scrap truck is an unknown quantity so could be just as bad. The final decision will depend on the availability of the bearings.

Photos tomorrow.

Still hoping to make it to W&P...

- Mike

Well it's definitely the transfer box: I ran it with the prop off and the noise from the box was a horrendous bumping, scraping, rolling, banging sort of cacophany. No wonder Shortly refused to drive it any further!

I started the strip-down last night and hope to get the box out tonight if we do a late one. We'll then be off to pillage from Mark's spares truck on Thurs evening with a view to re-fitting mine on Sunday.

It never rains but it pours...

- Mike

Dear techy guys.......not wanting to sound to sad but is there WiFi and W&P???

 

- Snap - will explain what WiFi is later :sweat:

There wasn't last year 'cos I tried! We casually talked about what it would take to set up a base station and selling access (with the show organisers' permission of course) but reckoned there probably wouldn't be enough demand.

- Mike

British WLFs on delivery from Pearson's of Liverpool. Identifying features of British trucks are single headlight on LHS and bridge plate over RH headlight aperture.

- Mike

Got any particular one in mind CW?:???

I got it as well :rofl:

Purely for information purposes I down-rated my F350 pickup from 4250kg GVW to 3490kg as it was proving difficult to get it tested locally at the time. All I had to do was get a weighbridge cert. for the UW and present it for inspection by VOSA. They instructed me to stamp an ali plate with the UW and GVW and 'fix it permanently' to the driver's door. No mechanical modifications were needed in this particular case. Once down-rated, the vehicle is restricted to that GVW and the driver can be prosecuted if found to be exceeding it. Towing capacity is also reduced proportionally.

- Mike

SPTA Tony,

If you look at the markings on my truck you'll see it's in Beach Group REME British colours. The markings were taken from a photo supplied to me by the REME museaum at Bordon, so yes, they certainly were used by us.

- Mike

Hi guys,

Richard - Not the best timing eh! I'm hoping to get it done before then but it'll depend what I find when I strip it down tonight...

Cat and Pat - many thanks for stopping and for lending Vince your 'phone. I'm sure the moral support was very welcome!

Joris - I know what you mean - I would have almost been more disappointed if it had been Mark's after all the work that's gone into it. Mark has said I can use his 'spare' transfer box if necessary but I'm hoping it won't come to that.

It was just one of those things that happens to old trucks which are still worked hard and it's not the end of the world. No one got hurt and it wasn't too far away. I'll leave the diagnostics 'til I've found out what's actually wrong but it still drives so I'm hoping it's just a bearing. RAC Commercial were very professional and called back when they said they would. Not looking forward to the bill though :cry:.

- Mike

- if the engine spins over the starter is fine, if not there's an issue either with the solenoid or the starter windings.

...or the earth...

That I don't know Tony but if there is power to the starting motor then it should turn - shouldn't it???

Not if the engine or battery earths have high resistance...

- Mike

We'll have one of our Spartans there too. Ask for Mike or Vince on the Gulf War display.

- Mike

Bad earth return?

Duff starter switch?

- Mike

I just had a chat with the MOT tester who tested the Dodge and he said that the Dodge WC51 class of MOT should be a class 7 (light Commercial) MOT and not a class 4 (Car). Does anyone know if this is correct?? .Should it be classed as a light commercial??

 

Regards

 

Steve

To return to Steve's original question:

If you are in any way unclear as to where you stand on the opinions expressed here I'd suggest you get it weighed on a certified weighbridge and add to that value the metric equivalent of the quoted payload. This will tell you whether you are over the 3.5 tonnes limit for MoT testing / exemption.

- Mike

Very peased to hear it works.

What timing are you now running on? - have you re-done it with a strobe yet?

What was the oil pressure once warm?

- Mike

As I have done all that DVLA have asked me to do, and as they are the ones with last word over wether the Vehicle Excise disc, that is required to be displayed when the vehicle is used on the road. They are the ones whose requirments I'll listen to.

That will not work as a defence in court when you're had up for driving an untested and therefore uninsured vehicle. You will have signed a form somewhere along the way declaring that your vehicle complies with the law, which I do not believe it does.

I would urge anyone reading this not to follow your example and risk bringing our hobby into disrepute.

- Mike

The rules governing what consitutes a tax exempt commercial vehicle are clear, as are those indicating what qualifies as an ambulance. If I were flouting these I wouldn't be publicising it on the net & I certainly wouldn't be encouraguing others to do the same.

Remember it is an offence to intentionally mislead the DVLA. Not correcting their errors still counts as misleading them.

- Mike