Jim Warman

There are two sizes of the shock shaft socket that I know of. I have two straight 3/8 sockets, two 3/8 universals and an offset "box end"? All are Proto - are they still around?

Wheelchair??? EWWWWWWWW - what about backwash?

What??????+1

A man after my own heart. They had a low mile 2011 or 12 on the lot recently at work. Attractive price and all. My son looked at it but the lift kit soured him. Half the people he works with have this "need" to change stuff and of course theose trucks are in the shop as much as they are on the road. I'm pretty sure he's at about 350,000 kms or so on his 6.4 - a lot of it in the bush.

Well said. A little off subject but, I've always wondered about the 'oil leaks' on the 6.0L's. It seems like all the bed plate gaskets I was resealing was for some engine that has like ONE drip of oil on the bell housing. I've always thought that if this same engine was in a tow truck or a delivery truck it wouldn't be worth the customer's time to have me fix a teeny leak like that. If you sneak into "the Diesel Stop" (I've used up nearly all the user names I can think of), you'll see what some of these guys consider to be oil "leaks" - "where is it - I can't see it". This mentality infected some of our locals and, it turns out, the severity of the leak appeared to be related to who was going to pay for the repair.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the 6.0s biggest enemy is the guy that bought it. This would be Mister "Diesels were made to idle" put a liter of ATF in the fuel tank in the winter, "I'll buy a chip to fix low power/boost before I visit the stealership". You will never hear a white male north american say "I don't know".

Not sure about where you live, Matt. I have air brake endorsement on my drivers licence but I am not allowed to work on air brakes without a heavy duty certification. Automotive licence only covers juice brakes..... though I appear to be allowed to work on electric, electric over hydraulic, surge hydraulic and vacuum brakes. Some of the other considerations you may encounter (read that as SHOULD) will include first aid kit, fire extinguisher, safety devices such as positive air shut downs (not a requirement in our area unless it is a criteria for entry into a facility - but if one is present, it must work as intended) fifth wheel wear and operation, (oh, I have gotten into some furballs over some of these) placards and company markings (the latter is a GVW thing) and ever so many things that being out of the saddle for nearly 7 months help me disremember. Your local authority should have a guide manual for requirements and criteria. Often, the language can be wishy-washy (good old "lawyerese" for CYA). Me? I would rather someone be angry at me for being overbearing than have another memorial service to attend.

g O 0 G L E is your friend......

Just a sidebar.... since we had to let the car turn into cash, my loving bride is forced <GASP> to drive the SooperCroo. We've had several days, of late, that are (for us) HOT. She keeps telling me about this "funny noise" and I keep explaining about the fan locking up. I love that old girl.....

Only suggestions I can come up with include a remote viewer (much cheaper now I have purchased my SeeSnake for way too much). Also, turn the motor over by hand several times. After that, the customer can roll the dice on the decision to fire it up and see what happens. There is every chance that the resulting crap has already passed from the motor - how often do you see a motorist turn it off st the first sign of trouble? Right!! drive it till it don't move is the norm. You didn't design it, you didn't build it and you didn't break it.

Several years ago, flatratetech.com (oh, there is a sad,sad story hiding in that) hosted a picture essay on removing the cab from a late '90s/early '00s Expedition. I finally found the article in it's entirity. For your viewing pleasure I offer http://www.denlorstools.com/autoblog/2009/01/expedition-cylinder-head-removal-body-off/

Makes you pine for mandatory safety inspections, don't it? I wonder how many accidents are labelled "went out of control" rather than "fucking thing fell apart". They don't safety check wrecks here unless there was a fatality - even then you have to wonder how many inspections are little more than make a punch and collect the dough.

Anyone ever notice that bolts don't seem to fill the holes quite as much as the rivets did? What I usually did whenever I had to chop out the radius arms on twin I beam trucks is to drill up to a bolt where the shoulder fit nice and was long enough I could waste most of the threads (a la aircraft fastening practice). No, I don't think I ever saw a problem with the "usual" way with GR8s, but I can be an anal old Ralph.

We have a bingo!!!! Do not disturb your cards. Aside from the fact that the course page states IE8 or higher, backing up to IE9 did the trick. I wonder why they decided not to let us see the web based course list?

Herring impaired? No sir..... cod, halibut and turbot OK.... Herring? Years ago I loved roll mops but my wife trained me out of that. I think being almost as deaf as a post is a blessing from the gods of wedded bliss. My loving bride says she can hear my (full volume) head phones from the next room.

I've been trying to catch up with some past due courses - I have this vain hope that I might return to work by years end (depending on the chemo thing). My desktop PC is currently in limbo. Too many projects and too little gumption will leave this as a "some day soon" thing. I am currently trying to get through 39S01W0 but the scenarios usually don't work and, if they do, soon crap out. Has anyone else had similar concerns with the "new improved" web based training? Toshiba notebook, windoze 7, IE10..... I can remember when we got our first TV

I was going to post a tag to "Trololo Sing Along" but I figured I would spare you guys.

I have to admit that I am not surprised with this kind of revelation. Back in the 60s, you could slide full bore on an icy street into a 6 inch curb and the worst that might happen is a trip to the wreckers for a "new" rim and maybe a tire. Engineering was (to this very young and handsome neophyte) still either a mystical art or a concept where failure considerations left many things "overbuilt". Today we see everything being built to a minimum standard (fucking bean counters) and made of materials we are little familiar with - ever see what happens when you hit burning magnesium with water? What we all need to consider is the state of flux this industry is "enjoying" and that there are no constants. Comparing vehicles built in the '50s to those built today is like comparing apples to shoelaces. The steering wheels of today are built to bend - this is all part of the occupant survivability package. I pity todays engineers and designers as they struggle to make cars safer because drivers refuse to act safely. In Alberta we now have "distracted driving" laws. I am not allowed to hold my cell phone to my ear as I drive - such a small inconvenience, actually. But why does nearly every cop I see have one jammed to his ear while he is driving?

Well, Friday was the day I went to the oncologist for the results of my last pictures. The spots in my head are all smaller - these are what had us worried the most. They did find something on my endocrine gland and the chemo guys are going to check to see if chemotherapy is something I should consider. Even better yet is that my appetite has improved vastly in the last week and a half. Dizziness and shortness of breath are way less, too. These things seemed to happen almost over night. Strength is still a real issue - I've lost over 50 pounds in the past two or three months and a lot of that seems to be muscle mass. Hopefully I can start to bulk up here and get back into shape.

With the coming aluminum bodied F150, who knows what might happen next?

Now THAT sounds scary. But there's no telling what you might find under some vehicles (vise grip steering wheels, ruddy great holes in unibody floors...). Some local welders look after their trucks as is they want to live a while longer...... others not so much.

You're just lucky my sink parts came . Thanks again.

So, I'm waiting for a small parcel from Moen..... parts for a kitchen tap. And, I get a parcel notice in my mailbox - odd because the package would fit easily in my postbox. Off to the PO I go and there's a package from Aaron - "How the F%*K did he get my sink parts?". Once I got home, I found the wonderful surprises within. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has expressed well wishes but especially to Jeff and Jeff, Keith and Keith, Mike, Bruce, Brad and James. Larry included a great Mopar coffee table book - one I know I will have to guard from my friend Dennis (I'm married and get my groovy cars vicariously). And of course I have to thank the Hillbilly...... sounds like he's the instigator. I had an MRI and a CT scan on Monday and I go back to Edmonton on the 23rd of Aug for results. My appetite seems to be improving slowly and maybe I can at least stop losing weight if not gain some back - 50 pounds since early June. I'm not getting as winded or dizzy as I was but I have no sure plans for returning to work at this moment. I qualified for disability from Canada pension but that was a waste of time. I also qualify for long term disability from our private health plan but they want the money CPP is sending me. And, of course, if I do go to work for a few hours, they want any money I might earn. (You Ontario guys are paying peanuts compared to what the big boys want). On the bright side.... I wake up every morning on the sunny side of the dirt (one old guy told me once that any day you get out of bed is a pretty good day) and I have no aches and pains. Sad part is that I can't pull the starter rope on my lawnmower or weed whacker hard enough to start them . But I do have some wonderful neighbours that cut my grass quite often. Take care, guys and thanks again.

I'm still a journeyMAN (WTF is a journeyperson - a woman would still be a journeyman) and I didn't have to give anyone $130.

I see it was for a gasser - not quite so tempting to leave it idle. Did you try it to see if it actually worked?