What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

The Wanderer

Overview Gallery Discussion
Yep - my goodness there were a lot of people there this year... too bad, one of its attractions to me was the more modest crowds (compared to Portland)
 
This was the first year I haven't gone in the last ten years,the last couple years everybody has been thinking there stuff was gold, and my daughter had to sell Girl Scout cookies.
 
there were a lot of people - and many were pretty self-absorbed. Point is I'm not sure I'll go again....

I so want to divorce all the components for the AC system. Run an electric compressor, use the evaporator on the front of the truck (and electric fans), then use the current condenser plus maybe one further back.... it's got to be possible but I think the biggest issue facing me is the sizing of the electrical components.....

really tricky would be to use the ducting for the heating as well. I will be carrying propane for the cooktop and for heating shower water (outdoor shower)....
 
back on the lift.... making sure the center of the lift is 1/3 the distance from the front wheel


so the reason was I thought the power issue could be the fusible link on the starter... nope


going a different radio route - or maybe fewer radios. This covers am/fm, CB, FRS/GMRS, and HAM 2m 70cm and 10m, and commercial bands along with the ability to work as a police scanner. I think the 'stereo' system will be mp3/bluetooth.

and the wire fixes continue


here is where the cruise and cannister take off should be connected

given how everything has fought me on this - I seriously doubt this will fix the cruise issue, but start with low-hanging then move up the fixit tree

cannister

installed

line ran


this is what the connection looks like at the pump

I lost a transmission because the cooler lines got brittle then broke (while at full-bean climbing a mountain)

so I replace them
and while I was at it, I noticed something that could later be an issue


fixed


silliness - it was repainted, but they didn't take the primer off that was causing the problem...


new wiper motor - it wasn't the problem (starting to be a recurring theme)


I wish the easy stuff fixed it - but I figure this is a good primer for someone who has a square body with the common issues. Most of the fixes I've done so far are the 'common' fixes for the issue so if you're starting on your square and you have these issues, these are the first steps...
tomorrow, more wiring but first I need to find the break.... which is either under the turbo or in the harness that crosses behind the motor.... or somewhere else...
 
I've a wiring schematic from a van (posted above) and it shows a wire that simply doesn't exist on this truck - what bugs me is not that it's missing, it's a starter to glow-plug-relay-hot-side - but I don't get how they made the system work the way it was before. While it appeared I just removed all that was aftermarket, I took the time to trace wires to see what they did. All I can figure is one of those wires was backfeeding the system. There were a couple warning signs, such as the alternator didn't seem to be doing its normal output and the headlights seemed a bit dim... ah well, once jump tonight will inform. Someone was trying to fix this problem - I have a friend who owns a mechanic shop nearby that I run puzzlers by, and he thought it was the ignition switch. I bought one, but the one I replaced was brand new, the light switch is brand new too... there is also a couple cooked wires under the dash and powering them with my power probe doesn't seem to do anything so I'll have to figure out what that went to as well (I actually think it might be speaker wires). Also none of the house lights work, so I suspect that system is where I'm going to find my missing link.
 
superbuickguy said:
If the math I did this morning is correct.... it's 221 amps at 12v. or 2652 watts. Of course, that's not the stated load

Compressor load amps is 13.1 @115
Fan load amps is 2.6
Compressor locked load amps is 63
Fan motor locked amps is 8.5
minimum gen size is 3.5kw.

As with all things, they do oversize a bit (after all, they rounded up).... of course, as you know but others may not, you can only use 60% of your battery and run 100% on the invertor for very short times. I wouldn't use the a/c without a generator running, but running the fan for part or all of the night on 2, deep cycle 105 amp hour batteries will be fine. If I need ac I'll run the truck motor or carry a gas generator. I'm toying with the idea of abandoning the truck's ac and using simply a much larger generator - even perhaps running some of the stuff on 24 volts or even 48 volts since both of those voltages can also run a small welder - maybe to help others conceptualize this, think of a mobile base camp. Quads, UTVs, or Jeeps do the 'heavy-lifting'... this is the small-footprint tractor.

do feel free to check my math.... I only do math as a hobby and it in no way is something I'm a pro at.
Click to expand...
You'll have to run the roof-top directly from the generator. Running an A/C isn't really a job for 12V power. This has been addressed on practically every RV site, so I won't rehash the details here, but just point out it's even less practical in a mini-RV than in a full-size. Even if you have a power inverter than can handle the 4000W+ starting load of the compressor, you need like a 200A battery charger connected to the generator to keep up with it. Or you could run 2 high output alternators and keep the rest of the electrical use in check. Skip all that and the 0 gauge wiring and run the 110VAC directly from the generator to the A/C unit with 12AWG.

Will you be able to run your generator while driving? Also, if you can find one, they do make smaller units that are like 7000BTU/hr or something and that will be a lot easier on the system and require less roof support. A 28' camper often has just a single 13,500BTU/hr unit and it has several times the interior volume of a Sub. As for generator size, I used to occasionally run 2 13.5k units from a single 4kW Onan. That generator has a 30A breaker and each A/C a 15A breaker. Theoretically if both compressors had tried to start simultaneously it could have tripped, but that never happened. If I'd had a 5.5kW Onan I could have left my other appliances switched on. Also keep in mind that a "full speed" generator (like an Onan) can support the surge current of an A/C much better than an inverter based generator (like a Honda). So for the quiet generators you often need a higher power rating than it appears.
 
Thank you for that... I need to add a slight change that apparently I didn't mention here. After much discussion with people like you (who know far more about this then me)* - I'm running a 24v system for the 'house' system for many of the reasons Blue said and for one more reason - less heat in the wires. I haven't yet decided whether to run an a/c pump off the motor for the cabin air while driving or simply run an "entire house" ac system that is electrically driven or some hybrid of both. Dogs create a lot of vapor - and while it doesn't come up a lot on this thread, the really big motivation for the ac system is their comfort that comfort needs the ability to pull the vapor from the air.

as Blue suggests - sizing is an issue, finding something small enough is the challenge which is leading to me designing something that works for this...

Tony - I did see that 12v system - I've no direct experience but it seems that most people think it's limitations overcome its benefits because it runs on 12v. I also looked at simply pulling the ac system from a Nissan Leaf.... the battery pack is flat, but power generation becomes an issue at the integration... that said, it has plenty of capacity to run only the ac system for a substantial amount of time.

to get all on the current-line-of-thinking (heh, pun intended).
24v DC, 3000w pure sine wave inverter with charger, solar panel that runs everything but the a/c, a/c system designed for the vehicle in either 2 small systems or an electric one that runs the front and rear air. If the generator fails (engine one), then no a/c.
future proofing this - run a gas generator if I need a/c at the campsite, but eventually use hydrogen cells (and they are coming) instead.


*I know this probably doesn't need to be said but there are a lot of off-line people who are resources as well, so when I say "I" I mean we - talking in the 3rd person online sounds like I'm nuts (no comments!), or worse a magazine editor, I speak in the 1st person singular.
 
jekquistk5 said:
Maybe there is a better diagram in here somewhere.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=545416
Click to expand...

I have the 'real' version of those - they don't have the diesel wiring schematic

So I jumped from the positive terminal to the power terminal of the glow plug controller and everything started working again.... now to find where that wire was, why it's not there anymore, and fix it. I know I'm going to go with marine, resetable circuits and completely eliminate the fusible links.... other then that... I'll update as I figure it out
 
so I learned something.
On every GM truck I'd seen before this, two wires go to the starter - one from the alternator and one that powers the entire rig. This one has one from the starter, but none from the alternator.... that one, the wire I removed that was half a lamp cord was the one supplying the full-time power... easy enough to replace and all works again(ish)

the green line to the battery... yeah :(


the rest of the evening was spent putting fluid in my transmission jack - and it still doesn't work... this is getting annoying.

next is the suspension - my patience for wiring is over at the moment (though I am not done), but maybe lifting a truck will raise my spirits (at minimum, it'll raise a truck)
 
photobucket seems to be working as well as Bubba's wiring - so I'll do the Wanderers a day early and hopefully minor pictures can be uploaded tomorrow.
 
THE WANDERERS #6

THE WILD ONE AT GRAVELRAMA!
By Rick Sieman

When we last left Carl and Emma, Carl had gotten lost on the backroads while trying a shortcut visit to Emma's Uncle Howard in Ohio. What with the darkness and the fog, Carl had no idea he had wandered into the competitor's area at the famed Gravelrama event. And when an event official approached Carl, mistaking him for a competitor, Carl thought it would not be a bad idea to enter an event or three. Emma was nearly speechless.


"Welcome to Gravelrama, sir We don't get too many full-sized trucks like yours entering the events. Just sign here and indicate the events you want to enter."

Carl looked at the clipboard. Hmmm. Mud bogs ... hillclimbs ... obstacle course. An evil look came into his eyes. Emma exploded: "Carl! You wouldn't dare!"

A lopsided grin appeared. "Where do I sign?"

The official held up a hand. "First we have to figure out what class you're going to be in. Sportsman or pro?"

Carl scratched his chin and spit a wad of tobacco about 23 feet, just missing a snoozing dog. The dog yelped and scrambled off. "I'm not sure."

"Well, make up your mind. Have you ever competed for money before?"

"Oh, yes ... all the time."

"Good. Then you're in the pro class. Go over there and have your truck weighed. By the way sir, yours is the most original monster truck I've

ever seen."


Emma dragged Carl off to one side. "Carl, have you lost your marbles? Has someone blown your pilot light out? What's this about racing for money?"

Carl grunted. "Don't you remember when I drag raced that bozo in the red Bronco? Over on that dry lake bed near where we were camping? I won ten bucks and a six pack of WartHog Light beer. No way can I compete against innocent Sportsmen with a record like that!"

Emma looked at the sky. "Carl, you big dummy, aren't you afraid of destroying 'The Whale'? And how do you expect to compete against real professional trucks?"

Carl shook his head from side to side. "Emma, you're forgettin' that I got a 454 under the hood with enough horsepower to probably change the rotation of the earth if I could get the traction. Anyways, 'The Whale will also be worlds lighter than all of those monster trucks. Those things hit the scales at ten or eleven thousand pounds or more. 'The Whale' will have the edge in the quick and nimble department."


A half hour later, Carl drove The Whale off the scales and was handed a slip of paper. "Fourteen thousand, two hundred and eighteen pounds! This can't be right! Hey buddy, you better check those scales!"

The scale man pushed his wire rimmed glasses back on his nose and studied the print-out form from the scales. "Sorry, sir. You're right. Should be fourteen thousand, four hundred and eighteen pounds. You know, it's amazing your rig is that light, what with that boat on the top, and that satellite dish, and those two air conditioners, and that pair of trail bikes, and that TV antenna, and those three roll-up awnings, and the

remote shower, and those fold out barbecues, and those ..."

Carl cut in, "Hey, put it in neutral, will you buddy! I know it's no lightweight, but you don't have to rub it in."

"Sorry sir. It's just that it's so, so ... big. Anyway, take this slip over to sign-up and give it to the officials with your entry form."


Carl got in line at sign-up, while Emma stood alongside, quietly singing church hymns, much to Carl's consternation. Eventually, he got up to the table and stood there in front of the white haired old lady running sign up.

She looked up, smiled, and barked, "What are you, a mute, or just stupid. Gimmee that paper."

Meekly, Carl handed over the weigh-in slip.

The lady peered over her glasses at it. "Hmmm. Over 14,000 pounds. This puts you in the Unlimited Monster Truck class. You'll be going up against USA 1, King Kong, The Virginia Beach Beast, The Festering Boil Mark 11, Big Foot and about a dozen others. Now, do you just want to sign up for an individual event, or hit all three and go for the overall?"

"Uhh, what are the events?"

"Well, since this is the first year we've had a Monster Truck competition, I guess maybe you're not familiar with our format. We got us three events, starting with the sand drags, then it's the obstacle course and, of course, we wrap it up with the hill climb. Double points on the hill climb. Come on now, get your finger out of your nose; what's it gonna be. One? All three?"

"Duhh ... all three, I guess."

"Good. Sign here and cough up some entry fee money. And lots of luck, fat boy. You'll need it."


Competition started with the sand drags. It was a typical side-by-side format. Carl edged up to the lights and looked at the monster truck next to him. It was a huge Dodge pickup with flames belching out of the open headers. On the door was a name: Thundering Dog Breath, and there was a drawing of a rabid hound with flames pouring out of its nostrils. Carl shuddered as he listened to the outrageous engine snarl and bellow.

The lights turned green and the Dodge shot off the line, while Carl sat there with his engine revving wildly. He had forgotten to put it in gear, violating one of drag racing's most important tenets.

Luckily, the Dodge shredded its motor to itsy-bitsy pieces 35 yards out. Carl put The Whale into gear and quietly drove by the smoldering Dodge, being careful not to

run over the melted blower laying in his lane.


Round One to The Whale.


What happened after that staggers the imagination: three of the next four competitors red-lighted on the start and one got a wheel over the marked line and was DQ-d. Carl found himself in the finals against Big Foot. It was not much of a contest, as Big Foot turned in a 7-second flat run against Carl's 18.9. Still, Carl had managed a second place and some valuable points.


The obstacle course was run against the clock, and, as luck would have it, Carl drew the first start. He blasted off the line and did, indeed, keep the pedal to the metal. The Whale lurched, bounced, slithered, heaved, wallowed and plowed around the course.

It cleared a small jump, and the boat fell off the top. On a rough straight, the satellite dish toppled off and rolled through the trees.

Carl lost the front trail bike on the off-camber sweeper and the rear trail bike jiggled off on the short down hill. Through the mud bog, two of the awnings ripped off and five coolers fell out of the rear window.

Fishing rods rattled around inside the cab and copies of Field and Stream fluttered inside like crazed snow. A coffee maker did a U-turn like a boomerang in mid-air, then turned itself into shards of glass when the refrigerator door slammed it against a wall.

Carl made a mental note to flip the fridge lock in the "down" position before his next race. This was accentuated as a wedge of cheddar cheese splattered against the dash, followed by a head of lettuce, that was just starting to get brown on the edges.

A loaf of Wonder Bread hit Carl in the back (no injury), but the butter dish that nailed him in the thigh. Now that hurt! A cord from a hair dryer wrapped around Carl's neck, and the plastic appliance bounced off his chest.

On the next jump, the dryer hit Carl on the chin and turned itself on the high setting. A blast of hot air aimed straight down at Carl's crotch, and he started to make howling sounds and jiggle his legs madly.

This made him stomp on the throttle harder, which actually gave him a pretty good time on the last third of the course.

Crossing the finish line, Carl let out a huge sigh of relief and slumped over the wheel, exhausted. The dryer blew a steady stream of hot air on his left ankle. Carl got his time slip and headed for the porta-potties to change his underwear.


The rest of the competitors didn't turn in very good times. It seems like most of them were slowed down by running over objects on the course. One guy hit a satellite dish and broke a tie rod. Another ran over a trail bike and got three flat tires.

Only Big Foot turned in an obstacle course time close to Carl, and it was slowed down considerably by the boat it had to drag over half the course. The anchor had somehow gotten hooked on a shock and at the other end of 65 feet of nylon line, a bass boat ripped trenches in the ground with an upside-down Evinrude motor.


At the end of the obstacle course run, Carl and Big Foot were tied with each having a first and a second. Unless they both screwed up big time, the winner would be whoever won the hill climb.


Word filtered through the crowd: it was Big Foot against The Whale in the final. Most of the rest of the competition had been weeded out in the first two rounds with mechanical problems, or by hitting odd objects on the obstacle course and maiming vulnerable parts on the undercarriage.


Still, a few other monster trucks had to make their runs. The first one flipped over backwards right off the starting line. Another snapped a drive shaft half way up the hill, sending pea gravel flying in every direction from the wildly flailing shaft.


The third remaining truck, a huge Chevy called Snail-Tracks, revved its giant engine madly and prepared to make a serious run at the hill, when an extremely dumb crow flew by, intent on eating a juicy bug it was chasing, and darted head first into the gaping holes of the huge blower. The engine burped, coughed and then died. A flutter of black feathers wafted out of the headers and the juicy bug gave a sigh of relief and headed back to its home to do whatever it is that bugs do.



This left The Whale and Big Foot. A coin was flipped and Carl lost; this meant he had to go first.

Carl gulped and eased The Whale up to the line and peered up at the hill. It was almost a football field long and made entirely of a zillion tons of gravel dumped in a giant heap.

How steep was it? Well, as steep as you can stack gravel and not have it slide back down to level ground. Some said it was 45 degrees. Carl figured it was more like 89 degrees from horizontal.


Off to the side with the spectators, Emma knitted furiously. She was making a delightful sock out of red yarn. But she was so nervous that it was more than likely the only sock in the entire state of Ohio with five fingers knitted into the heel.


Carl rolled his window down and spit his plug of chewing tobacco out of the window, depositing the 3,812th stain on the side of The Whale since he had bought it years ago.



Most everything was tied down properly or removed from the inside of The

Whale. Carl didn't need any more stuff flying around on the inside of the cab while trying to climb this killer hill.


Carl gulped, checked to make sure the 4-WD lever was in four low, then slipped the trans into gear. The 454 under the hood howled and four tires threw rooster tails.

All too soon, The Whale was slanted sharply uphill. All Carl could see was blue sky and the occasional banner off to the side. He hit the first bad bump on the hill and the screws holding the gun rack to the roof ripped loose from the particle board backing.

Guns were rattling around inside the cab like ping pong balls in a bingo cage. A shot rang out and a chunk of the windshield exploded. Then a half dozen more shots barked through the cab as the guns jangled around in a tangled heap.

Carl ducked down as far as he could to avoid getting his head blown off as

the inside of The Whale sounded more and more like a Rambo movie.


All of a sudden, things felt strange. Gravity was either getting weird, or, or ... The Whale was heading back down the hill at full throttle!

Spectators and Officials alike scattered as The Whale charged back toward the starting line. Amazingly, Carl didn't hit anyone on his way into the mud bog.

The Whale eventually came to a halt up to the door handles in the deepest part of the slime. One last gun shot rang out, then Carl climbed out of the window, visibly shaken.



The officials calmed everyone down and got order restored. The signal was given to the driver of Big Foot to start up and make his run. A puzzled look came over the driver's face as the engine refused to turn over. A quick check was made on the battery connections and all of the ignition parts. Everything checked out just fine, but the engine would not even rotate the slightest bit.

An official looked at his watch. "Big Foot, you got 15 minutes to get that thing fired up, or forfeit the run."

Carl sidled over to Emma. "Typical Ford. Never starts when you really need them to."


The clock ticked by and Carl was named the winner of the hill climb. Disgruntled, the Big Foot crew loaded up and headed back to the shop. Two days later, they would find a bullet lodged right between the block and the timing gear.


Carl accepted his trophy and the $25,000 first place check, with a possum-eating grin. He turned to Emma, gave her a hug and said, "Well, looks like I had me a pretty good payday here. Twenty five big ones. Whaddaya think, honey pot?"

"I think were going to be lucky to break even. I did a rough estimate on the damage to the boat, the satellite, the trail bikes, the awnings and the interior of The Whale. Add a new paint job, body work and a windshield, and you might have made eighteen bucks. Tops. Now can we please load this mess up and get to Uncle Howard's before he passes away from old age?"

"Sure, Emma. One thing first, though. I saw this in a Marlon Brando movie once. Now looks like the perfect time to do it. Should impress Old Uncle Howard."


With that, Carl duct taped the big trophy to the hood of The Whale and pointed the battered and bruised rig toward Uncle Howard's House.
 
Starting the lift.... first step, lower the transfer case - pretty easy, move the spacers from above the frame to between the frame and the cross member

funny, they didn't say I needed a come along to get things to line back up


next, trim a stop off the driveshaft (the bit marked in yellow)


wipers, part 3
a controller

a new controller installed


I think I have success - won't know until it's all back together but it seems I have delay, low and high speeds.
 
I think I'm going to throw some occasional tech in here - though it won't likely end up on this rig

York Air Compressors - adapting a York Compressor to a Serpentine setup
there are 2 sizes of York compressors... one puts out about 8.3 cfm the other 12+ they are really easy to tell the difference because one is big and the other is (wait for it) small. The large was on a lot of cars, generally the bigger the car, the more likely it'll have the larger compressor.


I put a Vortec 350 in my fj40, I wanted a York compressor because they are about twice as fast as the dual Viair compressors I have on my Hummer (which are just a bit slower then the ARB compressors). For comparison, this puts out twice the air and about the same amount of air as my dual cylinder air compressor in my shop.... I fill the 38s on my rig in less then 10 minutes from 5 psi.

The hardest part was finding the part number for the clutch/pulley - until someone mentioned that Kenworth used these to power their ac systems... less the $90 and I was good to go

there is something about the ac compressors you need to know - on the ac system, they want lube on top and bottom of the pistons - thus, if you don't do this fix, you'll get a lot of oil pushing into your lines and air tanks

this picture shows the instructions AND my compressor that I was doing the mod to - basically, you're plugging the holes where the arrows point. This greatly reduces the oil consumption. I have no oil in my tank, but I also have an oil separator and a water separator on the system (shown in a bit)



there are a lot of ways to get air fittings on the outlets - many simply tap the manifold when it's off - this is the method I used



fortunately, I had the old compressor -so I simply made an adapter plate to adapt the old to the new.

the belt length is 100 1/2"





It did take 3 tries to get the right length...

there is an air tank in the system - it made putting the switches, and outlets so much easier to install - honestly, it doesn't really need a tank


 
Running lines






love these heat-shrink clamps


after wheeling a bit, I wasn't thrilled with the oil in the lines - but then I realized that it was a closed system so it'd build up pressure in the case. This solved it

take the plug out, install vent... no more oil in the lines

notice I get air for the compressor from the air cleaner... the quick would say "that's outside of the air cleaner" true - but not outside of the oil air filter


the system


at some point I'll find the picture of the air compressor gauge I installed on the dash. I run simply a 12v switch to control the compressor clutch

Hope some find this helpful
SBG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom