New York Cowboy.org: New Truck

Ouch!

2008-03-22T12:12:09-06:00

I think I am going to have to put gasoline in my truck for the first time this month. It's going to be painful.

I let the tank get a little low, and when I fill up tommorow, it's going to be more then $50 to fill up. I know I shouldn't complain, when all of these long distance commuters and those with far bigger vehicles are paying far more to fill up.

When I younger, I used to think $1.25 a gallon of gasoline was outrageous. How can anybody afford to put gasoline in their car that is so expensive? And now gasoline is $3.37 at the local service station.

Go figure.

When I purchased my Ford Ranger gas prices where about $1.75 a gallon. At that time, I was weighting getting a small truck or even a car, because gas was so expensive then. But compared to nowadays, I'd say $1.75 gas is cheap.

Wheel Bearing and Inspection.

2008-02-11T10:45:00-06:00

I finally got my truck fixed and the bad wheel bearing in the front left wheel fixed. It cost $700.

It seems to drive a lot better, although it still rides a little rough on the quick turns, particularly on rough back roads. A closer inspection by myself, it appears that the back shock absorbers are pretty rusty, and while they seem to be working, that may be the source of the sway.

No more pulling to the left or wandering on the snow, particularly in the snow. It also fixed the 4x4, which was broken due to the damaged wheel bearing causing the pressure to drop in the automatic hubs.

But if it was only that simple. My mechanic somehow forgot to inspect the truck in the process, like I had asked him to do, so I ended up taking it to the Valvoline Grease Pit next the.

They refused to inspect it. Their reason: The 3rd eye brake light on the truck cap was broken.

Not that any law even requires that you have a third eye on a pickup truck, especially not on the cap, but they where insistent. At least they didn't charge me for the failed inspection.

So I drove home, took off the cap and got it inspected at the grease pit down the street—Hoffmans Car Wash. It decided not to mess with the wiring until the weather is nicer—it's just not fun doing it with such crappy weather right now, including salt and ice all over everything.

It's now inspected until February 28, 2009, although I will have to re-register it in November 2008, and also need to pay my next six months of insurance on it by March 29, 2008. The 2009 sticker is such a purty blue color.

Shelf Project in My Truck.

2007-10-08T08:32:00-06:00

People have been asking what the shelf looks like in my truck. Here's a picture of it with one panel in when I was camping on Sunday morning.

And yes I have too many electronics with me to a real camper. But it's a lot of fun and makes the darkness go by faster.

Truck Cap Cieling Panels Project About 50% Done.

2007-10-01T13:06:00-06:00

I have been busy cutting wood, drilling holes, screwing in screws, and re-engineering the project. I would say now it's about half done, with the following things done:

Side supports and inside supports are cut, refined and work well.
Boards that make up the panels are cut, except for the last two. In addition, panel cuts will need to be refined to allow windows to open, and to make room for carpeting/fabric.
Pegs are in to hold the panels in pace for the front set of panels
Carpeting and fabric have yet to be chosen or purchased.

So things are shaping up. Pictures will follow over the next few days.

$200 Poorer and Feeling Like A Moron.

2007-09-12T13:33:00-06:00

The past month or so my truck has been running quite rough, particularly while accelerating going up hills. I did not really know what the problem, but I had some guesses.

They included:

Drive train problem
Clutch problem
Engine sensor problem

The last on the list became apparent during the past week, when the problem got worst and the check engine light came on. I still thought it was a clutch problem or something expensive and a pain in the ass to fix.

It turned out that the problem was the plugs and wires I put in last year. Apparently, on several plugs, which is hard to get to, the boot was not on tight, allowing water to get in.

This badly croded the plugs which caused Cyndler 6 to almost completely stop firing, and a weak firing on other cyndlers. This combined with a heavy load when climbing hills lead to frequent poor running when a heavy load.

Other Projects.

2007-09-11T12:30:00-06:00

I'm working on running conduit from the interver in the truck cab to the bed of the truck, in plans of running a permanent 120 volt line so I always have power in the bed of my truck without having to run a lone.

I plan to purchase this week a set of slide-bolt locks, such as those you have on your garden gate, to allow me to lock the truck cap from the inside for additional security at night when camping in the bed.

Truck Projects.

2007-09-11T12:30:00-06:00

I am working on building a series of panels for my truck that will sit 6" above the bed rails of my pickup. There will be two sets of them, consisting of a set 0f hinged together 52"x16" panels that will cover the entire bed of truck when laid out. The shelves would be carpeted.

It's hard to describe—see this diagram by clicking on it:

The hinges might disappear from a final version and have fully independent panels. That would require more reinforcement, but could be more flexable. Plans continue to be revise as time go on and I rethink the project.

The idea is to provide a shelf, covering the entire bed or part of the bed for the following purposes:

Provide more storage space.
With one set in the bed provide a table for working in the truck at night on my laptop / table for reading lamp
Provide a more secure—out of sight place—for storing things in the truck
With both sets of panels in, provide an entirely private and discrete place for camping out when going across the country or somewhere without good camping area nearby.

The last one is the most important for me. I wanted a place where I could camp without being detected, if neccessary at a truck stop or rest area. I don't want to be harassed at night by other morons who might think it fun to wake me up. This, when done, with totally hide me, yet allow me to store gear up top.

It's far more discrete then just the tinted windows of the truck, black paper on windows, putting curtains up. With insulation, it's going to be far warmer in the winter then the entire open cap, which tends to have moisture freeze on the room and melt when morning comes—dripping cold water on you, exactly when you do not want.

How to Avoid Being Towed When Illegally Parked.

2007-08-07T20:38:00-06:00

Or maybe to break your engine and having a good case to sue a towing company for a new engine—at least in an interference engine like in Hondas and Accuras.

It turns out that if you are parked in first gear, pulled into a space, where you would have to be towed backwards, you have to have the engine out of gear. If it's not then the engine will turn backwards. In some cars, that probably is not the end of the world, but in interference engines that can destroy the valves when spun backwards.

Of course if you have a vechicle like my Ford truck, don't expect to have such good luck. I have accidentially left it in 3rd gear, facing upwards, and have had the truck roll downhill, backwards. You could hear the engine turning over backwards—but not self destructing. Not something I try to do, but accidents happen.

And don't forget many tow shops have a slim jim and will unlock your car to put it in nuetral—or have a cop break in for them. So this idear doesn't work all that well. Thanks to Cartalk for this idea.

Roll Starting Backwards.

2007-08-03T13:57:00-06:00

Yes it's possible to roll start a Ford Ranger pickup truck in reverse. I know I discovered this during lunch today when I went out to run to Walmart's to pick up motor oil for my pickup for the oil change I have to do tonight.

I left my laptop plugged into the charger on the inverter in my pickup. This drained the battery, probably aggrevated by the heat on the black truck (heat == greater draw on battery and starter).

I needed to get to Walmart during lunch as that's when I had time to get the oil. So what did I do? I figured I could roll start it—rolling backwards in reverse, rather then the normal way going forward, as I was parked uphill and not downhill, like I usually am when roll starting.

So I put it in reverse, and put my foot on the clutch. The truck started to roll backwards, and I eased off it. Pop—vroom. And I was off!

It doesn't take much effort to roll start in reverse. It's actually easier then 3rd gear going forward for some reason. Maybe because it's a lower gear and I should try roll starting going forward in 1st or second.

It also wasn't as dangerous or crazy as it might sounds. I was in a fairly isolated part of the parking lot, I also didn't get going that fast to roll start—maybe 5-10 MPH at most, and could have stopped just by releasing the clutch or use the leftover multiplier effect of the power braking from the last time I started the truck.

Broke the Cap Light.

2007-04-25T09:14:00-06:00

The interior light on my truck cap, after having it wiring fixed about two weeks ago, broke when I hit it unloading the canoe yesterday at Lawson's Lake. It literally shattered. That means I will have to replace it at some point, as it's nice to be able to quickly turn on a light to get things out of the cap.

For sleeping out, I just use the lead lamp with the compact florescent plugged into my inverter. This 23 watt bulb with the candlepower of a 100 watt incandescent bulb seriously lights up the back of the truck or the area outside of it without problems. I enjoy being able to sit in the truck on a warm summer night and work on my laptop or read a book without straining my eyes.

Been Sleeping Out in My Pickup.

2007-04-25T09:06:00-06:00

The past few days have been very nice out, and I've used that chance to spend every night sleeping out since Friday. I love sleeping out in my truck, and looking up at the stars at night. I am going to miss being able to do this every night when I move to the city in a couple of months, but I plan to still go out camping nearly every weekend in northern Catskills / Schoharie Valley—at least during the summer.

This is probably my favorite use for my truck, besides off-roading. I occasionally use it to haul shit, but not as often as I probably should. While owning a truck is somewhat off-putting to my enviro friends, it still a really good truck.

Got My Truck All Ready for Camping.

2007-04-09T07:03:00-06:00

Yesterday I finally cleaned out my truck in preparation for going camping in the next few weeks. Right now, with our ever so frigid weather I won't be sleeping out in the truck, but as soon as it gets nice, I will basically be living in the back of it all the time.

I just love getting up and looking up, and just seeing the sun rise in the sky. It so much nicer then just seeing the sky blue ceiling in my bedroom. After a while, all those mallard ducks on the wallpaper I have in my room, really start to get to me. Of course, being a big time environmentalist-like person, I'm supposed to enjoy such a natural scene in my room.

I already went out to camping not-in-my-truck but up to the Cotton Hill Lean-to last week. And at least for this summer, the best is yet to come.

The Rare Truck Post.

2007-03-02T13:35:00-06:00

Believe it or not, I am updating this blog with some new of what's happening with my truck. A quick recap on what's up with the pickup.

Last January, the hubs and brakes went on the truck. I got them fixed. I'm not so sure if the brakes were really bad, but I went to a sleezy garage in Albany and that's what they said was wrong. They might just have been worn. Go figure. The noise at any rate turned out to be that the hubs needed to be replaced—and they weren't cheap.

Come-A-Long.

2007-03-02T13:34:59-06:00

I finally broke down and spent the $20 dollars to buy a cheap come-a-long to tow my truck out of the mud and muck when I get stuck out back, or even worst—deep in the state forest. Actually, I didn't buy it, and I got it for a Christmas party, but so it goes.

Shift Case Motor.

2007-03-02T13:34:58-06:00

Now I think the shift motor is shot and now it's not shifting into 4x4 high or low. This is really disappointing, as the truck has been pretty good in the few snow and ice storms that I had to drive to work in when everybody else stayed home. I'm really debating what to do about this.

It's relatively easy to get to, and simply swapping out the motor would be cheap and easy. It's only 8-bolts and I'm not ready to invest another $300 or so bucks in this truck. The replacement part can be got online for less then $100, and it's not that messy.

The reality is the getting old (it's a 1998), and I need maybe another year (if even that) out of it until I'm done with it. With new starter, brakes, and hubs, it shouldn't require too much more maintenance for a while. That said, there are other things of concern—I think the CV joints are starting to make some noise, and I noticed a little bit of water in the oil the other time—although the coolant level/brake fluid/steering fluid/clutch fluid looks okay.

So that's what it's like owning an old Ford Ranger. It somehow was so much nicer 2 1/2 years ago—but it's still a good little truck.

A Part of Plattsburgh History.

2006-11-30T12:15:00-06:00

On the plattsburgh.edu website, in the series of photos they show, in one of them is the background of my pickup truck. So little Ranger is now famous.

$60.50 and 2 More Years of Truck Registration.

2006-11-16T10:44:00-06:00

The DMV is charging $30.25 a year to register my truck. I guess I knew it cost that much, although I guess it was more hidden when I bought the truck 2 years ago and paid $6,500 plus another $313.50 to DMV which included the tax on the truck.

That's a lot of money to a broke college student. It makes me think I much preferred the old Plymouth Sundance, which cost a grand total of $32.50 for two years of registration. Then again, I like my truck—weight based registration fees suck.

Got My Starter Fixed.

2006-09-08T04:07:00-06:00

Today I got my starter replaced in my truck, which had gotten chewed up from some damage on the flywheel. The new one will hopefully last a while, as I wasn't willing to lay down the money to replace the entire flywheel, which involves pulling the transmission and replacing the clutch while their at it. When I need a new clutch, then I'll probably replace the damaged flywheel.

So what caused all these problems? Probably me and myself starting the thing while it was already running for one. Maybe somehow something hit the flywheel and broke off the tooth. The prior is most likely though, in part caused by the fact the truck is so damn quiet at idle, although the BFG tires are very noisey at 75 MPH. So I should be more careful.

At any rate, no more parking on hills everywhere I go. It was a real pain having to roll start the truck all the time, not to mention bad for the clutch and the emissions system. Now the next big repair is the transfer case, when I get done with this semester in college and have a little more money.

Transfer Case Shift Motor.

2006-07-19T08:41:00-06:00

Still need to do something about it—while I can still get out of 4x4 High and into 4x2 mode, it makes a terrible squelling/grinding noise as the motor grinds the plastic gear that makes the trasfer case shift.

Not only does it mean that I can't use 4x4 low, when I shift out of 4x4 high it tends to scare both large farm animals and people at the same time. Everybody looks to see what that horrific grinding/squeling sound.

Check Gage.

2006-07-14T09:40:00-06:00

That light came on leaving Albany yesterday, and I haven't put gas in yet. Need to do that this afternoon as the light has been on the past 45 miles or so. If you haven't heard, gas prices are going back up again since things aren't going so well in the Middle East between Isreal and Jordan, not to mention the mad man in Iran and another one in North Korea, and terrorists in Iraq.