Scoti... How was your trip to HeatWave?

[N2TRUX]

I have a not so fun story to tell about my trip to HeatWave. I'll tell it later though. Scoti has to get his out there first. You might want to pull up a chair though. It going to take him a while...:p

[SCOTI]

I'm not sure this board has enough web space availible, but the story has much more impact after hearing yours . . .....

For the record, I started on my journey home & didn't make it 2 exits before my eyes were closed . . ..... LaQuinta took care of that!

[bigblock73]

Don't keep us in the dark, we want the specs!

...Jeff

[Captkaos]

Originally posted by SCOTI
For the record, I started on my journey home & didn't make it 2 exits before my eyes were closed . . ..... LaQuinta took care of that!

At least you got to close them. Mine were open until 5am Sunday morning after leaving at around 3pm Saturday!!! 11 hours on the road stinks!

Now, your arrival story rivals ALL I have heard!

[SCOTI]

I made up my mind when leaving the show that I would just drive home instead of trying to find a hotel . . .... 2 exits later I was already dozing off. That's not a good sign, so the first decent hotel I came across I stopped.

Captkaos, what shift did you get on the drive home?

[SCOTI]

Ken, how was your drive home as well?

[N2TRUX]

My drive was good. Of course I didn't leave until Monday afternoon.

OK, I'll go first. My buddy Keith was delivering my 77 from Stoked Out Specialties in Rockwall (near Dallas) to Houston Thursday evening. We were going to clean the truck up, and get going early Friday morning. Scoti was supposed to follow Keith down, but got called in to work, so Keith went ahead.

For a number of reasons, we didn't get started as early as we wanted on Friday. As soon as we get on the road, we run into a major traffic jam. We finally get through that, only to realize we are low on gas, and haven't eaten anything since lunch the day before. We decide to run to the next location that has food and gas at the same exit.

Waller Texas was where our adventure began. We pulled in to get gas, and while I am pumping it, I here a really loud PSSSHHT noise, and the drivers front corner hits the ground. ???? Keith looks at me like "What did you do" and I'm looking at him like "it wasn't me".

Something blew in the air system. Fortunately, I had insisted that they air system be designed so the truck would roll even with all the air out of it. We pull off to the side and try to jack the truck up to see whats wrong.

The jack is stuck so Keith stands on it while I crank really hard. I hear a pop and then the jack is free wheeling. This is not good! We don't have ajack, and you can't crawl under the truck.

I look around to see where I can get a jack from and see a Jiffy Lube close by. They don't have a jack, but they are nice enough to let me pull in over their pit.

We find that the front airline is close enough to the exhaust to weaken it, and it blew a hole in it. We ask if there might be a place close by that has air line. I was amazed when the called Doyles auto parts and they had some.

While we are waiting for the air line to be delivered, Keith decides to cut the zip ties loose so we can replace the bad line. While doing this, I hear him curse a bit, and then pshhht. He slips and cuts the line to the other side.

Keith thinks pretty fast, and decides to swith the one he cut with the other sides since it's shorter, and use the new line for the longer side. His plan works fine until we try to get the lines back on the bag fitting. They refuse to go on one side, and go on but won't stay on the other side.

We end up taking to bag out on one side to get the line on. We try every trick we can think of, but we can't get the other side to stay pushed in.

After 4 hours in a hot oil change pit, we decide that we have to have a jack to get the other side out and change the fitting. The only problem is we don't have a fitting. We call Houston looking for one, but everyone has already left to go to the show.

I call my wife and have her come pick me up so we can get a jack and more tools. I think that I might have another fitting at home too. No such luck. I go back to Waller and we take the truck apart hoping we can get the fitting to hold, but it won't. We call Doyles to see if they have what we need, and they do.. sort of.

We managed to use what they had, and get everything back together. By now, we are sweaty, very oily, and stinking like a wet goat. We need a shower before driving to Austin.

We go back to my house, shower and change clothes. The truck is leaking a bit, so we fix that, and decide to hit the road. It is 8:30 pm. We first left the house at 11:00 am that morning. This was not going well.

We drive to Austin without a problem. We are staying at Lakeway Resort on the other side of Austin, so we don't get in until late. We finally get in bed, but I can't sleep. At 4:30 am I decide to get started on detailing my truck. At 6:45 we roll out to the show.

The whole time, I am thinking Scoti is already at the show. We roll out of Lakeway and I look over at a car wash and see Scoti. He can tell you the rest of the story...

[bigblock73]

Wow!! What an experience...nothing like a last minute breakdown to set the tone eh?

Scotti...you are next!

Thanks for sharing.

...Jeff

[Captkaos]

Originally posted by SCOTI
Captkaos, what shift did you get on the drive home?

I got the second shift. I actually was able to take a nap and was out until almost I20, or 3 hours later. The return trip was a little faster, 11 hours compared to 12.5. We were averaging 80mph on the way home.

[SCOTI]

That drive time back home was prob faster because your brother wasn't scared to drive over the speed limit in Texas . . ..... .

Ok, so Ken & Keith are buzzing along the highway @ 6:45am & spot me @ the car wash. They pull up & begin to tell me about the sh!t that went wrong on their drive to Austin. Ken starts w/"You wouldn't believe what we went through to get here", I counter that my story will beat theirs (which they're confident won't happen). Ken proceeds to weave his tale & is rudely stopped by me when he gets to the part about getting to bed late.

I ask him 'What did you just say? "Yeah, we got to bed really late & then had to keep getting up because of the dogs .... ".

"Well, @ least you got to go to bed" I replied confidently . . ......

Rewind back to Monday the 14th for the proper backround. I decided to replace my headlights because one was brighter than the other. I used 2 new 'performance halogen' headlights that are slightly brighter than normal halogens & they worked pretty decent. Tuesday after work I went & had the a/c checked & re-charged so now I'm close to being trip worthy.

I leave the home improvement store after dark tues night & while driving down the highway I hit a pretty big dip & the lights get real bright & then I lose the drivers headlight & notice the other is pulsing when the turn signals are on. I blew a fusible link. No prob, I quickly fix it after arriving home.

I leave for Austin late Fri afternoon/early evening so I didn't require headlights until an hour later. While buzzing through Waco, it's now getting dark enough that I can notice my headlights are getting brighter, then dimming, when the a/c compressor cycles on/off. 'Hhmmmm, that's odd . . ....'

I keep buzzing along & notice the a/c isn't really blowing cold, just cooler than what's outside & now w/it being darker, the headlight thing is really starting to concern me. I decide to keep going.

Around Ft.Hood (30mins later) I notice a strange burning smell (you know, plastic) & really start worrying. Ok, I killed the a/c to see if the smell goes away & it did as well as the headlight pulsing that was occurring. I try the turn signals & sure enough, the headlights are pulsing just like on Mon night. Blown fusible link . . ..... again. No prob, I planned ahead & brought materials needed for small electrical repairs. I decide to press on & repair it when I stop for gas. I make it all the way to Austin & stop for gas @ 7-11, it's approx 11pm.

Just like Mon night, I killed the truck & the dome light goes out w/the door open so I know the link is popped. I'm feeling pretty good since I brought extra fuses & it's a quick, painless repair. I pop the hood, & to my suprise, the fusible link is popped.... & the wire is melted to a crisp! Once again, no prob.... I brought extra wire & some crimp connectors. I spliced the new wire in & shut the hood confident in my 'on the spot' repair.

I open the door & sure enough, the dome light works so it's fixed. Turn the key.... nothing . I start checking all the normal stuff for voltage (I brought a test light too....) & everything checks ok. Power @ the batt, starter, ign switch, & the MSD box. While checking the starter I notice it's too hot for me too touch w/bare hands. My guess is the wiring meltdown cooked something @/to the starter. Off comes the starter. I hook up test leads but don't get anything from it..... my assessment..... it's dead.

I begin my approx 3mile journey to the nearest 24hr Autozone (starter in hand) & make it to the edge of the lot when the mgr of the 7-11 talks some young kid into giving me a ride there. Cool .

Arrive @ Autozone & bench test the starter . . . ..... it f**king works !?!?! I figure, in my haste to blame the starter, I must have overlooked one of the other fusible links or something simple. I head back to the 7-11 (starter in hand + a 20ft set of jumper cables & no ride this time) .

I get back to the truck & have by now convinced myself it has to be the 3rd fusible link I know I didn't previously check. I pop the hood & the link is good. I decide to re-test the starter @ the truck (just like before) & this time it actually clicks.

Starter back on. Replace fusible link w/another. Ask mgr to give me a jump start ( he didn't have jumper cables). 3:30am & off I go back to Autozone to get everything checked out.

At the zone, the alt checks ok on volts, a little low on amps, but guess what? The diodes are fried.

I R&R the alt, but the new one is clocked wrong so it won't bolt up correctly. I exchange it for another & guess what? The bearings make a neat little noise as you spin the fan. Once again I try to swap it for another..... they don't have another!!!! I put the loud alt on & hope for the best, and while I'm there, I replace the 2 new headlights w/some regular halogens.

It's now just before 5am. The truck starts w/o requiring a jump so I head back to 7-11 to thank the guy for his help & letting me work on the truck while blocking the gas pumps.

I head out now to find the guys (w/some high quality internet directions) & give up after getting pretty close. I decide to look for a car wash to clean the truck up & as I'm busy scrubbing away.... well, you know the rest.

I made it through the day & managed to only nod off once or twice while resting from the heat.

[Low Truck FNG]

I was thinking of bagging my truck, but now I think I'll pass!

[Captkaos]

Originally posted by SCOTI
That drive time back home was prob faster because your brother wasn't scared to drive over the speed limit in Texas . . ..... .

Yeah, and I wasn't too skiddish either. Once I got over the whole pulled over for doing the speed limit thing, I was ok. Plus, Kev drove though all of texas, so I was fine.

[N2TRUX]

Originally posted by Low Truck FNG
I was thinking of bagging my truck, but now I think I'll pass!

Don't put it off. Just do it right! If the lines hadn't been too close to the exhaust, my ordeal wouldn't have happened. Scoti on the other hand would have the same sad story to tell.

Chris, you need to step in here with your road trip horror story too...

[bigblock73]

Originally posted by N2TRUX
Here's my buddy Keith in action. This was after we spent 4 hours in the oil pit at Jiffy Lube trying to fix it from the bottom. It went much faster with a few of the proper tools...

he moves so fast I can't see anything!!!

[N2TRUX]

Here's my buddy Keith in action. This was after we spent 4 hours in the oil pit at Jiffy Lube trying to fix it from the bottom. It went much faster with a few of the proper tools...

[N2TRUX]

This is how we felt at this point in time...

[bigblock73]

what kind of bike is that in the bed?

-Jeff

[N2TRUX]

Originally posted by bigblock73
what kind of bike is that in the bed?-Jeff

That's a Dyno "Roadster" that Keith built. I don't have any pics of it yet, but I'll post some if you want...

[bigblock73]

Originally posted by N2TRUX
That's a Dyno "Roadster" that Keith built. I don't have any pics of it yet, but I'll post some if you want...

Would ya?! That'd be awesome...thanks.

...Jeff

BTW - here is a bike my buddy built...thing will go 40...but dayum scary on them skinny tires!

[bigblock73]

another view

[N2TRUX]

That's a cool loking bike. A little scarry looking, but cool. I haven't had a chance to get good pics of his yet, so here's one you can enjoy of a stock Roadster in the meantime...

[Captkaos]

Man Ken, that one has a nice KICKSTAND on it! Alot nicer than Keiths.

[Izzy]

Isn't keith the one w/ the SCSB burgundy stepside w/ the 4/6 and 20's? Truck's looking sweet.

[Captkaos]

If it looks like this, then yeah that is him.

[n2billet]

Chris, how do you know that's a better KICKSTAND than mine....I didn't put on my T-Back until later saturday!!!

Makes you sick just thinking about it.....doesn't it!