Well, I looked for Mr. George. If he's still living (which I doubt) he's 110 years old. The other name I have, Mr DeAngelis, appears to have passed in 2009.

I'll keep trying to find relatives of these gentlemen to see if anyone has recollections of the truck.

And I had another thought about Mr. Ohls. When I got Betsy, she had no bed, no taillights, and the taillight wiring was cut off. Maybe someone removed the original flatbed, put on a long bed (Betsy's frame is 8 feet long behind the cab) and fabricated some wide fenders to cover the dual wheels. Mr. Ohls said the truck he had was light blue, and Betsy was Silvertone Gray. It's a long shot, but may be possible.

 

It's very possible for him to own it in the late 70 early 80's as I did and I'm 3 years younger then him. Did you ask him if he had a relative with the same name? He may have been remembering a relatives truck and thought it was a longbed. It may have not had any fenders on it... I would call him again and see if you can send him a pic that might remind him if it look like his did except the flatbed?

 

FWIW, everyone may not be receptive to being contacted about an old vehicle. I once contacted a previous owner about a vehicle and he got downright hostile. He wanted to know how I learned he had owned such vehicle and was just pissy., to put it mildly. I immediately put on my best soothing voice and explained that that information was readily available from several sources.
And JOe, so far as the book. A poetic license can paint fiction with a wide brush.

 

I haven't given up yet, but it's not looking likely I'll find out any more.

Yeah, I got the feeling he was a little concerned about a stranger asking him about a truck from over 30 years ago.

And I'm not writing a book. That's Keith's department.

 

Well, in that case...

you should slide on over to the dark side. You could write a purely fictional account, dress it up with chrome and polished aluminum, maybe add a shiny paint job with some flames, tint the windows, lower it a bit in the front so it has a nice rake, some mag wheels.......

....oops, sorry, I got disctracted a bit

Bobby

 

OK Bobby. I don't think I'm headed toward the dark side with this truck. That could happen in the future, but not with Betsy.

Maybe I'll write that fiction after I retire.

 

Well it's been 7 weeks since I updated the thread. I didn't really have anything I wanted to share about Betsy until today. So here goes.

Anyone who's bothered to read the whole build thread will recall I have had some strange intermittent lock-up problems with the truck since I got her on the road over a year ago.

I thought rebuilding the transmission had solved all my problems (well there are others still) after I made a 60 mile round trip with zero problems.

Well, that didn't last long. The next time I took her out for a spin, I had the same old lock-up problem I've had intermittently since I got her on the road.

I didn't mention it here because I haven't really felt like working on the problem. And that's because I had run out of ideas. I redid the brakes before I ever drove her, with all new wheel cylinders, master cylinder, hoses and lines. The shoes and drums looked good, so I left them. I rebuilt the tranny. I replaced the u-joints. I couldn't figure out what it was doing. But intermittently it invariably would lock up at a stop. Never had a problem locking up going down the road.

Starting to sound like something wrong with the brakes? Yeah, I thought so too. I had already readjusted the m/c push rod back when this first showed up at someone's recommendation. And of course I adjusted the brakes according to the Shop Manual when I rebuilt them.

But, I decided it had to be a brake problem, and even though I dreaded taking those damn big wheels off again to get to the brakes, I did it this morning.

I started with the front, because they're just easier. Note to self: never do what's easiest first. There was nothing wrong up front, but I repacked the wheel bearings anyway since I had them out.

The right rear brakes had what looked like shredded lining material on top of the shoes where the lining ends (sorry, no pics). But everything else looked good, so I cleaned it up and readjusted the brakes. This time, I left (all four) adjustments a little looser than last time.

When I took the 3 alignment screws out of the left rear drum, I heard something pop! What the heck? And even though I had loosened the tension on the shoes, the drum was stuck on??? I didn't find anything wrong inside, but I lubed all the sliding parts on all four wheels.

So, my theory is simple. I have never seen Double Anchor brakes before I got Betsy. I adjusted them according to the Shop Manual the first time. I think the rears were dragging. This little I6 with 5.14 rear end has so much torque, I never felt any drag... except when it locked up at a stop. I think the brakes were not always releasing fully.

I took her for a test drive with lots of stops in several neighborhoods (I drove by your house Charlie). The truck drives differently. I know this sounds stupid, but if I don't keep applying the brakes, she won't stop. I have always been able to release the brake pedal when almost to a complete stop. I just thought that was normal on this big, heavy truck. But if I do it now, I'll roll out into the intersection. And the brake pedal goes down a little farther, but only about half way to the floor.

So, I have thought several times over the past months that I've corrected the lock-up problem. And I think so again. But I'll be back...

Here's me fighting with the left front wheel...





And fighting with the left rear wheel...

 

Congrats again Joe! LOL! I'm glad you finally got the problem taken care of. I know how frustrating that can be. By the way, those wheels and hubs look tiny compared to an F7 .

 

Joe,

It sounds to me like this time you really found it. From what you describe about previous driving experiences it does sound like the brakes were dragging.

Big truck=big tools=big headaches
I'm thinking you should start stocking your fridge with the big 16 ouncers. I mean a big truck=beg beers (and if you have to many = big headaches).....lol

Bobby

 

I hope that takes care of your problem. Your truck seems bigger when you have pictures like that. You don't notice it as much when it's just the truck itself.

Funny thing is, I was just wondering about your thread. I noticed you hadn't posted in a while and just about posted to see how things were going.

Now you need to drive it a bunch just to be sure you have the problem solved.

 

Joe this sounds like it might have been the problem all along. Perhaps a snug adjustment became very snug after a little driving and some thermal expansion. I know you got a workout today! Thanks for the update and the continued inspiration for those of us following your lead!

 

Ha Ha Ha! I have the biggest beer I can find... a 15.5 gallon keg of Fat Tire in my kegerator. And, I'm on my second frosty beverage since returning from my test drive. It's a sort of celebration.

 

Thanks Keith. We'll see if it's actually "fixed" this time. But I'm feeling pretty hopeful. It's really frustrating to learn your work didn't fix the problem.

I mentioned after I got the 19.5 wheels swapped for the wm's that I'm now glad I didn't get 22.5 because these are heavy enough!

 

I couldn't agree more about driving her a bunch. I have 3 weekends before the next Salute to Veterans Parade, which I plan to be in again. I had this lockup problem during that parade last year, and thought I was going to have to pull out of line.

And I like F4s for several reasons, but one is, I don't have to jack it up to crawl under it!

 

Thanks for the kind words Harold. I fought with the left rear for over an hour to get the adjustment to the point that the brakes would not drag after applying them. It was a matter of doing the 4 adjustments in the right sequence, which isn't mentioned in the Shop Manual. I felt like Ken Mattingly during the Apollo 13 launch. I'm sure that only makes sense if you saw the movie...