I have had "just drive it" advice offered to me on countless occasions, and sometimes I heed it - sometimes I don't. Stinky has been such a rolling SD PS classroom, because he has had almost every ailment our trucks can have. In fact, he's had so many issues that my reporting them here has stretched credulity. The problem isn't always the truck, frequently it's my lack of experience as a diesel owner, living in a small town with limited resources, inexperienced service people, and trying to power up with the above limitations.


Some of the "just drive it" advice came when the root cause was ultimately brake issues, bad cups, loose injectors, and low fuel pressure because of air in fuel. Each of these had the potential to cause more damage to the truck than already existed, or were very real safety issues. While contributing to some of the stuff we all read here, we must remember we're frequently not dealing with trained observers. What a poster may think sounds like a driveline vibration may be a caliper/slide pin issue - and it's on a countdown.


One person who drives locally and is never out of cell range or more than 15 minutes from a tow truck might offer up "just drive it" to the reported vibration, before verifying it's not something that can cause something more serious. I am frequently out of cell range, in an environment hazardous to people without that engine heat, and far from a tow. I really count on that rig, and those that share the road with me count on my maintenance of it. While using "I" here - the real meaning is "we", because this is not an exclusive scenario.


When contributing to the forum, our words sometimes carry more weight than we realize. Somebody will read our words and use them, without even becoming a member. "I just clicked a thread to FTE where they had a vibration like mine, and they said just drive it". If the visitor saw a process where brakes were considered on a vibration problem - that has the potential to have a different outcome.


There were times when I didn't "just drive it" like advised, and felt silly and over-reactive for not heeding the advice. Then - there were times when I had to say "Thank gawd I didn't keep driving like the forum said". So... for those on the receiving end of the "just drive it" nugget - you are the one that can hear, feel, see, and smell the truck. You have to experience the results of your decision (did you notice I didn't use the phrase "live with"?). It's your wallet, knuckles (in more ways than one), and time - and we that contribute are pixels on a screen in your world.


We as contributors are trying to help, but we're not there - so we won't experience your cost: Some of us have, and that's why we're contributing - to hopefully save you from some of the grief that we endured. Many of us have benefitted from the brotherhood that is the FTE forum, just be aware that we have our limitations of helping.

 

Being one of the initial people who told you to "just drive it" (actually I think I said "turn up the radio"), I'll be the first to claim guilt.

However, I KNOW first-hand how sensitive you are to things and how the slightest bit of any kind of ANYTHING will set you off. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing as I was that way when I was younger. I was so ridiculously sensitive to the idioms of my vehicles that I would actually stop on the interstate and inspect my vehicle after passing a known source of a smell that I drove by at least a couple times a week. As I had gotten older and more relaxed, I stopped letting the little things get to me.

You have to remember, Rich, that this is the internet. Most of us are hundreds, or even thousands of miles away from your location. We don't drive Stinky. I've seen him and sat in him but never driven him. What is normal to you would not be normal to anyone else and vice versa. I have said (well, written) it many times in the past that the road of diagnosing ANYTHING over the internet is a rough path because it's always a crap shoot and oftentimes is wrong. Besides, you've spent enough money on Stinky and blindly telling you to replace things isn't the proper way to diagnose anything.

Back to the "just drive it" sentiment.....
I'm a very proactive maintenance type of person and like to fix things before they break but since I know my way around cars, trucks, and machinery (and I'm usually right there using it or looking at it), there are a lot of things that just don't bother me. For example, one of the pickups at work has a squeaky double-cardan centering ball on the front driveshaft. Is it an issue? Well, it could be if it were left alone spinning by itself forever or if the pickup was constantly driven in four-wheel drive. The other day I drove it to Billings and started hearing a strange noise over the Michael Savage radio show at 75 miles per hour. I hadn't driven the pickup in a while (someone else did) but I knew exactly what it was so I stopped off at the next exit and unlocked the front hubs. As per normal, they didn't unlock immediately and after driving a while I stopped again and hit them a few times with a hammer. "Click". Fixed. Since the pickup was used by another person a few days ago and he needed four wheel drive......well, I'll just have to remember to unlock the hubs again before it gets used on the highway. If someone else were to drive this vehicle and have that experience, I'd be called out of the shop just to drive 35 miles one way to unlock the hubs and tell the person to keep driving. My entire career circles around these types of situations in which I just have to ignore problems (that aren't really big problems) and it spills into my personal vehicles. I know what it is and if it's not life-threatening, I don't care.

I have become hardened to noises, vibrations, and things that go "bump" in the night. I'm sorry that my ignorance has made you feel as though I didn't care about your well-being.

 

You and I have had many conversations about Da Big Stink, and you have never steered me wrong, nobody is a target here. This thread is an accumulation from 4 years of misadventures with Stinky (two years before we started working together), and a rather glib "just drive it" has come from sources that have less interest in the outcome than you do.


Stinky has been such a disaster that I can see where members could tire of the sob stories, suspecting vehicular hypochondria. With that dynamic, I have been a target of scorn as much as praise (for sharing). This thread is nothing more than "fine print" for those in need of help and for contributors to consider - based on my 4 years of experiencing the forum while owning a cursed truck. We're all friends here, and I have appreciated all the input. It all needs to be considered when dealing with truck ailments - perceived or real.

 

Rich, I can completely relate to you, on an **** point-of-view and how people say "just drive it".. My friends and anyone that knows what I have gone through with my truck, think I have OCD in a major way. There are those that are satisfied, and then there are folks like you and I that seek 100% out of our old trucks. Is it asking too much? Maybe..... As long as I can see progress, then I will keep going until I decide that I can "just drive it"... Keep on trucking, man!

 

I probably lean more to the Cleatus side of things if it is just a noise and doesn't appear to be an immediate break down in the offing. There are caveats for me though. If the weather is really bad or I'm headed to the boonies without a backup, then I want things to be in good condition. Still things can happen. My transmission died after a trip to CO. and being in some isolated places out there. I was lucky to back in my home state and have some buddies who could haul it back home for me when it died.

I would not advise someone to just drive it if there is a real danger, but I have driven some beaters for extended periods. That includes my 78 Bronco that is mostly an off road toy. I would not attempt a long trip in it. I would be asking for trouble. Also, I wouldn't take it out in really bad weather if I was going to an isolated area. Otherwise, I just drive it.

 

So what was the vibration Rich? I never did here how you fixed it, or did you? Anyway I'm like Cody myself, if I know what it is and it isn't going to leave me stranded some times I wait longer then I should to repair it. At least that's how I put it.

 

There was a long list of issues with the truck - brakes, front hub not unlocking, driveline not properly balanced after three tries, one cylinder acting up (showing colder on one of the EGT gauges - it's #2), and there is one vibration still lurking - I think the last person to touch the transmission did something wrong. All of these (except the brakes) are "just drive it" problems, but with so many sources, symptoms, and confusing signals - I wasn't sure the truck was ready for an impending 1800-mile trip in bad weather through areas with zero cell signal.