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Yesterday was a nice day in GA. So I decided to take the 46 truck out for a ride. She is still a work in progress but I am building confidence to take longer trips. Yesterday was the longest.
Went to to see a friend of a friends work shop, he does body work and did a beautiful rebuild on a 31 model A.
Anyway, on the way home there was something amiss. She was just not performing as expected. Working harder than normal to climb hills and just sluggish.
Approaching a mile from home is when the cab started to fill with smoke, yep not good. Opened the cowl vent, windows were already down....hummm.
Doesn't smell electrical or oil, no flames, getting warm, I rebuilt the front brakes recently maybe one or both are dragging??
I coast onto the shoulder of the 2 lane road and noticed the smoke coming from under the cab. The parking brake had been dragging! It was off by all indications in the cab. The clearance on the brake shoe was too little, plus old springs did not completely open the shoe.
As hot as it was I was thinking of getting a fire extinguisher, crap don't have one. That darn brake sits just below the gas tank!
Ultimately, she cooled down, I was able to limp her home and very happy I did not burn her up.
Today I adjusted the parking brake, with a lot of clearance. Also going to carry a fire extinguisher from now on.
My Dad lost his home to fire when he was a teenager and was always afraid of fire. I did not share the same fear until three years ago when I lost my shop to a fire. Over forty years of tools and parts gone in three hours. This fall while combining beans, the combine caught fire, I had a 10 pound fire extinguisher on board, but for all the good it did I might as well spit on it. You better believe all my equipment and work trucks have some sort of fire protection on them. As far as your emergency brake goes, you could have driven 500 miles in 10 or 20 mile trips and never found anything wrong, but it takes a nice long trip to bring out all the gremlins to the top. You are not the first to have this kind of thing happen after repair
The previous owner had the wire harnesses under the dash short out. He was quick and disconnected the battery. That could have been very bad and I'm not sure if the fire extinguisher would of been of much help.
In any case I will be ready next time. Guess an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
You have a nice straight looking truck; it is a good thing that you didn't put flames on it!
This has me thinking about what type of a fire extinguisher is recommended for a small truck? I am thinking having one mounted in the pickup bed would be a good place; under the hood would be bad.
You have a nice straight looking truck; it is a good thing that you didn't put flames on it!
This has me thinking about what type of a fire extinguisher is recommended for a small truck? I am thinking having one mounted in the pickup bed would be a good place; under the hood would be bad.
Placement of the extinguisher is a great question. I was thinking in the cab, but as tight as it is, in the back would be better.
Possibly under the wood bed of my truck could work.
Maybe another thread focusing on placement/size of the extinguisher could be started?
That really is a nice truck. I'm glad it was just a minor problem. I'll have to check the parking brake adjustment on my truck before its maiden voyage. Also, a fire extinguisher and a battery disconnect switch are on the "to do" list.
01-01-2016, 02:54 PM
