Important lessons learned today
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 826
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From: New England
Important lessons learned today
1) 33" tires don't help when the mud is over a foot deep.
2) "No, that mud can't be too bad" are bad words to hear from the driver.
3) If you REALLY want to get stuck, a 3/4 ton pickup with said 33's & a bed full of heavy parts is a very good place to start.
4) Trying to pull said truck out of said mud with an S-10 & a tow strap is a complete waste of time & effort.
5) A big truck & a big tow strap do a much better job.
I just got back from a junkyard run. My friend wanted to take his truck, a 1979 Chevy K-20 4x4 with a ZZZ 350 crate engine (300HP, I think), TH400, NP203 converted to part-time with front hubs, & 3.73 gears in a front Dana 44 (last year for it!), & rear full-floating 8-lug 14-bolt. Tires are Hi-Tec Retreading mudders (33x12.50R16.5) on white-spoke Armstrong steel wheels. We loaded the truck with a good 500lbs of tools, handcarts, a big CO2 tank, a jack, a 1/2" drive impact wrench, an air grinder, a ground cloth, a big engine hoist, a few old tires (engine holders) & several propane bottles for the torch. Normally, we'd take my F-350 & I'd drive, but since I haven't pulled the snowplow yet (yes, I'm lazy), I agreed to ride with him. The first junkyard went with no trouble, but little to show for the time we searched--a couple old Chevy Rally wheels off a totally-rotted 70's Camaro were all we had to show for it. Even worse, I spent half an hour trying to pull a 2bbl 400 Mopar from a 70's Fury, only to discover a 6" crack in the block (hidden under years of crud) when I looked closely next to the left motor mount. Blarg.
OK, time for another yard. We paid for the wheels, tied them down in the box, & headed for better pickings. The next yard was run by a friend of mine--since the loader wasn't running (the guy doesn't work weekends) & he knew us, he let us take the pickup into the back so we didn't have to lug heavy stuff up by hand. We did have the sense to lock the front hubs, since it had rained earlier this week. Our luck changed almost instantly: within 5 minutes, we'd both spotted stuff to grab. He went to work fighting rusted bolts holding a 9" disc-brake axle under the back of a Mercury Monarch, & I went to work pulling a complete 350 Chevy (too bad someone had already pulled the tranny) out of an early-80's chassis-cab C-30. We finished at about the same time, & I swung the truck around so we could hoist the parts in. The engine was an easy 2-minute lift & swing, the axle took a couple tries & some finagling (I need a higher hoist)--we even scored a Holley spread-bore off the C-30 (cool, since I think I need one of those). OK, this is better!
With the stuff tied down & me riding in the bed so I can see more easily (remember: 5MPH in a junkyard), we continued to look over the stuff. After about 15 minutes of poking around, I spotted what looked like another score: a rust-ravaged 70's Pontiac Catalina wagon that, judging by the minimal grime, was a recent addition. Opening the hood showed a Pontiac V8...could it be? Yes, it was, indeed, a D-port-head 400 Poncho, & the TH400 was still attatched. Checking the valve covers showed minimal sludge, the odometer read ~90K miles (which seemed about right), the trans dipstick didn't smell burned, & there were no coolant stains. Yep, we're grabbing this one! He swung the truck around, parked it, & we got to work. The car was propped up on old steel rims, so it was stable & we could get underneath with plenty of room to work. The A/C plumbing was long gone, as were the radiator hoses (probably cut to drain the coolant when it was junked), so this went pretty easily. We planned to pull the engine & trans as one assembly, did so with minimal cursing (it helped not having to worry about denting this rustbucket), & soon had it sitting on 2 tires in the bed of the Chevy.
We checked out the rest of the yard, but other than a 460 in an Econoline box truck (that turned out to be missing a head & loaded with crud), saw nothing that looked worthy of even a close look. OK, time to go home. We rachet-strapped everything in place & hopped into the cab, & headed back up to the exit to pay for our stuff. On the way, we went through some mud--nothing serious, but enough to throw it in 4WD high-range as a precaution. Most of the way back up, we ran across a good-sized mud patch...and he just drove right into it. We got across, but only by punching the throttle & powering out. Just short of the exit (not the way we'd gotten in) was more mud. I suggested turning around & going out the other way, or at least stopping to see what the mud was like. He said, "No, that mud can't be too bad," and drove right into it. About 25' in, the truck just sank to the axles & stopped dead. After a few choice words to him, I climbed into the bed, tossed a couple unused tires into the mud, & used them as stepping stones to get onto dry ground. Another employee was leaving, & offered to try to pull us out with his S-10 pickup. He got a tow strap, hooked to our tow hooks...nothing doing--I had him stop before he cooked his tranny. That truck was STUCK. We considered seeing if the loader guy could come in to get us out, but then saw a big F-600 (gasser 370) stake-body parked in the lot. I asked about it (I honestly thought it had been junked, since it was pretty rough), & the owner stepped forward--it was his hauler for his farm, & he was on his way to pick up a load of hay with it. We offered $50 to pull us out, & he agreed. Back the 600 around, hook our tow strap to the pintle, a quick tug in low gear, & the K-20 was free in 5 minutes. On top of that, the guy refused to take any money. We finally settled on buying him a cup of coffee at Honey Dew.
Next time, we take my truck & I drive.
2) "No, that mud can't be too bad" are bad words to hear from the driver.
3) If you REALLY want to get stuck, a 3/4 ton pickup with said 33's & a bed full of heavy parts is a very good place to start.
4) Trying to pull said truck out of said mud with an S-10 & a tow strap is a complete waste of time & effort.
5) A big truck & a big tow strap do a much better job.
I just got back from a junkyard run. My friend wanted to take his truck, a 1979 Chevy K-20 4x4 with a ZZZ 350 crate engine (300HP, I think), TH400, NP203 converted to part-time with front hubs, & 3.73 gears in a front Dana 44 (last year for it!), & rear full-floating 8-lug 14-bolt. Tires are Hi-Tec Retreading mudders (33x12.50R16.5) on white-spoke Armstrong steel wheels. We loaded the truck with a good 500lbs of tools, handcarts, a big CO2 tank, a jack, a 1/2" drive impact wrench, an air grinder, a ground cloth, a big engine hoist, a few old tires (engine holders) & several propane bottles for the torch. Normally, we'd take my F-350 & I'd drive, but since I haven't pulled the snowplow yet (yes, I'm lazy), I agreed to ride with him. The first junkyard went with no trouble, but little to show for the time we searched--a couple old Chevy Rally wheels off a totally-rotted 70's Camaro were all we had to show for it. Even worse, I spent half an hour trying to pull a 2bbl 400 Mopar from a 70's Fury, only to discover a 6" crack in the block (hidden under years of crud) when I looked closely next to the left motor mount. Blarg.
OK, time for another yard. We paid for the wheels, tied them down in the box, & headed for better pickings. The next yard was run by a friend of mine--since the loader wasn't running (the guy doesn't work weekends) & he knew us, he let us take the pickup into the back so we didn't have to lug heavy stuff up by hand. We did have the sense to lock the front hubs, since it had rained earlier this week. Our luck changed almost instantly: within 5 minutes, we'd both spotted stuff to grab. He went to work fighting rusted bolts holding a 9" disc-brake axle under the back of a Mercury Monarch, & I went to work pulling a complete 350 Chevy (too bad someone had already pulled the tranny) out of an early-80's chassis-cab C-30. We finished at about the same time, & I swung the truck around so we could hoist the parts in. The engine was an easy 2-minute lift & swing, the axle took a couple tries & some finagling (I need a higher hoist)--we even scored a Holley spread-bore off the C-30 (cool, since I think I need one of those). OK, this is better!
With the stuff tied down & me riding in the bed so I can see more easily (remember: 5MPH in a junkyard), we continued to look over the stuff. After about 15 minutes of poking around, I spotted what looked like another score: a rust-ravaged 70's Pontiac Catalina wagon that, judging by the minimal grime, was a recent addition. Opening the hood showed a Pontiac V8...could it be? Yes, it was, indeed, a D-port-head 400 Poncho, & the TH400 was still attatched. Checking the valve covers showed minimal sludge, the odometer read ~90K miles (which seemed about right), the trans dipstick didn't smell burned, & there were no coolant stains. Yep, we're grabbing this one! He swung the truck around, parked it, & we got to work. The car was propped up on old steel rims, so it was stable & we could get underneath with plenty of room to work. The A/C plumbing was long gone, as were the radiator hoses (probably cut to drain the coolant when it was junked), so this went pretty easily. We planned to pull the engine & trans as one assembly, did so with minimal cursing (it helped not having to worry about denting this rustbucket), & soon had it sitting on 2 tires in the bed of the Chevy.
We checked out the rest of the yard, but other than a 460 in an Econoline box truck (that turned out to be missing a head & loaded with crud), saw nothing that looked worthy of even a close look. OK, time to go home. We rachet-strapped everything in place & hopped into the cab, & headed back up to the exit to pay for our stuff. On the way, we went through some mud--nothing serious, but enough to throw it in 4WD high-range as a precaution. Most of the way back up, we ran across a good-sized mud patch...and he just drove right into it. We got across, but only by punching the throttle & powering out. Just short of the exit (not the way we'd gotten in) was more mud. I suggested turning around & going out the other way, or at least stopping to see what the mud was like. He said, "No, that mud can't be too bad," and drove right into it. About 25' in, the truck just sank to the axles & stopped dead. After a few choice words to him, I climbed into the bed, tossed a couple unused tires into the mud, & used them as stepping stones to get onto dry ground. Another employee was leaving, & offered to try to pull us out with his S-10 pickup. He got a tow strap, hooked to our tow hooks...nothing doing--I had him stop before he cooked his tranny. That truck was STUCK. We considered seeing if the loader guy could come in to get us out, but then saw a big F-600 (gasser 370) stake-body parked in the lot. I asked about it (I honestly thought it had been junked, since it was pretty rough), & the owner stepped forward--it was his hauler for his farm, & he was on his way to pick up a load of hay with it. We offered $50 to pull us out, & he agreed. Back the 600 around, hook our tow strap to the pintle, a quick tug in low gear, & the K-20 was free in 5 minutes. On top of that, the guy refused to take any money. We finally settled on buying him a cup of coffee at Honey Dew.
Next time, we take my truck & I drive.
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