The Hamburgler's adventure
- Thread starter Uncle Douglas
- Start date
donb
Well-known member
The tow-truck driver try to start out 7.3 after it sat out in really cold temps for a day or 2 (was getting transported due to tranny issues). It almost hit but I yelled "use the glow-plugs" before he did it again. The guy working with him gave him an ear full.
We had no problems starting ours during a couple of cold winters but had it plugged in, the glows worked well and we were pretty good about fuel level and putting additives in the tank. He might have been better taking the 200tdi, the 7.3 works well but that damn 4R100 and I'd want it plugged in any temps near 0.
His is a manual trans
Not sure what you are asking. Yes his block heater died, but its 19yrs old. He bought a replacement but couldnt get the old one out. His truck died in his driveway on a mtn top in NC due to lack of love.
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donb
Well-known member
If I kept that 7.3 I would have loved to swap out the auto for a manual. That was the only big issue we had with that vehicle. And rust (but I would have swapped to a rack bed too)
I'm told you can no longer buy a new manual trans pick up in the US. No manufacturer offers one.
The truck we were forced to pick up out in Kansas last summer is a 4wd ZF 6spd crew cab with flat bed and tool boxes under the bed both in front of and behind the duals. Its a late 6.0 but I have gone through it. The thing is fun as hell to drive, and with just under 600 ft lbs of torque and 4:10's is pretty quick for a vehicle weighing 10k. A 6.0 engine is a high rpm diesel unlike the 7.3. Much longer gear pulls, tach goes to 5k. The other huge change from 7.3's is the coil sprung front end. Ride quality is a quantum leap better. Always thought stake bodies were ugly compared to flared dually beds but its a tool and far better suits our use. The ability to forklift side load/unload the Cummins crates alone...
Peppard and Raub have both ridden in it and were shocked. Raub said he had powerstroke envy.
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donb
Well-known member
I think Ram was last of them to offer a manual gearbox Cummins but that was a couple of years ago. I can see why the new trucks are auto only - they are being outfitted so nicely now and the auto trans work well with the new high power engines. I've been really happy with the 6.6 Duramax / Allison combo on my 2015. Even with the Denali package it is already starting to be dated compared to the new rigs out or coming out.
And I've heard that the 6.0 once gone through are great engines. And the front coil suspension makes them a lot better of a ride like you said. My friend had a crew cab / short box 6.0 with low miles that he said he was going to get rid of and I started to think "maybe worktruck" but too many projects as is.
The 6.0 are so cheap now, I’m tempted to buy one just for the fuck of it.
As a bit of an update to this adventure, Raub had a great winter up in ND and really enjoyed his time there. The Saudi attack on the American oil industry ( the US was producing all the oil we needed here/ie self sufficient) killed the US oil industry in less than a week. US producers could not compete with the price the Saudi's were willing to sell for. Where Raub was in Wiliston, ND. over 4000 people lost their jobs in the course of a weeks time. Raub called and said he was coming East and going to help us put up the shop addition, but that he was going to drop down through South Dakota and try to get a job with a company he knew that were building a wind farm there. He stopped by their job trailer on a day when it was 18 degrees and snowing and left an application. He stayed overnight, made a few calls to guys he knew with that company and then headed for Virginia in his Tithonus in a thunder snow storm. He got down to border with Nebraska and his phone rang with a job offer so he turned around and gave us a call. In the end he said he felt like a virgin on prom night with three different companies calling all wanting him to work for them. He's doing earth work to prep sites for windmills and exploring every dirt track in the Black Hills with his Tithonus on his days off. He loves South Dakota, says they have closed nothing. Bars are open and eateries still offer seated service. Says in SD if a 16yr old is accompanied by a parent they can drink in a bar.
This chronicle left off with the Hamburgler getting a job working for a soil work co in South Dakota. With these wind farms one company does the ground/soil work grading etc and another company does whats called soil stabilization. Raub got on with the soil work side and was getting hours because tracked machines can work in wet. The soil stabilization side can't do anything until things dry out. Soil stablization is spreading portland cement out over the ground and then tilling it in with a huge very high tech million dollar tiller. They then water down the mixture to create a concrete like pad or roadbed.
Hamburgler got jealous that the stabilization guys were union and made a higher wage so he worked it and got a job with the stabilization co. They hired him on as a team superintendent but sent him to another wind farm job on the Iowa/ Minnesota border. Its been quite rainy in MN so far so the Hamburgler hasnt been able to get his hours in. The grass is always greener with the Hamburgler, he's been grumbling that he may go back up to the earthworks co in SD. Meanwhile he's been bombing around Iowa in the Tithonus exploring the small towns and trying bloody marys in ea town every Sunday.
Hamburgler got jealous that the stabilization guys were union and made a higher wage so he worked it and got a job with the stabilization co. They hired him on as a team superintendent but sent him to another wind farm job on the Iowa/ Minnesota border. Its been quite rainy in MN so far so the Hamburgler hasnt been able to get his hours in. The grass is always greener with the Hamburgler, he's been grumbling that he may go back up to the earthworks co in SD. Meanwhile he's been bombing around Iowa in the Tithonus exploring the small towns and trying bloody marys in ea town every Sunday.
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I think my old buddy Mike Graham wrote a song about Raub.
donb
Well-known member
Not to change topic - but any quick link for the reasons wind is better than solar?
UnfrozenCaveman
Well-known member
Ahhhh, I don't believe it. Haven't seen him in Des Moines
Hot & dry this week and most of last ... humid? well sure...just no rain to speak of.
Stay safe Raub!
1of40
Well-known member
I recently started a new gig with a company that competes with Tesla in energy storage. I’ll ask around and see if I can get something on this. To my knowledge we don’t advise on which source to utilize, we construct the storage system and maintain it for 15-20 years.