Hey All Im got my truck running wicked. Ive taken it got a couple of drives. The steering is a bit stiff. I think it seized up on me a bit while it was sitting so long. Any ideas to losen it up? In the next couple of days i want to drive it back to vancouver. Its about 1200km. Is there anything i have to worry about? People tell me about using a lead additive in the tank? Any insight would be cool. Thanks. jeff
Easy to do , I do it all the time in my clapped out '49 shop truck . Your steering is very wrong as it _should_ steer just like power steering (serious) so : jack up the truck and block it so the wheels & suspension is hanging loosely in the air (jack stands under frame , dig ?) grab your manual grease gun and some fairly clean rags , scoot underneath the truck with a flashlight and begin greasing all the various Zerk fittings , they're a LOT of them , many will be buried or hidden under globs of old grease & dirt so scrape off all the old clumped up gook , any Zerk doesn't want to take the grease , _STOP_ and go get a propane plumber's torch , heat up the offendeing Zerk fitting a little bit untill it'll take the grease , always grease untill you see fresh grease mushing out elsewhere . wipe up the mess each fitting leaves too . Turn the steering back and forth as you're greasing the king pins and pivots to ensure good grease spreading . Now , drain & refill your gearbox and rear end , top up the steering gearbox with OIL ~ never , _EVER_ use grease in there ~ there is a square headed filled plug on the top of the box , sometimes the factory fil plug with Zerk fitting is still there but DO NOT shoot it full of grease ! . if it leaks badly (common) you can use a funnel to fill it with any typ of " Motor Honey " like STP of Bardhal as this will lubricate it O.K. and leak much slower . The output seal is listed in older posts , look it up along with how to adjust the steering box if needed . Don't tour on really old tubes or dry rotted tires , if the tires are O.K. but old , at least have new tubes fitted and keep the pressures up as the tires will heat up on long drives , this is what causes most blowouts : low tire pressures . Adjust the valves , set points gap or dwell then the ignition timing , HOT change the oil and you're good to go . Remember , this old truck will go around the world @ 45 ~ 50 MPH but it'll blow up quickly if you wail on down the highway floating the valves . Have a good trip and take some pix . -Nate
Hey Nate, thanks again. Your a wealth of info. I did what you said. I put the truck up on blocks so the suspension was all loose. It was a lot better when i was done. I had a hard time getting grease into the lower kingpin port on the driverside. I pulled the fitting and it was fine. The greas just wouldnt push through. Ive been driving her around a lot getting ready for the drive back. Im going to hot change the oil tonight and im off tomorrow morn. Wish me luck. Ill take lots of picks on the journey back. jeff
RE: Jeff's Road Trip O.K. Jeff ; I hope it all went well . I do so love touring America by the back roads in my old truck , -Nate
RE: Jeff's Road Trip Hey Nate All went super. I got up in the morn to leave and my truck wouldnt start. I got all frustrated but it worked better in the long run. I guess all i needed was new points and the cylinder thingy. I got it all installed and i hasent missed a start yet. I ended up leaving the next morn and it drove beautifull. Its usually a 12 hour drive but i took about 17 with a little nap half way. Its through the rocky mountains the whole way. It averaged about 80 to 90km. On the drive i had 2 people ask if i would sell it. I said no way. I didnt think it would draw that much attention. Everyone wants to talk about it. thanks for all the help nate. jeff
RE: Jeff's Road Trip Well and good ~ we always like to hear about happy elder truck owners actually _USING_ them ~ many are just ' hobby trucks ' , more's the pity . Keep up the good work and TELL people you're driving it , more will try the same . All the guys here are very helpfull in my experiance . One of these days I've -got- to open up my Torque Tube and have a look at what's groaning in there when I reverse... I'm going to be super upset if I wait untill it goes " GRUNCH ! " out far from home.... -Nate
RE: Jeff's Road Trip Super story Jeff, it's good to hear of a long trip like this and you really sound like you had a great time doing it. Mel
