uncledj

A couple of months back, I noticed the front bolt on the right exhaust manifold on my old (01) Dodge Truck was loose, sticking out of the manifold a half inch or so. Turns out it was actually broken. Then I started getting a tick from the left manifold. All bolts appear intact on that side. Anyhoo, I figured I'd better replace both exhaust manifolds / bolts before it becomes a problem this Winter. There wasn't much to grab to with a socket. 4 bolts and 2 studs per side, and everything was so rusted that a solid connection with a socket is difficult to impossible. (6 point) I spent two nights after work getting the manifold to exhaust flange bolts out by cutting them with a dremel cut off wheel. They were hard to get to, but after literally going through 50 small cut off wheels, I was able to cut / chisel them off. Then I moved to the left manifold that had the broken bolt. I gave the heads some pretty good raps, but couldn't get any penetrant to where the threads were, so I ended up busting the other front bolt, flush with the head. One of the rear ones came out, and the other broke, but left an inch or so sticking out of the head, so I still have something to grab to. (THANK GOD). The rear bolts are hard to get to. Lastly, I decided to burn the two studs off so that I wouldn't break them off at the head. (I always get nervous burning in an engine compartment.) Fire extinguisher....tank of CO2 with hose and a water hose handy, I went for it and it worked out ok. More tapping and heavy prying and I got the manifold to come off in one piece. Now to remove the broken bolts and studs. I cleaned the protruding studs off as best I could, ...chipping any rust that I could remove. Then I started drilling pilot holes for an easy out in the bolts broken flush. Mixed up a batch of 50 / 50 tranny fluid and acetone and soaked down the protruding bolts as well as the flush broken bolts.....gave them all a few taps to get the capillary action going.....cleaned up the tools....soaked them down and tapped them again....and again...and will do that again tomorrow morning. Tomorrow after work I'll try to vice grip out the studs...or if necessary, weld a nut onto the studs to crank them out.....I'm worried about the flush broken bolts though. I think I got the pilot holes centered well enough that if I can't get them out with an easy out, I may be able to drill and re-tap the holes. If and when I get through this...I get to start all over on the other side. I've had this truck since 06, when I bought it from Texas and drove it home. It looked like it came off the showroom floor....but 10 years of sitting outside in this humid swamp that is Central Ohio has rusted all the bare metal parts to ruin. Body's still ok....been stayin' on that as best I could. Anyhoo, I know folks here enjoy hearing of a mechanical challenge, so I thought I'd share. I sure don't wanna have to pull the heads for this. That'd be an even bigger PITA. Wish me luck.

How much was it and how ya likin' it ?

I used to have a Dolly Parton wrist watch. .......It didn't keep very good time.....but it sure was fun to wind.....!!!......

My vote would be for a class "A". Roomier inside and the big windshield / side windows makes watching the world go by more pleasurable. Slideouts are a big plus, but will raise the price. Large displacement v8 engines are fine, and probably give a bit more torque, but the Triton V10 in my 32' class A pulls just fine, but tends to rev a bit more. Has no problem maintaining 70mph pulling a trailer with my Venture on it. May drop down a bit on steep hills. These things are all gas hogs, but I think the v10 may squeeze another mile or two out of a gallon of go juice. (debatable). Mine has gotten as high as ten mpg.....as low as 6 mpg pulling a loaded trailer....usually gets around 8 when going up and down the hills common to Ohio / PA where I do most of my travelling. Gas engine should be fine for occasional trips, but if you plan on doing a whole lotta travelling or heavy towing, a diesel would be best, but it'll cost quite a bit more, and they're more expensive when they do break. When I retire, I'm planning on tradin' up to a diesel with slide-outs. It's important to make sure the roof is in good shape and, if the sides are laminated, make sure there's no bubbles, which usually indicates moisturre damage to the plywood beneath. Check out the tires. Many of these motorhomes don't get used much, and tires often will suffer signs of age before the tread wears out. Look for cracking, and if you're savvy enough to decipher the info on the sidewall, you can tell the true age of the tires. Make sure the generator works well and looks to have been serviced, as they're expensive to repair / rebuild. The larger the inverter the better. 30amp would be pretty standard. 50 amp would be better. With the 30 amp on mine, I can only run one of the rooftop a/c units when plugged in. If I want to run both, I have to run my generator. If I had a 50 amp inverter, I'd be able to run both when plugged in. Levelling jacks are nice if ya can get them. Levels the motorhome out, and even if you're on level ground they firm it up so the motorhome doesn't rock and roll as you move around inside. Like with everything, opinions will vary, but those are some of my thoughts on the subject. Hope it helps. Happy motoring !!!

Had another pic of Dad on my phone so I thought I'd send it. This is just a picture that I took with my phone of an old picture that I found while cleaning up Dads' apartment. it's a pic of him with some German prisoners of war that he was in charge of. Doing different sort of work details. Dad was able to communicate with them because he spoke Polish, and so did one of the prisoners.....which is why he was given the job. I remember him saying that he liked these guys. They worked hard and as long as they were fairly treated they were easy to deal with and did what was asked of them. Anyhoo, here's the pic.

I used to have a rail buggy with a body on it, and after I had it painted camouflage, I'd have to wander around the yard looking for it until I finally tripped over it.

Talked to the family today. Dad's been saying that when he passes he wants his car to go to his girlfriend, so we're going to see if we can talk him into giving it to her now, which would mean she'll take possession of it. We're going to start gently pressuring him into getting rid of the car, and effectively giving up driving, and see how he responds before deciding what the next step should be. Thanks for the responses. I'll let y'all know how it goes. Probably be six weeks before we all get together in one place to talk to him as a family group, but at least all the kids are in agreement and on the same page.

​ No such age requirements.

Wife and I went over to Dads' apartment and did some cleaning up and reorganizing for him. He's soon to be 94 and still gets along pretty well, but has difficulty seeing. He has macular degeneration, and can still read if the print's large enough, which I guess is pretty good for his advanced age. His faculties are still mostly there....sometimes he can be forgetful and occasionally gets a little confused, but all in all he's still fully functioning and caring for himself. I live about 3 hrs from him and try to stop by as much as I can, and his closest assistance is his grand daughter who lives only a couple of miles from him. He has a girlfriend who lives about 45 minutes from him, and most weekends he drives to her house and they'll go to dinner, or church or the casino, and do whatever those crazy kids do. Here's the problem....... We're... (myself, and the other 3 children who care for him)... questioning whether he should be driving. I'm not sure that he should be driving, and have heard comments from others that live in his (elderly) apartment complex that his driving isn't so good. I myself have not seen him drive in years now, as every time I'm going somewhere with him he insists I drive. If he were to lose his ability to drive, he'd lose much of his freedom and independence, not to speak of his ability to see his girlfriend. I'm afraid that it'd break his spirit and it'd be the end of him. The place where he lives has a van that comes by to take the folks for groceries and some events, so he would have that option, but I don't know how much of a consolation that'd be. I recently brought up the subject, asking how he felt about driving......if he thought he was competent....and he said "Yes".... So, ....that's the question I've been contemplating..... At what point do you step in and take action? How would one go about it without creating bad feelings? Pic of Dad and I taken recently, then pic of Dad in WWII....not sure where he was in the pic. lol

I kinda like it. Saw a guy riding a scooter, pulling a clamshell trailer at 70 + mph just North of Columbus yesterday.

I thought "Loud pipes save lives" Don't they care about bikers lives???? Bikers lives matter.

Lisa and I made it home in one piece. Had a great time, ....looking forward to next year. We may try to put something together up at the cabin in North Central PA for next Summer. Thanks to all the great people who put this together. I'm sure it takes a lot of effort but it's much appreciated. Love the band.....Not too sure about the Black Death. LOL... Jonas...Thanks a bunch for coming and bringing some of the "flavor" of home. Now comes the chore of packing up / cleaning out / putting away the motorhome and Black Cherry. Thanks to everyone ! What a great bunch of folks !

PC crowd is trying to get teachers to stop referring to children as "boys and girls". To be considered "sane" by an insane world is nothing to be proud of.

Ya don't have to worry about it for little ol' me....... I was plannin' on winnin' that one....

​What.....no prize for best mascot this year???

Wife and I will be there. Planning on leaving Wednesday after work. Not sure if we'll drive straight up or maybe pull over somewhere for the night and catch a few ZZZZZssss. Either way, we'll be there Thursday Morning. Driving the motorhome, trailering the scoot.

Must be nice to be able to not remember leaving 1600 smackers lying around. If I'm missin' a $50 I get upset.......('till I find out the wife took it)

​Confucius say "Man who keep hand in pocket feel cocky all day".

Wow. Glad you're ok. Scary stuff in this day and age. When I'm confronted with the threat of attack, I generally stand in the corner, pee myself and suck my thumb while sobbing uncontrollably. That usually encourages them to let me be. Knowing a bit about your past, I'll bet he got more than he bargained for.

I'm with ya. I did 15 hours on the roof of a truckstop replacing 5 rooftop A/C units yesterday. People in the store complaining about it being too hot inside....I wanted to tell them ....."Get your A$$ on the roof for a while and see how ya like it up there". Couldn't leave until all 5 of the new units were up and running. Why they wanted to do a job like that in late July is a mystery to me. Still recovering from that job.

Did it a few years back and learnt a few things. You'll get burned out on the sales quicker than you think. There was more people and traffic than I expected. You may find a few great deals, but prices seem a bit higher. Harder to find those "great scores". Can't say that I'll never do it again, but it was as much a chore as it was fun. Everyone should do it at least once. ​Let us know how it goes.

LOL....reminds me....I had one that had gotten into the ceiling of the bedroom. A frame means not much attic, but once they get into the small space at the peak, they can travel throughout the house, on the other side of the drywall. Anyhoo, it was in the middle of the night, and I heard that little sucker scraping around in there and it was making me nuts. I got the bright idea to get the turkey seasoning injector, kinda like a big hypodermic needle, ...fill it with ammonia...and stick it through the ceiling drywall and spray it into that space, hoping to chase him outta there. The wife wakes up, with me standing on the bed, with this large hypodermic needle stuck through the ceiling and rotating it as I was spraying.....She says..."What the hell are you doing?" It took a bit to make her understand. Was kinda funny though. (Didn't work) I eventually ended up tearing out the entire ceiling,....blocking out the spots where I thought he may get in with metal lathe, then insulating and replacing the drywall. Went over the entire exterior with a fine tooth comb and blocked any potential entrances. That worked.

Thinkin' of ya. Sending good Karma your way. Hope things get better real quick .

Be advised....when they're that determined to get in, it may mean there's babies inside. Been there, done that with raccoons. Actually ripped off shingles and was tearing at the plywood to try to get onto the porch. Babies were up in the eaves and I didn't know it.

Sorry to hear of your / Eileens' troubles. Sure hope you keep on two wheels but who can blame ya if it's causing problems. My wife (Lisa) seems to enjoy our rides more than I do. I've always felt that long rides can be a bit of a chore, but that's outweighed by the wind therapy I get. I don't get to ride as much as I'd like, but I find that when I do, about 400 miles / 8 hrs is all I'm comfortable with. Any more than that, and I can't wait to get off the bike....and that's with my second gen, with pillowtop seats. Anyhoo, it was nice to see you guys at Daves' campout, even if it was just for a few hours. Never did get any service calls this weekend. That's ok,....got some stuff done around the house. BTW.....Your Midnight is the only bike my wife's ever said she liked more than my Black Cherry. lol....nice bike. Take care.