Walker's work doing's

Agree on using the "Safety Argument"!

If management thinks you want a tool just so you don't have to sweat a bit they will stonewall you everytime.

But if they think it will save having MSHA or OSHA come by to do a accident investigation and start writing violation reports the money might flow a lot faster!

Nige said:

The more often you do the job, the easier it is to justify the investment in tooling.
Show the boss man that fatality report where the torque multiplier killed the young apprentice and hit him up on the safety side at the same time.

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Side bonus , it will come in handy on heavy equipment also.

Was told yesterday to replace an air compressor on a dumptruck , pretty much told him no . Single cylinder wabco system saver 318 not a big compressor to begin with. Pulled it in shop once lights got fixxed . Long story short replaced a leaking fan clutch and replaced a leaking dash valve bam truck builds air at an idle now . I knew it was a case of more air leaks then it had compressor for but some people dont want to listen , have 3 more small leaks to fix on chassis then im parking it out in the line . I think this is how grumpy mechanics are born when the superior comes off as a know it all , but mostly wont listen . I dont claim to know it all and never will i know my macks and refuse to let people that dont know have there way as much as i would have loved to throw a 1200 dollar compressor on it and say guess what it still dont dont build air now what.

walkerv said:

Was told yesterday to replace an air compressor on a dumptruck , pretty much told him no . Single cylinder wabco system saver 318 not a big compressor to begin with. Pulled it in shop once lights got fixxed . Long story short replaced a leaking fan clutch and replaced a leaking dash valve bam truck builds air at an idle now . I knew it was a case of more air leaks then it had compressor for but some people dont want to listen , have 3 more small leaks to fix on chassis then im parking it out in the line . I think this is how grumpy mechanics are born when the superior comes off as a know it all , but mostly wont listen . I dont claim to know it all and never will i know my macks and refuse to let people that dont know have there way as much as i would have loved to throw a 1200 dollar compressor on it and say guess what it still dont dont build air now what.

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Reminded me of a Sullair school I attended many years ago. Instructor told about a service call he was sent out to complaint was the two large Sullair compressors that supplied air to this factory were not working and needed to be repaired or replaced.

As they would not shut down the factory on a work day he had to go there on a Saturday when the place was closed down. Started up one of the compressors and saw that it was not building up to full pressure. He then closed the valve on the outlet and it immediately dropped to the unloaded condition. It was obvious that the real problem was not lack of supply but way too much demand and considering nothing in the plant was, or should have been calling for air with the plant shut down it was simply a case of leaks.

It did take some doing to convince the manager of this but in the end after a couple weekends of overtime fixing leaks they found out they could run the plant on one of the compressors where before even two would not keep up. I think he said that just the savings of electricity by shutting off one compressor paid for the labor to fix the leaks in a few months and after that it was money in the bank!

I have an actuall trailer cord inline tester but i find it to be a pain and hard to see the tiny leds when lit. So i came up with this quick this morning with a bunch of illegal light that wont be going on trucks ,much easier to see and puts a bit more load on then leds for those really crappy wires that will light an led but not an incandescent bulb.

I actually set up a Mock Trailer to plug a cord into, at least one hard lamp for each function, had seven round pin, seven flat pin, four and six pin and flat connectors on it. Was in a old plastic tool box I got at a sale and converted, long since self destructed.

DMiller said:

I actually set up a Mock Trailer to plug a cord into, at least one hard lamp for each function, had seven round pin, seven flat pin, four and six pin and flat connectors on it. Was in a old plastic tool box I got at a sale and converted, long since self destructed.

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I have thought about doing that never have though. I whipped this up quick because it was cold outside and wanted enough load to make it mess up with the tractor sitting in the warm shop. Cab harnesses are getting sketchy on the fire wall in the engine bay , but is to be expected on a 99 mack . I apparently caused the problem last time it was hooked to a different trailer, I inadvertently plugged the running light relay in backwards , and then while i was digging into the power distribution panel i found the cause of cab roof/trailer clearance light relay triing to melt the pdc box down it was a from the factory wiring mistake on top of someone putting a 60 amp maxi where a 30 amp goes . Truck normally get run about 6 miles a year depending on how much straw gets used on jobs , it is fixxing to go back into semi active duty hauling chicken litter till there is enough in all the fields. So i have to make it all good for that.

Small plastic or even old tin tote box works well for this. Add a battery or 12v delivery system with a short cord can turn on and off can use to test trailers without a truck.

My who is attempting to start a small trucking company didnt take a picture or draw out where the wiring went when he pulled out 2 junk batteries. So he calls me to sort it out. Mission accomplished but a return visit is going to be needed after he gets it road worthy all the batt cables are garbage.

Ooopsie!!

This air compressor was having weird symptoms, took me a minute to diagnose , but now i see what happened and why it was doing what it was . Mack even had a cylinder head kit on the shelf. Would have changed compressor but it is near new but way timed out on warranty, this is one the ex project mack that was apart for like 3 plus years .

Here be the next mack ouch, pulled the keys once i saw it

Zowie!!

That’s a WTF...!!

Nige said:

That’s a WTF...!!

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Yeah that is how good this fleet has been taken care off before i came here. I have been here almost 2 years now im still about 3 years behind lol. Slowly this catosrophic wear is getting under control.

Don't beat yourself up. With one pair of hands you can only do so much.
Look at it as being job security............

Damn man, nothing like knowing you're days will be busy and full.

colson04 said:

Damn man, nothing like knowing you're days will be busy and full.

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Oh yes for sure , after i started and went searching thru parts accumulations , brakes became my main priority shelf full of shitty linings have them all used up now thankfully, no s cams or cam kits only a few junk aftermarket slacks and not a new drum or used ones anywhere i knew i had a job ahead of me . Trailer brakes this year is on My list especially the ones at the farm they need love big time .

walkerv said:

Here be the next mack ouch, pulled the keys once i saw it View attachment 207888

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Just slip a new bushing in and coat it with Lock-tite to be safe and put in on the line for Monday at 6:00AM!

And who gave your permission to cut those U-bolts? Just grind the ends down and weld them back together and don't over tighten them or they will break at the welds!

Saw this old girl leaving the local tractor supply this afternoon , amazes me how well sheet metal holds up down here in the south vs back home in the snow belt.