Advice to young truckers

[sdewolfe]

I joined this forum several years ago. But I sold my '70 C10 and have not been using the forum. A few weeks ago I bought another truck; a 1975 C10. So, I started hanging out here again. There is a lot of good information here. I hope I can add a little to it.

I have seen many posts from young people using their trucks for daily transport. Many are learning from experience what it takes to keep an old truck on the road. Experience is a harsh teacher. So, I thought I would pass along some of the things I have learned about using old vehicles for daily driving.

There are many questions about dash pads, paint, gauges, wheels, cutting springs, rust repair, and bigger better electronics. None of those things will keep your truck on the road. If you are looking for audio advice, adding bling to your ride, or how to lower the truck, this post is not for you. But, if you depend on your truck to get to school or work or actually hauling stuff, keep reading.

I have driven old cars and trucks all my life. I can sum up failures in one word: rubber. You will find that everything made of rubber will have to be replaced. From tie rod boots to engine seals to weather stripping; it all fails.

Unless daddy is wealthy, in which case you should be driving a new Silverado anyway ;-) , it is prohibitively expensive in both money and down time to replace every piece of rubber on a daily driver. You are driving an old truck because that is what you can afford, I know. But driving old vehicles simply exchanges monthly payments for repair expenses. That is the fact of the matter. If you just put gas and oil in the truck and drive it to destruction, you will one day be stranded. That is not a matter of "if" something fails, it is a matter of "when". So, you must replace the safety items, plan to replace the items that can cause breakdowns, and watch for failures of system critical seals (transmission tail, for one).

If you absolutely cannot afford at least $300 every month to refurbish your truck, do yourself a favor and sell it. If you do not have at least that minimum resource to spend, one of two things is going to happen: either the truck will break and sit until you decide to sell it at a loss, or you will end up broke down in East BFE. I have been in both situations. I hope to save you the trouble.

Set aside $100 for emergency repairs. Add whatever amount you can every pay day. Once you have enough so that major purchases will always leave at least $100 in the emergency fund, start replacing rubber.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future will be consumed, at least in part, working on the truck. In order of importance:

Brakes. Stopping is much more important than going. Replace the brake hoses immediately. Do not put this off. I had a brake hose fail under pressure on a '51 Chevy pickup; a single circuit brake system. The failure made for an interesting 30MPH excursion under the canopy of a service station (we had those before convenience stores) to avoid rear-ending a car that was stopped at the traffic light. I made it home by driving very slowly on back streets using the engine for braking. The truck got new brake hoses that night. That was in 1973; the rubber was 22 years old. Do the math on your truck.

Replace or rebuild the master cylinder, the calipers, and the cylinders in the drum brakes. This job is expensive in both time and money but it is absolutely necessary. Do not let another day-off pass without doing it. While you are there, service the bearings and renew the seals, front and rear.

Steering and Suspension. Replace the shocks, bushings, tie rod ends, and rag joint. When and in what order depends on your level of comfort driving 4000 pounds of ill-handling iron and steel. If you intend to do any hauling or towing, add helper springs and the best shocks you can afford in the back. Helper springs are not that expensive and will help handling when actually using the truck as GM intended. Standard shocks in front work just fine to keep the nose from bouncing across the expansion joints on the bridges.

I know you cannot afford it. But those systems must be brought up to spec' now. Forego the 20" wheels and replace the stuff that will keep you alive.

If you cannot do the work, find someone, anyone to help you. A relative, a friend, or the grumpy old a**hole with all the junk in his yard. It doesn't matter who you get to help, only that you get the work done.

One place to look is your local community college. When I was a teenager we called it auto shop. Today it is automotive technology; auto shop with training on computer controlled systems. Even though the technology has changed the basics are still the basics. Ask if you can "audit" the class. That is a fancy way of saying they will let you hang out free of charge but you will get no credit for the class. If you can, sign-up for the class.

Once you have the brakes and suspension done you can take a breath, replenish your refurbishing funds, and prioritize replacements. The remainder of the rubber can be replaced as needed. But there is more. So much more.

Make it a habit to look for fluids escaping. Always check the oil, water, and brake fluid at every fuel stop. Dropping levels of any fluid indicate a problem. The systems are all sealed; aside from minor oil consumption (a quart between changes is minor), find and repair a fluid leak before it becomes an expensive lesson learned. Once a week check the transmission fluid. Check the oil in a manual transmission and the rear end at least twice a year. Pay attention to the appearance and smell of fluids when new, used, and burned. Inspect the under carriage for signs of fluid leaks.

Pay attention to noises. Every truck has a sound signature. Learn what your truck sounds like. If you notice something different; just different, not necessarily loud or annoying, find the source. U-joints don't start out squeaking. There is a tell tale "TINK" when shifting from forward to back that precedes the squeaking by several thousand miles. Carrier bearings don't start out howling. There is a rumble and vibration that happens long before it makes enough noise to be noticed by a passenger.

Be aware of odors; gasoline escaping from any place is bad ju-ju. Find the hole and fix it. There are many odors that will, if you pay attention, signal pending failure that can be avoided. Anti-freeze has a unique odor when it hits hot exhaust. You will smell it when you pull up to a stop light or park the truck. Noticing that, you can chase the source and repair it even before the gauge starts to move up. Attention to odors can save your ride from the crusher.

Notice the way things "look". Your radiator is black, not streaked with green; (in my best Mr. Garrison voice) green is bad, ok? Tires do not wear unevenly. Carpets and mats are always dry. From the grill to the tail gate, there is right and there is wrong. Learn to recognize which is which. More importantly, learn to recognize what requires immediate attention and what can wait until payday.

If you haven't already experienced it, you soon will; electrical failures. The rubber seals on weather pack connectors are leaking. Plastic connector bodies fair even worse than rubber seals; the plastic is now brittle and will crumble when you try to disconnect it. If your truck is old enough you will have open spade connectors all over the truck. Corrosion is your enemy now.

Pick something exposed, like the license plate light. Cut the wire behind the connector. Start removing insulation an inch at a time. You will find the copper discolored going way back from the connector. Every single wire on the truck is doing that. The more exposed, the worse the corrosion. The worse the corrosion, the higher the resistance to current flow. Weak lights are the first thing most people notice. But it is happening everywhere in the harness. Repair and replace wires and connectors. Start with the safety items like tail and brake lights, turn signals, headlights, and horn. Replacement headlight connectors have an eight inch (or so) pigtail for a reason; the wire adjacent to the connector is corroded. Research proper repair techniques. Don't "twist and tape" wires. That is a guaranteed failure-in-waiting.

Wipers scratching at the glass will leave permanent reminders of procrastination. Wind whipping through the cab will remind you every morning on the way to work that the doors and windows are leaking. Prioritize replacements according to necessity. The truck will tell you what is failing, just pay attention.

I just read what I wrote. It is kind of preachy, ain't it? In fact, some people who read this might think that I think I am all that and a bag of chips. I'm not. I am not an authority on refurbishing vehicles. But I have lived through all of it. I have sold off cars and trucks at a loss because I did not have the time or the money or, in some cases, just the gumption to get it done. I have also driven and maintained 50 year old daily drivers without ever being stranded. I have had breakdowns but I always managed to get it going "good enough" to get me home. The only car I ever owned that broke on a busy freeway and had to be towed was brand spanking new. Go figure.