Need a 2 car hauler for a Sierra Fall Rallye trip.

[Dboy]

Mike roth, terry, jen and myself are heading down to the fall rallye this coming Sunday and are looking for a 2 car trailer (24'min) to tow behind my new tow rig (for those who haven’t seen it yet, Betsy lou : IH hauler - pirate4x4.com bulletin board)

with a 2 car trailer we could haul all three wheelers down there and cut fuel costs to a reasonable amount. It can be a bumper pull (preferable) 5th wheel or gooseneck. We’ll make anything work! Let me know if you have anything you would be willing to loan/rent for cheap. Thanks!

 

[MarkO]

Sorry, can't help with a large trailer.

Went over to the other site and checked out your new tow rig.

It appears as if you have found a really neat and affordable tow rig.

I would second the motion to swap out the split rims when you can. But I would not go with the 22.5's. I would go with the 24.5's. They are a little taller and will help with your top speed or reduce your engine speed at highway speed. They will be about the same cost and 11x24.5's are about as common as 11x22.5's. And with a 5/2-speed set up you have more than enough gears to handle a taller overall rear end ratio.

In regards to the dt466, it is a very strong and reliable engine that is hard to hurt.

Like most other engines, keep the oil clean and don't let it run hot and you should be good to go for a long time to come.

The one area that a lot of people forget about if they have never had a wet sleeve engine before is keeping the coolant up to snuff. The ph needs to be kept neutral. Too much or too little ph can lead to cavitation and electrolysis issues.

If it doesn't have a coolant filter, the addition of one and using filters with an additive package is not a bad idea.

If you don't have a water filter, using an additive like napa's nacool is a very good idea.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Dboy]

Thanks for the advice Mark.

The other thing I was told to watch out for on these old rigs was the brake fluid, if it sits for too long it can get moisture in it and rust the lines. So I’ll be flushing the brake and coolant system after this trip just to be safe.

 

[MarkO]

I didn't notice the truck had wet brakes.

Almost all of the loadstars I have seen that had 10-hole budd wheels had air brakes.

Wet brakes on trucks as old as that don't have any more problems than other 'binders of that vintage. Moisture build up is no worse on a loadstar than any other wet brakes system.

Parts are still pretty easy to find and relatively affordable. If ott's doesn't have what you need bsi will have it.

Since you are going to be going through some mountains I would flush the brake system before you go if you don't know how long it has been since the last time the system was flushed.

The last thing you want to discover is how little the hand brake will hold on a steep downgrade after your service brakes have faded to nothing.

The hardest part of flushing the system on a loadstar is making sure there is no air between the m/c and the hydravac unit.

If you don't have one already it would be a good time to invest in a pressure bleeder.

I think I paid a little under $100.00 for the one I got at napa.

It has been well worth the investment in time and aggravation--no more pumping brake pedals to work air out of a system. It makes flushing the system a 20-minute job and not an all day job.

Also, invest in a set of really good wheel chocks. The heavy trapezoidal shaped rubber ones that weigh about 10 lbs. A piece are great.

The driveline hand brakes rarely work that well when the truck is empty and don't work hardly at all if the truck is loaded and you are parked on any sort of slope.

When you adjust them tight enough to do a good job they will ususally drag and then catch on fire.

If you adjust them so they don't drag you can't put enough force on it to really hold the truck still if you are on any sort of slope or if you are trying to load something on the truck with the engine running.

Mico brake locks were usually found on tow trucks of that vintage so that the brakes would hold while the engine was running.

Have a good trip.