Gary Lewis

You are now on the map.

Would simplify the aux battery wiring! One alternator for the main and one for the aux.

Welcome!!! What part of the PNW are you in? I ask because we have a member's map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and I'd be happy if I had a town/city. Nice trucks! You'll fit right in, for sure.

Depends a lot on what the options are on the truck, but here's a page from the 1981 dealer facts book showing the base weights. Then there are extensive tables showing how much each option adds to each axle.

I was just assuming that his Flareside is ~3500#'s. So loaded the tail would be as big as the dog. As for swapping a heavier axle in that has e-brakes, that would probably work but it may mean you need different tires, and maybe wheels. The tires are usually load-rated for half of the axle capacity, and the heavier axles frequently have a different bolt pattern. So it can become an expensive proposition if not careful. But, are the existing tires good? If they need replaced you can frequently order in tires mounted on new wheels for about what you can get new tires locally. My brother has done this several times lately and has been surprised how inexpensive that is. Not that they have good prices on tires and wheels, but etrailer has been a go-to place for me when looking for parts. You can look there for axles, brakes, etc.

I kinda like the field-replaceable ends idea. Especially when you are going off the beaten track. That way any damage can be repaired. And the smaller diameter and less bulk has merit as well. May go with the smaller hose and cut it to whatever length I think I need to get to the front tires and have the remainder as spare. Then, if that doesn't fill fast enough I can try one of my larger hoses with the regulator turned down to see if there's enough difference to warrant the bigger hose.

I don't think I've ever seen one. They did have some valve covers with raised necks on them, but they were "permanently" attached, meaning they didn't easily come off. But maybe someone else knows of an extension, perhaps from the aftermarket?

Interesting how much work there is to get some of these things sorted. But you are getting there.

That's a steal, Ray! But I agree the electric brake upgrade is a good idea. That thing fully loaded would approach the weight of your truck. Make sure you check out your hitch, drawbar, and ball to ensure all are up to the task.

The Bostitch hose is $27.69 shipped from Amazon, so is ~2/3 the price. And, it has the replaceable ends, which I was planning to use to allow it to be cut down to maybe 25'. But, it is also 1/4" vs the 1/2" size of Speedaire hose. So certainly more volume with the larger hose, although as you've pointed out before, the schrader valve may be the limiting factor. And, the 1/2" ID hose has to have a significantly bigger OD. Dunno. I'm torn but leaning to the 1/4" hose. As for the air bags, I've assumed that I'd put their valves on the back bumper, although that means the lines have to flex with the suspension. Perhaps bringing the lines up to the tool box would be good?

Good point, Jim. So it is just about using up the rated power level of 3000 watts in getting the compressor started, but essentially not getting into the surge rating. Or, if it is it's doing it so quickly I can't detect it via the LED's. Anyway, it seems like it is going to work well. But good cables, including good connections to the battery and the inverter, are essential. My jumper cables have started many a vehicle, but they were a no-go on the inverter. Probably because of the hardness of the cable's alligator clips and the inverter's input studs, which gave a very small contact area. But new cables with good terminals fixed that. It was magical when it all worked! Given the lack of anyone I know having run that compressor with that inverter, the problems with my DVM giving wonky readings due to a low battery, and then the problems starting up with the jumper cables, I was ecstatic when it finally worked perfectly. So, when I install the inverter I'm going to run dedicated power and ground as I don't want anything in the cab going crazy due to pulling the cab's ground up. And a large megafuse at the battery.

I now see the drop downs but when I click on them only the arrow box is hi lighted, you need to click to the left to see the options. Getting closer I also see you put a blurb in where the information shows up but, don't you hate BUTT's, it looks to be cut off as are some of the upper lines. Like the box / cell does not go out far enough? Before you know it, it will be easy enough for me to use You are doing a great job Dave ---- BTW when I was in I.T. some of my jobs were Bata testing things like this so users could do their own install / up grade of apps. I would then relay back to the programmers what I found so they could make the changes. Making them dummy proof as they say. Yes, PEBCAK! Haven't seen Don on here in quite some time. Hmmmm.... Dave - The last several years (decades?) I was in IT I was in management. The development teams liked to use managers as their beta testers 'cause our products were usually aimed at the managers on the customers side. But I was their favorite as I tried all the bells and whistles, and that's where the problems usually hide. So when you looked at their problem logs I reported half of the problems and the rest of the team, collectively, reported the other half. So, I appreciate you being a beta tester! And, you did find some things. On the formatting where the box/cell didn't go far enough, I'd missed that but I think it is fixed now. Please check. However, on the drop-down arrows I'm afraid WYSIWYG. Turns out that others know about the problem and there are several "solutions". However, there's only one that I can find that really works. It is very complicated to set up and requires accessing the Developer mode tools on Excel - something that I didn't even know existed. But, I was able to follow the guy's video, stopping and rewinding frequently, and finally got it to work - on the spreadsheet itself. But, to my chagrin it doesn't work on an embedded spreadsheet. In other words, when I made the change on the production sheet and looked at it via a browser it didn't work. So I implemented a "fake" solution, which is to create another cell beside the cell with the drop-down and insert a downward pointing triangular character that looks like a dropdown - but isn't. In fact, if you were to really zoom in on it you'd see it is a different size and has different shading. But, at least it tells people there's a drop-down there. So, is it acceptable?

Same to you, Vinny!

Actually, as I look more closely at the video it looks like all ten LED's are coming on during start up of the compressor, with #9 being yellow and #10 being red. So the compressor is about all the inverter ought to have. But it starts nicely.

:nabble_anim_claps:Yes that works. I am a little slow and took a while to see what was done. Maybe a blurb to the right they can find the answers in the Overall Gear Ratio green box to help out people like me Well done Now to put my calculator away and go play with your hard work. Dave ---- Dave - See what you think of the drop-downs.

Pretty parts! I love parts fresh from the blast cabinet. So clean! But, you had parts in your office at work? What do you do?

Ok, thanks.

No rush for me as it will be sometime before I will do this swap and based on what has been posted looking for a small block ZF is like the needle in the hay stack and the M5 does not look all that bad when I ran the (total or final) numbers for the gear ratios. Dave ---- Go check it out. Is that what you were looking for? If not, what did I miss? http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/calculators.html

Where do you get that, Jim? My Radio Shack Tuner Cleaner is about out.

Dave - See what you think: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/calculators.html. I haven't played with anything else yet, like D60 or the drop-downs. Just wanted to get the overall ratio thing going.

Steve - Thanks! I would never have found that. But, it has been changed. And, while a "frame bolt" would probably be even better, I'm confident that the larger 5/8" G8 bolt will be all that is needed. Now, about the compressor and the inverter. They work together! But, they didn't on the first try. Initially I tried a heavy duty set of jumper cables to power the inverter off of Big Blue's main battery, which is an Odyssey battery with 1150 CCA. It has been on a Battery Tender so was fully charged. But when I turned the compressor on it would try to start and then the inverter would beep and shut down. I played with the jumpers several times and got differing results, so finally decided the problem was in the wiring and made new wires out of #2 cable and Magnalugs. After that the compressor fired up nicely and worked perfectly. I'm backing the battery up with my "big" battery charger, which says it'll supply 30 amps. So this isn't quite the same as having the engine running and the 3G belting out everything the inverter is drawing, which is probably about 140 amps. But it does prove that even with the battery voltage running around 11.5 volts the inverter is happy. On the starts 9 of the 10 LED's will light, but it'll then drop down to 7 and stay there through the rest of the cycle. That seems to say to me that the inverter is sized just about right for the compressor. And, by the way, the fan on the inverter doesn't come on, even after I ran the compressor from 150 to 200 psi three times.

Glad you got it, Barry. As for paying it forward, just being on here encourages all of us.

Ok, I'll climb back in there tomorrow, remove the upper windshield trim, and measure to the weld from the back glass. As for Big Blue's headliner, I'll probably do just that - cut some pieces of HD cardboard and tape them on.

Good point about the mirror, Dave. But I'm not sure I understand "glass open lip". Can you elaborate? But I'm trying to find something that is easy to measure for both he and I. Something that will be a good reference and not take a lot of description.

Michael - I started a new thread on the headliner tracing: http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/Headliner-Tracing-td47039.html. I'm using it to see if anyone can think of anything else that needs to be done. Monday I'll check to see what it'll cost to ship it and let you know. But I think it'll fold up nicely in a padded envelope and won't cost much.