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Top 10 Things Not To Hit with Your Truck on The Road. Beer cans are OK.

Sometimes driving can be a little boring, anything out of the ordinary on the road can often peak your interest. One of my favorite things to do while on a long road trip is to crush aluminum cans with my drivers front tire. The exercise sharpens the skills of the driver. There are however, things you should definitely swerve around.

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#10) Tractor trailer tires “alligators” can wrap into a wheel well or even worse damage a fender.

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#9) Branches and fallen foliage can easily penetrate tires or thin aluminum coolers and radiators.

branches

 

#8) Mason or bricks may not do so much damage to your truck, but the cars behind you would be damaged badly.

brick

#7) Lumber can make a good day go bad quick, if the wood doesn’t blow a steel belt in your tire, it can be ejected rearward.

lumber

#6) Auto parts fall off every day, avoiding them is paramount.  I cant even begin to describe the pitfalls there.

muffler

 

#5) Cardboard boxes can be deceiving.  They may contain nothing but air, but they also may contain nails, steel, or kittens.

cardboard

#4) Mattresses seem unassuming, soft and springy.  What could go wrong?  Wrap one around your driveshaft and learn.

mattress

#3) Live animals are more capable of evading your direction than dead ones.  Try to avoid them both.  Antlers and bones have been known to destroy a trucks meaty rubber, along with other undercarriage parts.

deer

#2) Disabled vehicles are very vulnerable to collisions when parked on the road.  Ruining two days IS worse than one.

other cars

#1) I shouldn’t have to elaborate the points of concern around avoiding your fellow human.  Don’t hit people!

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There are, of coarse many other things you shouldn’t hit.

These are the things we here at STL Diesel make a point to avoid.

Don Harbaugh

STL Diesel

 

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Ten Christmas Gift Ideas For The Mechanic In Your Life.

Not many things excite those who repair machines for a living. This list is not only sure to make your tech happy, but surprised you knew what to get.

1: Stream light flashlight.

2: A good medium sized pocket knife and sharpener.

3: Mechanix gloves 2-4 pair.

4: 4×4 remote controlled car.

5: A BudK Gift card.

6: A model replica of recipients own vehicle.

7: Thermal Long sleeved shirts and thermal pants.

8: Fast food gift cards – anywhere-

9: Autoparts gift cards.

10: Sweet girly calendar with cars.

Ok, You may know by now the author of this article maybe bias.  Not all of these extravagant gifts would be suitable for all in this skilled trade.  But certainly one of these gift ideas would do, right?

 

Please comment if this worked for you.

Don’t comment if you have been offended.

Merry Christmas everyone.

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Fuel Tank Rust, Cause and Prevention.

Have you ever looked inside your steel fuel tanks?   You probably don’t want to.

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Many models of pickup trucks have steel fuel tanks that are not internally lined with anti corrosion material.  This means nothing if the truck is constantly being driven, but if it gets parked for any more than a month moisture will condense on the inside of the tanks and corrode.  The rust becomes loose and falls to the bottom when filling with fuel.  The best way to prevent this from occurring is to fill your fuel tanks to the brim before parking the truck for extended periods of time.  A full tank of fuel will ensure there wont be any air gap from the fuel level line to the top of the tank. This little piece of advice will save your tanks, injectors, pumps, fuel filters and wallet.

This happens so often we always advise removing and inspecting fuel tanks when debris is found in the fuel filters or a high or low pressure fuel pump goes down.  There cant be anything worse than repairing a problem and immediately contaminating new expensive fuel system components.

Have you experienced this concern before?

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Fossil History Of Diesel Fuel REVEALED. Not Actual Dinosaurs!

In the Johnny Cash song “Rusty Cage” Mr Cash dictates that “it is too cold to start a fire, I’m burnin diesel, burning dinosaur bones”.  He may have been speaking in general terms but was not too far from the truth.  We also know of the large green dinosaur Sinclair stations use as a mascot.  It seems we the consumers would like to think that dinosaurs deserve some credit, like they died for our transportation needs.  The truth is our fuel started its humble journey as microscopic sea plants and animals, not the mighty T-Rex, however they may have existed at the same time.

The song may have come out a little different if Cash was true to the origins of diesel fuel.

 

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STL Diesel Cologne Approved By Women.

Millions of men come home everyday with the smell of a shop on their clothes that many women like.

What if that smell could be bottled and sold as a novelty for mechanics and workers alike.

Other scents could include:

-Transmission Shoppe-

-Diesel Texx-

-Xaust-

-others?

This will be in production as soon as someone tells me its not a BAD idea.

We will have to test it on gerbils and geese first.

 

 

 

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1996 Was 20 Years Ago! Is Your Diesel Truck A Survivor?

Do you own a 1996 or earlier diesel? If you do, you are one of the lucky 10%.  The major players of the light duty diesel market in the mid 90’s were of coarse Ford, Dodge, and GM.   20 years later we have only a select few remaining on the road.  It seems that the Ford 7.3 and the Dodge 5.9 Cummins are most common, but the GM 6.2 and 6.5 are hanging in there.

6.2 & 6.5 GM 1500-2500-3500 VANS, TRUCKS, HUMMER H1, BLAZER, SUBURBAN

6.9 & 7.3 Ford 250-350 VANS, TRUCKS, AMBULANCE, BRONCO(canada+mexico)

5.9 Dodge-2500-3500 TRUCKS

GM deserves the most credit for experimentation with diesel engines in half tons and multiple body designs.

 

What do you think of the old vs the new?

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Google in Your Tool Box

Most modern technicians will use many different tools and techniques to diagnose and repair various symptoms on a daily basis.  Since most repair facilities take in more than one type of vehicle, it is important to be flexible.  One tool stands out to be the most flexible, the internet.

Using the internet for advice can at times be fickle.  Not all of the information you find is applicable!  Forums and threads can be misleading.

Certain things can be quick and easy to find like DTCs, fluid capacities, cylinder identification, component location, part numbers, prices, diagrams, and fuse locations.

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How useful is the internet to your daily routine?

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300,000 Miles and Beyond

How did you achieve your 300,000+ mile merit badge?  You may have driven conservatively and maintained your truck regularly, or maybe you didn’t.  We see many 300k + mile vehicles and they have either been taken care of, or completely neglected.   What kind of high mileage truck do you own?

We would like YOUR input on this topic if you love your mature vehicle.

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