Lets hear it! The "still on jackstands" crowd eagerly awaits the usual bragging, gloating, tall-tales and the like. Oh, pics would be great for us photo-sluts.

Well, pulled about 14,500lbs with a 345 down to RMIHR..

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0002_002.sized.jpg

Had a bad radiator cap that caused the temp sensor to be the pressure relief valve within the first 30 miles.. promptly snapped off the sender trying to fix the leak.. amazingly got the busted chunks out, and had a spare.. ultimately stopped at the IH dealership for a new 10lbs cap and fixed the problem.

Then it was smooth (though slow) sailing until we stopped over in Leadville and the brake caliper seized on the way out of town..

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0012_002.sized.jpg

Ultimately, put it all back together, bled the brakes, removed the caliper and beat the piston back in, put it back together, then drove the last 60 miles relying on compression braking and the trailer brakes and kept my foot off the whoa pedal..

Saw this 1210 at the show.. VERY cool truck. That's Speedliner for "paint"..

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0019_002.sized.jpg

Posed on the ramp...

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0021_002.sized.jpg
http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0025_002.sized.jpg
http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0024_002.sized.jpg

Had to notch the trans tunnel while at the show (air-grinder!) to clear the twin-stick '20 better.

I caught a lot of flack for wearing shorts and not my usual Carhartt attire..

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0018_002.sized.jpg



I also won the first ever Tom Mandera Award...

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0035_002.sized.jpg

Ideally, next year it gets given to the person with the most trouble getting to Rendezvous.. and it's not supposed to be me..

Gee Tom you killing weeds and doing a brake job? :D
http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0012_002.sized.jpg

Then I ran into a parts problem - that stuck caliper - and a parts supply problem - the inability of any place in Salida to get the correct caliper.

Seems all 1974 light-line vehicles used the same caliper. The SII, the 1/2T 2wd and 4x4, the 3/4T 2wd and 4x4.. all of them used one standard caliper, EXCEPT the '74 200 HD with extra brake option.

Yeah, the one I own.

Makkat trailered my truck into Denver for me, and with the help of some IH Parts Manuals at Gryphin Automotive, I was back on the road..

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0059_002.sized.jpg

Ran into a few RMIHR attendees while were in Moab.. found George and Brian's Scouts parked behind Poplar Place on Friday..

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0067_002.sized.jpg

Took lots of pics while doing the "pavement tour" in Moab (in the Travelette).. including this one, where you can see the White Rim Road following, well, the white rims...

http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album22/DCP_0096_002.sized.jpg

Originally posted by Old Scout
Gee Tom you killing weeds and doing a brake job? :D


:D Those "covvies" were a gift from Don W. at NWBRU last year. I was reattaching my rear DS after flat-towing to the show, and he had a (couple?) extra pairs and gave me one.

He works at some medical laundry or something I think.. so it's not a weed-killing getup. :D

I was wearing shorts and still "clean" after just showering at the hotel.. I was trying really hard to make this a no-wrenching/no-greasy-Tom trip.. HAH.

(edit: 6 months later..)
Oh.. guess you meant the sprayer bottle.. that's my "Cooldown bottle"

We use it when racing to cool the radiator down (swamp cooler technology).

Here, I was using it on the fawkin' hot brakes (with caution, of course, not to crack things) so I could handle 'em.

Originally posted by tsm1mt


Ideally, next year it gets given to the person with the most trouble getting to Rendezvous.. and it's not supposed to be me..

With your luck they should have just given you next years too. :D :D
Are you going to be at the mud run in Great Falls the 10th.? I will try to have those axles there if you are, I won't be bringing my flat bed since we are loading the water tank and pressure washer into another guys pickup. but since we are going to race the wife's pickup there should be room.

Originally posted by HarleyM


With your luck they should have just given you next years too. :D :D



No doubt..


Are you going to be at the mud run in Great Falls the 10th.? I will try to have those axles there if you are, I won't be bringing my flat bed since we are loading the water tank and pressure washer into another guys pickup. but since we are going to race the wife's pickup there should be room.

Current plan is to be in Havre on the 10th instead. It's the Hill County Fair (or Havre Fair or whatever..) and Michelle wants to go home and see it.. so we probably won't be in GF for the mud-bog, though I was wanting to.

I'll be back up in Cascade over Labor Day for the rally though. :-)

I've pretty much decided that after I find the parts to complete it, the 60 will just have to go under the Travelette.

"Yes, I need brake calipers for an '85 Chevy K30, please..." DONE. How hard can THAT be to buy? ;)

On the way down, I had 38xxlbs on the front end.. too much poundage for a Dana 44 to be happy about..