Rebirth of Monster Mudder

Seems like I've worked on everything but the race truck over the last couple of weeks.

I built 2 "flower" beds for the front of the legion and my wife and I donated them, the dirt and the flowers to make the building look better.

I also built her a frame lattice for the south side of her gazebo in the front of the house so she can do something she wanted to do with it.

Bought her a new car a couple of weeks ago as well. Her 2004 Avalanche with 320+k miles on it was on it's way down hill fast with everything being completely worn out on it. Got her a 2018 Equinox and she loves it.

Worked on our road smoothing it out from the fall and winter weather and then had 3 loads of crusher run hauled in, 2 for the road and 1 for the parking area at the house and the little drive to the cattle guard. Still need a couple more to finish it out and get it in really good shape, but that will wait till after vacation.

Bought some new dewalt battery power tools. Love the new 60v circular saw and the saws all. Also got a small 20v chainsaw to trim trees up with but I haven't used it yet.

Been tied up with legion stuff as well. Since I'm going to be the new commander in July, having to pick up additional stuff. We had a band in 2 saturdays ago, free to the public. Advertised the heck out of it and only had about 50 people show up. Pathetic. I'm done with having bands in there, can't generate enough interest in the town to support paying the band. Also having to research getting a new alcohol license since our 3.2 license goes away in Oct when only strong beer will be available... Trying to talk them into getting a liquor license.

On the truck. Sent off the new nodes for my logger I bought last year to have them tested and have my post intercooler sensor replaced with a thermocouple since it either melted or blew out the temp sensor I had in there. Also having them check out all the sensors to make sure they work because I never got good readings from any of them last year.

Order a fancy push pull cable for my air shut off valve. Should be in this week. Need to place an order for some 3.5" mild steel pipe to replace the post intercooler piping.

Got the mounts for the hood welded onto the truck and the hood now is locked into place. Need to pull it off this week and get the inside taked off, scuff the aluminum with scotch brite pads and get it painted and clear coated, then I can mount the grill on it and that should be done.

Still waiting on the engine. Guess the machine shop horked up my crank and the builder couldn't get the right tolerances with the various bearing sets he tried. Ended up having to go with a new crank. Hoping for the engine before Friday this week. My first race is the 19th.

I went through all the pop rivets and flattened the inside to help keep from cutting up hands while removing it.

Dropping the driveshafts off today to have them modified to fit the truck.

Well, less than a week to my first points race and still don't have an engine. Being told there have been crank tolerance issues, but I really don't know. Done about everything I can think of without the engine, hoping some of the guesses I made work out once I get it.

Finished up with the hood today. It's painted and all the holes for the grill mounts are drilled in it. I still need to drill the grill out to finish it up. Shot a couple coats of clear on it today.

Finished mounting my shocks and resiviors now that the frame painting is done.

Got all the wiring back in the truck and everything hooked up that I can. Still need to change out my momentary switch on my shifter for a toggle for lockup and modify on the power panel. Need to do the same for over drive, though I will probably never use it.

Had the driveshafts modified. I hope I had the measurements right on them since I wasn't able to verify before I had them cut from measurements I took during mockup months ago.

I shipped the 2 nodes for my logger back to altronics so I could have the post intercooler temp sensor converted to a pyro and to check out all of the sensors and wiring on it, because I never could get good values from them.

Received my custom cable I had made for my air shutoff valve. Will post picks of it up after I get it all installed.

Seems like I'm having to mow once a week right now. Great for the pastures, sucks for the yard... Got the garden going full blast and installed all the soaker hoses today along with spraying roundup around the house, shop and border of the garden and the few things popping up in the walkways in the garden.

So good!

Been a while since I posted, went on a much needed vacation. Rented a 12 passenger van and took my son, 2 daughters, their boyfriends, grand daughter and mother in law on a 10.5 day camping trip. We went to Capulin Volcano, camped 2 nights in Colorado Springs and went up Pikes peak and through Garden of the Gods, then Camped at Dinosaur national park, at Lunch at Red Iguana in SLC on the way to Craters of the Moon in Idaho where we camped another night. Spent 3 nights camping in Yellowstone with a short trip up into Montana. Then on to Devils Tower where we camped another night. Then to Deadwood, Sturgis, Mt Rushmore and camped the last night at the Badlands national park. Had a great trip and some much needed down time. Came back and still no engine ready. Been working on things around the farm.

Last week was stressful, thursday the company I work for laid off 1/3 of it's people at the Tulsa office or about 100 people. 131 people total laid off and another 30 positions were nixed that people had already left and won't be filled. I'm safe and actually got a retention bonus to stay through Feb of next year, but stressful all the same.

Wife and I've really started talking about downsizing the farm, her getting her compact nursing license and hitting the road since I can work anywhere I have an internet connection and travelling some. Don't know if we will actually do it or not, but we are seriously thinking about it.

On the truck, ran into head issues with the valves not sealing so we had to send it off to the machine shop to get the valves done on it. Got it back and there isn't enough clearance between the valves and pistons so I ordered a .020 thicker head gasket today. Should be here Weds. So still not sure when I'm going to get to go racing. Seems like there is one thing or another that keeps popping up. I did get the graphic on the new carbon fiber grill this weekend.

Been a long while since I've made a post to update on the truck. Been busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. I took over as Commander at my American Legion post mid July and feel like I've lived there since then. Been working on getting things done and fixed there. Finished up the flooring in the main hall and got a good portion of the flooring down in the kitchen last night.

Started making some cornhole sets, one for me and one to donate to the legion so we can try a cornhole tournament as a fund raiser. Almost have them finished. Just need to attach the legs after the paint drys and then skin the tops with the skins I bought.

Bought a new Harley a month ago and been riding it as much as possible. Managed to put 1000 miles on it before I had to buy the tag for it. It's a 2018 Limited Ultra. Nice riding bike. Still can't get used to the fans running after I shut it down to cool the heads.

Now to the truck. Machine shops suck. I've had a crank and block ruined by one machine shop. The 2nd machine shop took 2 weeks longer than they said they would. I'm slowly getting it assembled here at the shop. Still waiting on a few parts that I should have gotten with the engine parts but still haven't gotten them. Tonight I finished torquing down the head and installed a few more things on it. All the drive train is in the truck now, and my drive shafts fit like a glove. Made the 2nd loop for the front drive shaft and attached it to the custom trans brace I made.

Most of the wiring is done and hooked up in the truck, just need to finish my piping to finish with the sensors. Moved my driveline speed sensor to the front flange of the tcase. Made a new tach sensor mount to work with the 4 magnets I glued into the Fluidamper balancer.

The season is almost over. 2 more races this year and one is this weekend. Won't make it but hopefully I can make the last race of the year.

Flooring




















Cornhole







Harley


a few things added to it

Mud Truck

No tab or fix on the KDP?

It will be in there before I close the front case up. Just hadn't gotten to it yet

Been about a month since I last made a post, made a little progress on my truck, but haven't touched it in the last 2 weeks. Been dealing with my bull deciding it's an escape artists. He now has an appointment with the processor on Oct 9th...

Decided to go ahead and start building my steel pipe corral because he destroyed the gate on my temp one I use trying to pen him up overnight. I have posts in for 2 outer walls of the corral, once I get them complete, I will tear out the old fence in that corner and build those sections out as well, then finish building the inside pens. The outer perimeter of it is going to be around 90x70 feet with 4 different sized pens inside it with a crowding pen and diverter gate for loading or to my chute in the center. I'm building it out of 2 7/8" pipe posts I bought at an auction several years ago for this purpose and welding more pipe between the posts and cattle panels/solid panels for the alleys.


Finished up the cornhole sets, they turned out decent, not as good as I wanted but they will work.

Made quite a few changes on the bike, now have 2k+ miles on it. We rode it to Dodge City, KS and back, little over 600 miles round trip and had a blast. Planning a longer trip in Oct if the weather holds out.

On the truck, head is torque down, valve covers on, injectors installed, exhaust manifold installed, intake installed, injection pump mostly installed, power steering pump installed, air shut off valve is installed along with the activation cable. Had to trim more out of the firewall to fit the valve and cable. Got the modified power steering/hydro brakes installed as well.

Finished making the tongue for my welding trailer yesterday so I can pull it with my 4 wheeler. Pretty simple. Piece of 2" square tubing, hole drilled in one end for a pin to connect it to the receiver box on the trailer and a u end for the 4 wheeler side to pin it to the hitch.

Last weekend we built a float for the legion for the pioneer day parade. Pulled it with my Dually. Dad asked who's truck we were pulling the trailer with because he didn't recognize my truck as it was actually white and not dirt colored.

Corral Pics







Cornhole sets







Harley pics




















Parade Float





Coaltrain Pics

Those corn hole boards are sweet!

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Been a long while since I posted on here, today is the first day I've had time to go out to the shop and actually work on the truck.

Wife and I took a 1900+ mile bike ride at the end of Oct with the furthest point being Pensacola, FL. Had a blast and we are planning another long ride for this summer. Between work (I'm now the only data guy and officially the Data Architect now as well as janitor and bottle washer since I'm now the only one left on the project.), Being commander of the legion, getting a rider's chapter going for the legion, fundraisers, etc.. and building a corral out of pipe on the farm, oh and playing with my new 3d printer, I haven't had much chance to get out in the shop to work on projects.

Corral is coming along, finally have all the old bit of the original corral removed, and my new outer portion built out of 2 7/8" pipe. Starting to build the interior portion of the pens and working alley. Goes slow with just me doing everything.

Today on the truck, got the oil pump installed, made a kdp tab, torqued down the ppump gear, installed the front cover along with the crank seal. Also put the damper on and torqued it down along with my tach sensor. Not a lot but atleast it's something.

Starting to think about maybe going to twins for the truck. Right now I have an S366 with billet wheel and race cover that needs rebuilt, an S475/87 t4 with billet wheel and race cover and an S480/96 t6. Had issues spooling up the s480 before but think I was just hammering too much fuel to get it lit. Anyone have thoughts on a good combo for what I have?





some 3d prints






Corral

The d printer products are insane! I've heard of them but have never been around one or seen any of their products. What are the products made out of? Very cool stuff!

I'm just using PLA right now with is a biodegradable plastic. But my printer can do many different types of plastic including ABS once I build an enclosure for it.

Haven't done a lot to the truck, since it's been colder than a well diggers hind end out last couple of days I've been out in the shop in the evenings. Spent most of the time cleaning up the shop for a legion riders cookout we are have there in 2 weeks, but I went to move the truck out of the 1st bay and ran into an issue. I have always just picked up the back of the truck up with my cherry picker and swung it around 90 degrees to move it around in the shop. Moving the weight back worked, the cherry picker wouldn't pick it up high enough to get the wheels off the ground. Ended up calling my son and had him help after I used a jack to pickup the rear of it to rotate it and move it over to it's winter spot. While I had him there I also hung up the old bedsides and grill on the wall for a little shrine.

I did get the new fuel lines bent (think I did a horrible job), and on the truck. They will work, but you can tell it's the first set I've bent.

Also test fit the hood on the front after putting the engine in and hooking things up. Ran into a few fitment issues that I need to trim a couple of places to make it fit and pin on.

Bought another project a little over a week ago. A 2002 Newmar Kountry Star 38' diesel pusher with 2 slides. We took it out last weekend and stayed in at the Casino where we had the state legion winter conference. Worked out great, found a few other little things that I needed to modify or fix on it, but drove great and kept us warm in the 20 degree nights, and didn't freeze up with water in the tanks. Bought it from an elderly couple that took really good care of it, just needs some things done and some modernization. Installing a new radio in it, usb charger ports, new water pump, and I need to replace the weather cracked tires on it. Going to look at a motorcycle trailer tomorrow to tow behind it so we can take the Harley with us on trips.

Now I need to build an extension on the end of my shop to house the new toy and some other things. Think I'll make the extension 24 or so feet wide x 40' deep.

Updates?

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Boy, time has flown this year. Never got the time to get the truck fully back together this year. Always seemed to fall to the wayside on priorities this year. Waited quite a while last spring for a new Steed Speed T6 comp exhaust manifold I ordered and when it finally came in a few days before my wife and I left on a 3 week vacation to the east coast, life happened. We took the motorhome and bike to Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia (1 night), South Carolina (3 nights), North Carolina, Virginia, DC / Maryland (5 nights), Deleware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey (1 night), New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts (2 nights), New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Montreal Quebec (1 night), Niagara Falls Ontario (1 night), New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia (1 night), Tennessee (2 nights), Arkansas, Oklahoma. 4500 miles in the motorhome and over 1000 on the bike.

Motorhome did great, only issue I ran into was a it wouldn't shut off at times, had to disconnect the battery terminal to kill the engine. it's a short somewhere but can't find where.

Bike trailer I bought, I stripped it down last spring, painted it, rewired it, cut out the 2 ramps that were in it and welded on a bi fold ramp and added a couple extra tie downs on the outer edges of the trailer. It will hold 3 bikes if they are the right size. 2 baggers and a bobber fit snugly.











After we got back from our trip, my wife started getting sick and after tons of dr's appointments with specialists (general surgeon, nuero surgeon, nuerologist, cardiologists, endocrinologists and a 3 night stay in the hospital, 3 months out of work, it was finally discovered she had Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency. Basically she's not making cortisol like she should and now has to take steroids daily to help with it. She's better, not 100% and has to watch getting stressed as it greatly affects her now. But she's back to being able to work, ride the bike, pick up our grand daughter again. Much improved from having to use a walker when she got out of the hospital.

Some of the other things I did over the year, I replaced the carpet in the lounge with an epoxy floor. Turned out decent, has a few defects, but beats the hell out of the carpet from the 60's.



Built a trailer dolly out of scrap metal around the shop and an axle and wheels I bought.



Bought a skid steer this summer for the farm to use around here, have used it to work on the road, spread 9 tons of 3/4 crusher run at the house, 9 tons of reclaimed asphalt at the legion, move hay, etc... been really handy.





Found damaged sub flooring in the house from water getting in on the west entry door of the house. We never use the door, so the water infiltration wasn't noticed. Ended up replacing that door along with the 2 other exterior doors on the house with new frames/doors and replaced the rotted sub flooring as well. Just finished last week with that entryway/hall, closet and small bathroom right there replacing the linoleum tile with tile, painting the rooms, new counter top and faucet, accents and mirror in the bathroom.



Finally almost done with rocking in the house after 9 years. The house is fully rocked in, just finishing up the back steps now. Built a walkway from the backdoor to the storm shelter too as well. Just need to finish the last layers on the steps to make sure they aren't too large of steps for my wife's short legs.

Since I bought the bike in july 2018, we have put over 16k miles on it. Started up a American Legion Rider's chapter at our legion post and went from 4 members to 19 in a year, we've rode in parades, did the highway 281 ride with the national riders from Texas to Kansas border in August, and a lot of other trips around the state and to Eureka Springs and back. I'm now the 2nd Vice Commander for our District in the Legion as well as the Commander of our post and Director for our Riders chapter. Something I've found out being a Vice Commander for the district is I get to spend time at other posts being a baby sitter/bouncer because there are a bunch of old age children...

Have made quite a few changes to the bike over the last year. Bought a bike lift for the shop, rode a ton of miles in the rain this year with as wet as it's been.









Finally got time to actually work on the mud truck last week. Got the exhaust manifold switched out to the new steed, then went to put the s480 on it and found that I got it back from the idiot without the vband clamps on the center section. So I've ordered the vbands and waiting on them now to get it.



I'm also looking at building an extension onto my shop so I can store the motorhome inside. Struggling on how I want to do the addition as I want room to park the tractor, trailers, skidsteer, etc.. as well. Need to rent a jack hammer for my skid steer to break up a bunch of rock that's been piled up from putting the house and shop in then get a dozer in and level out the hill to the east of my shop for room for the new addition.

I was just wondering what you'd been up to.

As always, I enjoy your updates.

I enjoy them as well. How many hours on the LX665? I have the same machine as well as two of my close friends. All three of our machines have been extremely reliable. My friends’ machines both have over 6k dairy farm hours. I’ve been impressed given the conditions they are in.

Do you not sleep?

the LX665 had just 1024 hours on it when I bought it. Paid 11k for it. Think I did pretty good. I'm happy with it.

The last 2 weeks of work have been murder. Put in probably 80 hours last week and this weeks looking to stack up that way too. I hate end of year deadlines and them ending contracts in December with Vendors. Sometimes I wonder if working from the house is the greatest things when it gets like this...

Had to get out of the house the last night and tonight to do something but be on the computer for a bit. Last night I finished installing the turbo, hooked up the supply and return oil lines, installed the thermo couple and my pressure gauge. Tonight I filled up some fluids, primed the injection pump with oil, finished up my water line on the return side of the engine.

What's this thing you call sleep?