TRS Event Carlisle Truck Nationals August 2-4, 2024

[sgtsandman]

@Rick W got 2nd place

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

@Rick W got 2nd place

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Wow! That awesome news!

 

[JohnnyO]

Congrats!!!

 

[Sharky]

Congratulations Rick !

 

[ericbphoto]

That’s pretty awesome. Congratulations!

 

[Rick W]

I think they just felt sorry for the shaky old man with the weird truck

In all seriousness, this isn’t my award, it’s an award for everybody in The Ranger Station. Congratulations!

A few years ago I was injured and sick, beat up, down and out, disillusioned, however you want to say it. I had this hare-brained vision (that I’ve had all my life), and this is the furthest I’ve ever gotten with it. Technically, I could’ve never done everything I’ve done if it wasn’t for all the guidance and advice and sarcasm and many times you all called me nuts, from so many people on the website.

Personally, the great men and women on this website kept me focused, picked me up, motivated me, inspired me. When I see you guys busting your knuckles and butts to help your parents and your brothers and sisters and friends and in-laws, etc., fighting cold weather and rust, and who knows what else, usually in very good spirits, it makes me proud to be an American again, and proud to be with the group.

I could go on, and get all mushy, but it might lead to one of those “it’s OK for a man to kiss another man“ moments, and I don’t think any of us wants to go there.

When we were fooling around yesterday, I joked that knowing all you folks was like taking bad drugs. There’s nothing good about it, but you get addicted. I was wrong, EVERYTHING is good about it!

@Jim Oaks you’ve created a great resource, but also a great community. And @JohnnyO and @sgtsandman did a great job hosting this year for the club.

When I get the photo from the photo opportunity from the winners parade, I’ll share it.

Thank you everybody for all you do and who you are.

And @snoranger!!

 

[ericbphoto]

I think they just felt sorry for the shaky old man with the weird truck

In all seriousness, this isn’t my award, it’s an award for everybody in The Ranger Station. Congratulations!

A few years ago I was injured and sick, beat up, down and out, disillusioned, however you want to say it. I had this hare-brained vision (that I’ve had all my life), and this is the furthest I’ve ever gotten with it. Technically, I could’ve never done everything I’ve done if it wasn’t for all the guidance and advice and sarcasm and many times you all called me nuts, from so many people on the website.

Personally, the great men and women on this website kept me focused, picked me up, motivated me, inspired me. When I see you guys busting your knuckles and butts to help your parents and your brothers and sisters and friends and in-laws, etc., fighting cold weather and rust, and who knows what else, usually in very good spirits, it makes me proud to be an American again, and proud to be with the group.

I could go on, and get all mushy, but it might lead to one of those “it’s OK for a man to kiss another man“ moments, and I don’t think any of us wants to go there.

When we were fooling around yesterday, I joked that knowing all you folks was like taking bad drugs. There’s nothing good about it, but you get addicted. I was wrong, EVERYTHING is good about it!

@Jim Oaks you’ve created a great resource, but also a great community. And @JohnnyO and @sgtsandman did a great job hosting this year for the club.

When I get the photo from the photo opportunity from the winners parade, I’ll share it.

Thank you everybody for all you do and who you are.

And @snoranger!!

You threatened to let Lincoln bite them. Didn’t you?

 

[Rick W]

Let me share another “the grace of God“ story.

When I left the house, I went about 100 miles, and my heater control valve literally exploded. I couldn’t even find all the pieces. I pulled into a loves truckstop, and the guys in the shop gave me a weird little brass thing I could use as a coupling to just put the front hoses together and bypass the heater. I think it took me about 45 minutes, but I was in the truckstop for over two hours with everybody walking up and asking about the truck, and then I got stuck when there was a thunderstorm that shut down their Internet, and they couldn’t get the trucks in and out. it was hot as hell over that engine and humid, but the camaraderie made it barely tolerable

Well, being hot and tired, when I coupled the two hoses together, I just shut the hood and hit the road. Turns out that the bottom hose was touching a pulley. So I went another 300 miles, and the bottom hose popped. I’ve never seen it before, but when it popped, it knocked the serpentine belt off the pulleys. Looking at the hose, I don’t think it got underneath the belt, I can only assume that the hot steam coming out, somehow caused the belt to slip off. I pulled off an exit ramp, but didn’t even make it to the first street before I had to stop because it was overheating.

Popping on the serpentine belt is not a hard job, but hot and tired at 10:30 at night. In the middle of nowhere, it was frustrating me. And the whole time my other worry was that I didn’t have anything else to couple hoses together again. Not even a house in sight, no less a store.

About 20 minutes into it a big four-door pick up truck pulling a box trailer with a flat tire pulled right ahead of me, and four gentleman from South of the border got out and scurried around like a bunch of ants and got the tire changed in minutes. I walked up to just ask them if they had some little piece of pipe or whatever that I could use to splice the hoses.

These guys again scurried around and found something that would work, cut it to the right length, and came over to the truck and wouldn’t let me touch the truck while they fixed it all. We were joking around the whole time we were doing it and they had been on the road as long as I had. It only took about 20 or 30 minutes. Then I asked them what I owe them, and they absolutely refused to take a nickel. I literally put my hand up and I said “you guys go with the grace of God, thank you!” The leader and main mechanic, Ronaldo, said something in Spanish, and the four guys and I bowed our heads, and he said a prayer in Spanish.

I didn’t have any more trouble for the next thousand miles. The Lord was watching over me, through guys like them and guys like you!

OK, this is the last message, I’ll start busting chops now…

 

[Rick W]

1,250 miles.

The 4.0 kept me at 65-75 the whole way. I only had to downshift a few times for a particularly steep hill, or traffic, but I think I only went lower than fourth once for the hills.

Five tanks of gas, but I was filling it up when I had about a third of a tank left. I didn’t want to get caught out in the middle of nowhere and pay five bucks a gallon for Bidengas.

 

[JohnnyO]

I think they just felt sorry for the shaky old man with the weird truck

In all seriousness, this isn’t my award, it’s an award for everybody in The Ranger Station. Congratulations!

A few years ago I was injured and sick, beat up, down and out, disillusioned, however you want to say it. I had this hare-brained vision (that I’ve had all my life), and this is the furthest I’ve ever gotten with it. Technically, I could’ve never done everything I’ve done if it wasn’t for all the guidance and advice and sarcasm and many times you all called me nuts, from so many people on the website.

Personally, the great men and women on this website kept me focused, picked me up, motivated me, inspired me. When I see you guys busting your knuckles and butts to help your parents and your brothers and sisters and friends and in-laws, etc., fighting cold weather and rust, and who knows what else, usually in very good spirits, it makes me proud to be an American again, and proud to be with the group.

I could go on, and get all mushy, but it might lead to one of those “it’s OK for a man to kiss another man“ moments, and I don’t think any of us wants to go there.

When we were fooling around yesterday, I joked that knowing all you folks was like taking bad drugs. There’s nothing good about it, but you get addicted. I was wrong, EVERYTHING is good about it!

@Jim Oaks you’ve created a great resource, but also a great community. And @JohnnyO and @sgtsandman did a great job hosting this year for the club.

When I get the photo from the photo opportunity from the winners parade, I’ll share it.

Thank you everybody for all you do and who you are.

And @snoranger!!

You're welcome. You did all the work on your truck though. Congrats!!!
I take it you got home without incident?

 

[Rick W]

You're welcome. You did all the work on your truck though. Congrats!!!
I take it you got home without incident?

Yes, no incidents thank you, another Blessing. The vacuum up and down on the AC wasn’t working, but it was still blowing cold up against the windshield. I took the humidity out of the air, not perfect, but a whole lot better than having the windows down.

There was a traffic accident that blocked up the road for 3 or 4 miles (Virginia?), so I jumped off to drain Lincoln and fill up on gas. Some admirers there, too, and when I got back into the truck, Siri took me down some back roads past the accident, so that was another blessing!

Trip back was a whole lot easier than the trip up!

 

[97RangerXLT]

Rick, I had that heater control valve fail on my 97 earlier this year. it didn't explode, but it sprayed enough cooolant on the passenger side exhaust manifold that I thought I had blown a head gasket. lots of steam and coolant everywhere. the part that failed was the diaphragm where the vacuum line hooks up to, and it was leaking out where the little metal rod came out of that canister. 25 bucks at the local Autozone (they had the last one in the area, thankfully) and a quick change with a couple pair of plier4s and I was back on the road again. took me maybe 20 minutes.

Glad you got there safe and no more drama.

AJ