1997 Ford LT9000 tandem dump truck

[Truck Shop]

Heat gets the retreads.

True-but there is are huge factors in the life and death of caps, first is it a virgin casing that was capped?
Second is it a ring tread cap? Third is it a casing that accepts caps well [side wall flex has allot to do
with it}. Fourth is the tire pressure kept at a constant level like 95 psi instead of a 100. I don't like caps
but allot of failures come from those four items.

Its hard to think that they would last long enough to pay.

For your business and dump/vocational more than likely not just because of conditions.
But in the OTR end yes. This tire below Yokohama 527 will run with rotating and psi kept
up a little over 200,000 miles on a 4 axle, we one set make it 241,000. Never had anything
come close to that average is about 160 to 165 on the rest. Plus the traction is really good.
But it's not a cheap tire either.
*

 

[cfherrman]

Truck shop what psi you run, and what weight is on the axle?

 

[Truck Shop]

Truck shop what psi you run, and what weight is on the axle?

43,000 on the drives & drop axle as a group, 100 psi on trailers, drives, 105 on drop axle
and 110 on steers with a GVW of 99,000.

 

[MG84]

Got the tires ordered, decided to go with the Hercules HMX, they should be here towards the end of the week. Also hauled first full load of 14 tons yesterday, truck did great. Climbs the hills as fast or a little faster than my F700 with 8-tons, so I think the power will be adequate. I think I will have to buy the overload permit to be safe, if the loader doesn't get it exact I'm either over on my 16K steer or 34K on the tandems, since I'm right at 50K gross.

I decided to swap out to a standard Bendix AD9 air dryer. How much oily residue in the air lines/tank is too much? When should you look at an oil coalescing filter and/or compressor replacement? I get a little oily residue out of the dryer exhaust, and a little where the tailgate switch discharges on the floor. If I drain the wet tank it's only a tiny bit of water vapor and maybe a little drop of oil.

 

[Truck Shop]

If it's pushing oil---it's a tired compressor. Should be a Holset 35580--something and
that's a hard remembered guess. Bad thing is the collection in air lines that have a
dip in them. Figure anywhere from $450 to $650 prices are all over the board on items
like that.

 

[JaredV]

Maybe this picture might give you some ideas for a hitch?

Your truck sounds a lot like one I drove years ago. It was a KW T-450 spec'd pretty much like yours. Rode like a buckboard but it was still fun to drive and man, was it handy on a job site. Load it up until the dirt was rolling off and the steering was still only two fingers. The L10 was turned up a bit and you had to drive with one eye on the pyrometer on the hills.

 

[cfherrman]

If I were you id take the line that comes off the compressor and look in it, if you see buildup (burnt oil)replace the compressor sooner, no buildup you can get some life out of it.

Compressors are cheap in the grand scheme and I view them as wear items like tires.

 

[Truck Shop]

Compressors are cheap in the grand scheme and I view them as wear items like tires.

Yes and no---compressors can run damn near the life of the engine, it's all determined by
how many times it's cycled--a truck that is a constant soap bubble--compressor doesn't
have a chance.

 

[cfherrman]

Lol. The rigs I run are powered by air and use a lot of air.

 

[MG84]

If it's pushing oil---it's a tired compressor. Should be a Holset 35580--something and
that's a hard remembered guess. Bad thing is the collection in air lines that have a
dip in them. Figure anywhere from $450 to $650 prices are all over the board on items
like that.

Here is the compressor:

Hard to make out but I think the top line says: SS296 and the middle line is 3047440
S/N looks like 1D2496M45

How big of a job to change this?

 

[Truck Shop]

SS296 and the middle line is 3047440
S/N looks like 1D2496M45

The SS296 has been around for over 45 years--two versions that's a later one.
3047440 is a good number. Drain the cooling system remove IP, discharge &
coolant lines, unbolt from accessory drive. Get your self a Cummins injector
pump/compressor wrench {curved plus a S wrench} usually need both 7/16-
1/2-9/16-5/8. 4 hours.

 

[Truck Shop]

 

[Truck Shop]

 

[cfherrman]

It's pretty easy I made my own wrench but the specialty tool makes it a lot faster

 

[Welder Dave]

I have a similar truck. It was a former plow truck but only the dump box is hooked up. Same 16K front axle and 40K rears and dual steering boxes but has a double frame. Thankfully they don't use much salt in Alberta so no rust jacking. It's a 94 L9000 but has an M11 310 HP. It has a 9 speed but I only need low gear off road if it's soft. Now I can't remember if 1st gear is the lowest? I don't think so but I haven't drove it for a while. Shifting out of low gear into the next gear is almost impossible, for me anyway. On firm ground it shifts good at about 11-1200 RPM starting off. Once I shift to high range it's much easier and I can shift at about 1600 RPM. The nice thing is when you've got a little speed and it doesn't shift right away you can play with the throttle just a touch and it will pop right in. I've never drove a tandem truck before so it is quite the learning curve. I watched some video's online before I picked the truck up. My biggest issue at first was revving too fast starting off and in low range. The 9 speed seems to work pretty good for my needs. Anymore gears would get confusing. I'm mostly off road though. Truck seemed to run nice at about 62 MPH when I picked it up.

 

[cfherrman]

Left and back, opposite of reverse, is typically low and shouldn't be used unless you really need it like you said if it's soft. There's also a blue switch which is deep reduction if your trans has it which is super low gears.

You should be able to take off with no throttle

 

[MG84]

I have a similar truck. It was a former plow truck but only the dump box is hooked up. Same 16K front axle and 40K rears and dual steering boxes but has a double frame. Thankfully they don't use much salt in Alberta so no rust jacking. It's a 94 L9000 but has an M11 310 HP. It has a 9 speed but I only need low gear off road if it's soft. Now I can't remember if 1st gear is the lowest? I don't think so but I haven't drove it for a while. Shifting out of low gear into the next gear is almost impossible, for me anyway. On firm ground it shifts good at about 11-1200 RPM starting off. Once I shift to high range it's much easier and I can shift at about 1600 RPM. The nice thing is when you've got a little speed and it doesn't shift right away you can play with the throttle just a touch and it will pop right in. I've never drove a tandem truck before so it is quite the learning curve. I watched some video's online before I picked the truck up. My biggest issue at first was revving too fast starting off and in low range. The 9 speed seems to work pretty good for my needs. Anymore gears would get confusing. I'm mostly off road though. Truck seemed to run nice at about 62 MPH when I picked it up.

Yeah actually I'm starting to like the 9spd as well, its a very easy transmission to drive. At first I thought it'd be inadequate, but with deep axle gears it works pretty good.

 

[Welder Dave]

I don't have the granny low but low it has works just fine in soft stuff.

 

[MG84]

Just finished my first paying job with the truck, had a ditch cleaning job and used it to haul off the soil/muck. Was very soft, driving the mini ex over the yard was like driving on a water balloon. Laid down 3/4 plywood to drive the truck on and loaded it very light, maybe 5cu yds or less. The yard portion wasn't bad on the plywood, but the other half was in a pasture so I didn't use the plywood. With those bald tires I was playing with fire, but with the lockers, light loads and going real easy I managed to get it done without getting stuck or making a mess. Mini loaded the truck no problem.

Sorry, crappy flip phone pic is all I got:

 

[Acoals]

That truck needs a tag axle . . . look at all that room, you could almost squeeze two under there, make it a quad!