Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Bill Kondalay warned me not to do 4 wheel launches, but did I listen? Nooooooooo. I had done about 20, 4x4 launches over the last month at 20 to 25 psi boost with no ill effects (but a sore neck due to the quick launch itself). So here I am at Muncie staging for my forth time trial when disaster struck!! Was at the lights, bringing the boost up when at about 8 psi, BANG!
Aw Sh**!! I'm dead on the track and stuck in 4x4 to boot.
The track personnel found out real fast that you can't push a 7600 pound truck off the track around a 90 turn. With the help of a gentleman who's name I didn't get, we pulled the violated vehicle off the track with his truck, and over to my "pits".
A quick jack of the rear tires off the ground verified that it wasn't the output shaft that broke (I still had park) nor the transfer case itself. Soooo, the most likely cause was the front hub/shaft assembly (I hope this is the correct name)
This is where the Diesel Gods were with me that day. Bill Kondalay of DTT and Rick Smith, Jack Williams from Dave's Diesel and I had a conference and decided they could get me going again by dropping the trans in the grass and replacing the damaged parts.
Lets put this in perspective, I'm dead in the water,
and I've got Bill K. ( THE transmission god in my book!), Rick S. (A diesel god) and Jack W. (A true guru of transmission rebuilding!) who are willing to give up their afternoon and do a transmission overhaul in the pits on the grass!! All this without a transmission jack, truck lift or any of the other stuff associated with a shop!!
We pulled the wounded ram over to Bill K. 's pits and the work commenced. Within 5 minutes, there were 5 guys, Bill K. , Rick S. , Jack W, and two of Rick's good friends, under my truck attacking the trans and getting it ready to drop. I was designated gopher, and they ran my little hoofs to the quick getting tools and pieces we needed. I CANNOT STATE ENOUGH TIMES, HOW WONDERFUL AND HELPFUL EVERYONE WAS. Anybody I ask for tools or parts was more than ready to loan, give and or come over and lend a hand. At one point, as I was coming back from another tool gathering expedition, there was 5 guys under my truck and 4 more around, handing tools and such to the ones underneath.
I'm not ashamed to say that I had more than a few tears in my eye at such a sight. What a great bunch of people!!!!!
This was all taking place in the middle of the pits with NO shade and Mother Nature deciding that now was a good time to really crank up the sunshine, i. e. HEAT. . Jacks wife made sure that everyone was properly hydrated (with ice water) through out the ordeal. A great lady.
Within an hour and a half, the trans was out from under the truck and being taken apart by Jack W. As suspected, the front hub had split almost in half due to the shaft ripping out the splines. Bill K. had a new Heavy Duty machined hub and shaft
in his arsenal of parts, along with a few rebuild kits destined for other vendors. (The vendors all said not to worry, use whatever is needed out of their kits). Bill even had a new trans with him (that he was delivering to a vendor) that was also offered to me, but it was decided that mine wasn't damaged more than the hub, shaft, and a few steel plates being burnt when the pressure let loose when the hub split. (Another Canadian vendor not associated with DTT, even offered me one of their transmissions if we couldn't get the proper parts for mine).
We did have one moment when things were looking just a little bleak and that was when we couldn't get the billet piston out of the damaged hub. We needed that piston since no one else had one, but Bill K. saved the day and persuaded said piston that is was in it's best interest to cooperate... .
Everything went back together smoothly and the truck was up and running by 5:00 No leaks or loose bolts either!!
Through out the afternoon, we had a steady stream of people stopping by offering help, parts, tools or just looking at the crazy people doing a transmission overhaul in the grass.
I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH, THE OUTPOURING OF HELP THAT WAS OFFERED TO ME!!
Many people just rolled up their sleeves and jumped right in where needed. I will post another posting with everybody's name that I can get. In all the stress on my part, I failed to get everybody's name who helped. Shame on me!!
Again, Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help out including Shanti(sp) K. , and her daughter,(yes my memory is shot!) Jack W. s wife (yikes, I forgot her name too, gulp. . ) and I'll post another list with everyone's name who I can get.
WE TRULY HAVE A GREAT BUNCH OF GUYS AND GALS THAT PLAY WITH DIESELS!!!!
BTW, the truck ran great all the way back to NW Ohio and not a drop of oil out of place either...
Brian Edwards
One Happy Camper... .
Aw Sh**!! I'm dead on the track and stuck in 4x4 to boot.
The track personnel found out real fast that you can't push a 7600 pound truck off the track around a 90 turn. With the help of a gentleman who's name I didn't get, we pulled the violated vehicle off the track with his truck, and over to my "pits".
A quick jack of the rear tires off the ground verified that it wasn't the output shaft that broke (I still had park) nor the transfer case itself. Soooo, the most likely cause was the front hub/shaft assembly (I hope this is the correct name)
This is where the Diesel Gods were with me that day. Bill Kondalay of DTT and Rick Smith, Jack Williams from Dave's Diesel and I had a conference and decided they could get me going again by dropping the trans in the grass and replacing the damaged parts.
Lets put this in perspective, I'm dead in the water,
and I've got Bill K. ( THE transmission god in my book!), Rick S. (A diesel god) and Jack W. (A true guru of transmission rebuilding!) who are willing to give up their afternoon and do a transmission overhaul in the pits on the grass!! All this without a transmission jack, truck lift or any of the other stuff associated with a shop!!
We pulled the wounded ram over to Bill K. 's pits and the work commenced. Within 5 minutes, there were 5 guys, Bill K. , Rick S. , Jack W, and two of Rick's good friends, under my truck attacking the trans and getting it ready to drop. I was designated gopher, and they ran my little hoofs to the quick getting tools and pieces we needed. I CANNOT STATE ENOUGH TIMES, HOW WONDERFUL AND HELPFUL EVERYONE WAS. Anybody I ask for tools or parts was more than ready to loan, give and or come over and lend a hand. At one point, as I was coming back from another tool gathering expedition, there was 5 guys under my truck and 4 more around, handing tools and such to the ones underneath.
I'm not ashamed to say that I had more than a few tears in my eye at such a sight. What a great bunch of people!!!!!
This was all taking place in the middle of the pits with NO shade and Mother Nature deciding that now was a good time to really crank up the sunshine, i. e. HEAT. . Jacks wife made sure that everyone was properly hydrated (with ice water) through out the ordeal. A great lady.
Within an hour and a half, the trans was out from under the truck and being taken apart by Jack W. As suspected, the front hub had split almost in half due to the shaft ripping out the splines. Bill K. had a new Heavy Duty machined hub and shaft
in his arsenal of parts, along with a few rebuild kits destined for other vendors. (The vendors all said not to worry, use whatever is needed out of their kits). Bill even had a new trans with him (that he was delivering to a vendor) that was also offered to me, but it was decided that mine wasn't damaged more than the hub, shaft, and a few steel plates being burnt when the pressure let loose when the hub split. (Another Canadian vendor not associated with DTT, even offered me one of their transmissions if we couldn't get the proper parts for mine).
We did have one moment when things were looking just a little bleak and that was when we couldn't get the billet piston out of the damaged hub. We needed that piston since no one else had one, but Bill K. saved the day and persuaded said piston that is was in it's best interest to cooperate... .
Everything went back together smoothly and the truck was up and running by 5:00 No leaks or loose bolts either!!
Through out the afternoon, we had a steady stream of people stopping by offering help, parts, tools or just looking at the crazy people doing a transmission overhaul in the grass.
I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH, THE OUTPOURING OF HELP THAT WAS OFFERED TO ME!!
Many people just rolled up their sleeves and jumped right in where needed. I will post another posting with everybody's name that I can get. In all the stress on my part, I failed to get everybody's name who helped. Shame on me!!
Again, Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help out including Shanti(sp) K. , and her daughter,(yes my memory is shot!) Jack W. s wife (yikes, I forgot her name too, gulp. . ) and I'll post another list with everyone's name who I can get.
WE TRULY HAVE A GREAT BUNCH OF GUYS AND GALS THAT PLAY WITH DIESELS!!!!
BTW, the truck ran great all the way back to NW Ohio and not a drop of oil out of place either...
Brian Edwards
One Happy Camper... .
