OT unsigned title

The only time I get stressed driving any fire vehicles are in parades. Lot's of loose kids around a large vehicle that has HUGE blind spots.

Practice makes perfect, and I think, that as long as your not driving it for work, you don't need a CDL. So you should be able to practice on the roads as long as your insured and driving it for personal, not commercial reasons. But make sure to double check that fact.

What type of transmission is in it? You said your driving it around in first gear, without a load you should be able to take off in 2nd with no problem. If you have a High/Low system sometimes gears are skipped, least they are in our F800. Tho I've never had to use Low gears cept for the one time I had a 7 ton machine on the back hauling it to the scrap yard. Alot of times the shift pattern is written on the top of the drivers side sun visor.

Yes they have semi simulators now. Not sure if they have home versions but I know of a few places with them. They also have ones for fire engines so you can practice without being on the streets. I'd rather drive, the simulators are fine for testing if you have a clue about the vehicles but they don't really act or feel the same. You always have that reset button to fall back on, unlike a real vehicle where you might not try a maneuver if you were unsure of the result.

I've learned from rallying and dirt bike enduros and ice racing that I'm no better than average in driving skills, at least among amateurs who enter such events, though I can compensate by understanding tire slip angles and practicing skidding, and I benefit from the calm situational awareness I picked up while driving military vehicles around Europe at the time of the Baader Meinhoff gang, Red Army Faction and Munich Olympics.

jsw

Cessnas don't back up worth a hoot, either.

Interesting. People like that usually don't become machinists, DIYers, or craftsmen. Congrats on overcoming it.

lj--whose last Cessna experience was flying it to Catalina Island from Oceanside, CA. Dad wanted to land the little Cherokee because I'd only been through high school Basic Aviation. My thrill was when he let me take control, take off, fly there/around twice/back on my own. Flying is a lot of fun. I should have gone to an aviation tech school instead of automotive.

-- Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself. -- Thomas Jefferson

It isn't done because the 2nd and/or 3rd trailers have movable steering yokes. It's like trying to push rope. ;)

It does take awhile to learn your mirror depth perception and reverse actions.

-- Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself. -- Thomas Jefferson

UPS transfer drivers back up double pups all the time. Triples are a real chore, you have to really practice to get the third trailer hooked up on one try.

The depth perception is usually the hard part. Once you get that down the rest is easy.

I knew it could be done but have never seen it. Do they put some kind of tension on the yokes to keep them from wagging at first bump, or what?

-- Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself. -- Thomas Jefferson

The UPS dollies have a locking pin set-up that makes it much easier when backing. The yard trucks get to cheat a bit as they have hooks on the nose so they can chase the dollies easier.

My fine motor skills are good enough to splice broken IC bonding ribbon with silver epoxy.

I should add that the sailboat was a steel Little Maid of Kent and keeping all three sails pulling evenly on various tacks while watching the compass and chart was a workload. We went out from Lunenburg NS on a dreary day when no other tourists were around, so the owner gave me an extended class in handling the boat, which he had sailed from Seattle.

jsw

OK, tell us, how do you like driving it, what was your experience. No power steering, right?

The army base 2.5 hours away from me has those on sale all the time.

i

That was in the early 1970's, the multifuel with manual transmission. I usually drove an M109 shop van.

Driving them for several hours on the Autobahn was a workout. The suspension is stiff and the seats were little more than canvas-covered plywood. Military supplies are packaged well to survive their rough ride. I think the bed might be higher than a standard loading dock.

More recently I've done repair calls with a commercial box truck which I greatly prefer. I think the Army trucks are better suited to collectors than heavy users, unless you really need their off-road capability. They really weren't much fun in heavy European city traffic either. If given the choice we took the Suburban instead.

But give one a try if the price is right. They command respect even if you aren't carrying loaded machine guns.

Ours never broke, which was good because we couldn't get parts for anything, half the motor pool was out of service. Europe was starved to pay for Vietnam, and JC Whitney kept the jeeps running. I finally bought an old VW with two weeks Temporary Duty extra pay allotment and disappeared amongst the civilians on trips.

jsw

OK.

I guess it would be.

Cool.

Egad, around the Horn or through Panama?

-- Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself. -- Thomas Jefferson

Aha! The cheat is revealed.

-- Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself. -- Thomas Jefferson

I used to run a 1943, I believe, Ex Military Power Wagon as a tow truck back in the late sixties.

As a kid on the farm I got hung up going around a corner with a hay-wagon behind the baler behind the tractor and I had to back the rig off the post and back into the bush lane so I could take another, wider crack at it. No fun - particularly with the baler not following in the same track as the tractor (offset to one side)

I moved up to the second gear today.

Also, a semi truck delivered something to me today, and when he and I waited for a crane, I paid him to check out my truck. He checked everything out, drove around the building etc, and said that the truck is good. he saw no issues with the engine, transmission.etc

i

Do you have to smog test the truck before you can get license plates?

Best Regards Tom.

I am going to the DMV tomorrow with the title and I will find out.

i