Another month has gone by, and I’m back on the road with the traveling lawn chair and a couple of its friends, Stanley the thermos and Topper my cup. My partner and compadre of missed fortune (Aunt Barb) and I loaded the pickup, grabbed some snacks, and off we went. Where’d we go? To the Valley of the Sun – Phoenix, AZ.
Why would we go to Arizona when it’s hotter than Haiti there and getting hotter every day? Does “it sounded like a good idea at the time” sound like a valid reason? That’s not exactly the truth. We have been planning this trip for a few months to spend time with our son and attend the truck show hosted by Pickett Custom Trucks – the NHRDA Desert Diesel Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park in Chandler, AZ on April 20-21.
I honestly don’t know which event I liked better – the drag races or lounging under the canopy watching spectators look at the assortment of trucks. What’s not to like about tacos, cold drinks, and hot action on the blacktop? The pickup trucks dominated the racetrack, with the exception of the Class 8 racers, and their E/T times down the track would send Smokey the Bear into cardiac arrest. Last year the turnout of local trucks was far greater than anyone anticipated, but this year there was even more – so many more they ran out of parking spots, and a few had to be turned away.
This year’s field of competitors was very representative of the southwest, as they were from multiple states, and covered a vast range of vocational uses. There were a handful of classes, and all awards were judged by the PCT crew. I’m glad I didn’t have to choose the winners, because there were so many that were worthy of recognition. During this year’s show, I wandered the field and talked with the show competitors. All of them commented on what a great time they were having and said that it’s a great venue for this kind of event. More than once I heard how awesome it would be to be awarded one of the truly incredible trophies they were giving out.
I’ve seen a lot of show trophies over the years, but none as original and cool as the ones provided by Pickett Custom Trucks. All the materials used in the making of these works of art were items from Rod’s personal collection of racing parts, some miscellaneous truck components, and the magic of his skilled shop workers. The awards were designed and manufactured in-house. I believe these trophies could become the most coveted prizes of any show. Money can’t buy bragging rights, but every one of the winners this year earned the right to stand a little taller and shine a little brighter for at least a few weeks.
The assortment of trucks, trailers, and yes, even a few custom golf carts and side by sides, rivaled any show I’ve attended anywhere. We saw rigs dating back to the early 1950s, a couple from the 60s, and tons of hot iron from there to brand new ones. A few of the local hay haulers stopped by, loaded, of course. No days off for them guys, since cows get hungry seven days a week, and as the old saying goes, “It’s best to make hay while the sun shines!”
I focused on hay haulers this year because I have had limited experience in their field. Get it? Hay field?? Okay, that was a lame attempt at farm humor. I did, however, get a bit of insight as to how their production schedule works. They cut and bale hay all night, then load the trailers in the morning, so they can make local deliveries through the day. This goes on every day year-round, as long as the weather cooperates.
One of the lead drivers explained it as this – “Hauling hay is like doing your laundry. Wash, rinse, and repeat… again and again and again, until you can do every part of the process in your sleep. Then, when you have mastered finding the farms and dealing with customers, they will give you two trailers and then double your route. And, if this isn’t challenging enough, they could cut your delivery time in half, just to be sure you’re staying busy.” I must have had a strange look on my face, so he said, “Just kidding – they won’t cut your time, but they might give you a third trailer and send you to Salt Lake City!” I’m not sure if I’m ready to sign up as a driver for this kind of work just yet.
Getting the chance to really look over some of this “farm” equipment and closely inspect how they are assembled, I was absolutely amazed at the age of some of these trucks and trailers that are still in use. If these trucks were being used in the Midwest, their frames would have rusted away in just a few short years. But out west, thanks to a warm and dry climate, the service life of these units is much longer than back east. With a longer service life comes other considerations – more importantly, how they were wired or rewired.
I’m used to seeing highway trucks from the center section of the country, mainly the upper Midwest, the land of bad weather and the use of abrasive chemicals for traction control (de-icer). The general construction of a hay wagon is drastically different from our generic flatbeds. A normal flatbed has a heavy main beam capable of bridging 48K to 80K in less than ten feet. Generally carried in the center of the deck or floor, our trailers are built to handle maximum weight in a close section, but these hay trailers are constructed to carry their load across the entire surface of the trailer, allowing for a lower weight per square foot of surface.
The frames on these hay trailers are also lighter, since the load weight is transferred to the axles on each end of the deck and not carried on the center of the bridge. The beauty of two separate trailers, each with a single 20K axle on both ends, is that they still allow for the 80K gross, but the agility of the unit is greatly increased due to the shortened turning radius. Having seen some of the feed lots they deliver to, I’m not sure a single 53-foot trailer would work well. I still haven’t figured out that hay squeeze thing, either. Every time I see one of them on the road, I’m not sure if it’s a bobtail truck backing up or a runaway forklift! Maybe I can get one of the guys to take me out for the day in one to settle my curiosity once and for all.
Back to the reason why I chose to discuss wiring this month. I arrived at PCT the week before this year’s show to help with anything that needed doing. I’m qualified to empty the trash and sweep floors and maybe, on a good day, clean the windows. Why Rod has faith in my mechanical skills is still a mystery to me – maybe he just ran out of quality workers to complete the jobs waiting for their turn. Nonetheless, this story starts like this: “Hey driver, you ain’t gonna believe this!” Oh, wrong story. This one started with a customer dropping off a recently purchased antique truck to the shop needing some upgrades.
This is not just any old truck, but one the new owner intends to use on a daily basis. As the story goes, this man is the second owner of a 1963 Peterbilt COE straight truck with a single trailer combination. The original owner bought the unit new and operated it daily until 2006. I believe that’s when he retired or stopped operating the rig regularly.
Fast forward to today, and the truck’s new owner wants all the lights converted to glass lenses with LED lights and new bases – and he wants it all done in just a few days so he can take it to the truck show. This is just the first step to refurbishing and updating the old rig’s electrical components. With any project, before you can fix it, it’s best to assess what you have and how much of the original “stuff” needs to be replaced or removed. This didn’t look too serious in the beginning – knock off some old incandescent light bases from back in the day and then drill a few holes for the new lights. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am, and send this project out the door. Sounds simple enough, right?
That’s not quite what happened once I opened up the taillights and began to inspect the condition of the old wires. At that point, things went south fast. I can honestly say I’ve never seen such an electrical misappropriation of excess wire and butt connectors used to assemble and facilitate the passage of electrical current to fire/power lights. What was most amazing to me is they still actually worked after all this time. Much of the original wiring was still intact, but the number of random splices rendered it useless. The wires themselves were still encased in the factory shielding, but they crumbled to dust when handled. I sure wish we could get products to last like they did 60 years ago.
To do this project right, all the old wires needed to be removed and replaced with new wires and wire loom installed in their place. Some of the wires had multiple uninsulated connectors only inches apart. Yes, it would have been much faster to install the new light and let it go at that. What’s the saying, “If it fits it ships!” But that’s not how I roll. The customer said to make it right and to have it ready for the light show on Friday night, so that is what I did.
In my experience, I have found in cases like this it’s faster (and normally cheaper) to start over with all new wires, connectors, and a junction box to make all the connections to the main power supply. I like to make moisture tight cables (a tip from the land of salt, rain, and snow) from the connector box to the light grouping in the back, then run separate wires to the side marker lights from the junction box, not the taillight. They are easier to troubleshoot this way and you don’t need to disrupt the taillight assembly to check for wire continuity.
Doing it this way uncomplicated the taillight assembly. Most of the light manufacturers have prewired and cabled light plugs available for watertight “plug and play” applications. What looks like a massive knot of wires can be reduced to just three or four. If you have a good tape measure, you can build these cables on your bench, reducing the amount of time spent cramped under the trailer and bent over the axle.
This project took longer than I had anticipated but the time spent was well worth it. This is a unit that may work for years to come, and with a little luck, I will be back in the shop at PCT when it’s time to rewire the cab and main harness. Again, that will be a major undertaking since most trucks of that vintage had a basic electrical system for just the turn signals, taillights, and headlights (there wasn’t a need for any more power).
Finishing this assignment on time, the customer picked it up with enough time to load an impressive amount of hay on his decks before the show. What did they say at the end of every A-Team television show, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Until next month, you can catch me at home where I will be outstanding in my field, waiting for the driver to pick up a couple of my friends, Timothy and alfalfa. Oh geez, there I go again with the farm humor, 10-4!
