Don't know what you're doing, leave it alone...

[NCWayne]

I've been going through an old '71 model Ford C750 truck recently for a customer getting it ready to mount a big air compressor unit on it. The Cab/chassis origionally was mounted with a fire truck bed for a local VFD. It's been setting for about 6 years so of course it needed alot of TLC. Since this was an emergency vehicle you'd think everything on it would have been "up to snuff" and everything on it taken care of with great care, especially the brakes. Finally got around to changing the front ones today and it was easy to tell someonme didn't have a clue what they were doing the last time they were changed. These things are self adjusted with a slug that goes through the center of the pad and contacts the rim. When it hits the rim it works against a wedge to adjust them out automatically. For them to adjust the slug has to hit the rim from the start and is supposed to be .005 above the pad level when fully retracted. Both sides had had old worn out slugs used and neither came even close to extending out past the thickness of the lining, one side had keeper washers in the wrong place which kept the manual adjusters from working as well as cocking the pad causing it to wear both it and the drum one sided. Seeing the shape these brakes were in really suprised as well as scared me. I'd have figured being an emergency vehicle the truck would have been taken care of to the N'th degree by someone that knew what they were doing. Looks like someone got in a bit over their head on this thing and screwed up somethig that could have caused a devistating, potentially fatal accident....Like my subject line says, if you don't know what your doing, especially with something like a vehicles brake system then leave it alone and either ask before you do or seek professional help.

 

[landlord7012]

After 15 years with local department I know what you mean. There is always somebody that steps up and says "we can fix dat, why pay someone else". All with noble intentions but it usually ends up in disaster and peoples lives and property are on the line. We limped our equipment van along for years. Different motor, trans, tune-ups, cobbled exhaust, etc. Never did run right (couldn't count the times some of us had to fly to the station and throw turnout gear, tanks and hose in our personal vehicles) but we saved money though! (lol) Irony of it is our brand new Freightliner won't start sometimes because someone leaves a master on. I think the truck number is cursed! (That and we need people to pay attention a little more)

landlord7012

 

[Goose]

The sad part is, some people work harder at doing something wrong than if they'd taken the time to figure out what they're doing in the first place.

My father has been dead for 23 years, but I still have to laugh when I think about the time I walked past the folk's car and saw an inch long 3/16" stove bolt sticking out the roof over the windshield. I checked it out.

One of the sheet metal screws holding the passenger sun visor had stripped out. Instead of simply putting the next size larger screw in, my father had drilled a hole all the way through the top and had put the stove bolt through without even bothering to cut off the excess.

Maybe that's why I'm my own harshest critic of my work. I spent my formative years learning how NOT to do things. I don't think my father ever replaced a full set of spark plugs in his life. If a plug failed, he figured out which one it was and replace it. Then six months later went through it all again with a different plug. By the time he'd worked his way through all of them the first one would be bad again.

Anyway, he meant well.

 

[Mike M]

I have also seen the same thing from so called "professionals" When I was in business for myself I had to straighten out several tractors the local JD dealer screwed up.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The Volunteers
One dark night outside a small town, a fire started inside the local chemical plant. Before long it exploded into flames and an alarm went out to fire departments from miles around.
After fighting the fire for over an hour, the chemical company president approached the fire chief and said, "All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved! I will give $50,000 to the engine company that brings them out safely!"

As soon as the chief heard this, he ordered the firemen to strengthen their attack on the blaze. After two more hours of attacking the fire, the president of the company offered $100,000 to the engine company that could bring out the company's secret files.

From the distance a long siren was heard and another fire truck came into sight. It was a local volunteer fire company composed entirely of men over 65. To everyone's amazement the little fire engine raced through the Chemical plant gates and drove straight into the middle of the inferno. In the distance the other firemen watched as the old timers hopped off of their rig and began to fight the fire with an effort that they had never seen before.

After an hour of intense fighting the volunteer company had extinguished the fire and saved the secret formulas. Joyous, the chemical company president announced that he would double the reward to $200,000 and walked over to personally thank each of the volunteers. After thanking each of the old men individually, the president asked the group what they intended to do with the reward money.

The fire truck driver looked him right in the eye and said, "The first thing we're going to do is fix the dang brakes on that truck!"

 

[Bruce Hopf]

Ole Fireman.
I really got a good laugh out of your story. Glad nobody was hurt. But funny.
Bruce.

 

[jeffcat]

fer cryin out lowd!!!!!!!

 

[Steve A W]

Been a member of a small Township volunteer
fire dept over 25 years now. There were too many
times in the old days when there just wasnt any money to have equipment "Professioinally" maintained. We had to "Make Do", a lot of times
it was DO DO.
A lot of times the money had to go to becoming
compliant with some new regulation some bone headed law maker dreamt up. He didnt care if your Fire truck had brakes.
Steve

 

[Walt Davies]

I worked on the fire trucks at Fort Ord, Ca and I never saw anything in such bad shape as those trucks were. I did my best to get them up to par but had to fight the fire department all the way. On one truck it was knocking very loudly I tested it and dettermend that it was a bad piston pin knocking.
The chief was deciding how long it would last if they took as they couldn't do without it. I simply asked him if would like to the guy on the nozzle when that piston let loose. I kept the truck for repair.
Walt

 

[RodinNS]

The older guys on our department talk about that stuff sometimes.... They started with nothing, worked with junk, did all their own work, built trucks up in the station, etc. More than one night they worked until 3 in the morning on a damn old truck, went home and slept, got up and went to work at 6, and then come back and do it again the next night.... so what you found doesn't surprise me. They sometimes talk about the kingpin job they did one night like that and how they were 'tight', and they didn't have a reamer either.
It's nice to have a steady operating grant from the municipality now and most of the repair work is sent out to a licensed mechanic. We still do some minor stuff that is non-essential, but the rest is sent out. That's a must today for liability reasons...

Rod

 

[Kentb of SWMO]

This is another variation of an OLD but funny joke I have seen MANY times.

Kent

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

I have been a volunteer firefighter since 1992. When I first started we had no money, now with growth in the county we have money. Now we spend bundles of cash to get ripped off by "professional" mechanics that don"t know what they are doing. Luckily we have mechanics on our department that can smell a rat from some distance, and we have been limiting our problems with education of the operators.
Also, you may be surprised how many "quick oil change" shops screw up cars with a mere oil change gone wrong. The oil change division in every store is quality challenged!

 

[WantACaseLASomeday]

Drove patrol cars for over 20 years on a deparment with over 500 officers and a fleet of well over 100 cars - three shifts of full-time mechanics worked on them. We drove them like we stole them - and maintenance was done with used parts when possible or at least the very cheapest knock-off parts they could find. Took one in once with an obvious wheel bearing problem and was told to drive it til the wheel fell off.

Throttle return spring broke once (Dodge) and it went to full throttle. After I got it shut down and towed in the mechanic just took pliers and made a new 'hook' on the broken end of the longest piece of spring and hooked it back up.

Oil pressure light came on - took it in and the mechanic told me if it bothered me he would make it go out but didn't check the engine. It ran a couple more shifts then seized but no one seemed to care and they installed an engine out of a wreck.

Never could figure out those people who wanted them at auction - they seemed to think that being patrol cars must mean they had regular maintenance.