Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Trany Repair

Wyoming Catholic Cowboys - raw and real: Trany Repair: Late model, Chevrolet 6-speed transmissions are notorious for loosing their shifting linkage. This is about the third time I have dealt with...

Real transmissions.

About once a year I go on an unhinged campaign for the restoration of manual transmissions.  I absolutely know, right from the onset, that it's totally pointless.  Nonetheless, the fact that no manual transmission pickup trucks are made in the US, outside of the Jeep pickups, really angers me.

100% of the reasons stated in support of automatic transmissions are pure unadulterated bullshit.  The real, and only, reason they're put in pickup trucks is that most pickup trucks are driven in cities, including ones that have fanciful outdoorsy names and have something like "off road edition" emblazoned on their sides.  If it's got an automatic transmission, it's the kawaii thirteen year old girl edition.  That's it.  It's made for wimps who want to pretend their outdoorsy and don't know how to drive.

The market, of course, is what controls this, and ever since the day guys who never get outside the Denver city limits started dominating the market, this is what we've ended up with.

Now, in defense of engineering, automatic transmissions in trucks have gotten much better than they used to be.  Indeed, ever since General Motors began to put Alison transmissions in their diesels, they've been pretty good. None of that changes the fact that all of the disadvantages associated with automatic transmissions fully remain.  You are actually using the engine to drive the transmission, which is inherently inefficient, and you are letting hydraulic pressure determine when to shift gears, which is mindless.  It can also be dangerous.  All of the features that engineers built in to allow automatic transmissions not to be mindless killers are ignored by everyone who drives one.

And the fact that they have a lot of extra parts means they're going to wear out more quickly.  I have had in the various vehicles I own two transmissions wear out. . . both of them were automatics. 

And, yes, I've owned vehicles with automatic transmissions.

So, anyway, it always goes the same way.  I get angry about it, and usually when it dawns on me that I can never, ever, buy a new vehicle now as they all have automatic transmissions.  I end up emailing the Dodge dealer asking for a cab and chassis with no transmission, as I can take care of the transmission part.

"Um. . . . we can't do that".

Oh bullshit, you certainly can.

Occasionally I called Dodge, which I did this week.  I ended up with some poor (probably Filipino, based on the accent) woman who tried to help.

"I want a cab and chassis with no transmission, or I want you to put in a G56 transmission and I know that you have some around there".

"Um. . . . just a moment sir. . . . I tried to ask somebody but nobody knows the answer to this. .  I'm sorry".

The current diesel engine in Dodge's is the the B6.7.  I really wonder if there's any new made manual that will mate up to it, although the costs of doing so would likely be insane. I wonder the same about the somewhat bigger Cummis engines, up to the the L9 and B7.2.  I'd think there's have to be one for hte 7.2.

Ram HD 2025 MANUAL Trans? Here's how it could happen...

About once a year I have a fit because Chrysler and Ford quit offering a manual transmission option.  I become unrealistic about it.

I know that neither one is going to restore manuals.  Frankly, trucks are meant now to be driving in cities, not on farms and ranches, and therefore they're designed for city drivers.  Basically, if a 13 year old girly girl can't drive it, they aren't going to make it.

And I also know the "but modern manual transmissions. . . " argument.

This video really addresses that.

Wyoming Leaders To Talk Self-Driving Vehicle Program With Tesla

 

Wyoming Leaders To Talk Self-Driving Vehicle Program With Tesla

The heavy lift.

 

 

Alaskan man gifted new motorcycle by Putin during Trump summit

Let me make this clear, I think Putin is a murderer and I hope that Ukraine wins the war.  

But Urals are a cool motorcycle.

Interesting truck box, Casper Wyoming.

 

Blog MIrror: Wyoming Man In Prison For Removing EPA-Mandated Filters Seeks Trump Pardon

 

Wyoming Man In Prison For Removing EPA-Mandated Filters Seeks Trump Pardon

Blog Mirror: Whoa: 385-Ft Long, 1.4 Million-Pound Superload Plodding Along I-80 On Wednesday

 

Whoa: 385-Ft Long, 1.4 Million-Pound Superload Plodding Along I-80 On Wednesday

Food trailer and truck.

 Seems like you just see these everywhere any more.

Lex Anteinternet: Aging and ignition.

Lex Anteinternet: Aging and ignition.: 

Aging and ignition.

Recently I was in Denver and had to rent a car.  I rented some sort of newer Toyota SUV.

For the second time in recent months, when I got in the car, I was baffled by how to start it.  Really a sign, I suppose, that I've aged to a point where some new technologies through me.  When I rented the car, they told me that the "keys are in the car."  Indeed, the "key" was in the ignition.  But it wasn't a key at all, it was really a fob that was inserted in a slot.  No key.  It didn't turn. And because it didn't turn, I had a moment where I couldn't figure out how to start the car.

I then noticed the on/off button depicted above, and pushed it.

Nothing happened.

It quickly became apparent, however, that what I needed to do was to push on the brake, and push on.  Once I did that, it started just fine.  I drove into Denver and found a spot in a parking lot. There was a moment of tension when I pushed off, but it turned off just fine.

This is all a little silly of course, but every car I've ever owned took a key.  They all started when you turned the ignition switch clock wise.  They didn't all work exactly the same way, however.

The 1954 Chevrolet Sedan I had actually didn't require a key to start it.  The key only unlocked the ignition.  Once the ignition switch was unlocked, you could remove the key.  I had no idea this was the case until my uncle showed me, and I was frankly stunned that was the case.

My old 1954 Chevrolet Deluxe.

At least one car I had actually had the keyed ignition added.  That was my first Jeep. As the Jeep had been an Army Jeep originally, I know that it originally had switch ignition, but not key.  All the purpose built military vehicles were that way, and I've driven quite a few of those. They varied in how they started, with floor starters being quite common.  Floor starters were common on pickup trucks at one time, although you still needed a key to turn the ignition on.

My 1958 M38A1.  It had a key ignition, but it was aftermarket.

I've never owned a vehicle with a floor starter.  All the vehicles I have owned had keyed ignition.  I'm not in any hurry to replace any of the vehicles I have, but based upon what I've recently been seeing, that's becoming a thing of the past.  Odd to think that something I've just taken as a given that way, is on the way out.  

Of course, even at that, keyed ignition was an innovation.  I don't really know how they started, but very early vehicles, like Model Ts, did not have keyed ignition.  So this change isn't unprecedented, but it is a surprise.

 

Yellowstone Makes Earthquakes With 53,000-Pound Vibrator Truck To Study Volcano

Industrial History: 14 ton truck on 5-ton capacity bridge causes a col...

Industrial History: 14 ton truck on 5-ton capacity bridge causes a col...: ( Satellite ) Apr 29, 2025: Lehigh Valley Breaking News posted six photos with the comment: "BRIDGE COLLAPSE | 3701 ORCHID PL | LOWER M...

Blog Mirror: Giant Killer Whale Swallowing A Truck Unleashed On The Roads Around Missoula .

 

Giant Killer Whale Swallowing A Truck Unleashed On The Roads Around Missoula

A Missoula man has spent the last five years converting an Isuzu box truck into a giant killer whale. Now his creation, named “Killatrina,” has been unleashed on the roads around town.

Lex Anteinternet: M939 Truck. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: M939 Truck. National Museum of Military Vehicles.:

M939 Truck. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

This is a M939 5 ton truck.  A heavier U.S. military truck is behind it.  I can't identify what the truck  is carrying, unfortunately.

Part of the final series of US 6x6 trucks, it went into production in 1982 and were produced in the US only for a few years.  They're still produced in South Korea.  It featured a diesel engine and an automatic transmission.

Last edition:

LARC-V. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1960s, Army, Dubois Wyoming, Military, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Transportation, U.S. Navy, Vietnam War

US-made Flyer 72 tactical vehicle spotted In Ukraine

 US-made Flyer 72 tactical vehicle spotted In Ukraine

Lex Anteinternet: Miscellaneous wheeled transport of World War Two. ...

Lex Anteinternet: Miscellaneous wheeled transport of World War Two. ...: 

Miscellaneous wheeled transport of World War Two. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

International 4x4 truck.

2 1/2 ton 6x6.

Ford F8, a type of truck built in Canada for the Commonwealth forces.  This one is painted in German colors, at least for the time being.

Marmon Harrington 4x4 conversion of Ford truck in British service.

Fort GTB 1 1/2ton truck, a type mostly used by the Navy and Marine Corps.

Early Dodge 1/4 to weapons carrier.

Pacific Car and Foundry M26.

Last edition:

British QF 3-inch 20 cwt anti aircraft gun. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, 1940s, 1947, Aircraft, Artillery, British Army, World War One, World War Two

Lex Anteinternet: M38 A1s, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: M38 A1s, National Museum of Military Vehicles.: 

M38 A1s, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

M38A1 with a recoilless rifle.

The first automobile I ever owned was a M38A1.

The prototype for the modern Jeep, basically, it entered civilian use as the CJ5, after entering military use in 1952.  Doubtless examples are still in use, and civilians varians are still produced by Roxor in India.

 Last edition:

M151 Jeeps. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 4x4, Automobiles, Military, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Radio, Trucks, Wyoming (Dubois)

Lex Anteinternet: M151 Jeeps. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Lex Anteinternet: M151 Jeeps. National Museum of Military Vehicles.: 

M151 Jeeps. National Museum of Military Vehicles.

The M151 "Mutt" entered service in 1959 and carried on into the 1990s.  It had fantastic off road capabilities, and was also fantastically dangerous, given its independent wheel suspension system.

The last Jeep to see general use in the U.S. military, it was replaced by HumVeh's, although speciality vehicles, and even modern commercial Jeeps, continue to see some use.  In these examples, the radio mount for a period radio is displayed.

I personally have a lot of experience from the 1980s, with both the M151, and this model of military radio.

Last edition:

M32 Tank Retriever, National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Labels: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Armor, Korean War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Tracked vehicles, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Lex Anteinternet: National Museum of Military Vehicles. World War One Display.

Lex Anteinternet: National Museum of Military Vehicles. World War O...:   

National Museum of Military Vehicles. World War One Display.

 

Inside of Renault tank.