Week 4 "The Difference Between Lubed and Unlubed Fasteners"

During the last week of class we were given a short demonstration by our instructor on determining the  highest clamping force compared with the amount of ft. lbs. used to get it there. Using the set up below, we were to test our choice of grade of bolt and put it in this 50ton jack pre-load the fastener using the jack and take the fastener to failure while recording the ft. lbs. of torque and the corresponding clamping force.

 I chose to take 2 grade 5 half inch fasteners one lubed, one not and start out at 50 ft. lbs.and take each bolt and add 25 ft. lbs of torque at time until each failed.

 I was able to take both the lubed and non lubed fasteners to over 125 ft. lbs. of torque and over 15,000 pounds of clamping force. The difference being that it took less ft. lbs of torque for the lubed fastener to reach a higher clamping force than the non lubed fastener. For instance at 131 ft. lbs just before failure the lubed fastener had a clamping force of nearly 17,000 lbs, where as the non lubed bolt only reached 15,350 lbs. of clamping force with over 150 ft. lbs. of torque. It was easy for me to see the point of this assignment and I enjoyed doing it. That being said, with a lubed fastener you will reach a higher clamping force with less ft. lbs. of torque applied.

Week 4
Shop Hours 17
Total Running Hours 87ish

Week 5 The progress on the 1998 International project "Its Alive"

Over the last week we have made great progress on the International project. We were able to test the engine and determine that it was indeed turning over. We then set out on a mission to hook up the fuel lines and loop our coolant lines by bypassing what would be the heater core and start working on the electrical. The coolant lines and fuel lines were easy enough, however the electrical wasn't so smooth.

 The first problem I ran into was finding all the wiring connections we would need to get the key switch to work, power up the computer so the engine would stay running assuming we could get it running and hooking up the throttle pedal. After spending most of my day in the shop and some time with my instructor we were able to find everything we needed left over from the scrap of the truck

With a lot of learning and researching of schematics we were able to get power to the computer, the throttle pedal working and the key switch barely working. We were able to get the engine running and to stay running, the only problem being the engine would only stay running with the key in the start position. As soon as you released the key the engine would die. We were fairly quick to determine that we had a mix up in some wires at the key switch. We were then able to go back fix the problem and had the engine running at a good idle for several minutes. There was a lot learned this last week, for me it was all about the electrical side. With a bit of help and instruction I broke down the electrical schematic and was able find and put power to everything on this engine that it needs to run.

Week 5
Shop Hours 19
Total Running Hours 110-115

"Cutting out a drop axle" and "Scrapping a cab"

 During this last week of class one of my main focuses has been on preparing a drop axle to be able set on stands similar to the picture below. At first I thought it would be rather quick and easy and in the end it didn't take me to long. However I did run into a few issues.

 The first issue I ran into was someone had welded the axle itself to the frame with the airbags. I noticed this after cutting the U bolts off one side and nothing happening. After realizing that the axle had been welded I tried to grind the weld out but was unsuccessful.

 The next plan of attack was to cut the air bags and as much of the assembly away from the axle making it as light as possible. I began by making cuts on either side. This is when I ran into my next little problem, a little thing called rust. The inside of the frame was so rusty that I was having to blow the molten metal out of my cut line and come back and burn away the rust. After spending about 15 minutes on a cut that should have taken 2. I grabbed the biggest hammer in reach and set out smacking the rusted steel off the inside of the other half of the frame, my next cuts went a whole lot faster.

 

 Another one of my tasks last week was to remove everything from the cab of the truck so it could be sent to scrap. This was actually a very interesting day, I have never taken the air-conditioning out of a vehicle and that was just one of the things I had to remove from the cab.

In the end it was a lot of little screws,nuts and wiring connectors. Plus some added patience and a big chisel for all the fasteners that were so rusted I couldn't get them apart.

The next thing I started on was the sorting out of all the wiring for the engine, and the coolant lines so that we can hopefully in the future here have a running engine that we and future classes may be able to work with.

There was a lot learned for me this last week, from locating and sorting out the main wiring harnesses needed for an engine to run, to the removal of the AC unit out of the cab of a heavy duty truck. I would say the thing I ended up learning and appreciating the most was how bad rust can really affect the cutting of steel with a torch. I have always known rust is bad wherever it may be but definitely didn't know it could make cutting with a torch so difficult. Lesson learned!

Week #3
Shop Hours 16
Total Hours 23
Running Hours 60ish

Disassembly of an International Semi Truck

Over the last week and a half it has been mine and some of my other peers assignment to disassemble an old International Semi truck and scrap everything except for all three axles the engine the dash and all wiring harnesses.

We started out by getting the truck in the shop so we would be able to properly work on it. This wasn't the easiest of tasks considering there was no transmission or air in the system to free the brakes or steer. After caging the air cans and freeing up the brakes we gathered around for a good old pushing match, we won!

 

After getting the truck inside we began to pull off the doors, hood, fuel tanks,seats,dash and exhaust.

We ended up with quite a pile of stuff, I thought one of the funnest but mind blowing parts so far during this assignment. Was disconnecting all the wiring running to and from the dash, then removing a bundle of wires that will make your head spin. I definitely learned that even in an older truck with out all the the computers, there is still a lot going on electrically in these types of vehicles.

After removing the insides of the cab, we were then able to focus on removing the cab. We did so by strapping the cab so it would sit level we hoisted, then disconnected the 14 bolts holding on and hoisted it off the frame and it was as simple as that.

One of the next tasks we set out on was to unbolt the drop axle from the frame so we could remove the whole drop axle assembly from the frame allowing us to remove the actual axle from the air bags and frame part of the assembly.

As you can see we managed get the drop axle out and it was not easy, it took either a 1" air gun and most of the fasteners had to either be heated with and induction tool or a torch. Actually the last 2 fasteners had to be cut out by your truly. One of the most interesting things I learned throughout the removal of this axle assembly was how to use a the heating induction tool, I had never seen one before and was surprised at how good it actually worked. Although I think it would work better on nuts without nyloc. Also, fun fact this axle weighed in at 1,285 lbs.

I think the thing that I have had to keep reminding myself throughout this project is, this truck was put together, it didn't magically appear. So every time I run into the situation of  how do I get this apart and start getting frustrated. Is to not run to the nearest person for help but to sit back and think about it.

Week 1 & 2
Shop Hours 26

"Electromagnetic Drilling"and The answers to a few of Jeff's Questions

During this last week in class I was given the task of using an electromagnetic drill to drill a precise hole in a mock frame set up in the shop. Since I had never used an electromagnetic drill I went straight too YouTube and started looking for a video of the same drill we have in the shop being used, I couldn't find one. I found many others but not of this particular drill. The next step was to try and find the owners manual online, I found a pdf. and looked over the operating instructions.

 

This hole I was supposed to drill was to be drilled exactly at 1/16 of any inch anywhere length and width wise within the field. I put my hole at 38 1/16" length and 8 7/16" width.

The drill we have in the shop is a Slugger FHM 101 USA.


Here it is during the assembly


The bit I was using was a 9/16" by 2"

Here is the drill completely assembled and attached to the frame rail and ready to start drilling.


Now as I began to drill things seamed to be going good at first, the teeth of the drill bit started to dig in and then they just simply stopped biting. I tried drilling for some 20 minutes, I went through a full tank of lubricant and popped the drill off the frame several times. Making no progress I took a step back.

This is the hole I attempted to cut. Confused and frustrated I asked my instructor a few days later what I might have been doing wrong and was happy to find out that it wasn't me and it was the bit. For some unknown reason this particular bit was in great shape but just wouldn't cut. Re-leaved I sent out to cut a new hole with a different bit. It went smooth as butter.






 Another interesting thing that happened this week was a peer of mine brought in a catastrophic failure in a truck drive axle. All the spider gears were missing at least half there teeth and when my instructor started leading us through the failure analysis it was very interesting to watch him point out where the failure started and what most likely caused it.

After a class discussion my instructor ask us to identify the style of ring gear this was and which side was the drive side and which was the reverse side of the ring gear and why.

After doing some research I came to the conclusion that this was a Hypoid gear set. After turning a couple of tandem Meritor axles we have in the shop and watching the gears turn when the wheel ends were moved forward and reverse. I came to the conclusion that the concave side is the drive side and convex side is the  reverse side. It also helped to reading chapter 23 in Heavy Duty Truck Systems 5th edition.

Another task was to figure out how many speeds this transmission has.

I came to the conclusion right away from the look that it was a 6 speed but I did have my doubts. After doing some hands on shifting of the gears because it is a manual transmission and researching the model number. I came up with the conclusion that this is a Fuller FS 6306X  mid range 6 speed manual transmission.

"Wheel Alignment"

Before the Thanksgiving break I was given the assignment of checking the wheel alignment on a Freightliner truck in our shop. After being previously shown by our instructor, watching some videos and going over "A Common Man's Guide" Me and another student teamed up and began to the Alignment Mastery sheet we had printed out.

The first step was to set the Toe-in on the truck.

After measuring the to see how much we needed to adjust the Toe-in, which turned out to be 1.25 inches





We were then able to adjust the tie rods and get our Toe-in to the proper specification.

We adjusted the tie rods on both sides 5/8 of an inch bring us to what should be a zero angle in the Toe-in.







After getting the steering axle adjusted we then moved on to checking and setting the thrust angle on both the forward drive axle and the rear drive axle.

Once realizing that the thrust angle was off about half an inch, we were able to get underneath and adjust the angle back to zero.

This assignment was pretty simple, however before the lesson in the shop and the discussions with my peers about wheel alignments. It would have been much more time consuming and frustrating to do this assignment. This was my first wheel adjustment on a heavy duty truck and most of what I learned was fairly new, especially getting down and turning the wrenches and making the adjustment. This was an awesome little assignment and has taught me that without to much difficulty I can perform or help perform a wheel alignment and know what a thrustline is and how to tell if it is true along with a lot more I wasn't to sure about before.

I

Yesterday I got the opportunity to go to the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle Washington with my instructor and peers from the diesel technology program I am in. I have never been, which is kind of hard for me to believe considering I fished for so many years. Anyways it was an awesome experience and I will be going next year. There were so many vendors there was no way I was able to talk to all of them. I saw some really cool new technology and was able to talk to some people I have in the past really wanted to talk too. The guys at TCI scales and weighing equipment answered a question that has been bothering me since about 2004. The guys at Foss Maritime were really nice and gave me some good insight on how they started out at Foss and if I was interested in possibly working for Foss where I might want to start. Oh and I had an awesome conversation with one guy at Marco Global about there latest powerblocks and pot haulers, I have to say there B33 2 speed powerblock is pretty awesome. Like I said before this was an awesome experience and I look forward to going next year. Here a few pictures from this year.

This is a L250 GE Tier 4 Marine Engine being on show by Hatton Marine. This 12 cylinder engine is able to put out 5000 horse power.....
These Engines are being ran in ferries and large tugs here in the northwest.

This is a Reintjes WAF 3445K gear box with a 3.036:1 reduction.
These are also used in some Washington state ferries.

This is a Perkins M300C 1106 series marine engine.
This engine is a medium duty engine and has a rating of 225kw @ 2400rpm and a peak torque of 1050 @ 1400rpm....
These engines also have a world wide fuel tolerance ranging  from biofuel, kerosene and aviation fuel to standard diesel.

This is a Tier 3 John Deere marine generator being shown by Pacific Power Products.
The engine is a inline 4 cylinder.
The Generating system is Hanco and has a rating of 60 Hz @ 1800 rpm. and a kWe of 154prime/169max.

This is a Yanmar engine 8LV-350C 350 MHP with Hamilton 241 jet.
This is the lightest weight in its class and has 995lbs of Bobtail.

This is a Tier 3 C7.1 Marine Generator Set being shown by Caterpillar.
This is an inline 4 cylinder engine with a rating of  50Hz to 60Hz at 1500 to 1800 rpm.

This is a Hydro cooler or Refrigerated Sea Water System being shown by Pacific West Refrigeration.
This particular system was a 25 ton RSW system.