OldIHC

Hi all!

Matt from Minnesota here (Rochester).

Boy am I happy to have found this site! I just bought a 1952 L-130 1-ton with hydraulic lift bed. It leaks from here, it leaks from there, it leaks everywhere. It grinds every gear and smells worse... AND I LOVE IT! The body itself is wrinkled, but very solid. virtually no rust other than surface rust.

I have only driven the truck a handful of times, but it is AWESOME! I'm planing to drive the truck as is for a number of years from my house to my barn (5 mile fun-ride) and slowly learn and fix as I go. Ill try to upload a couple pictures if/when I figure that out! For now, it's just a hello, thank you in advance, and I hope to spend a lot of time here, as time permits, into the future!!!!

Thanks all!

Matt.

Welcome to another Minnesotan, enjoy the site and your truck!

Welcome to the site! Does your truck have a 4 speed transmission? If so, it's likely to be an unsyncronized unit.

Dean

If unsynchronized Transmission try the double clutch method of shifting. Put clutch in(put out of gear, release clutch) then put clutch in again to put in gear.

Thanks all,

Yes, it’s a 4-Speed. 1-basically stump pulling 2-good for starting out 3-run around under 35mph 4-does all the rest of the work.

I have tried double clutching, it doesn’t seem to help. The best method I’ve started to learn is to shift at a very specific speed and RPM for each gear. THis will minimize the Grrrt, but it’s never silky smooth. My fear is that I’m damaging the gearbox with my poor shifting.

I do think the pedal itself has about an inch too much travel in it. I can try to adjust that out when spring rolls around!


Thanks! Matt

Double clutching is more of an "art" than an "science" in that you must judge engine speed, gearing, and road speed and match the three. Gear changes where the jump in ratio is small are much easier to negotiate than wider ratio changes. It is easier to make clash free gear changes in my Semi's where engine speed change between gears can be as little as 250 rpm, than it is my K-7 where the rpm change is much larger.
Practice, practice and practice are the three key elements to smooth gear changes on an unsyrcro transmission.
On the plus side, it takes a lot of grinding to do damage, or put another way, no one starts out being flawless at it and the transmission has lasted 50+ years.

Here's a picture if I can figure it out!

Nice truck! And it doesn't look very 'wrinkled' to me.

Dean

Lol! It's a homeowner paint job by previous owner. Good from a far, but far from good!

Like I said, I love it and cant wait for spring! Looking forward to learning, sharing, and having fun!

Those paint jobs that are done by homeowners, puts me in mind of my Brothers paint job on his corvair years ago. House paint put on by a standard paint brush. Looked real good from 40'.