GETTING IT HOME
My wife, friend Daniel and I started out Saturday morning. It was 37 and sleeting by the time we got to Searcy. I married a pretty robust woman, and Daniel is one to have fun when others complain, so we set right to work, sleet and all. We soon found that mounting the tires by hand was nearly impossible in our time frame, so we decided to load up the new tires in the Apache and drive on the old to a nearby shop. We had a flat a mile-and-half in, so we pulled into a resident's field, asked permission and jackstanded it. We removed all four wheels, took them to the "nearby shop" and got some lunch while the weather improved. When we returned, the jackstands had sunk so far into the grass the truck was sitting on the axles, not the jackstands. No big deal, it just took longer. We took off again, made it another 3 miles before my "Spidey sense" started tingling.
Not really sure what it was I pulled off, and we found that the mud tires I'd bought were too wide and that the truck bed was rubbing the rear passenger tire every time I hit a bump. The real problem was that the rear axle is off-center by about 1.25". We didn't have the tools to handle that so we tried to loosen the truck bed and scoot it over. That was inadequate so we loosened all bed bolts on the passenger side and crammed a board in there between the chassis and the bed, and tightened all the bolts back down. This gave us clearance against the tire and we were all set.
We made it to the next stop sign, and not being used to the clutch, I killed it. It didn't start. We used up most of the battery figuring out the choke valve control had come loose, and had to jump it. I'm not sure if this alternator is not charging, if it's just under-powered, or if it's lost a diode and working against itself... because it "does" charge, just not at low RPM, and my battery only gets just to 12V after a long drive.
After that it drove right home. The gauge doesn't go past 37 MPH but Daniel said I would hit 60 or so pretty regularly. After this the steering gets pretty squirrel-ly, but it is not at all bad. I would say 55 was comfortable. The steering feels like it will tighten right up. I think the drum brakes performed well. Our route was 36 to Searcy, 367 South to Jacksonville, 161 to North Little Rock > McCain > North Hills > Broadway Bridge > Markham > Home. This was a very acceptable drive in this truck, and lots of gas stations. I stopped regularly and checked the block temperature, and she never went over 110*F which I was really impressed by.
When we finally got it home I realized that the Ignition Coil had been boiling over, and was still doing so. Not sure what that is unless this a 6V coil in a 12V system... but we'll figure that out soon. First I've got to get it settled, make a check list of what I want to do, and read the shop manual.
Thanks for the help! Stay tuned.
PS. The Paint code is 700A, looks like it was mono-tone Jet Black originally. Does anybody know how to use a VIN# to find more history on the car?
Last edited by Peggy M; 10/17/2023 12:57 AM.
