My first Diesel truck was an Emeryville with a 5 and 3. The 5 speed was a single countershaft Fuller behind a 220 Cummins. And the 3 speed was a nightmare. The selector was electric and would carbon over. I got to where I could take the cover off the shift lever while I was driving and spray the contacts. There were solenoids that actually controlled air shifters that were pretty reliable except for the fact that the bushings in my Hencrickson suspension were so worn out that the shifter would hit the frame on a tight turn and break the shifter off. I fixed that by welding a chain to the top of the banjo housing and bolting the chain to the frame on the opposite side to keep the axle in place. The power divider was a nightmare. I carried spare parts and did most of my repairs on the side of the road. There were times I got caught without parts. The spider gears would run so fast in intermediate that they would eat the thrust washers and eat into into the interaxle differential housing. More than once I picked up beer cans on the side of the road and made thrust washers out of the tin with a pocket knife. I drove that truck over a million miles, the last 750 thousand of which were with a 250 with a turbo which made it a 270. The ratios were really nice and I never had to shift the stick between 50 and 65 mph. Only had to shift the 3 speed... that is when it would shift. Looking back, I think I can see why my father thought I was crazy that I wanted to drive a truck.
