Last minute project

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This project was originally scheduled for next weekend, I was supposed to get the truck next Friday afternoon and have it ready for the following Monday. Well plans changed, the owner of the truck got accepted on a job bid in Louisiana, problem is he has to be there Monday (tomorrow). What went from a leisurely done job went to bust my a$$ for 2 days. Besides replacing the floor, now I have to do an oil change, replace air filters, check all fluids, fix a couple of marker lights, find and repair an air leak, grease the chassis, regroove 3 tires, do the annual vehicle inspection, and change the fuel pump cause his fuel pressure has been a little low.Got the truck dropped off to me Thurs. night about 8 p.m., too late to get started so it'll be an early morning start for me. Friday I was able to do all the mechanical repairs except regrooving the tires, and cut most of the bed floor out. Called it quits after a 12 hour day at 8 p.m.Saturday morning I finished cutting out the floor, used up my big bottles of acet / oxy and had to crack out the small set to finish up. Spent several hours with the grinder to clean everything up and get it ready for the new 11 ga. sheets to be installed.Cut the new pieces to size and used the attachment I made for the back of the tow truck to hoist them up into place, man what a life saver this truck has become. Without the tow truck it would have been very difficult to do this job by myself with no help.Got the bed floor layed out and tacked into place on the topside so now it's time to raise the bed to weld it out on the bottom side. Bottom side done, lower the bed and weld out all the seams on the topside. 15 lbs. of 6011 later the bed floor is done, time to double check everything and the last thing to do is jack it up to rotate the tires while regrooving them. Truck left last night at 10 p.m., and left at 6 this morning with a convoy of 4 other trucks that are all headed to Louisiana. Their job is supposed to last 7 - 9 months, I told them to make sure they tear up some equipment so I have to come and fix it, I could use a road trip, haven't been on vacation for several years and need to get away for a while.This will take at least two posts to get all the pictures up. Attached ImagesI am what I am, Deal with it!If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!
Reply:these pictures show the hoist on the tow truck to lift the sheet into the back of the truck, after metal was on the truck I turned it the way it needed to be, then drove forward while lowering the hoist at the same time. Made this part of the job real easy. Next picture is first sheet in place and last is all of the new floor set in place.One more post of pictures to follow Attached ImagesI am what I am, Deal with it!If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!
Reply:Topside tacked in place, bed floor temp at almost 6 p.m., not sure how hot it was early in the day but I was burning my knees through the knee pads I was wearing and the heat was burning my feet through the leather of the work boots. Bed raised to weld out the bottom side.bed back down and partially welded across the seamstruck leaving my yard at 10 o'clock last night Attached ImagesI am what I am, Deal with it!If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!
Reply:Lot of hard, dirty work in a short time frame fer sure, nice job.Hope you used a prop for the body and you just removed it as you were finished underneath ......Mike
Reply:They sure can dump a workload on you. You da man! City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Nice job,  do U have to grind out some of the excess around old welds that U torched?  I suppose so, that'd be fun on a hot afternoon.... then the new sheets will sit flat.  Finished well and the wrecker is  handy,  huhLincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more tools
Reply:Originally Posted by mrmikeyLot of hard, dirty work in a short time frame fer sure, nice job.Hope you used a prop for the body and you just removed it as you were finished underneath ......Mike
Reply:You get all the fun jobs..You have to at least paint all the door jambs blue......zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterYou get all the fun jobs..You have to at least paint all the door jambs blue......zap!
Reply:Looks like you got along pretty well dabar39, shame you had to use up a perfectly good weekend though.I too had a schedule change starting last Thursday, only mine is going to miss the Monday 8AM thing (more like noonish I hope).Are you thingking of more tools and such to use on the back of the truck, that little rig looks handy.Matt
Reply:Nice job dabar39. I am in the trucking bus. but I have tractor trailers, three end dumps. I always wondered to what extent guys went to cut out the old floor and now I see that it is totally removed. I actually thought they just go over the old floor with new steel sheets. I knew it would raise the tare weight, but that seemed like alot of work to cut it all out. Looks like you handled it well and alot faster than I thought it would have taken. What did you use for a plate clamp? Was that vice grips with a chain attached somehow?"Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:Dean, I've seen guys just go over the existing floor. It's a cheap, fast way to do it. Usually they will just plug weld the middle and then weld the sides. One problem is that you often get salt, ice and cr@p between the old floor and the new one and things don't last. Usually the guys who go this route are the ones who are cheap and grind up a truck and then dump it for another heap.Nice job dabar. There's a lot of work to cut all that out. We only cut out and replaced about 1/2 the floor on our 6 wheel Mack. The next time we just replaced the body with a used one in better shape..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by Matt_MaguireAre you thingking of more tools and such to use on the back of the truck, that little rig looks handy.Matt