13 speed model Eaton Fuller Roadranger transmissions provide thirteen forward speeds and two reverse. The auxiliary section contains LO and HI range ratios, plus the L and H splitter gear ratios. The LO position in the front section is used only as a starting gear. The other four ratios are used once in LO range and once again in HI range. Turning your reliable 9-speed into a Fuller 13-speed transmission with an inexpensive conversion kit before trade-in will increase your truck’s worth by $3,000 or more over a similar truck equipped with a 10-speed. In addition, a truck equipped with a 13-speed sells about twice as fast as one equipped with a 10-speed transmission.
Newly rebuilt Eaton/Fuller13 speed transmission. RTLO16913A. Our units are rebuilt with all new bearings, seals, synchronizers, sliding clutches and any other hard parts not meeting our strict standards. With todays high torque/high output engines, we only use geniune Eaton/Fuller gearing. UNITS COME WITH A 1 YEAR/UNLIMITED MILES WARRANTY. PRICE ABOVE IS WITH CORE EXCHANGE. A CORE DEPOSIT MAY APPLY. PLEASE CALL FOR SHIPPING OPTIONS AND TO VERIFY APPLICATION.SHIPPING IS BASED ON A COMMERCIAL ADDRESS AND THE LOWER 48 STATES. The transmission clutch housing and yoke are NOT included with this unit. PA residents add 6% sales tax. All major credit cards accepted. We are a very busy shop in western Pennsylvania and if someone does not answer please leave a message. We will return your call ASAP. Please also remember we are in the eastern standard time zone. Thank you.
Joe's Transmission and Differential Service
724-352-4525 Phone
866-445-3345 toll free
724-352-4384 Fax
8:30am-5pm M-F EST
Saturday by appointment
RTLO16913A RTLOF16913A RTLO 16913A RTLOF 16913A RTLO16913 RTLOF16913
Welcome it’s our new website, 13speed.com it’s about big trucks. A lot of my time had been spent shifting 13 speed transmissions in a number of tractor trailers in countries around the world. That’s where the idea for www.13speed.com as a domain name came from.
During the day to day operation of my trucking business I found that driving a truck and trailer presents a number of other demands on your time besides driving. As anyone starting out in the trucking business will soon find out, the knowledge required to do this job has a pretty steep learning curve.
13 Speed Transmission Weight
Here is an example of Trucks doing what seems impossible. Truckers sometimes require special training for complex jobs. Training, knowledge, and experience in the trucking business lead to very high paying jobs, check out this video.
Let’s start with a link to our Training and Jobs section. Here you can also find Nation-wide Load Boards or Local, Loads, Dispatchers and what the loads are paying in this section. These load boards and dispatchers services cover the entire Continental United States and much of Canada. It’s a great resource.
So how much money does the boss make. Here is a video presentation by an owner operator of two trucks explaining his cost of operation and net profit at the end of the day. An excellent video cash breakdown summary of this business owners operation. Note his last most important detail.
Next we have News and Weather section. Some of the tools in this section are. Weather by zip code and long range weather forecasting and live and future weather maps. CSPAN Radio is also a great resource for news in this section.
CDL Training and Resources are available in this section. This part of our website has a lot of information on getting your CDL. Truck inspections, practice tests and getting you own manuals for the Class A Test.
So you are new in the trucking business or maybe just considering truck driving as a career. Here is an excellent video link comparing a company drivers life to a owner operators. If there was a course you could take called trucking 101 this would be it.
Here is a link to the average truck driver salary by state. In other words there is a lot more to being a “Class A driver” then just driving.
So just how important are truck drivers? What would happen if the trucks just stopped. Here’s another link in blue text that answers that question. Remember Trucks Make America GO
Don’t forget to check out our new additions at the top of this page. News, Weather, Training, Jobs and Loads section. Links in blue are above for instant information Truckers use daily. You also have income resources and what’s happening on the road ahead. We have links to information about the new federal trucking regulations that went into effect in January 2020. Smart phone tips and links that will help make the truck scales and inspections a lot easier are also available. Lets not forget the fuel search price map link that is always current.
Today I’m adding a link that has to do with truck driver health issues. It’s a lecture I have had for years on my other websites about an important subject, Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes. The video is called Sugar the bitter truth It’s a very informative film which that can help millions. Knowledge is Power.
If you are an independent owner operator first you have to find a truck and a company to work for. Actually owner operators are a small percentage of the over all number of trucks on the road. Here is a link that has a lot of information about owner operators and what they earn.
This video link is to the unveiling of Tesla’s new Cyber Truck, Very impressive. Will the million mile battery turn the Car and Truck industry upside down? Here is a link to a video showing the latest million mile battery developments. Looks like drastic changes are about to take place in the transportation industry.
This is how the big boys sell trucks and trailers at auction. Pay attention, the links in (Blue) throughout the site lead to free educational materials and what I have found to be good values and opportunities in the Internet market place for truckers. More information about trucking, trucks, trailers, engines, transmissions, truck insurance rates by stateetc. can be found using my blue text links or the search engine Google. My blue text links to valuable trucking information just makes it faster and easier.
You say you want more keep on reading.
Now that 13 speed website is up and running on the World Wide Web. I want to thank all you folks from both the U.S.A. and all around the rest of the world for visiting our trucking website. We are now Mobile and Android ready and operational at 13speed. So that’s a big 10-4 to all you Tablet and Cell phone users who wanted to visit our site. I have also posted a number of hot new truck images and will be posting a lot more in the future. In the meantime remember to keep the greasy side down and stay safe.
Here at 13speed.com I hope to be providing some useful tips regarding the working world of tractor trailers. How about this Cost per Mile Calculator it’s a tool every Trucker needs. Now here is a link that does a good job of explaining the real cost of trucking, how all the parts of the overall trucking budget add up and what you can expect your costs will be as an owner operator.
Speaking of (13 speeds) I have a link to a free transmission trouble shooting guide that can be found in upper right corner of this page. Click on (free training) and you will find your way to the manual that outlines proper maintenance and trouble shooting procedures for Eaton Fuller 13 speed Transmissions. (I like the old style 13 speed shifter.)
This book is a real world example of what I consider gold in your driver or mechanic reference library. The material presented is clear and straight forward outlining what a professional driver and or mechanic needs to know to move forward in his or her career. There is lots of help for all you truckers right here on 13 speed. The text link in blue will take you to one of the best rebuilt transmission buys on ebay.
I’m sure most everyone in this country has heard the terms big rig, large car, cab-over, conventional and a host of other names. All of these phrases are me 13 speed referring to the tractor that the big truck driver is operating.
News Flash 13speed.com has been translated into more then 20 languages. On the top right of every page just click on the word ENGLISH, it’s a drop-down. Select a language, click on it and the page will be translated. For example you can go from English toSpanish or English to any of the other languages in the drop down.
Here’s a tip with a professional tractor trailer driver using a clutch-less shifting technique. I found a video of this Semi truck driver doing a good job of demonstrating an old school shifting technique on a 6 speed transmission coupled with a 4 speed auxiliary gearbox. The description below references a 13 speed I get another video to show that technique as well.
You will note that the only time the driver uses a clutch while shifting his 13 speed is once. That’s when the driver is starting out in the lowest gear needed to get safe efficient forward motion going. The rest of the time all the shifting you hear or see takes place without the use of the clutch. Slowly and precisely with each shift the 13 speed transmissions gears are meshed to increase the speed of the truck in accordance with the engines RPM.
A million plus miles is a common-place life span for a Eaton Fuller big truck transmission with nothing more then oil changes. Doing the shifting in this manner and changing the oil at recommended intervals extends the life of the transmission and clutch tremendously.
I just found a very interesting report about Autonomous Trucks. I think every trucker out there would want to read about the future of driver less or driver-less trucking. Author Steve Viscelli. Here is the link to the report.
We’ll be talking about Freightliners, Peterbilt’s, Western-Stars, Internationals, Volvo’s, Kenworths, Fords and the rest of what’s out there. Also these tractors will be pulling a variety of trailers from flatbeds to triples. They’ll be going across this country, east to west and north to south. There will also be some mention of my old favorite the 13 speed transmission. This is C D L country, professional drivers with commercial driver’s licenses. Sometimes the license is called (Class A) for short. We’ll be talking about gross truck and trailer weights of 80,000 pounds, and more. These are the people who make America go ladies and gentlemen “The American Trucker”.
We’re going to talk about inspections, maintenance, logs, loading docks, and everything in between that gets us through our days work safely. Wow, talk a about multitasking. While we are on the subject of inspections Take a look at this California Commercial Length Law (Tutorial Video)
The focus of 13speed.com will be on professional drivers, the guys and gals that get it done. When it comes to trailers we will talk about spread axles, sliders, tag axles drop-decks, hoppers, tankers, reefers, flatbeds, containers and a lot more. We are also going to examine subjects like fuel economy, DOT checks, auctions, LTL’s and wide-loads. We’ll be comparing truck-stop food and service all across this country. We’ll be stopping at the cat scales and making sure the load is secure and legal before getting on our way. Some of the things I also would like to cover is comparing some of the tire, battery and equipment suppliers. Hows that for a lineup? Just to keep things interesting how about a side order of technology. We will also be asking plenty of people to weigh in on the subjects of safety, driving schools and pay rates. Then we will shift gears and interview some owner operators, and company drivers. These interviews should provide some wisdom and tips for the rookies.
After all this we will take a look at the stunt monster trucks. We can learn some tricks about how there drivers keep the greasy side down. Did you say, you would like to see some tractor pulls? That is a good choice and will be included in our on-going agenda. Of course we’ll want to get all the latest from the truck shows. What about the trucking museums you say? We won’t miss a beat from trucking trivia to trucking in the tundra our curiosity is never ending. Let’s not forget about budgeting and cost containment, those are pretty important subjects too. So buckle your seat-belts, because we’re getting this website loaded with all our best for America’s best. The American Trucker.
I’m going to try to write an accurate description of my daily journey as an owner operator hauling steel in the Midwest. I have personally owned a number of trucks and trailers. Ford 9000 series, Freightliner cab overs, and GMC were the brands of the tractors I owned.
These tractors were attached to an assortment of trailers made by Fruehauf, Dorsey, and Ashdown to name a few of the brands which I also owned. I have either owned or driven professionally trucks powered by all the major brands of motors such as caterpillar, Cummings, mack, and Detroit diesel. My experience also covers shifting transmissions from 3 to 16 speeds which were used for variety of different applications depending in the load. The who, what, when, where, why, and how of my real day to day experiences while working for a small trucking company will be presented here on this website.
Excuse me, flashing lights. I’ll have to take a minute and listen to this highway advisory on the radio to hear whats happening on the road ahead. The message is about the traffic being slowed down in the construction area ahead of us. I’d better slow down.
I’ll keep it as real and objective as I can. In my case a lot of my time was spent picking up and delivering various loads of steel and steel products across the heartland of this country via the interstate highways and back roads of this part of America. Beyond driving and delivering whether you own your own truck or drive for a company there are a number of other duties and responsibilities which will make demands on your time every day
Commercial trucks come in all sizes, from straight trucks to triple trailer heavy haulers and all this equipment needs to be inspected. Truck inspections are about the safety of both the truck operator and the people around the truck, the general public.
There are forms to record the condition of various truck and/or trailer components during the truck and/or trailer inspection. A numbered list of inspection areas that many truck inspection forms cover comes to more then 50 inspections. The individual items inspected during the forms 50 inspections will be a much higher number.
Truck inspections reveal problems and sometimes potential issues. The completed inspection forms goal is that your truck and/or it’s trailer and auxiliary equipment is safe to drive or road-worthy. Inspection of the entire truck and/or trailer is what the inspection form will cover. Sometimes the truck inspection leads to an immediate action which must be taken in order to operate the vehicle safely, replacing a headlight would be a common example.
Other times the truck inspection may reveal a potential issue that calls for the driver to order or request a replacement for a soon to be expired fire extinguisher. In all cases it’s important that the truck inspection be followed by action where necessary by the driver, or mechanic concerning issues found during the inspection.
How you deal with inspection issues depends on the size of the company you work for and your status as either an owner operator or company driver. As an owner operator the truck you drive is owned by you. All the responsibility of of the trucks inspections, safety and up keep are all your responsibility. In other words it’ all on you. A company driver on the other hand has more support following inspections which may lead to repairs. It should also be said that the differences in pay checks of a company driver and owner operator reflect the differences in responsibilities held by either individual. Think of it this way the owner operator completes the inspection and light replacement himself. He then picks-up a new fire extinguisher at the big box store and his truck is ready to roll. In the case of a company driver he or she has their mechanic see to the light repair and fire extinguisher replacements. Two completely different ways of handling some of responsibilities of driving a tractor trailer determined by ownership status and company size. Both examples get the job done and both trucks become roadworthy after an inspection. Below is a link to a pamphlet produced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The publication has good statistical information concerning safety in the trucking industry. Just click on the link below or copy and paste it into your browser’s address bar. It’s just another helpful resource we at 13 speed want you to have. Click on the professional drivers continuing education link right here or just below.
Now that we have some future plans for our new 13 speed site, we can proceed. So far, we’ve talked a little bit about some general terms that describe a number of different Semi-Tractors and trailers trailers. We have also the dropped the names of some truck manufacturers. There’s been some description of commercial driver’s licenses. We’ve also given some information on inspections of trucks and trailers. I’m also going to introduce some technology, which has been around for some time in hopes that you folks can benefit by the material.
I’ll start by saying, thank goodness for computers, because my introduction to the trucking industry was before Microsoft. In other words, we relied on maps and directions given to us by others to find our way to a destination. Then came the wonderful world of computer technology. Things like Google Earth, Google maps, Yahoo maps and a host of other fantastic tools became available on the Internet. Even though the early on line-maps were a help for a tractor-trailer driver, those maps still needed refining.
Truck drivers have a special set of rules that govern their movement. These rules concern weight, height, width, and number of axles of the truck-trailer and it’s load. You’ve seen signs along the road, limiting the weight and the number axles of the vehicles using it. This is where a new phrase in our vocabulary has to be introduced (truck route). Basically, it’s the road that is built to handle the larger, taller, heavier trucks and trailers. Another goal of this truck route to also control traffic and noise. Road planning engineers have long used these routes as entrance ways to industrial parks that are frequented by large trucks. Bridges, underpasses and tunnels are also to be considered when driving big trucks to or from a given destination. Trucks, trailers and with an additional number of axles is another consideration when driving in urban areas, truck routes were designed with over sized vehicles in mind.
Historically, most of the navigation information was passed from driver to driver. Little things like a roadway being paved and it’s effect on the height clearance of an overpass were important things for a driver to know. A tool before GPS used to navigate through and around cities was (the CB radio). Important points concerning navigation in unfamiliar areas were passed from driver to driver via CB Radio. Road widths and another considerations such as, two-lane road ways, narrowing to single lane tunnels were again passed from driver to driver via CB Radio. Bridges have weight restrictions and a big truck drivers choices can sometimes be limited when considering the shortest route. The good news is that it’s all been thought out for today’s truck driver. Android and or Windows, touchscreen, GPS tablets are available specifically for truckers for a reasonable price on eBay. Check them out by clicking on the link below.
A magic box that talks and has all the answers. Imagine that: tolls, directions, truck routes, bridge heights, weight limits. these truck GPS’s have it all and more just for you. So you can keep on trucking. Here’s the link and a picture below.
All of those (details) when you need them are right there on your GPS. You can program your destinations and a computerized voice will guide you safely and legally. I’ve used the latest tablets, and some of the earliest and smallest physical versions of GPS. So much information is available and delivered verbally, which allows you to concentrate on the important part of your job (driving). My goal is to make trucking, a little safer, a little easier.
The GPS units work, they’re safe, they’re trustworthy, and allow you to keep your mind on your business. The GPS also has a destination search area where you would enter your address destination and you are delivered by step by step instructions. Verbal instructions will be delivered from beginning until arrival. Specific truck parameters must be set up having to do with the size and type of your vehicle. I have found the maps within these units are current and concise. However, as with all technology, the driver is still responsible for the legal operation and road worthiness of his or her truck. So remember, this GPS has made my life easier, and it’s something that I appreciate. However the GPS is just a tool, and you are the operator in control. The professional driver who delivers the goods.
For what it is worth I driven half-cab short wheel with base leaf spring suspension with a 50,000 lb coil in the middle of my trailer. So having done the bone jarring before air ride thing. I would recommend a tie-wrap re-enforcement or other method to help anchor the mount of the GPS to your dash or visor rather using the suction mount on dash or windshield. The pot-holes in spring time will test your GPS mounting skill. Likewise I would keep the unit within clearly viewable sight and reach. One more suggestion is to keep the unit off the top of the dash board or windshield as per some state laws. Next they work best looking at the screen straight on (without sun light directly on them). I’ve perfected the (GPS Mounts) mounting over time. Doing a good job will decide your new GPS units longevity and ease of use.
Now that was easy. I just entered another address into my GPS for my next pickup. Years ago I would be looking through my map folder and hoping the map I needed had enough detail for me to see where I was going. For this pickup having an electronic GPS makes finding a new destination much easier. Here’s to driving and shifting this 13 speed while being helped out with audio turn by turn directions.
Did I mention I was a steel hauler. I was trying to put some proportion to the weight of steel which I delivered through the years. Much of the steel was in coil form, but I also delivered steel beams. Lots of steel reinforcing rods, and steel plates were delivered as well. I forgot to mention delivering zinc ingots which I delivered to a plant which makes penny blanks. The blanks were then shipped to the U.S. mint to be stamped and finished to the form we all know as the Lincoln head penny.
To put steel weight in a perspective you might understand, I’ll compare career steel hauled weight to a famous bridge in the town were I was born. The bridge is called the Bayonne Bridge. It is the seventh largest steel span structure in the world. The bridge steel weighed 16,000 short tons as built originally. A recent bridge renovation, which now allows the worlds largest of container ships to pass underneath it has just been completed.
The steel I had delivered through the years, amounts to more than the weight of the Bayonne bridges steel when originally constructed plus the steel in its recent renovation. That’s a lot of steel.
By the way. Only on a rare occasion, you will see a truck loaded with steel coils, such as this going down the road. The reason is, all of the loads of steel that end up on these tractor trailers are normally in enclosed trailers or covered with tarps over to protect the steel from weather. Those coils in the picture above, weigh somewhere above 20,000 pounds apiece. 20,000 pounds equals the weight of seven Toyota Corolla’s sitting on top of one another, where each coil sets. Looks are pretty deceiving, those little coils are heavy.
That’s what’s called a spread axle trailer in that same picture above. They’re built for weight and a smoother ride. The forward axle can be fixed in that position or what’s known as a tag axle. The tag axle is capable of being retracted on the trailer. I have also seen the axle slider-tag combination on trailers as well. The design takes fuel economy, maneuverability and weight distribution into consideration. Tight turns with a loaded tag axle style trailer can damage the trailer when fully loaded. That’s where the tag axle and or slider features come in, you can lift the axle or slide when when the situation calls for it.
Numerous other wheel and axle adaptations also serve specific load and travel purposes. One of the more common trailer axle adjustments is called the slider. The slider axle or axles in some cases slide and lock from fully extended to almost one third forward under the trailer. This variety allows for easier turning in urban areas. While in the fully extended position the axles allow for more weight to legally be carried on roadways and across bridges. (When considering bridge law).
Note again in the photo the chains and ratchet binders, securing the coils to the stake pockets on the trailer. Close examination would reveal protective coil racks and lumber between the coil and the trailer deck which help to keep the coil in place. The loading and unloading of such coils normally takes place with an overhead crane. However, many companies have very large fork trucks also capable of loading and unloading such coils. The loading of the coils or coil will be determined by the method of which the coil or coils will be unloaded. Examples are fork truck from the side, crane from above, or fork truck driving onto the trailer itself. Always be aware of the equipment at the point of delivery which will unload your coils, to be sure the coil or coils are loaded in the right position originally.
Another consideration is coil placement on the trailer. In many cases inches can make the difference between being legal via axle weight distribution and bridge law length calculations. Many of my loads were single coils weighing upward of 40,000 pounds. Placement of these coils on a trailer becomes second nature, as you gain experience. Always check your individual axle weights, via cat scale or public scale before starting out toward your delivery destination. Weight stations ran by The department of transportation are on interstate highways and secondary roads. Always weight your loads to be sure you are legal. Truck inspections are common and all required paperwork must be ready for inspection as well.
Adjustable sliding, fifth wheels, will also assist in transferring axle weights to become axle weight legal. The combination of slider trailer axles, tag axle’s, fifth wheel slider, and load placement will make it easy to get it right every time. Thanks for listening. 13 Speed says drive carefully.
The following is a number of my experiences having to do with car care that I have written about. Remember these are simple preventive maintenance techniques I used on my Corolla’s and have been very profitable for me over a lifetime, not recommendations, they may not be for everyone. You also have to read manuals both operator and service to advance your skill level in both repair and safety techniques as part of your own training in what I call my hobby. Thanks for reading my post.
13 Speed Transmission Ratio
1 Let’s start with driving habits. Avoiding hard braking when possible, avoiding jack rabbit starts when possible, avoiding potholes when possible. Also watch your RPM although the tachometer goes to 7 or 9 thousand RPM’S 4000 is my limit and that’s entering an interstate. 95% of my driving is done between 1800 and 3000 RPM great for economy and engine life. Boring yes but 300,000 miles on your car with less then one thousand dollars in additional maintenance is like getting a BOGO Car. (buy one get one free) You can go to an amusement park if you want a thrill ride.
1a Oil and filter changes at 4,000 miles never more will keep your car on the 300,000 mile longevity track. A little more conservative then Toyota’s recommendations, However this is a case of hundreds saving you thousands in the long run. If your doing lots of short trips in the city or your car doing less then 500 miles a month I would seriously consider 3,000 mile oil and oil filter changes. The 3,000 mile oil change practice will result in no oil spots on the garage or the driveway and a 300,000 engine just for changing oil more frequently (that’s right). (Gaskets even last longer with more frequent oil changes) Iv’e owned and driven tractor trailers for many years. Trucks with million mile engines and drive trains are common place it’s all about oil changes and on time recommended maintenance.
1b Tire air pressure check it once a month. Tire longevity and safety come into play here and over a lifetime it will pay off greatly. Most cars have sensors keeping watch on tire pressure for you. Some tire warnings will not reset or clear even after the tires are properly inflated. In that case look for low tire inflation warning reset in the car manual. Sometimes you will find the reset in the the glove box others require series of key turns and button presses. Check the forum and ask the question or go to you-tube lots of people have had the same problem and posted the answer on line. Tire pressures for your car are posted on the right side of the drivers doorway when you open the drivers door.
2 Buy a good service manual that covers your make and model car and familiarize yourself with both the book and the car. Think of the book as an extended owners manual. You will find manuals if your on a budget all over the net.
3 Tightening all grounds on your car. The car can be 10 years old but if you just made the purchase it’s new to you. Find them in your service manual and get tightening.
4 Re-seat all fuses and relays in the numerous locations which again you will find in your newly purchased service manual. I have a computer, electronic, electricity background both theoretical and hands on. Most electrical troubles begin with loose or oxidized connections. The unseen action of the relays being activated and deactivated causes a problem called “creep” in which a relay or a fuse works it’s way loose from it original secure connection. Simply press each fuse or relay down to re-seat them individually. You will be surprised at the number of loose ones you find in each fuse panel, (take 5 minutes once or twice a year and pop them all beck into place).
5 Be careful using a high pressure water wand to clean the car, high pressure can damage the paint job. Most of those roofs and hoods that have rust and clear coat damage could have been avoided by following the manufactures recommendations on wash and wax procedures. Be especially careful with high pressure wands in the engine compartments, to all those electronic sensors water means trouble. I never spray my engine with water.
6 Inspect the plastic covers and replace the missing plastic push pin rivet style fasteners surrounding your cars engine,fenders etc. where necessary. Those covers surrounding the engine being held in by these fasteners protect components from heat, rust, dirt, rain, foreign road objects and more. The push pins fall out, they are cheap to replace so do it before unnecessary damage occurs. With my latest purchase of a new car after pulling the protective cover above the engine I found what looked like a rodent nest nestled into the space between the intake manifold inlets of two cylinders. That was a first and I’m glad I caught it. This lead to an interesting read on car wiring harness insulation partiality composed of soy. Read about the famous car made of soy on the Internet.
7 Checking tightness. Same new car mentioned above gave me a clunk sound backing out of the driveway when the car was days old. Lucky for me I heard it and I am a curious kind of guy. I have driven for a living many years professionally and knew that clunk. It was loose lug nuts on the front left wheel. Which brings me to checking tightness of bolts and nuts. This is something I do routinely on a new car purchase. Whether its brand new car, 10 year old car or semi truck and trailer I check everything for tightness. You will be surprised at the things you will find. The tightness inspection is worth the effort.
8 Change the fluids a 30,000. As in transmission, cooling system, brake fluid and power steering fluid. Some manufactures recommend the same thing in their maintenance interval some don’t. I find by using this practice I never had a car or truck overheat, never spin a bearing or have any kind of transmission problem. That goes for brake fluid as well. The few dollars in additional cost provides thousands of dollars in returned savings.
9 Change all your bulbs on the cars eight birthday. Next time you are out for a drive pay attention to the number of lights burned out in cars you are driving by or following. It’s money well spent not having to ever think about lights not working. Stick with the incandescent bulbs and manufacturers recommendations on an older car because they last a long time and they are inexpensive. With the computers of todays cars and even in the older models (it is best not redesign your cars electrical system) by adding 3 party led lighting unnecessarily.
10 Buy a cheap obd2 code reader. This tool will allow you to make accurate assessments of engine warning lights and put these emergencies in a proper prospective. That service manual I mentioned earlier will then become the reference which can turn a $1500 repair into a $50 repair you do yourself. These readers can be found for very little money on the Internet. If you have and engine warning light while traveling, places like Advanced auto or Auto zone will read your engine’s trouble codes in an emergency for free.
10a Here is a summary of my current cars repairs over 16 years. I have had similar results with other cars in my life which have resulted in numerous car BOGO’S.
My current car was bought new and always serviced by myself. 3000 mile oil and filter changes. 30,000 mile manual transmission oil changes and antifreeze changes were also preformed. Air Cleaner filters were changed once a year @ (15,000 miles). The car is a Florida car so lucky for me no rust. I changed the struts front and rear at 200,000 and both the VVT solenoid and it’s separate (oil control filter) at the same time. After having changed those items the car ran and felt like new again. All cars today have a VVT solenoid and it’s separate (oil control filter) find them on your car model and (inspect them at 100,000 miles} you will be glad you did.
Pulled the above (hard to find) (oil control filter) out of my Corolla with the drywall screw attached. I’m sure that a proper tool exits to extract the filter but that drywall screw worked for me. The filter is in all cars in one form or another. I had no idea such a small filter was in my 2004 Toyota Corolla. Even with regular 3,000 mile oil changes this filter should be inspected and or replaced at 100,000 miles. Nothing about it in Toyota’s recommended service but it should be.
13 Speed Eaton Transmission Cost
Like I said these filters are in all car engines they look different depending on the make and model. GM, Ford, Chrysler, Jeep, KIA, Subaru, Mercedes, BMW, Etc, I found mine while watching a You-tube video. It is very important that you know what yours looks like and that it is clean. Replacements can be found on EBay or you car dealers parts department for about $10 dollars. For you folks with Turbo’s, look under (Banjo bolt) to root out another monster lurking in your cars engine.
Three more items I changed which were important and inexpensive were: the valve cover gasket (while putting in the second set of plugs at 200,000 plus miles), the oil pan gasket at 150,000 (oil light flickered and I found the oil pickup strainer in the pan was partially clogged). There’s an example of a $10 oil pan gasket and a oil pickup strainer cleaning adding more then 100,000 miles to this car so far. The A/C clutch relay was changed and the A/C system now has 4,000 plus Florida hours and never a failure. If you are a D.I.Y. person these Corolla’s can be more then budget friendly. Same clutch at 230,000 plus miles but I drive as if I had an egg between my feet and the pedals. (If you break the egg you have a lot to learn about safe driving). Alternator and starter were also changed at 200,000 miles just as a preventive maintenance measure as was the water pump. All told the cost of (additional) maintenance over the years has been less then the tax that would been added to a new car so I have been fortunate. The interior is still close to new looking due to regular cleaning. If I had to do it over again I would have taken better care of the exterior paint by waxing the car more often. The car just turned 16 years old so I can’t complain about fading in the Florida sun being it has never been garaged. At 13speed.com there’s help about cars too.
Imagine this on Cars and trucks. I have an idea that will increase vehicle engine longevity. People have suggested in the past that aluminium block engines are of a lessor quality then cast iron block engines. I think my 50 years of automotive, truck and track vehicle experience proves otherwise. Let’s take the cooling system of a cast iron engine block and compare it to an aluminium engine block after 20 years and 250,000 miles. The aluminium block show no signs of coolant contamination between coolant changes. The cast iron engine shows rust contamination of the coolant.
Aluminium block engines work longer and cleaner when it comes to coolant systems. However that said it is all about doing recommended on time maintenance. Many engines have been ruined by unknowing drivers filling a coolant system with plain water from the tap after a water pump or hose failure.
All because the very important ingredients which are in antifreeze to protect an engine are no longer within the engine coolant in the correct proportions and in a short time irreversible damage is done.
So my idea is to incorporate a inexpensive flow meter into the both the inlet and outlet of the radiator. Having these flow meters would act as an early warning system for the water pump, radiator, and cylinder head. Idiot lights and temperature gauges are after the fact when it comes to over heating. Flow meters give an instant diagnose of the system long before trouble starts.
This link is just and example of what these things cost so adding a flow-meter to a new car or truck would cost less then a McDonald Happy Meal. Could have had them in cars for 50 years just like the air flow gauges on the air cleaners.
However if your cast iron block or aluminium blocks engines radiator is showing signs of rust and other deposits here’s what the pro’s recommend to get things back to normal.
Think about it knowing when the water pump is going to fail or failed before the engine gets hot or the sensing the radiator getting clogged without ever opening the cap.
Breaking news! I have just seen a very important video on the future of Autonomous Trucking. Forget about the future, it’s here now. China now has a large container ship operation that is fully automated. Their are no human beings involved in this operation. This is a major event in world history and you heard it first right here on 13 speed.com. Here is the link to the youtube video in which a reporter gives a preview of this container ship facility operation and it’s history. https://youtu.be/bn2GPNJmR7A
Just had a number of requests for truck value by some owner operators. Here’s a couple of quick methods that I use. First you have ebay and what their current sales have been. The variety of trucks is really surprising they sell a lot of trucks.
Also I use the Taylor and Martin auctioneers. I have bought a number of trucks and trailers from them over the years and always felt good about my purchase. They have whats called a value guide. The value guide is a reference to historical truck, trailer, and other equipment prices. Here is their link. https://www.taylorandmartin.com/tvg/NewSubscription.aspx
These two links are extremely valuable. Remember to tell your friends about us and stay tuned for more free tricks, tips, and tools to help you deliver the goods to America.
Aug 10, 2019
If you drive or dispatch for a living, 13speed.com wants you to read the story attached to the link below. The news article is about the first autonomous truck being dispatched by a robot dispatcher. The truck then proceeded to pick up and deliver its load with no human intervention at all. Here is the link. https://cdllife.com/2019/a-robot-dispatcher-and-a-self-driving-truck-just-sent-a-load-without-any-human-involvement/
While we are on the subject of automation Lets here it for the engineers that created those OBD2 scanner code readers. Getting those problem OBD2 codes has become easy and inexpensive if your an android fan by way of the command protocol elm327. If your preference is handheld via plugin rather than wireless there are plenty of those too. Hand held OBD2 scanner code readers come in all sizes that will fit any budget. If you are hands on when it comes to troubleshooting and maintenance of your vehicles the OBD2 scanner code reader is a must have in your tool box. I’ll let you Google it right here and get more information.