Some progress on the 1 Ton GMC,,,

 Well Guys,,, been working some on special projects and the 1988 Jimmy I bought bout a month ago. Got the 454 purring like a kitten and and after some tweaks and promises, finally got it to move of it's own power and it will Move out  right smartly,,,,!!

 The tranny kinda concerns me as there is a slight hesitation when first put in forward gear,,,I'm hoping maybe trans oil filter as it has been a rig welder's trk forever and prolly has not been serviced in several years,,,,,? It does change gears good going down the road tho,,,,

 I got the driver side door and fender replaced and installed except for that dang heavy spring that keeps the door from swinging closed,,,tried for two hours and never got it to stay in!! I've got my favorite brick and claw hammer ready to start hammering out what few dents on the body and hopefully paint the door jambs this weekend and body next week,,,,,

 Caught a steel bed on a good sale on the Marketplace couple weeks ago and my sandblaster friend is susspossed to come by and brush blast the trk frame and bed to get some shiny black paint on both. The bed is 18" shy of being as long as I want it to be so will add that 18" in the front of it.

 My question to the gurus is, I am going to install a "hide-a-way" ball for a gooseneck in the bed and am curious as a friend told me the ball for the Gooseneck has to be in front of rear axle but did not know how far in front of axle,,Anyone know for sure?

There's three concerns of hitch placement.

First is the centerline-  it's obvious, but make sure the hitchpoint is on centerline.

Second is height.  The advantage of a gooseneck, is that your hitch point can be significantly LOWER than a 5th wheel, and as a result, you'll experience less tow vehicle roll, pitch, and yaw reaction from the trailer's motion.

Third is position with respect to the wheelbase.  Placing the hitch point directly over the rear axle means that when you load the trailer, all hitch load goes directly on the REAR axle, and NONE of it (in a static state) will appear on the steer axle.  It is usually preferable to have SOME of the tow vehicle's hitch weight to appear on the steer axle- it improves stability, as an unladen steer, with a heavily laden drive, results in a disproportionate spring load, and a nose-high condition of the tow vehicle.  This opens the tow vehicle to unstable dynamics on the road.  Remember- the vehicle was designed to carry load on both axles, not just the rear.

Having the hitch point adjustable fore-aft is a good thing, just watch out for situations where the trailer nose might tag the back of the truck cab.

  OH, I sure do,,,!!!And most times I might even word my questions to tickle Dave's curiosity and get him to respond.

Plus he's a good friend and always willing to help us,,,,,

 A bit of an update on the One Ton,,,I'm getting her ready to paint the door jambs and hood edges hopefully TODAY,,,,!!

 THe guy that painted "Ole Red" for me is who is going to paint the trk on a "Trading Work" agreement and is how I like to do my work outs,,,,great for all concerned too,,,!!

 I will paint the jambs etc and than take the trk to him and leave it for painting the body in his shop,,,,,,can't wait,,,,,

  OK, I feel some like ole Shameless "might" be breathlessly waiting on a progress report on the old One Ton I been working on,,,,,, My friend, who also painted "Ole Red" has done a number on the 1988 GMC One Ton ,,,,and from where I'm sitting,,,it looks many wonderfuls,,,,!!!! The paint is Poly-urethane in Porsche Red that I had bought for another of my Forgotten projects that must of fallen by the way side,,,,Ya'll know how us senior folks tend to be quite forgettful at times,,,,

 Anyway,,,,the painter got her done this past weekend and it sure is pretty!!!

 The GF has agreed () to let me go visit my old homestead in a couple of weeks for a couple of weeks to do some re-assembling,,,,, of grill and a new to me "Cow Catcher" I had bought at a yard sale some time back plus mount the flat bed on it,,,,,

 Chit, I cannot find my USB cord to download the pics from IPhone to the laptop,,, I'll see if THad can do that for me,,,,,,

and whats the story about the "GF" allowing him to go work ?? 

 Well, Steve,,,,ole Thad is doing quite nicely all by hisself,,,,,,