Warm climate meetup

[Stumped]

We need to have a club meetup...say..someplace warm...hmm...who lives in a warm environment here?(hint,hint) Surely somebody would want to host this for all their fellow 6.5ers.Come on,get that new PMD installed and get ready for some travel.Hittin the road in a zillion mile 6.5 will bring the pioneer spirit out in anyone.Every time I travel in mine,I think about the nylon rocker buttons that are still on one side of my motor.......comforting

[MAGNUM SERVICES]

That is an excellent idea BUT I do not live in a warm climate until July, then it gets real warm. When you say nylon rocker button do you mean the rocker arms are held onto a rail with those white nylon buttons? I have never had my rocker covers off or been inside a 6.5 so I am just presuming this is what you are talking about.

[Stumped]

yes,the stamped style rockers have a nylon button that aligns the rocker arms.Real cheap setup.I put ductile iron cast rockers from a 6.2 on my 6.5 on the drivers side.Havent done turbo side yet.They have large metal spring for alignment with shims.GM says they switched cause of premature wear.But the ones they replaced with(stamped style) are a joke compared with early 6.2 version.I bet GM could make 10 sets of stamped for what 1 set of the ductile cost to build.I went to put new buttons in,realized only ordered enough for 1 side(from Walt) GM parts man said they didnt exist and 6.5s didnt have them from factory......so went home and stripped a 6.2 for rocker setup.Works great.

[Stumped]

And GM cant figure out why people dont buy parts from them anymore.Autozone has those buttons on their computer!

[MAGNUM SERVICES]

My 96 has almost 140,000 miles on it, how long are those good for?

[Stumped]

I really dont know.The stamped steel rocker has like less than 3/16th's contact width on the rocker shaft.So any wear at all lets that rocker travel side to side a little on the valve tip scrubbing it away(plus pushing on a NYLON hard brittle button).My old truck scrubbed so much of the valve tip off,it lost all its preload and let the guts come out of the lifter.If you go to all the work to replace the buttons,you will have to check the rockers for wear while you have it down.The turbo side is a pain.The holes in the stamped get egged out easily.The bearing(yes, a bearing) in the cast type is like 3/4" wide,and oiled via pushrod.That wide bearing doesnt allow the rocker to to the side shuffle nearly as much even worn.

[ChevyCowboy]

was that a change made when they started making the 6.5 or where there 6.2 with the nylon ones

[Stumped]

Dont know that either.I got mine from a couple old 6.2s I had here.1 was froze and busted,the other had starter pad broke off.They were the old red painted 6.2s.

[grancito]

I checked the parts list at rockauto, seems like only the 1982, 83, and 84 have the cast rockers, 85 has the nylon retainers. My suburban has 200,000 miles and the buttons are loose, but the rockers and shafts are OK except for wear of some push rod ends and where they fit in the rockers. A good warm place to visit is here, with free camping everywhere.

[MAGNUM SERVICES]

Sound warm BUT I don't know if the better half would want to ride all the way west in my truck as she said it rides rough. I think it's 8600 gvw and torsion bars cranked all the way up might have something to do with the ride.I bet she would go for the beach camping though as she loves the ocean.

[MAGNUM SERVICES]

I probably could not legally carry a firearm there either!

[grancito]

No you can't carry one here, now not even allowed to transport it in your vehicle unless you own a rural property.

[Garth J]

no guns here either but lots of beaches and warm weather in the summer

[grancito]

29°C here today (84°for you non metrics), already beach weather.

[Garth J]

Hey grant I was camping for the last 4 days it was 10 metric 50 for you others...garth

[grancito]

Thats really cold, only had as low as 11 metric at night.

[Garth J]

yea yea yea but easieer to keep the beer colder

[MAGNUM SERVICES]

And we ALL like cold beer!

[grancito]

Yea, I found a metal box with a door in the front, it makes a noise sometimes and when I put beer in it, even in the heat here, after a while the beer is cold and I am still warm, no one jealous????

[JD_countryboy]

I can throw the beer in the back of the truck, flip on the heater in the cab while im drivin home. Cold beer, warm climate. When i want another, reach out the rear slider and grab another. LOL. Oh yea, not just cold beer, ICE COLD lol.

[grancito]

well we put the beer cans infront of the AC vent and when they are empty, flip them out of the window as job creation for the unemployed to collect.

[JD_countryboy]

Job creation, thats like stimulating the economy. WOW yall are advanced. LOL. Round here its called Adopt A Highway. You say your gonna clean a strech or roadway and they post a sign with your name on it sayin whose gonna clean it up.

[grancito]

Here it's "please recycle, throw the can out on the highway the poor need to sell them".

[MAGNUM SERVICES]

I am jealous as my A/C does not work and I don't have a rear slider to get cold adult beverages out of the bed without stopping. I will look for one of those metal thingy's with a door on it though, it sounds like something I would like. Did you find your on the side of the road or did it wash up on the beach? How big is it so I know what I am looking for because the last time I picked up something on the side of the road and put beer in it and turned it on the whole thing blew up!!! It was called a Micro something.

[2000RIG]

Do many of you go to Carlisle Penn. for the all truck national show? I thought I would head down this year haven't been in about myself in about 14 or 15 years.
http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/ce/events/truck-nationals/