Got your own example of a do-it-yourself solution to a problem related to truck equipment or the owner-operator business? Send your story to [email protected] with the “highway hacks” subject line to be considered for this monthly feature.
Dave Marti’s solution to the squeak that can emanate from his six Peterbilts’ hood supports is an alternative to sometime messy greasing. Read more about Marti’s small fleet, leased to Transport Services of Sullivan, Ill., in the March issue cover story via this link about small fleet expansion.Fuel-hauling small fleet owner-operator Dave Marti of Forrest, Ill., picked up this trick from a fellow truck-show participant around the time he started showing his Peterbilt equipment, more than 10 years ago. “The bushings where the hood rests” in Pete model 359s, 379s and 389s, Marti says, “have a tendency to squeak” with every little bump in the road. Traditionally, greasing has been the way to combat it, but a sock placed over the support does the trick just as well.
Once the particular part of the sock you’re using wears out, he adds, “you can pull it down and use the next part – about twice a year I have to get a different sock” for each support as a replacement.
Benefits include avoiding the mess that can come with excess greasing (and the expense of the grease itself) and giving new useful life for a commonly cast-off item. “These aren’t new socks, they’re my old socks,” Marti says. “Sometimes, the best little tricks in the business don’t cost you a lot of money.”
