Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products’ new 24.5-inch LvL ONE aluminum wheel has a load rating of 7,850 pounds, 450 pounds more than steel alternatives. The wheel weighs 30 pounds less than an average steel wheel. It is designed for vocational, construction and over the road trailers. The LvL ONE can be mounted on any standard tractor or trailer axle position.

Custom Rigs Kudos

Hi, I just got done reading the current issue of your magazine. Not to blow smoke, but VERY NICE.  I picked it up from one of your advertisers, Berube’s in Bow, NH.  He was happy that you quickly put up his customer picnic on the website.

I really like the mag, well laid out; excellent photography, especially the seacoast shots of the Rum Runner.  One thing about the mag is one can read all of the text as it isn’t  blended into the [background] scenery.  Good job.

I am a big fan of Overdrive, as I am a 3rd generation driver.  My dad’s 1963 Diamond T was the 3rd runner up in the October 1969 issue of Overdrive, titled Tarred and Featured.  It meant the world to him having the “T” published. He is in the 3rd year of retirement; it has been a tough transition. He still has diesel running through his veins.

This is the 2nd week of my job peddling freight for a local company in a six-wheel day cab Freightliner. Not a big truck, but I am going to put some chrome hub caps and lug nuts on it tomorrow.  No matter what it is, it has to look as good as it can to pass my muster. – Mike Bradford, New Hampshire

Fall Issue Arrives

Custom Rigs Latest Issue Hits The Road

The latest issue of Custom Rigs is  hot of the press. If you are not a subscriber and want to get a copy, make tracks to the nearest Petro or one of our “Preferred Partner” chrome shops. Hurry. Issues of Custom Rigs go fast.

This issue’s hot features include an inside look at Farmer’s Oil “Bucket List” tanker, Burningham’s “Haulin’ Ash” tandem combo, and Sandvik Trucking’s “Still Deliriuoz” — all past Pride & Polish winners. We’re also covering the Chrome Shop 75 show event in Wildwood, Florida, and the Shell SuperRigs calendar event in Oak Grove, Missouri, in this issue.

And there’s plenty of new products highlighted to go along with a handful of how-to’s including adding a twin-stick and custom-making your own tail plates. Custom Rigs magazine has got it all!

“WORKING CLASS” TOPS AT IOWA 80

Colin Stuart’s ’84 Bobtail wins big at annual Walcott Trucker’s Jamboree

Colin Stuart’s 1984 Peterbilt, Working Class, won Truckers’ Choice, Best Overall Theme, and First in the 1984-1991 Bobtail Conventional and Interior Sleeper categories at the Walcott Truckers Jamboree July 9-10 at Iowa 80’s truckstop. To read MORE…

New low-profile Snap-on ratchet

Snap-on’s Dual 80 3/8-inch Drive 80 tooth flex head ratchet has more strength, accessibility, durability and low ratcheting torque than any other ratchet on the market, the tool maker says. The ratchet features 250 ft. lbs of ultimate torque, seven teeth in contact with gear, low ratchet and socket height for reaching tight spots and a sealed head to keep dirt out of the head mechanism.

Big Rigs Takeover Atlanta Motor Speedway

Mark the dates: Sept. 19-20, 2009

Along with the Beauty contest ALL BIG RIGS will be allowed to do several laps around the track! We will have 3 Different groups cruisin the track. Bobtails,Tow Trucks & Combo’s.Don’t miss out!

Codeable Locks

DuraSafe lets your vehicle key work on all their locks

Introducing the world’s first codeable lock products that learn your vehicle key. This series of innovative DuraSafe locks incorporate a patented cylinder that enables you to insert your vehicle key, turn once, and program the lock to your key.

The cylinder is automotive grade allowing for thousands more key codes than a standard lock. Its 6-plate tumbler with sidebar makes it impossible to pick or bump.

Imagine the convenience of using your car/truck key instead of having to search for separate keys or trying to remember a lock’s combination miles from home. Offered in a variety of DuraSafe products including; receiver lock, padlock, cable lock, swing tongue trailer lock, spare tire lock and motorcycle disc brake lock.

Fits over 88% of light trucks and over 70% of ALL Ford, GM and Chrysler vehicles on the road. Compatible with 111 million vehicles. Made in the U.S.A.For more information about DuraSafe Codeable Locks and other DuraSafe products, visit www.durasafelocks.com or call (866) 544-5615.

Killing off the sounds you don’t want to hear coming from your custom rig’s stereo system

By Grizz Archer

Hums, whines, buzzes, crackles, pops and other unexpected noises blasting out your rig’s speakers not only ruins tunes, they are really frustrating when you can’t figure out how they happen in the first place.

Anyone who has a good audio system wants clean, vibrant sound. Unexplained background noises ruin the day. So, let’s go noise hunting and kill off the little culprits responsible for the unwanted intrusions!

There are multiple possibilities as to where such noises originate – and they all relate to electrical issues: alternator whine; isolator-induced noise; external-radiated noise; and of course, ground-induced noise are good areas to begin the noise hunt.

To make the job even easier, we’ve listed three specific items to check-off and what to look for in tracking down nuisance noise. (NOTE: It’s wise to write down everything you checked, changed, and the end results. Forgetting and having to start the noise hunt all over sucks.):

Bad grounds: What a nightmare this can be!  Always check the ground wires/cables first if you have a noise problem.  There is a very good chance your noise issues can be traced to at least one of the grounds.  Ground should always be to a bare metal (stripped of paint and primer, oil and soil).  It’s best to use a nut/bolt to attached ground to the grounding surface because bolting down ensures the best surface contact. NEVER use a self-tapping screw; self-tapping screws contact with a surface is usually just the thin threads. NEVER use a seat or seatbelt bolt for the same reason. Using self-tapping screws and bolts holding other items in place are the two biigest – and most common – mistakes when installing a sound system. And such ground mistakes weaken the entire system, causing a multitude of problems including ground-induced noise.

Weak batteries: A sound system needs a strong, steady, even flow of voltage to operate at the optimum performance level. Healthy batteries are critical to a sound system. Low batteries and fluctuations in voltage create noise issues. Check the voltage on your rig’s batteries with the engine off, and check each battery’s cells to make sure all is well. A healthy 12V battery will meter 12.5 volts, plus or minus 0.2 volts.  A cell of a good battery should be between 2.1-2.5 volts. If the battery meters less than 12.3V, it needs charging or replacement.   Consistently low voltage is a result of a poor battery or poor charging system.  When the truck is running, you should meter between 14-15V to the sound system’s power supply. If you have one battery keeping a different voltage than another one, the net voltage will be different than you’d expect.

Isolator whine: If you do not have a battery isolator, then you can bypass this section.  Before proceeding to the next culprit, it is VITAL that you bypass your isolator and make sure it is not the problem.  This is simple to do, and is just as mandatory as checking a fuse when nothing works at all.  To bypass the isolator, unhook all of the wires from it.  Make sure that the positive wires going to the battery(s) is connected directly to the wire coming off of the alternator(s).  If the noise goes away, then your isolator is your weak link.  If not, then bolt it back together and get ready to go through the next stages.

Other noise-inducing culprits: Only after you have eliminated the above possibilities should you begin to tear apart your system and start checking individual components.

But a cautionary word before going any further: What follows is a mixture of both easy and advanced audio diagnostics. So before you do anything, grab your favorite beverage and ready over everything to see what you might need in order to hunt efficiently.

Now, disconnect the RCA’s from each of your amps or the suspect amp.  If possible, feed the amp the clean signal from the home stereo. Is the background noise still present?

o        NO, the noise ceased: You’re in good shape.  This means the amp(s) and the speakers are OK.  Hook the RCA’s back up to each amp.

o        YES, there is still noise: Bummer. You can assume for now the problem is in the amp(s), speakers, or speaker wire routing.  (It can’t be the head unit or any previous processing since they are now out of the loop. It can’t be a power supply problem because you already checked out the batteries and didn’t find anything wrong.)

The hunt now continues on to three other suspect areas of noise generation:

1)      Speaker mounting/wire routing: Unhook the speakers from the amp and test them from an external source such as running a long wire from a home stereo to the speakers. Is the noise still present?

• YES: Now you know the speakers and the wiring from the amp to the speakers is fine.
• NO: Bummer. Either the speakers or the crossovers (if you have components) are bad. You can test each driver individually in this case in order to rule out the speakers, leaving the crossover as the culprit.

2)      Ruling out amp: If none of the above criteria solve your problem then your amp(s) is probably bad, or the power supply to it.  You can test the power supply (battery and alternator) with another amp you know is good.  If the noise doesn’t go away, then the power supply is the problem.  If it does go away, then the problem is in your amplifier.

3)      Checking the RCA’s: Again feed a clean signal from the end of the RCA’s to each amp.  Use a home stereo and a new set of RCA’s straight to the amplifier.  Nosie still there?

• NO: Good, then your RCA’s are not damaged, shorted, or poorly routed.
• YES: Check the routing of your RCA’s. Also, check to make sure that none of your RCA cables are physically damaged. Damage on the outside may be a sure indication that the inside of the cable is also damaged. Have a spare RCA, a cheap one will do fine. Now, use this cable you originally ran in the car and lengthen it from where the radio is to the home stereo. If there’s no noise, then the RCAs, amps and speakers are all OK, and the problem is in front of these components.

This step will be repeated for each signal processor/component in the audio chain.  In-between each step refer back checking each set of RCA’s.

As you move up the line, hook your signal processor up to the RCA’s leading down to the amps.  Remember, we already know everything in this particular setup is good, so if there is noise, then the processor is causing it.   Do you still have noise?

o       NO: If you don’t have any noise then your first processor or crossover is in good shape, proceed to check the RCA’s leading up to the next level.

o       YES: If you have noise then your crossover/processor, is the problem, likely causes for this may be a poor ground on the processor. Make sure each processor has its own ground and it is not tapped into an amplifier ground.

At this point lather, rinse and repeat: Do what you just did through the rest of the processors until  your tests take you to the head unit itself.  If you make it up to the head unit with no noise, then your noise is obviously coming from the head unit.  Remove the head unit. The problem may be:

1)      Bad Ground: Check the ground on your head unit.  Sometimes the factory ground wire is not optimum.  In this case, find a good grounding point under the dash on sheet metal rather than a ground wire and bolt – don’t screw – the ground wire to the grounding surface.

2)      Poor mounting location: Is your head-unit in an other-than-stock location? Your source of outside noise could be coming from nearby wiring or other electrical components not related to the sound system.

Once you have found your faulty component, bypass it and make sure the system works well without it.  If you have tested everything and all components are good, but there is still noise, well, run for your life ’cause the Boogeyman is haunting your ride!– CR

Grizz Archer is an expert in high-end audio systems and spends the majority of his waking hours marketing and designing components for Soundstream and helping audiophiles  fine-tune and troubleshoot their sound systems.

[kaltura-widget wid="9u6mq2j76s" width="400" height="365" addpermission="" editpermission="" /]

GETTING A GRIP ON GAIN

The secret to adjusting any sound system’s performance is in the fine-tuning

By Grizz Archer

You’ve just dropped a couple Gs on a new sound system for your custom rig and want to show off. But it’s not quite loud enough. Easy fix. Crank up the gain.

Wrong. Contrary to popular belief, the gain (input sensitivity) adjuster on the amp is not a volume control, even though you may think it works like one.  Don’t feel alone: Very few people, including installers, know how to set gain controls correctly.

The input sensitivity adjustment regulates the power, or amplitude, of each component’s signal. In the simplest terms the gain adjuster is a voltage control. But the power levels in a sound system have to be nicely balanced to achieve the maximum performance. Proper adjustment of gain is the secret to audio perfection.

An improperly tuned audio system yields higher distortion; a higher noise floor, which decreases dynamic headroom; less than optimum operating conditions for electronic equipment; and higher failure rate for both the electronic equipment and speakers.

(An example of a poorly adjusted system would be when the system plays loud at low volume on the radio and gets really distorted as you turn it up. Or, when you have to turn the radio way up before it starts to play remotely loud.)

So, why don’t more people learn to adjust the input sensitivity of their sound system’s components correctly? Maybe they are too lazy. Maybe they simply don’t care. Or, maybe they’ve never had the secrets explained t them.

I can’t do anything about the first two items. But I can explain the secrets of how to adjust your sound system’s gains properly, and in doing so, you’ll be way ahead of the competition.

TUNING ON THE CHEAP

Not many people have an oscilloscope, which is the ideal tool for adjusting gain. So I will give you a couple of methods using zero test equipment to fine-tune your system.

Suppose we want to set the gains in a system consisting of a headunit, two-way crossover and two amplifiers.

First, turn all the gains to the minimum position. You’ve probably heard by now that we want the highest signal voltage possible to keep the signal clean.

The reason the signal is cleaner with higher voltages is because the amplifier’s gain is supposed to be turned down accordingly, which reduces noise.

For the gain setting, do not use music; use a 1kHz sinewave tone from a test disc.

First, turn all gains to the minimum setting.  Start with the first gain control in the chain, which is the one controlling the headunit/radio in the dash. Turn it up until the speakers start to distort. This is typically at about the 80%-90% position on the headunit.

Now back off the adjustment a fraction and remember this is the limit of the headunit, which should never be exceeded since everything after the processor will not be able to correct the distortion. It will, in fact, make the sound worse in most cases.

The next component in line for our imaginary system is the crossover. Every time I look at a vehicle’s sound system, the crossover is turned down and the amp is turned up.

By doing this you just starved the amp for signal voltage and tried to compensate by turning the amp gain up. Not cool.

Treat the gain on the crossover just as you did the headunit. Use the same steps: Increase gain until it distorts and then back off a bit.

If, by miracle, your 4V headunit actually does put out 4V, the crossover gain adjuster on many amps should be close to the minimum position.

Let’s say your wonderful headunit does indeed put out 4-volts. In this case, the amp gain should generally be set to match the 4V input, which will probably be the minimum position, if the range is from 100mV – 4V, and will yield full rated power.

If a gain is set in the 50% range, that doesn’t mean the amp is only putting out 50% of its available power.

Read the above paragraph again. And again. Once more, please.

ADJUSTING AUDIO CLIP

Now then, let’s go to the next level of fine-tuning with a little investment – a small, amplified speaker, such as the Archer brand unit offered by Radio Shack (no, I am not related).

This cool little toy will remove any doubt of where the clipping starts causing distortion. Using the Archer speaker is very easy. Simply plug the RCA outputs from the head unit into the Archer’s inputs. (Depending on the amplified speaker you use, you will probably need some sort of adaptor.)

As you turn up the headunit’s volume, the sound will of course get louder. When you “clip” the output of the headunit, the speaker will reproduce a noticeable distorted volume increase in output. It will be very obvious.

When a signal is clipped, a DC offset is briefly sent through the RCAs. This DC offset contains smaller sinewaves 127% more powerful than the unclipped sinewaves.  This translates to about 2.1dB of sound pressure level (SPL).

At this point, slowly turn the gain counterclockwise until the sound is normal again.  This is the clip point and the adjustment should never be turned above this position.

Now move back to the next signal processor in the chain, which may be a line driver because your headunit/radio only puts out 2V and the amplifier can handle up to 8 or 9 volts.

Note: It is important to remember the goal of this tuning process is to get the gain as high as possible at the front of the chain (headunit/radio)- and as low as possible back at the back of the chain (amp.)

Repeat the same gain adjusting process, as was previously done using the speaker as your tuning ear. Then move on down the chain to the next signal processor, which might be preamp or equalizer, followed by a crossover or bass processor.

FINAL AUDIO ADJUSTMENT

With all the component’s input sensitivity controls set at a minimum before you started, you can guarantee this fine-tuning procedure will keep your sound system’s signal as potent as possible and as clean as possible.

If for any reason the subs are overpowering the components, or vice versa, then turn the amp down more until the correct level is achieved.

Do not turn the other amp up – never gain up to level match, always turn gain down.

If something is still too loud, then turn the gain down on the last signal processor before the amp. If the drivers are all new, you will need to readjust the gains after all drivers are broken in.

A common problem is most people expect the system to sound great the first time it’s turned on.  The truth is all speakers need a break-in period (50-100 hours) before they get comfortable and start to sound warm and clear.

So plan on making a second tuning run through your sound system to re-adjust the gains to maximize overall sound performance.