im going to do it in 1/16

[dabelltoller]

hey gang well now that my twins are 5 months and on a somewhat reutine im looking to make the 1/16 peterbilt into a custom with a grain hopper to boot similar to the one i built once before, that or i might make it into a day cab with a walanga bulk feed tanker. not sure

so some questions

1. if i do do the tanker ill use a pvc pipe for the main body like i did on my tri-axle but as for the grain hopper something that size its going to be big and im sure heavy so im thinking structure integrety and stregth. sould i make the main sides out of wood? (it will have a inner body with plastic sheets on outside) what about using sheet metal for the hopper slides( the inside where the bulk grain is loaded?

any advice on that be great

2. lights i wanna wire it to have working lights on truck and trailer and info on that what to use

3. anyone know where i can find 8 tires for the trailer ? i'd hate to get same kick just for tires.

4 any other advice would be great

gary

[Tony Bryan]

Matt from Monkey Claw can sort out some wheels for you, he does some 2 hole buds that may suit, not sure if he does others

As for the working lights, well in my opinion, they never seem scale enough to give out the correct light without some major work, and by that I mean work on the lenses and electronics, as generally they are far to bright for the right look, which is a comon mistake people make for stop lights, which they only have to light up the lenses not 2 kilometres behind the truck

With regards to the trailer, there is really no need to go extreme with the engineering, if the trailer is built the same way as the original, then sheet plastic is more than enough strength, and would recommend 1 to 1.5 mm sheet (1.5mm max)

1 mm sheet stock equals 16mm plate, not many trailers use bigger than that, for the body, I would only use 0.75mm

You would be surprised how strong sheet stock can be when assembled correctly, i.e., gussets, bracing, infills etc like a real trailer would have,

Building out of plastic is better as it does keep the weight down, adding sheet metal and wood, increases the weight therefore needs more strength in certain parts

Look forward to seeing your progress

[trucknut10]

As far as strength but keepping whieght down before i've taken .015 sheet and then added sqauare stock or retangailaer stock for strenght and then added another .015 on onther side so i made a sandwitch and it was very strong. I cant wate to see progress pics......

Terry

[mountaindewd]

I agree with Tony. You might be surprised how rigid and strong it will be with plastic once assembled. The sheet plastic for sides would act as the frame, much like modern van trailers. They don't have frames. Their design is the structural integrity. .060(1.5mm) will be quite rigid or you could up it to .080(2mm). That should be more than adequate to resist bowing or sagging.

2mm = .080

1.5mm = .060

1mm = .040

.75mm = .030

.5 = .020

[cargostar]

For LED's there are some that measure 1 x 1.5mm and are available in "golden" or "sunny" white colors to replicate an incandescant bulb. Try looking at Mouser or Digikey for the exact specs.

[skysoldier46]

I built my Fruehauf trailer with Evergreen .020 and it holds up well. Doing the bulkheads and ribbing takes time but to me anyway a lot more satisfaction in doing that than getting PVC piping.

[Mr mopar]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GMS-CUSTOMS-PARTS-SALE-50-OFF-OUR-NORMAL-PRICE-BIG-SCALE-1-16-TRUCK-VINYL-TIRES-/230878490877?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item35c16e30fd this guy has the tires that you need.