Twist67 Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Hi there, I just started with the trailer for the two Peterbilt´s.I made some drawings on my computer and than milled the parts out with my milling machine.Those are the first finished parts: The axles and rims were takne from an AMT tanker trailer.After I have finished all the parts I glued them together and put the trailer behind the pete just to see how it looks.It will be painted and weathered the same like the UniLite.For the bed I´ll use some balsa. More progress will follow,soon. Cheers,Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfpint33 Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Dang that looks fine.I'll be keeping a close eye on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semi Trailer Mechanic Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 (edited) What's goin' on... Chris Great job on the Pete! The chassis for you flat bed is inaccuarte. You need to have two main peirs (beams) w/ the crossmembers. W/out those beams the flat bed would split in half. On a van trailer the under carriage is like this because the sides and the roof support the floor under load. Older van trailers would split in half if over loaded because the sides weren't renforced strong enough. I've worked w/ older mechanics in the past that back in the day they've had to rebuild van trailers because of that. As a matter of fact. There is a picture of an old semi (dated in the early 60's?) where that happened on www.Hankstruckpictures.com I'm not trying to be overly critical just explaining the the construction. To give ya an idea. Here are a few pictitures of a flatbed I scratchbuilt based on a Wabash. Here are the peirs (beams) I'm refering to. Note the crossmembers in the center. Instead of drilling out holes in the shape of the crossmember in the beams so the members can be installed thru like on a 1:1 I sectioned the crossmembers avoiding that butting them togather. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...&p=70800676 Here is the rest of the crossmembers are assembled including the side rails. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...0881305&f=0 Edited August 22, 2007 by Semi Trailer Mechanic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpreadAxle Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Looks good. Scott has some good points . Also, to add to it, flatbeds used in the western states tend to be of the outside frame type, where the frame rails are under the outer edges of the deck. I dont know what the advantage is to this typr of setup, but they use a lot of them out west. This trailer looks good tthough. I would love to pick up the milling machine. Between this equipment and your talents, the project possibilities are limitless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Albion Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 This will be interesting!! I'm definately looking forward to seeing the outcome of this one. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twist67 Posted August 22, 2007 Author Share Posted August 22, 2007 Hi there, thanks for the compliments.Yes,with this machine it´s really interesting to do some new things. Scott,thanks for your advice.Your trailer is looking great.Do you have some drawings from it?I think I´ll add the rails to it.And I´ll change my drawing of my trailer for later use....So I´m very thankful for every tip or idea for this trailer and also other projects. Cheers,Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semi Trailer Mechanic Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 What's goin' on... Chris Sure anytime. If you need any info related to trailers let me know. I'm not saying I know everything but working as a trailer mechanic for the last 15+ years it's kinda hard not to learn something here and there about 'em! I agree w/ your building abilities and that computer driven mill you can do some serious work. Alot easier than drawing the pieces on styrene sheet w/ a pencil then cutting it out w/ an exacto razor knife. Alot faster too!!! Having that you could cut enough pieces each time to make several kits!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twist67 Posted August 31, 2007 Author Share Posted August 31, 2007 Hi there, I made some progress to the trailer.As Scott mentioned I added two additional beams to the underside,added some more sheet and also added and cut the wooden planks. The trailer looks also nice behind my old Mack R-Model I have to build the landing gear and then it could be wired a little bit,some more detailing and painting and weathering. Scott,that´s what I want to go for,cutting parts for more than one trailer.....maybe there are some people outside to want some of those things While we are speaking about trailers,I made those some years ago without that machine,but now I want to built them new with that thing.The lowboy will go behind my Ford Heavy Hauler.Might be looking good with an Cat dozer on it or some crane parts.....and I want to build a long version and another short one of those bottom dump trailers.....So I´ll went back to your help when I´ll start building them....You also made a nice bottom dump trailer....I want to build seomthing like that.... Thanks for looking, Cheers,Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semi Trailer Mechanic Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 What's goin' on... Chris. That flatbed looks good so far. For an old school trailer look try using the dolly legs found in the AMT tanker kits w/ the large casters instead of the sand shoes you'd typically find on dolly legs. I remember vividly when you built the lowboy,377,paystar, 289,and the bottom dump plus a couple more if I'm not mistaken. That was interesting how you were going for a excavating company look. Crane parts would be a good load. OR you could scratch build a bucket for a trac-hoe excavator. It's common to see lowboy's and/or a flat bed to only have an excavator bucket loaded taking it to a jobsite where an existing trac hoe's already working needing a different bucket for a larger/smaller trench being dug or for demo purposes. What length bottom dump trailer are you planing on building this time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bahead Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 out of all the blogs I've read today,this one really blew me away. Great topic! and good advice! Both hobbyist do great work!. These trailers are awesome!! Bob Robinson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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