9 replies to this topic

[TUFF TIN]

Just finished my KW as a Glider. Even got a new fifth wheel and I strapped it down to the frame and used cardboard under the strapping to keep the primer from scratches.

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Mike

[clayton]

cool!!

[mackinac359]

Glider kits can be a fun builds and good saves for kits that became donors for other projects.

Tim

[SpreadAxle]

You did a nice job on that.

[cam]

That looks great.

[Misguided-1]

hey, i'm new to the truck building scene and dont mean to sound stupid............but whats a glider?

[rronning84]

A glider is exactly what you see in the picture. It is the frame, cab and all that stuff in the front but just a bare chassis in the rear so that the owner can sling his own running gear under the truck and get the exact wheel base he wants. Most west coast log trucks start out as gliders

Edited by rronning84, 19 November 2010 - 05:05 AM.

[mackinac359]

A Glider Kit - or "kit" as some companies call them:
Cab, hood, front suspension, frame. No engine, no rear suspension. Fully wired. Has a radiator.

Rolling glider:
cab,hood, front and rear suspension, no engine (or no transmission).

Gliders are rare today as manufacturers don't like to build them (it takes just as much work to build a glider as it does a full truck, and it takes more effort to move/transport them around).
The red and white 389 on the right is a glider kit. No engine, transmission, exhaust or rear suspension.

Tim

[Johnny]

Had a good friend that did a Westen Star glider back in the late 70's. He had an older W900 that had just a few 1000 on a complete overhaul and had the rear drives rebuilt only a couple years earlier.
He was shopping for a newer rig and the prices were beyond what he could really afford at the time. He saw an ad in Overdrive for the WS glider kit and found he could save a lot of money going that way!
Three other friends and I helped him do the switch over of the drivetrain on a three day weekend. One of the guys worked for Chicago KW . He had been doing glider conversions for them so he made sure everything went together right! The truck got inspected and licensed on a Tuesday morning and he made a shakedown run from Gary In. to Nashville Tn. and back through St' Louis! Only had a small electrical issue that he fixed in a rest area!
He ran that rig until he passed away in 1998 at the age of 71.

[TUFF TIN]

Well, I'll try and show you the real thing. The first one is an early Pete and if memory serves me ccorrectly it was for sale in Reno at the ATHS Show in 2002 for a decent price. This picture I found on LCM of it being towed backwards.

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Gordon Fast Freight, now Gordon trucking built 2 of these up in the 70's. Number 76 and number 80. I think this is 80.
They used 350 Cummins, 13 speed Roadrangers and Pete air leaf rears ,spread. I drove for them then.

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Tim has explained pretty much what they are and I was around several that were built and drove a few myself. It was just a way of life in those days. But................. in the 50's when my real KW was built they were knocking out about 6 trucks a week or maybe that was a month and when I retired 15 years ago the plant was knocking out 23 units a day and most likely didn't want to slow production with glider kits.

Mike