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Tyrone Malone Super Boss


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Looking at the photos of the Super Boss Truck I found this...

10714549_931970563497765_827924371241582

I wonder what is that thing beween the yellow lines in front of the axle. A kind of return spring? I don´t thing I´ve seen it before.

 

 

That is a Sterrsafe

Looking at the photos of the Super Boss Truck I found this...

10714549_931970563497765_827924371241582

I wonder what is that thing beween the yellow lines in front of the axle. A kind of return spring? I don´t thing I´ve seen it before.

 

 

That is a Steersafe setup. it is used so that if the truck blows a front tire, it will help the driver maintain control of the truck. I've installed quite a few of them!

Edited by Ben
Mistake in typing.
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Thank you Ben for the explanation. But this leads me to another thing. I tried to find a picture that would show the whole thing becuase there is only part of the system visible in the photo. I was not successful. I have looked through the pictures of several setups on the net but these are probably different. If I tried to add this part on my version of the Super Boss model, what should it look like? Is it a stabilizer running accross the whole width of the axle or are there two smaller ones on each end of the axle? I wish I knew the answer to this. Can someone help?

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I went through all my reference pictures of the Super Boss and Bandag Bandit (and I have gathered a few over the years ;)) and I couldn't find any good pictures of this setup where you can see the whole thing...but it appears to be mounted only on the drivers side and it seems to be a later add on as it's not present on some pictures of the early Thermo King version.
The Bandag Bandit does not have this setup.

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Thanks a lot Håkan and Russell. I´ve been checking the Tyrone Malone FB quite a lot lately, looking for all the details I can find. My interest in Tyrone Malone´s trucks was never too deep untill now. It´s a fascinating adventure. From a whale display to power trucks.... ain´t that breathtaking?

I wonder if the Super Boss was equipped with the front brakes all the time or if they were added on later since the AMT kit includes no front brakes. The Bandag Bandid doesn´t have them either.

10682321_932628290098659_301838750003884

I also wonder if this blanket around the Allison transmission is there for museum display purposes only (to prevent oil stains on the floor) or if it was present when the truck was at full performance back in a day.

10733812_931974906830664_995655944949572

 

 

Edited by truckabilly
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The blanket is a safety device in case the tranny blows up with pieces going through the cab hurting the driver during a run.

I´ve learn something new again. Never heard of safety blankets before. Thanks for the info. This could be a nice detail on a model. 

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  • 3 months later...

Thanks a lot Håkan and Russell. I´ve been checking the Tyrone Malone FB quite a lot lately, looking for all the details I can find. My interest in Tyrone Malone´s trucks was never too deep untill now. It´s a fascinating adventure. From a whale display to power trucks.... ain´t that breathtaking?

I wonder if the Super Boss was equipped with the front brakes all the time or if they were added on later since the AMT kit includes no front brakes. The Bandag Bandid doesn´t have them either.

10682321_932628290098659_301838750003884

I also wonder if this blanket around the Allison transmission is there for museum display purposes only (to prevent oil stains on the floor) or if it was present when the truck was at full performance back in a day.

10733812_931974906830664_995655944949572

 

 

I was meaning to answer to this post when you posted it but forgot about it, so I might be a little late.
Like Bandag Bandit the Super Boss did not have front brakes, the brake drums would not fit inside the small front rims Malone used on the Boss and Bandit, as you can see on your (now gone) first picture the inside on those wheels are just slightly larger than the bolt circle on the hub.
So the front brakes the Boss has now is a later add on most likely done by Gary Ries after he got the truck.
I have gone through all my reference pictures of the Super Boss and there are no brake air lines nor air brake chambers at the front wheels on any of the pictures from the Malone era, the front brakes first appeared on the Gary Ries version of the truck and he use larger front wheels to fit the brake drums.
The Super Boss truck (and the Bandag Bandit) allways had the small front wheels when Malone had it and the brakeless front made it a lot easier to do the 180 degree turns Malone was famous for in his shows.

Edited by Force
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Thanks a lot for explanation, Håkan. It looks like I have to say good bye to my plan to build the early version of the truck. I have made a present look the dashboard and added the front brakes. But the front wheels in the kit are the small ones, aren´t they?

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Yes they are, but they can of course be changed...but I would leave it alone and do the truck as you intended to do.
The present owner Gary Reis did a lot of modifications to the Super Boss after he got it, he repainted the truck, removed the chromed bump stops for the front axle, added front brakes and larger front wheels, changed the wheels to Alcoa aluminum 10-hole wheels instead of the Truck Mate 5-hole wheels it originally had (on Malone's last version the rear wheels was 2-hole Budds tho'), changed the steering system and removed the large slave cylinder under the battery box, moved the brake chutes up to the rear body panel, redid the interrior, added a fuel cell and for sure lots of other things, Malone took off the wheelie bars himself as the last version he had didn't have them.
The Bandag Bandit is on display at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, it's left alone and is pretty much as the last version Malone had except for the missing rear wing, the cab was changed to an earlier pre-72 style cab with regular door handles after the shop fire when the truck got damaged and the interrior was changed to an all black one at the same time, before it was blue, white and yellow.
So the Bandit is more like the Super Boss was before all the changes.

Edited by Force
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I have pictures of at least 4 versions of the Bandit including a few of an early Thermo King version, they are as you say black and the early ones the paint have a blueish shine.

Edited by Force
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So, it is going to be like I said in the beginning of my SuperBoss thread. The build will feature parts and colors that never met on actual 1:1 truck. At least, I reposted the pictures here. But I can´t help those in someone else´s posts.

I am trying to restore the photos in my old threads but it is time consuming and tiring. So, it is going take a while. 

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Just to add, I've also seen steel plates under and over transmissions instead of safety blankets, which serve the same purpose - shrapnel catching. The ones I've seen are around 1/4" thick steel running the length of the transmission bottom and top, and since most of the ones I've seen have been on off-highway rigs, the plates usually cover the transfer cases and divorced driveshafts as well.

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I'm not shure the Super Boss originally had any form of explosion protection on the Allison transmission, the Bandag Bandit wich engine has 300 more horseower than the Super Boss and now resides at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum doesn't have one, and there are none on the auxillary transmission either.
So it could also be something Gary Ries added after he bought the truck, and it's not wrong to use one as the transmission of course can blow up.

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  • 2 months later...

I personally took all of the pictures you have in this thread in August 2014. The pictures with the spring in the steering and the trans blanket are of Super Boss, the picture without brakes is Bandag Bandit. Like previously said, the changes to Super Boss were made to it after Gary Ries after he bought it from Malone;s estate. Häkan is pretty accurate in his description of the changes except what he says about the Super Boss interior. It is still pretty close to how Malone had it. Bandag Bandit is unchanged underneath and is pretty close to what Super Boss looked like when Malone had it. I have tons of reference pictures of the trucks through their whole life and I was a consultant on the model's reissue that Round 2 did. I did all of the painting instructions and heavily influenced the decal sheet. I also did the Papa Truck painting instructions and was able to get the interior decals added and the rest of Papa's decals improved as well. Hit me up with any questions you have. 

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I appreciate the work you have done Aaron, I really do...and I'm grateful that you had a large part in the re-issue of the Malone trucks so we can get them for reasonable prices, even tho' I had two each of the original kits I bought the new ones anyway, and I'm eagerly waiting for the Bandag Bandit and Hideout Truck.

I can only go by what I have seen in the pictures I have as I unfortunately never have seen any of the trucks in person, I have saved every picture I have found so far of the Malone trucks, and I still do when I find pictures I don't have, as I have allways thought the Malone trucks were cool.
Most of the pictures are saved from the Tyrone Malone Facebook site and Ken Harris Fotki albums and some from magazines and other places, but I have not found any good pictures of the interior from when Malone had it other than some parts of it.
Today's interior in the Super Boss may be close to what Malone had but there are some small differences after what I can see in the old pictures I have compared to the Reis version, the door panels and dash top are two examples where there are differences between then and now.
The interior I described in my earlier post in this thread was the early Bandag Bandit interior before the cab change, the first interior in the Bandit was blue, white and yellow and the second one wich the truck still has is all black...the Super Boss interior has allways been black as far as I know.

I miss one decal on the decal sheet in the new Super Boss kits, and it wasn't on the old ones either.
After "Tyrone Malone" script on the small lip above the "Bandag The Greatest Name In Retreading" decal that goes between the tail lights it should also be a "Mr D.D.D." script but it's missing.
On most of the pictures I have the "Mr D.D.D." script is present, both on the 1974-78 Thermo King version and the 1979-88 Bandag version wich the kit is supposed to be.

Edited by Force
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