Freightliner COE Questions

[leafsprings]

On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 11:37 AM, Jim B said:

The information that I have shows that the kit is a 1971-73 White-Freightliner WFT7564T.  

Scratch out '71. Its high time we get the '71 in 1/25 scale, the HO scale people had this for years!

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by leafsprings

[TheSDTrucker]

On 1/12/2018 at 9:11 PM, Muncie said:

Farr Dynacell air cleaners with frontal air intake thru the nose skin like the AMT kit and the brochure were (probably?) not available with the 8V-71 engine.  The Farr air cleaner mounted easily on the inline Cummins engines but the main problem is that they didn't flow enough air to meet Detroit Diesel Engineering requirements.  I know for certain that it wasn't enough for the 8V-92's but at best they would have been marginal for the 8V-71 - maybe OK for the naturally aspirated 8V-71, but not for the 8V-71T - not sure about it on a 1971 to '73, but I'm sticking to it.  Some of the high horsepower 8V-92's that came later even required dual 16" diameter air cleaners - yeah, try to locate that where the trailer doesn't hit it.  I think your reference truck has stationary air intake with the air cleaner mounted on the exhaust cross braces - that would be correct for the 8V-71T.   The alternative with single exhaust is to frame rail mount the air cleaner under the cab ahead of the fuel tank.

I've only ever seen one 8v71 with the Farr air cleaner on it. It's for sale right now actually.

[Muncie]

1 hour ago, TheSDTrucker said:

TI've only ever seen one 8v71 with the Farr air cleaner on it. It's for sale right now actually.

that's pretty cool! - neat to know - you found something that I wasn't aware of.  do you have a link for the truck for sale?

by the time my Freightliner time started there weren't too many 8V's around - almost zero 8V-71's and only a handful of 8V-92's.

[TheSDTrucker]

I know it's in TN, I'll look for the link

Edited January 16, 2018 by TheSDTrucker

[TheSDTrucker]

1 hour ago, Muncie said:

that's pretty cool! - neat to know - you found something that I wasn't aware of.  do you have a link for the truck for sale?

by the time my Freightliner time started there weren't too many 8V's around - almost zero 8V-71's and only a handful of 8V-92's.

I just found the link, it's in Covington TN. It's in rough shape, but with some time and skilled work, it could be put back on the road.

https://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/17805745/1971-freightliner-fla96

[37 caddy]

That old truck looks like its been ridden hard and put away wet?,there are some good shots for details you normally dont see,it has stack towers very similar to the kit ones,wouldnt be hard to replicate that.It has the small emblem on the grille top,it is a pointed type,not the rectangle one in the kit.The cab in the kit is an oddball cab,they had a very limited run of the cab steps,was a one year only?.I have never seen one in person that is the same cab with those type of steps.There were some pictures on here of the real one that had those steps. Harvey

[TheSDTrucker]

39 minutes ago, 37 caddy said:

That old truck looks like its been ridden hard and put away wet?,there are some good shots for details you normally dont see,it has stack towers very similar to the kit ones,wouldnt be hard to replicate that.It has the small emblem on the grille top,it is a pointed type,not the rectangle one in the kit.The cab in the kit is an oddball cab,they had a very limited run of the cab steps,was a one year only?.I have never seen one in person that is the same cab with those type of steps.There were some pictures on here of the real one that had those steps. Harvey

It seems like all Freightliners were oddballs back then. I confirmed the one I'm basing my build off of is a 1972. It's in MUCH better shape than the white truck the link sends you to. 

[JUNK-MAN]

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 2:45 AM, highway said:

I used Model Master USSR Fulcrum Gray/Green to hopefully get close to Detroit Green, and at least to my eyes, it is at least close. 

Not to derail the thread, but, where did you get that visor? I have a lund visor on my 1:1 pickup and always wanted one for my models, I know they make resin ones for model pickups but I've never seen one for a rig. That thing is sweeet!

[highway]

3 minutes ago, JUNK-MAN said:

Not to derail the thread, but, where did you get that visor? I have a lund visor on my 1:1 pickup and always wanted one for my models, I know they make resin ones for model pickups but I've never seen one for a rig. That thing is sweeet!

I'm guessing you mean on the Ford since that is the only pic with a cab in it??   It is supplied in the Italeri Ford LTL9000 and also the Itaerli Ford Aeromax kits since both share the same cab. 

As far as I know, it also is not a Lund visor, Ford used these on pretty much all of their heavy trucks. 

[37 caddy]

Frieightliner was big on the fact that every truck was custom built to the owners specs,they always had ads in the magazines promoting just that.Coming on to the end of the cabover era they werent really a fleet truck,IH Ford and Dodge were the real cheapy ones then,frieghtlier was a step up from them,KW and peterbilt were the top of the line then,Mack was not at the bottom but between a IH and a frieghtliner.At least thats how i remember it. Harvey

[TheSDTrucker]

35 minutes ago, 37 caddy said:

Frieightliner was big on the fact that every truck was custom built to the owners specs,they always had ads in the magazines promoting just that.Coming on to the end of the cabover era they werent really a fleet truck,IH Ford and Dodge were the real cheapy ones then,frieghtlier was a step up from them,KW and peterbilt were the top of the line then,Mack was not at the bottom but between a IH and a frieghtliner.At least thats how i remember it. Harvey

Now days the quality level to me goes from Peterbilt/Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack, Volvo, Western Star, and International. International being at the very low end of the spectrum.

[TheSDTrucker]

Is this the air pump on a Detroit? If so, where do all these hoses lead to?

[Modeltruckbuilder]

18 hours ago, TheSDTrucker said:

Now days the quality level to me goes from Peterbilt/Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack, Volvo, Western Star, and International. International being at the very low end of the spectrum.

Western Star beats Freightliner, Mack and Volvo hands down. You might not like their style, but from a quality standpoint Western Star builds one seriously rugged truck.

[highway]

3 hours ago, Modeltruckbuilder said:

Western Star beats Freightliner, Mack and Volvo hands down. You might not like their style, but from a quality standpoint Western Star builds one seriously rugged truck.

I do have to agree, but not sure how being a division of Freightliner now will be for them in the quality department. I've driven many a Freightliner and love the old school trucks, but the new ones can't hold a candle to the old ones. 

[Modeltruckbuilder]

1 hour ago, highway said:

I do have to agree, but not sure how being a division of Freightliner now will be for them in the quality department. I've driven many a Freightliner and love the old school trucks, but the new ones can't hold a candle to the old ones. 

From what I've seen looking at Truck Paper, Freightliner has shifted most of it's production to Mexico. W-Star production is based in Portland, Oregon and Cleveland, North Carolina. There doesn't seem to be any interaction between the 2 brands from a production standpoint. I would imagine management and engineering may very well be a different story.

[TheSDTrucker]

14 hours ago, Modeltruckbuilder said:

From what I've seen looking at Truck Paper, Freightliner has shifted most of it's production to Mexico. W-Star production is based in Portland, Oregon and Cleveland, North Carolina. There doesn't seem to be any interaction between the 2 brands from a production standpoint. I would imagine management and engineering may very well be a different story.

As far as what I see from the two companies, they're both owned by Daimler. I would imagine quality is very similar.

[PettyKW43]

This has been a great topic and has answered many questions I’ve had in regards to Freightliner. I have one , I’m planning to build the two story freight shaker, with the sleeper compartment over top of the driver, does anybody know how the top bunk is configured as in the access to the bunk area , ladder? Grab handles? Opening to the top? I have an Allied project I would like to do! Thanks guys Rick

[TheSDTrucker]

3 minutes ago, PettyKW43 said:

This has been a great topic and has answered many questions I’ve had in regards to Freightliner. I have one , I’m planning to build the two story freight shaker, with the sleeper compartment over top of the driver, does anybody know how the top bunk is configured as in the access to the bunk area , ladder? Grab handles? Opening to the top? I have an Allied project I would like to do! Thanks guys Rick

That will be really awesome to see! I'll jump into my Freightliner archives to see what I can pull up. That will be one really unique build!

[plastic trucker]

I read somewhere that there was a trap door under the bunk.

[mailman]

On 1/6/2018 at 11:57 AM, TheSDTrucker said:

What was this blue knob for that sits next to the truck and trailer brake of all these older trucks?

the blue button was actually a brake release it supplied enough air to release your maxis to roll a short distance if you could not build air to full pressure

[DRIPTROIT 71]

3 hours ago, mailman said:

the blue button was actually a brake release it supplied enough air to release your maxis to roll a short distance if you could not build air to full pressure

The blue valve on most trucks were for tractor only parking. There is a similar discussion on another forum on this blue valve. It states that regulations changed that required trailer brakes to be applied when tractor brakes were applied eliminating the blue valve on newer models. I'm not sure when this happened. I've seen 80 models with the blue valve and I know that 83 model Freightliners did not have one. I did find pictures of 84 KWs with blue valves. This thread also speaks of a green valve that applies enough air to get you off of the road as Chris has mentioned. I'm sure that this other valve may possibly been blue in some trucks.

Here is a picture of a blue valve. You can make out that it says tractor parking, pull to apply.

IMG_7359 by Brian Smith, on Flickr

Edited January 20, 2018 by DRIPTROIT 71

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Here is a couple of better pictures in a couple of Freightliners. I've found blue valves in my reference pictures in Macks as late as 89. The 83s that my dad drove and maintained did not have blue valves.

Interior White Freightliner 1 by Brian Smith, on Flickr

Interior White Freightliner 1976 4 by Brian Smith, on Flickr

 

[mailman]

i owned a 72 kw that a had a blue valve for that maxi override thing , i also had a 63 freightliner that had a valve that you pulled to release and pushed to set,believe me, you didn't want to hit it accidently when you were rolling.

[highway]

2 hours ago, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

The blue valve on most trucks were for tractor only parking. There is a similar discussion on another forum on this blue valve. It states that regulations changed that required trailer brakes to be applied when tractor brakes were applied eliminating the blue valve on newer models. I'm not sure when this happened. I've seen 80 models with the blue valve and I know that 83 model Freightliners did not have one. I did find pictures of 84 KWs with blue valves. This thread also speaks of a green valve that applies enough air to get you off of the road as Chris has mentioned. I'm sure that this other valve may possibly been blue in some trucks.

Here is a picture of a blue valve. You can make out that it says tractor parking, pull to apply.

IMG_7359 by Brian Smith, on Flickr

I've never heard of that, and still just pulling the yellow valve and holding your thumb on the red still only applies the tractor brakes. 

[mistermodel]

I'd like to ad a few things.the single bar grill is a series 61 cab ,nothing to do with raised or older configuration.I think a twin bar grilled series 71 is 7 inches wider.The interior padding could be virtually any colour for the kits vintage.The kit has a sever duty cab option,if memory serves me correct the boxed under door steps were part of it if they were ordered.The angled raised panels on the front are part of the sever package.|AMT missed a few delails,the headlight location ,the angle on the side profile is too high. I guess it has to do with the headlight measurements being off. The front axle as with most amt kits is too wide,exaggerated by the narrow 61 series cab.There should be a window gasket instead of rivets around the peep window.Also the doors should have 3 ribs instead of 2.Freightliners were purely a custom built truck so almost anything was a go.My favorite truck and kit,so I don't mind dealing with the cab seams