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Tanker truck from the movie Duel.


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Never been a big fan of the rusty crusty model builds but after seeing such nice work by some of the members here I am starting to rethink my position on that. I am thinking I might like to try a grungy looking model. I was thinking the truck from Duel could be fun. I believe I saw one done in one of the model books a while back. Question is.......... is there a kit of whatever tractor that was in the movie to start with or would you have to heavily modify one that may be close ?

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I'd be more worried about the tanker trailer! I've never seen anything close to it in kit form.

For the trailer you would almost have to scratch the entire thing! :wacko:

As of no kit of that trailer exist!...You could probably use a Fruehauf tanker as a starting point i think? :blink:

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The resin 358 hood is sort of close.. a tilt hood rather than a butterfly hood and the grille shell is wider than the fixed radiator of the 351/281.

If (deleted) hadn't of ruined my masters for the 351, Eric would have it - it had hood, radiator, fenders and bumper - perfect for a Duel truck. :(

Tim

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  • 2 months later...

I've got the issue of Fine Scale where Jim Stephens talks about replacing the air ride suspension with leaf springs and walking beam suspension on the frame. I don't know what much about trucks or undercarriages so if any of you who do know or drive big rigs can help me I'd appreciate it. What does that look like? I couldn't tell much from images I got off Google and the ones that did look good were so small I couldn't make heads nor tails out of it. I'm still going slow on the Duel truck and trailer. UPS where is my Evergreen? :huh:

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I'm going to assume you are talking about the truck suspension for this reply. The AMT Pete kits come with Pete style air ride for the rear axles but for the older truck in Duel a walking beam suspension would be more appropriate. The suspension you need is in just about every other older AMT kit except the Freightliner. You can find a Hendrickson walking beam setup in the Diamond Reo, White Western Star, White Road Boss, International 4300, and a few others. If you are going to switch to a walking beam I would go with the Diamond Reo or White Western Star, both are out now and can be had for cheap with a Hobby Lobby or Micheals coupon. You will need to use the whole rear end out the donor kit because the axles have mounts on them specific to the beam suspension. The only old AMT Pete I have is the recent reissue of the Pete tow truck and in it there are four tabs that stick down from the rear of the frame, these are where the air ride system will mount. You will need to remove those tabs so you can add the donor parts. Also, you will need to decide if you want to replicate the truck with the tag axle or not, if so you will need to modify the rear axle to match the undriven tag axle and remove the driveshaft dimple in the first rear axle.

Here is a diagram of a Pete rear suspension similar to what is in the AMT kit

Palm_Truck_Peterbilt_Model_382_Handling_Characteristics.jpg

Here is a Hendrickson walking beam setup

RW-44000-TANDEM.jpg

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I'm going to assume you are talking about the truck suspension for this reply. The AMT Pete kits come with Pete style air ride for the rear axles but for the older truck in Duel a walking beam suspension would be more appropriate. The suspension you need is in just about every other older AMT kit except the Freightliner. You can find a Hendrickson walking beam setup in the Diamond Reo, White Western Star, White Road Boss, International 4300, and a few others. If you are going to switch to a walking beam I would go with the Diamond Reo or White Western Star, both are out now and can be had for cheap with a Hobby Lobby or Micheals coupon. You will need to use the whole rear end out the donor kit because the axles have mounts on them specific to the beam suspension. The only old AMT Pete I have is the recent reissue of the Pete tow truck and in it there are four tabs that stick down from the rear of the frame, these are where the air ride system will mount. You will need to remove those tabs so you can add the donor parts. Also, you will need to decide if you want to replicate the truck with the tag axle or not, if so you will need to modify the rear axle to match the undriven tag axle and remove the driveshaft dimple in the first rear axle.

Here is a diagram of a Pete rear suspension similar to what is in the AMT kit

Palm_Truck_Peterbilt_Model_382_Handling_Characteristics.jpg

Here is a Hendrickson walking beam setup

RW-44000-TANDEM.jpg

I'm going to assume you are talking about the truck suspension for this reply. The AMT Pete kits come with Pete style air ride for the rear axles but for the older truck in Duel a walking beam suspension would be more appropriate. The suspension you need is in just about every other older AMT kit except the Freightliner. You can find a Hendrickson walking beam setup in the Diamond Reo, White Western Star, White Road Boss, International 4300, and a few others. If you are going to switch to a walking beam I would go with the Diamond Reo or White Western Star, both are out now and can be had for cheap with a Hobby Lobby or Micheals coupon. You will need to use the whole rear end out the donor kit because the axles have mounts on them specific to the beam suspension. The only old AMT Pete I have is the recent reissue of the Pete tow truck and in it there are four tabs that stick down from the rear of the frame, these are where the air ride system will mount. You will need to remove those tabs so you can add the donor parts. Also, you will need to decide if you want to replicate the truck with the tag axle or not, if so you will need to modify the rear axle to match the undriven tag axle and remove the driveshaft dimple in the first rear axle.

Here is a diagram of a Pete rear suspension similar to what is in the AMT kit

Palm_Truck_Peterbilt_Model_382_Handling_Characteristics.jpg

Here is a Hendrickson walking beam setup

RW-44000-TANDEM.jpg

Fat Brian, how do I go about replicating the tag axle? I assume it is located behind the drive axle, right? Pics I've seen of tag axles only show a round bar with no gear box. Thank you for your reply too.

Edited by skysoldier46
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That is what a tag axle is, a tag along axle that is undriven but helps increase the overall weight capacity of the truck. The axle closest to the cab is driven like normal but the last axle is like a trailer axle in that it is not connected to the drivetrain. A tag axle is different from a lift axle in that the tag axle is on the ground all of time and is connected to the main suspension of the truck while a lift axle can be raised and lowered as needed. The tag axle was probably initially a cost saving feature to have the capacity of a tandem axle but only one driven axle to wear and break parts in but trucks with this setup tend to get stuck easily on uneven ground or going into steep drives or entrances where the weight can come off of the driven axle enough so that the wheels spin.

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I haven't either. the only pics you see are side views, front views and rear views, but in the movie where the truck went over the cliff I did catch a glimpse of the undercarriage of the trailer and it does not look like any of the models of Duel trucks I've seen. that one does have framing underneath. So I will do an undercarriage of the trailer. I still need to finish the tag axle and mount air bags and shocks to it then attach that to the frame of the truck.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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