Semi Trailer Mechanic

What's goin' on... That's cool!!! Back in 1976 (I was like 4 or 5) when the Bi Centenial year was being celebrated I remeber a mixer company that painted their mixers alot like yours. On the drum were the stars and srtipes only the stars were in a circle (pattern) and inside that were the numbers 76. IF I remember right the trucks were Autocars???

What's goin' on... That's cool!!! Back in 1976 (I was like 4 or 5) when the Bi Centenial year was being celebrated I remeber a mixer company that painted their mixers alot like yours. On the drum were the stars and srtipes only the stars were in a circle (pattern) and inside that were the numbers 76. IF I remember right the trucks were Autocars???

What's goin' on... Here it is ....... Thanks for looking!!! http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1053/910182...8a8d67736_b.jpg and http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1228/910182...f6c8c7b09_b.jpg

What's goin' on... Thanks guys for checkin'!!! I went aheand and used the light bar from that kit. If I build the W900 as a wrecker I'll take one from the R/G Stepps towing kit I've got a few of those. Johnny. HOLD THAT THOUGHT!!! We'll do some trading later on.

What's goin' on... Did the R/G W900 wrecker kit come w/ two chrome trees? I bought one a while ago thatwas open. I'm using the light bar from thisw for another project. Below is a description of the tree in question. Thanks in advance. Some pieces on it are...... Tree no.7007509/D 258 -handle 187 -diamond plate deck 262 -light bar piece 263 -lightbar piece 269 -visor 259 -handle 267 -horn 10X260 -chicken lights

What's goin' on... Johnny. I like using chaulk to weather. It's a lot easier I think than an airbrush. For large areas I'll use flat clear coat while wet I take a die grinder w/ a sandpaper roll and grind the chalk. Hitting the right angle of the drum w/ the chalk and it will throw ground chalk on the area to be detailed. Allow to dry and then remone the excess chalk. For rust I'll paint the area w/ a brush w/ rust then use red/brown chaulk allow to dry and then clean the excess off w/ a wet paper towel then w/ a dry one.

What's goin' on... What conversion kit are you using for this? This truck will look good when it's done!!!

What's goin' on... Open a second web browser. One w. MCM.com w/ the post the other w/ your photobucket page. Go into you album and display your truck picture. In that web browser highlight the web address and push the CTRL key and C at the same time. This copies the address. Minimize that web browser and open the other w/ the MCM.com w/ the post your composing. In the body of your post paste the web address by hitting the CTRL key and V key at the same time. example.... BLAH BLAH BLAH here's a pic of the 379 .... http://www.here's.the.379.com Give this a try. Works for me. Good Luck

What's goin' on... Johnny That's looking good. For your suspension add a crossmember attatch it to the front side of the trailing arm hangers. I know this is a model but w/ out that crossmember the flange of the peir where the hanger is welded to will rip away from the ceneter of the pier.The hangers bend and flex and rip away from the center of the pier. I've had to repair dozens of trailers where this happened to those crossmembers. Either a faulty weld broke or something hit that crossmember. Here's a 10ft spread I scratchbuilt for the reissue Great Dane trailer. I used flat stock styrene but usually you'll find a piece of 1/4 x 3 inch c-channel steel. My opinion I wouldn't have used super singles. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...&p=74092661

What's goin' on... Here's another inprogress picture of the GMC GENERAL this time it's got a scratchbuilt headache rack. NOTE the cabinent doors are cut off the R/G 359 Peterbilt rack. Also inside the chassis has been weathered w/ grey chalk to give it a little depth. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9495602@N02/8...in/photostream/ Thanks for lookin'!!!

What's goin' on... You made that out of plastic spoons? I'M IMPRESSED!!! I always used the Polar Lights Ghostbusters Caddy kit stickly for the light bars. Lately that kit's been hard to find so I'll try your idea sometime.

What's goin' on... There they are! Cool! Where did you get the light bar from ( on the Volvo )

What's goin' on... For some reason the pictures aren't showing up???

What's goin' on... Yeah you're right those trailer configs are b-trains. I can tell ya the length depends on the company and the region (length weight laws) where it's being pulled at. I'd say for the lead trailer build it as a tri-axle 30-40 feet and the second trailer 20-28 feet long. Here in the Columbus(Grove City) Ohio area there aren't many of those B's that pass thru. Another thing. If ya can watch that show Ice Road Truckers you'll see alot of those on there. I too have been kicking around the idea of building a B-Train as well. There was a fella that used two Beall tanker kits to make a tanker b-train. I can't remember who built that. Good Luck

What's goin' on... Dave I've seen both steerable (mainly on dump trailers) and fixed lift axles on trailers.

What's goin' on... Dave. Yeah there are steering lift axles. They resemble a steering axle they have two air bags one lifts the axle the other pushes it to the ground. There are two coil over shocks mounted parallel w/ the axle exerting pressure against the spindles so the axle runs straight and when the truck completes a turn it continues to remain straight. I worked for a trucking company that had about 15-20 CL700 Macks w/ three of these lift axles under under each truck. I don't miss changing those shocks!!! Drivers say when one of those shocks breaks the wheel on that side will steer in what ever direction it ends up . They say it feels like the trucks going to flip over when that happens. About four years ago I started building a L9000 w/ three steerable lifts and a rear strong arm axle. I have yet to finish it. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...&p=67262840

What's goin' on... Here's a GMC General I've been working for a few months now. It's being built as a daycab added so far are scratchbuilt mufflers, and a Nuway lift axle (AR-45-9) This is what a couple trailers out at work have under them. For the lift axle I used air bags from the AMT Peterbilt 359 and 352. The bags up front are from the 359 made to look like they're inflated lifting the axle off the ground. The rear air bags are from the 352 because these are not nearly as tall these are to look like they are deflated. FYI if the air bags at the rear of the axle were inflated the front would be deflated and the axle would be down. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1268/812288827_232e15273a.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1068/812288987_dc7353391f.jpg Just when I figured out how to attatch a photo (file) to the posts ya'll went and reconfigured the forum HA HAAA.

What's goin' on... James that's something I never thought of. Swapping out the spring ride from the Astro for the air ride from the Bison/General. Interesting project!!!

What's goin' on... Dan You're absolutly right. I took a job between jobs w/ a small trucking company that would do just that. They had an FLD120 that rolled over crushed the cab. Later on we pulled the engine out of the that and put it in an FLD112 that threw a rod. Shortly after that both rear ends from that truck went under another FLD120 and so on. So mixing and matching pieces and parts between kits isn't all that different then going to a truck salvage yard to get a used part just alot easier and cleaner (HA HAAA). As a rule of thumb (so-to-say) When I do that to a project I try to make it look like it could have been engineered that way. What it all boils down to is it's your project enjoy building it how you want! HECK I used a 359 Peterbilt kit for a chassis donor to salvage a KW W925 model Good Luck

What's goin' on... Chris Here's what the Plastruct 1/100 diamond plate looks like. I used that for scratchbuilding the battery box and the storeage box on this truck.

What's goin' on... Chris That's good ya got things all mopped up! In one of your photos I see/remember alot of older builds you posted a while ago in another discussion group.

What's goin' on... Johnny (rottin) I like scratch building trailers more so than building the trucks. I'm currently looking to build a tanker trailer here soon like this one pictured in this link. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...&p=64605656

What's goin' on... Here's where I build. It's a small area but works out for the time being. And here's where some of my kits are stored.

What's goin' on... If you're getting back into building trucks/trailers consider looking into Plastruct Diamond Plate 1/100 for future projects. I like the catwalk you built for the chassis but I think the tread plate pattern is out of scale. If you paint that identical to your friend's 352 that will be a heck of a good looking project! I agree w/ the others keep the progress pictures coming!!!

What's goin' on... Here's an incomplete 352 I retrofitted w/ single headlights from one of the Paystar 5000 kits. http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...&p=74128381