dad vader

When I came home from the Army,I got a job as an apperentice at the Cummins distributor here locally, after about 8 months I got laid off. Couldn't find another wrenching job in the area,so I took to driving a truck. After a couple different companies where I couldn't make any money,I landed a job with a medium size flatbed/steel carrier. I learned the different equipment quickly and soon became one of the fleets top money makers. I pulled standard spread axle flats,tamdem axle stretch traiiers,spread axle and tandem covered wagons, even double drop and lowboys. I was on a percentage pay,made 23% of truck gross. Stretch freight and dropdeck work usually paid over dimensional pay,and I did alot of it. All steel was paid by the 100lbs,so the more weight I hauled the more I made,the more loads I pulled the more I made. I was rarely legal,Weight wise and HOS wise and have over 700.000 miles of accident free driving. The only accident I had was when a little gray haired lady pulled out in front of me in Philly. I destroyed her 1976 Delta 88,(And the front of my brand new 1987 International 4300)and she walked away with just a cut on he forehead fron the saftey glass. When I got the truck stopped and ran over to her car,she had a deathgrip on the steering wheel and looked up at me and said "What happened?"I was empty and had just started my day after delivering the evening before,and well rested. But I get off my point. I was almost never legal as far as weight,when a shipper,who had more the one load for our company would ask me how much weight I could handle I would ask,how much weight I could carry,I would ask how much weight he had. But in the late 80's that is the way it was done. We all ran heavy and over hours,it was the only way to make money. In 1990 I went back to wrenching and only drive big rigs for road tests. Though I still retain an "A" CDL with doubles,and tanker endorsments. I currently work for a Volvo truck dealership,and I see both sides of the coin.... I see old timers who have alot of respect for other people and young guns straight out of truck driving school whose ego's are bigger than their trucks. It saddens me that it has come to this. If I am working on your truck and you come give me attitude,I pull it into the low side and roll along at a crawl. If you are respectfull,it goues in the big hole and I do my best to get your wheels rolling again. I realize you dont want to be there,and you aren't making money unless the wheels are rolling. But dont pi&^ me off. In conclusion,we do what we have to to make a living. If you get caught you get caught.Take your lumps and move on. If you prefer to run within the letter of the law,and starve,then dont critisize those who know there own limits. I am thankful for all the drivers out there who move freight everyday to keep us fed and clothed,keep up the good work. One last thing,for the drivers. Kind of a public service announcment. When you bring your trucks in for service,remember we may have to get in your cab to work on it,please try to keep them clean,when they need service.

I dont know how to post pictures or add a link,I am computer stupid.... But if you copy and past this into your browser address bar it is a good article to help out..... http://dailydieseldose.com/dayton-or-budd-the-eternal-question/

You guys forgot a couple,there was Simplex,was cast and manufactured in central Illinois they are now owed by Holland Hitch Corparation. And the there was Fontane fith wheel corp,which is now the controling company for Jost. And all offer both slider and solid mount wheels. Fontane was also part of a company called Marmon Highway Technologies. Not sure who owns it now after Marmon folded.....But they do advertise themselves and the worlds largets fifth wheel company,not sure if that is true or not.

One of the reasons they went away was due to the truck and tire manufactures and there warranty's The disc wheels run true with no work. Steer spokes(that were not trued properly) would create uneven wear and the truck manufacture would be responsable for warranty on tire to keep a customer happy. Not to mention most spokes were set up to run tube type tires with three piece split rims,very dangerous..... The tire manufactuers were pushing tubeless. For note The 22.5 tubless rims could be run on 20" cast hubs and the 24.5 could be run on the 22" hubs. There is also a weight savings of about 25 lbs per wheel position,if you ran steel discs,the aluminium wheels came later as did the hub piloted wheels which makes them run even more true and have less chance of failure then the stud piloted wheels(i.e. the ones with inner and outer nuts.) I currently work for a Volvo truck dealership in northeast Illinios. And worked for an International dealership for 15 years before that and havent had to do tires since I started there in 1990.But years of doing tires before that,I was never so happy to start seeing less and less of the split rim,tube type tires. I was always nervous to do them,after I saw one come apart in a tire cage and it pretty much destoyed the cage.

I am not trying to argue,but that series cab had individual air wiper motors,and were located under the dash. One on the left and one on the right.The air valve located in spot # 2 would be the selenoid and filter for the air controlled fan clutch. And as said before the one in location #1 is the reciever drier for the Air conditioner. In my 30 years as a mechanic I have changed many of both.

Spoken by someone who has never had to try and true them up......... While I love the look of them when they are painted clean and maintained they are He#& to work on.

Also just to point out the engine in the Revell Peterbilt that you are using is an "A" model,not a "B".

In 1995 International introduced the Prosleeper an intergrated cab and sleeper that I know was built in house at the factory.It was 1995 that I went to a school and was able to tour the plant and saw them being built

I wasn't sure if they were made by the factory or not,I just know we covered any problems under warranty only if they were factory installed.They offered a 36",42" and a 60".Did the same company make all three? They all looked like the same framework.

As someone who worked for 15 years at an International truck dealership,I can say the the 4300 kit has a correct looking sleeper for what the factory installed,(and covered by factory warranty)I cannot say if they were made "by" international,because I always thought the factory sleeper installed on the Chevy Bison/CMC General looked very similar.The Road Boss,Diamond Reo and Western Star kits come with a sleeper know as a Mercury sleeper and was one of the very first custom sleeper builders,most Mercurys were added to day cabs in the early days,before the factory offered them as an option.Since about the early 70's almost all truck makers built and installed there own inhouse sleepers.You still have a coule of aftermarket custom sleeper companys out there.Bentz,Double Eagle,and ARI are some of the first that come to mind. And I will say being in heavy truck repair for 30 years I have seen more than my share of KW sleepers on a WesternStar,Pete sleepers on Internationals and all sorts of mismatched sleepers,and may funky ways to make them fit.

Just to clarify,the cast aluminum valve covers you see in these pictures were only available(from the factory anyway) on the 92 series,the rounded "Stamped steel" valve covers were what was put on the71 and 53 series 8-V's. That being said the valve covers are interchangable from the 71 and 92 series. That is really a good looking powerplant,hopefully it stays clean.

the use of the cold rolled aluminum frame components for weight savings, Great for saving weight also really good at cracking!!!!Ever have to change a frame rail under warranty guidelines,Not alot of fun,and takes alot of manpower.It seems Freightliner has not taken any of the lessons learned by the Paccar corp to heart....There is a reason why all heavy American truck builder abandoned the concept.US roads are too rough and US drivers/companys insist on putting as much weight on the truck as they can. And as for me personally I would prefer a well painted and maintaned W900 or extended hood Pete 379/389,with dual Vortec air cleaners and some 6 inch chimneys,for real class...

The AMT kits represent a mix of small cam and big cam components,the aftercoolers,turbo chargers,and air plumbing are what you would see in a big cam.However the oil cooler arraingment is that of a later small cam.The Small cam was introduced in 1955and started off producing 230 horsepower but early engines produced 950footlbs of torque in the naturally aspirated engine,the 290 was a 230 with a turbo,and increased the torque to 1025 That was more than early Detriot Diesel V-12,at half the weight! The major differance between a "small cam" and "Big Cam" is the size if the journals of the cams.Small cam=1 3/4 inch and Big cam 2 1/2 inch. While you cant tell the size of the cam looking at a model block,the big cam has much taller cam follower plates.Those are the the raised portions on the drivers side middle of the block,all the AMT versions have the shorter cam follower plates.

Yea,My home computer crashed and has to go in to be repaired,so lately I have been using the laptop.Not really used to it yet.

If I am not mistaken(and I could verywell be) International bought the rights to all of Cats truck engine,so I am prettysure the 13L engine is also from the C-13 base.

Been a mechanic for 30 years and seen alot of stuff come and go,I actually dont have a whole lot of modeling experience,and I have learned alot about that,so Any time I can help with the 1:1 stuff I'm happy to do so,glad that helped you.

The VT 903(90nothin,as us that had to work on them called em)Fuel system is a "pressure time" fuelsystem and does not use external injection lines,the injectors are actuated by a camshft lobe and the fuel is supplied by drillings in the cylinder heads The only fuel lines you see are those going from the pump to the front or rear of the heads,depening on engine configuration. I wish I had some pictures.

Well,I just took my hands on qualification on this engine today,I am now fully qualified to do warranty work on the engine.

Well I am currentlly in school for work....Guess what I am going to school for!!!!!! Cummins ISL G It is an 8.9 litre midrange Cummins engine,It runs on either CNG(compressed natural gas) or LNG(liquified natural gas).....They have been out since 2007 and being used more and more,mostly in refuse trucks,mixers,transit busses and other industrial trucks.

P&P resin was producing a really nice W900 cab and hood kit,he is on here,if he is still making them I am sure he will respond...they are beautiful,I havent as of yethad the opportunity to order one yet as I would really love to build one.

The 12V71 is actually just 2 6V71 Blocks bolted together with a plate.Basically it is two independant engines runing on a bolted crankshaft.Each half of the 12V has its own geartrain and blower.

While if I remember correctly the original packaging said the KW had an 8V92TA<=8 cylinder,V engine,92 cubes per cyl,Turbocharged,Aftercooled>,(which was the engine considered the Silver 92) My pesonal knowledge and my research say different.....If it were a "Silver 92"The valve covers would be taller,squared off and made of cast aluminium.Instead of the rounded stamped steel valve covers that are represented in the kit.The 71 series were the last engines to use the stamped steel valve covers and were available in turbocharged and aftercooled models but only produced 400 HP,The "Silver 92" was available to 435 in the mechanical engines and 450 to 500 HP once they were made electronic,When Detroit Diesel came out with the DDEC electronic controls.....These were then reserved primarily for fire trucks and off road equipment.The current version of the kit I have,has no text anywhere stating what engine it has. I would say the person who wrote the original text for the early packaging was given the wrong info,or he was flat out lied to,but I would say the earlier were true.One final not.the "Silver 92" was painted silver from the factory,unless ordered for fire apparatus,then by federal law it would have been pained red,with the Silver 92 logo on the valve cover.

It seems my research had some of the info wrong,Here is some info directly from VTNA's site. http://www.volvotrucks.com/trucks/na/en-us/about_us/history/pages/history_ILF.aspx I still believe Charlies truck is a somewhere between an 84 to 88 model year. And the pictures of similar trucks I found pictures of had a White GMC nameplate right at the lower left corner of the cab,just in front of the door.

The only thing I can tell you is Charlie's truck is a White/GMC and is around a 1984 to 1988/89 version.The controling assets where actually held by Volvo at the time. The company dropped the White name in 1989 and became Volvo-GMC and used that name until 2000/2001 then adapted its current name of Volvo Trucks North America(VTNA) This particular truck Could of had a Cummins NTC 855 or a 3406B caterpillar,or if it was the 88/89 modelyear,it may have had a Cummins 88NT or a 3406C PEEC cat engine. Prior to Volvo purchasing the assets of the White Motor company in 1981,white motor company had interests in alot of companys You may have heard of some. White Western Star,White Freightliner and Autocar,They also made the Boad Boss,and the Road Commander.

Here are scans of a lamcard showing normal brake plumbing for trucks and trailers.I just recently finally got up un the attic to grab all my books.Hope these help out. http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d137/dadvader/Brake%20plumbing/