Ford LN 9000 Dump Truck

[steel_tiger1]

So my wife wants me to build her a model of her dump truck she used to drive. It was a Ford LN 9000 Tandem axle dump box. She doesn't remember what engine it had but I am guessing it was a Detroit as she said it used a lot of oil. My LN 9000
I used to drive had that engine so that seems a logical choice. Hers was a 1995 non air ride suspension with a steel box.

So my question is what is the best combo of kits to use to get there? Obviously the Louisville race car hauler as a starting point, but what other tractor for the frame and rears would be a good choice? I have posted in the resin sub forum for the Plaskit LN 9000 conversion from them.

Thanks

[plastic trucker]

Would the Italeri Ford 9000 work for you? You might only find it as a wrecker now.

[Dieselhead]

It was more than likely a Cummins NH series, somewhere between 230 and 350 horsepower since the LN9ks didn't offer a 2-stroke DD at any point in their life cycle as fae as I'm aware. As for parts (rear axles, dump body, etc.) I'd look at American Industrial Truck Models. They have plenty of good stuff. It's quite pricey but it's great quality. Engine-wise you could probably get a NHC250 (which is close to what you need, might need to fabricate some stuff) from the AMT single/dual drive Freightliner cabovers.

[steel_tiger1]

Doubtful it was a Cummins, She said it was definitely blue. The italeri is not the correct version it is the longer hood version. The Louisville cab is correct. My LN 9000 had 6v-92 or 8v-92 silver bullet not sure which Detroit so I they had them. 

 

Thanks

[Force]

Ford often had blue engines and even the Cat 1145 and 1160 (called V-175 and V-225 in Ford)  wich is in the LN 8000 "Louisville" AMT kit was painted blue in Ford truck and many other truck manufacturers had "their own" engine color, Kenworth and Peterbilt had white engines, some others had red engines and so on.
Detroit Diesel were Alpine Green, Silver and Dark Bluegreen from the factory, Cat Yellow, Cummins Beige, Dark Grey, Black, and Red, International Dark Blue.

[lapazleo]

A 95 LN 9000 could have Cummins n14,L10  or m11 Cat 3176 or 3406 and yes they could be blue. As far as detroits go LN 9000s could be had from 1969 to the end of detroit 2 stroke production. I've seen 6-71 6v71 8v71 and 6v92s in LN 9000s. The AMT race car hauler is a LN 8000 and can be updated to a 9000 with a bigger engine shorten the frame and put on a tandem suspension and dump box.Or if your lucky find the AMT snowplow or dump truck kit.

[steel_tiger1]

So safe bet what would be a good choice of truck to use frame from. 

[Superpeterbilt]

Can you find an image of a truck close to what she drove? We can be a very technical bunch, and there are many parts suppliers out there. From the sound of it, you should use the Ford racehauler kit with a hendrickson rear suspension. I would suggest going to the trading post in the truck section and trying to get your rears and walking beams. I dont know your skill level, but a dump box can be pretty easily built with some styrene sheet and square/rectangle styren tube. This can be purchased online, or if your lucky at a local hobby shop.Did the truck have spoke wheels, alum wheels, steel buds, dual tanks, dual stacks, how many yards was the box, was it a set back axle or axle forward?

[steel_tiger1]

I will post a picture when I get home from work. She said she has no idea how many yards her box was.  But she could haul 18 tons easy with her tag axle. It had twin aluminum tanks on it. The picture she has found is not very good either. 

[Dieselhead]

I will post a picture when I get home from work. She said she has no idea how many yards her box was.  But she could haul 18 tons easy with her tag axle. It had twin aluminum tanks on it. The picture she has found is not very good either. 

Probably around a 14 yarder given the size of the truck and everything. Really hope you can find a good picture, it would help a great deal. 

[steel_tiger1]

This is the near twin to her truck. It's the gray one on the right of the picture. Crappy picture but maybe some of you experts can help out. Hers had aluminum tanks.

[Fat Brian]

You'll be able to use the frame from the race car hauler kit, you'll just have to shorten it a bit but don't do that until you've got the extended hood in hand because you'll have to move the cab back to use the new hood. Of the engines Leo mentioned above the easiest to get your hands on is the 3406, it's in the Revell W900 Aerodyne kit and the Pete 359 with the 36" sleeper. A walking beam rear end can be found in the AMT Diamond Reo, White-Western Star, Road Boss, and Titan 90 kits, the Titan has the best spoke style wheels but it's getting hard to find cheap again.

[steel_tiger1]

Sounds like a good starting point to me. 

[Aaronw]

AMT offered a Ford LN tandem axle dump truck with plow. The last issue was around 10 years ago, so they are around but getting harder to find. Maybe you could find a built up to salvage and combine with the race car hauler. There is a complete unbuilt kit on ebay right now, the price isn't bad but who knows where it will end. I think retail was $40-50 last time it was out.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970s-AMT-Ford-Dump-Truck-LNT-8000-Plastic-Model-Kit-1-25-Scale-w-Box-LOOK-/222327948422?hash=item33c3c74486:g:bA8AAOSwHMJYOyG6

Of course by the time you buy some resin, and part out some kits unless the ebay prices have gone insane it might still be worth going that route. 

[signguy2108]

The silver truck looks to be an LT (50") one peice hood and fenders. The LN was the short hood(39"0 with the back half of the fender ext. molded in the cowl panel. In 1986 I put sq. h/l in my 77 LN by cutting & fiberglassing the buckets out of an 86 model F650 (the little white truck beside it) The Italeria fords are LTL's, completely diffent hood/grille & bumper. The plaskit hood is the right lenght, if not a little too long, but to build a correct 95, you'll have to build a new grille & sq. h/lamps. (Ford changed to squares in 1988 & change the egg crate grille in favor of a straight bar grille w/ ford emblem in the center. And my little Ford LN (in an earlier post of mine, big moe &) had a 6v92 silver detroit in it, Complete list of the hoods w/ specs can be found at (dawsontrk.com)

Edited November 29, 2016 by signguy2108
corrected spelling

[Aaronw]

Plaskit offers the updated grill and square headlights to convert the AMT kit, or at least they have. My catalog is a bit dated. 

[steel_tiger1]

She was telling me last night that hers was definitely an L9000 not an LN. In her words "I know what it said on the hood". lol

So I making progress in the right direction here I hope. I have the AMT Race car Hauler and now have the Revell aerodyne Kenworth for the engine & the white road boss for the suspension. So all I need is the hood and grill. Anyone know when Plaskit will be back in business? The Box I will probably have to scratch build as I have seen nothing that really looks like hers.

 

Thanks

[steel_tiger1]

The silver truck looks to be an LT (50") one peice hood and fenders. The LN was the short hood(39"0 with the back half of the fender ext. molded in the cowl panel. In 1986 I put sq. h/l in my 77 LN by cutting & fiberglassing the buckets out of an 86 model F650 (the little white truck beside it) The Italeria fords are LTL's, completely diffent hood/grille & bumper. The plaskit hood is the right lenght, if not a little too long, but to build a correct 95, you'll have to build a new grille & sq. h/lamps. (Ford changed to squares in 1988 & change the egg crate grille in favor of a straight bar grille w/ ford emblem in the center. And my little Ford LN (in an earlier post of mine, big moe &) had a 6v92 silver detroit in it, Complete list of the hoods w/ specs can be found at (dawsontrk.com)

Do you know where the additional length is in this hood? I am not above mastering my own if I can get dimensions. Are there plans with dimensions out there anywhere?

Thank You

Edited November 29, 2016 by steel_tiger1
Thank You

[Jim B]

I don't know if this will help with your LT9000, but it's a start: http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/truck_brochures/ford/ford_l-9000_1988/

[signguy2108]

commercialtrucktrader.com under heavy dump trucks for sale,  then L9000 ford, there is 4 or so pages, some good side shots, may even find a pic of the correct bed. Jim, thats probably an even better line drawing on the difference between the hood length. Hope all this helps, even though we kinda got away from the original engine issue

Edited November 29, 2016 by signguy2108
added to it

[Dieselhead]

Do you know where the additional length is in this hood? I am not above mastering my own if I can get dimensions. Are there plans with dimensions out there anywhere?

Thank You

It looks to be at the back of the hood (past the fenders and the intake), going all the way around. Shouldn't be too hard to build. As for the dump bed, with some work, I believe AITM's KT20 15' dump bed should work. I can't find a conversion from the eggcrate to the grille she had yet other than what Plaskit might have. More than likely gonna have to scratchbuild that.

[steel_tiger1]

commercialtrucktrader.com under heavy dump trucks for sale,  then L9000 ford, there is 4 or so pages, some good side shots, may even find a pic of the correct bed. Jim, thats probably an even better line drawing on the difference between the hood length. Hope all this helps, even though we kinda got away from the original engine issue

Awesome that site is exactly what I needed.

Thanks

[leafsprings]

It would have been nice if AMT  offered different versions of the Lousiville, but that didn't happen, so that leaves opportunity for the aftermarket to fill in these voids. I wouldn't mind seeing the larger  grill and bumper made available as well. Bottom photo is a LTL

Edited December 15, 2016 by leafsprings

[Superpeterbilt]

The LT and LTS are available from plaskit in resin, and the longhood was available through AITM at one time. 

[steel_tiger1]

I can see the grill is going to be problematic. Although hers has the newer style grill.

Edited December 16, 2016 by steel_tiger1