AMT KW 925

[Warren D]

Just scored an old copy of the AMT KW 925.  I took a chance, it was on fleabay and the buy it now price was $35.  I know I can get a new release for about that but took a shot on this one thinking it might have the torsion bar rears.  It doesn't but I'll take a complete kit for $35!

[DrKerry]

I want to get the 925 to!! Thinking Christmas money may go towards one!!!!! Good your Bay purchase came out good for ya!!! Be nicer with the torsion bar suspension though!!!!!

[DRIPTROIT 71]

I'm thinking of trying Auslowe's torsion bar suspension on the new kit myself unless I get lucky enough to find an original cheap.

[Warren D]

7 hours ago, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

I'm thinking of trying Auslowe's torsion bar suspension on the new kit myself unless I get lucky enough to find an original cheap.

Is there a dealer in the US for Auslowe?

[iamsuperdan]

I'm in the middle of building that old kit. Had no idea the torsion bars setup was desirable!

The kit itself is kind of a PITA to build. Horrible instructions, and no parts numbering. Sor for someone like me that isn;t a truck expert, there's a lot of guesswork and trialand error.

 

So far so good.

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by iamsuperdan

[Warren D]

The kit is desirable primarily because it is the way the Snowman's truck was equipped in Smokey and the Bandit.  The torsion bar set up is a pain to get right partly because of lacking instructions and I suspect that was the reason the kit got retooled with the Hendrickson set-up.  As I am going to build the movie truck, I want the torsion bar one if possible.  I have an old glue bomb KW that has them , I may just strip it to the frame and use the new kit for engine, cab etc.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

6 hours ago, Warren D said:

Is there a dealer in the US for Auslowe?

Spaulding sells their stuff sometimes, but I've ordered straight from them. It took about 3 weeks to process and 3 weeks to ship.

[Warren D]

44 minutes ago, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

Spaulding sells their stuff sometimes, but I've ordered straight from them. It took about 3 weeks to process and 3 weeks to ship.

Thanks, I have a lot of projects going so delay isn't going to be a factor.

[Force]

4 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

I'm in the middle of building that old kit. Had no idea the torsion bars setup was desirable!

The kit itself is kind of a PITA to build. Horrible instructions, and no parts numbering. Sor for someone like me that isn;t a truck expert, there's a lot of guesswork and trialand error.

 

So far so good.

 

Well that's old AMT kits for you, the instructions and parts never had numbers in the old days...I built a couple of these (not with Torsion Bars tho') back in the early 80's and did not have any severe problems with them as far as I can remember, so it's possible to build them. 
The W925 kit dates back as far as 1971 and it's only the first ones that has the Torsion Bar setup and that's where the W925 designation came from as the trucks equipped with the Torsion Bars had numbers wich ended with 25 (925 for the Conventional and 125 for the COE), sometime after the Challenge Transit Mixer kit AMT changed the suspension to the Hendrickson Walking Beam and they should also had changed the number to W923 to be right.
The K123 came about the same time and it also had the Torsion Bars at first but was also changed to Walking Beam after some time.

4 hours ago, Warren D said:

The kit is desirable primarily because it is the way the Snowman's truck was equipped in Smokey and the Bandit.  The torsion bar set up is a pain to get right partly because of lacking instructions and I suspect that was the reason the kit got retooled with the Hendrickson set-up.  As I am going to build the movie truck, I want the torsion bar one if possible.  I have an old glue bomb KW that has them , I may just strip it to the frame and use the new kit for engine, cab etc.

Yes the Snowman truck had Torsion Bars, so does the Movin' On truck and the Tyrone Malone Papa Truck transporter if you want to do them right.
The chassis and drive train was not changed when they changed the tooling to do the T600 back in the 90's so that's like it was before, the Torsion Bar suspension was replaced with Walking Beam long before that.
The Torsion Bar suspension is a bit demanding to put together but it's possible with a lot of patience.

1 hour ago, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

Spaulding sells their stuff sometimes, but I've ordered straight from them. It took about 3 weeks to process and 3 weeks to ship.

I have ordered directly from Auslowe a couple of times and they have good service, last time I ordered the KW Torsion Bar and Six Rod suspensions from them and I got them in a few weeks time.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Force

[Warren D]

2 hours ago, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

Spaulding sells their stuff sometimes, but I've ordered straight from them. It took about 3 weeks to process and 3 weeks to ship.

Any tips on how to order?  Their website won't let me go past the phone number, it keeps insisting that my number isn't valid.

[Force]

Send them an email with what you want and they will get back to you with total, and you can pay with Paypal.

[Warren D]

10 minutes ago, Force said:

Send them an email with what you want and they will get back to you with total, and you can pay with Paypal.

I got it sorted.  Phone number convention is no dashes, no spaces.