Tractor Trailer Community Build

[Clay]

This is what I am going for:

[dwc43]

dw,maybe you could use some one ton dually wheels.I want to build a low boy and think this is the easiest way to get doughnut tires.I have a bunch of old trucking magazines and in them there is a few pics of small tire trailers with full wheel disc hubcaps.You could make duels out of car parts and slap on your favorite hubcap for a custom vintage look,but it would have to be an old 60's truck to look right.

highway,could you measure how tall those tires are,Ive all ways wondered about them.

Thanks for the ideas. 60's look wont work for this project though. Has to more modern. Really need those 5 spoke semi trailer wheels.

[highway]

Thanks for the help. I'll just put a bid on that Coke truck and see if I can get it cheap and use it's tires and wheels if that will work. Let me know if you find anything. If I get this one and use the wheels and tires up, I am sure I'd want to replace them and build it or sell it at some point. Thanks again. Too bad we are not building muscle cars, especially Mopar's, then I could help more .... lol.

You're welcome DW, anytime! Of course, that is the great thing with this forum, you can help with Mopar muscle car knowledge and I can help with tractor trailer knowledge, because after 12 years pushing diesels down the road and being inside, outside, and even under them when I was towing them, there ain't much I can't answer when it comes to trucks!

I hope you can win that truck, and if you would want to build the tractor at some point, I would have rear Alcoas from the trailer kit I posted, but if you can find one, I'd suggest finding a New Ray 1/32 scale diecast for it's tractor, it would look much better than the ugly Volvo! That is the manufacture of the Freightliner pulling mine, and I even found a real cheap one to steal wheels for the trailer so they would match. Here's a new pic of the Freightliner with the New Ray wheels on the trailer.

If you would want the wheels from the trailer, you are more than welcome to them, but I didn't find any matching front steer wheels, though. I didn't find any spokes, either.

[SuperStockAndy]

I've got a couple of them New Ray trucks

[highway]

highway,could you measure how tall those tires are,Ive allways wondered about them.

Why sure!

The AMT 1/32 scale wheels come out close to 18 inches in 1/25 scale, and the tires themselves are about 30 inches tall. Here's a pic of them with AMT's Dodge dually wheels as a comparison.

Oddly enough, the tires from the Dodge kit will, with some not so gentle pushing, will fit the AMT 1/32 scale wheels. These are the Dodge tires, the left one on the 1/32 scale truck wheel and the right one on the stock Dodge wheel.

I also measured the 1/32 scale New Ray diecast wheels I'm using on my trailer and was surprised to find they measure out to just about 22.5 inches in 1/25 scale, which would be a perfect size either for the low profile wheels on a rig or nice custom wheels for a beefed up dually running semi tires and wheels. Here is a comparison pic of all three wheel sets, left is the 1/32 scale AMT wheels are tires, middle is the AMT Dodge dually wheels, and the right ones are the 1/32 scale New Ray wheels.

I forgot,AMT had 1/43 trucks also,those tire maybe better

I just happen to have one similar to those in the stash! It is a Heller kit, but from what I've heard here, these were actually the old AMT 1/43 scale kits.

They might work for a 1/32 scale small wheel like the 1/32 scale wheels do for 1/25 scale trucks, but I don't know since I don't have a 1/32 scale ruler. I did check what they would scale to in 1/25 scale, and unless you were building some ridiculous lowrider, they would not work for 1/25 scale. They only come out to be a 13 or 14 inch wheel in 1/25 scale.

[highway]

I'm liking the "Gearjammer Lee" Clay! Looking good, and love the pic of what your going for.

[Clay]

Thanks Matt. I still need to put the lenses in and this thing will be done.

[Clay]

Great start Justin, looking good.

[dwc43]

You're welcome DW, anytime! Of course, that is the great thing with this forum, you can help with Mopar muscle car knowledge and I can help with tractor trailer knowledge, because after 12 years pushing diesels down the road and being inside, outside, and even under them when I was towing them, there ain't much I can't answer when it comes to trucks!

I hope you can win that truck, and if you would want to build the tractor at some point, I would have rear Alcoas from the trailer kit I posted, but if you can find one, I'd suggest finding a New Ray 1/32 scale diecast for it's tractor, it would look much better than the ugly Volvo! That is the manufacture of the Freightliner pulling mine, and I even found a real cheap one to steal wheels for the trailer so they would match. Here's a new pic of the Freightliner with the New Ray wheels on the trailer.

If you would want the wheels from the trailer, you are more than welcome to them, but I didn't find any matching front steer wheels, though. I didn't find any spokes, either.

Thanks for looking. I'll let you know what I decide if and when I get that kit or not. And your right, even though I am not a big Freightliner fan, it looks 10 times better than that Volvo does.

[highway]

Thanks for looking. I'll let you know what I decide if and when I get that kit or not. And your right, even though I am not a big Freightliner fan, it looks 10 times better than that Volvo does.

I won't hold it against you that you aren't a big Freightliner fan, I just won't like you as much!! Of course I'm just pulling your chain, and New Ray has a nice selection of different trucks.

[dwc43]

I won't hold it against you that you aren't a big Freightliner fan, I just won't like you as much!! Of course I'm just pulling your chain, and New Ray has a nice selection of different trucks.

Please don't hold it against me, I'm kinda a KW fan. But I like the brute tough look of the old Mack's too. I will say this, when I drove the Mack back in 94 i think, Marvin had the first Freightshaker they leased. Boy was it decked out, tilt, telescope wheel, heated mirrors, cab fifth wheel release and the release to slide the fifth plate on the rail. An air ride seat that worked, air that worked, and I don't know what else.

It sure was a caddy kind of ride compared to the old Mack he left for me to drive. I asked him one time how many miles wad really on it, he said about 4 million. I said come one, he said 4 million. It had the engine rebuilt on it twice. Still run good. Just rode rough and no power steering. My arms got pretty big wrestling with that thing.

[mistermodel]

Not a freightliner fan????,at least you like KW's.Me I'm not that much of a Pete fan.Might have something to do with they wern't avalible in Canada till around '76 and were kinda rare into the 80's.My favorite trucks seem to be the ones from my youth,riding shotgun with the oldman.

Now back to wheels/tires.The 3 wheels showen are close to what is needed for 1/25,and probably work in most cases.The 1/32 are 18,but should be 19.5.For the old school smaller trailer wheels that were 15,the 1/43 measures 14.Never new the newrays were that much over scale for what they are used for.We realy need some 1/25 lo-pro wheels

[niteowl7710]

Just to show I haven't fallen off the face of the earth and forgotten about this...

I'm amazed at how fiddly that 4 piece exhaust is...teeny-tiny mounting pegs...took several attempts to get it all together and sticking where it was supposed to (and I suspect there is more fiddling to come when I mount the engine)...I know this is next to no update, but the Testors Acrylic Steel that I used for some color differentiation took like 18,000,000 coats to cover. In the mean time I have most of the suspension parts painted and ready, and the engine just needs some final detail painting to be ready. So if I can shake the funk I've been in, I can have it from this, to completed chassis in about an hour...

Hey Matt...should that saddle tank be aluminum with black hold down straps? To me it needs some color, or it just might be the trucker in me that thinks all tanks should be brushed aluminum or chrome...figure you have one outside...

[Nick Winter]

Well thanks to the Fatal error yesterday I have 2 days worth of update.

Modified the bumper to acomodate a winch. Still need to Paint Holmes on it.

Finished the grille and BMFed it, not perfect but It'll do behind the bumper and winch.

Finished the tool boxes, even added scratch built slam locks, they'll look better BMFed I hope

anyway back to work, Cause "We got a long way to go, and a short time to get there, I'm eastbound and down......."

Sorry Watching Smokey and the Bandit.

Nick

[highway]

Hey Matt...should that saddle tank be aluminum with black hold down straps? To me it needs some color, or it just might be the trucker in me that thinks all tanks should be brushed aluminum or chrome...figure you have one outside...

Well, James, I think it's just the trucker in you! Since I do have one outside, though, and even have a few pics, here's a pic of the back tank in all it's rusty glory.

I'll even be a nice guy and get a pic or two of the front tank and maybe even see if I can knock some rust off it to find out it's true color in a little while.

[highway]

James, it's not the greatest pic in the world, but it's just too cold to lay under the truck! This is what the front fuel tank looks like, and it appears as if somewhere under all the dirt and rust, it may have been steel colored or painted black at one time.

Thank goodness this thing used to be a chassis cab!

Edited December 20, 2010 by highway

[Clay]

Nick, if you could clean up the grille a little more it would look awesome!

[dwc43]

James, it's not the greatest pic in the world, but it's just too cold to lay under the truck! This is what the front fuel tank looks like, and it appears as if somewhere under all the dirt and rust, it may have been steel colored or painted black at one time.

Thank goodness this thing used to be a chassis cab!

Highway, I'm not sure when they changed, but in the '80's they started moving to plastic fuel tanks. I worked for a Ford and Chrysler dealership for a while. WE have a local place that builds ambulances using Ford chassis cabs and van cabs. The vans came in with a big cardboard piece screwed to the back of the cab with a clear tape section for a window. All of these were diesel and used a plastic tank. I think the dually 1 ton trucks on the lot still had the shiny steel tanks under them at that time, but would eventually move to plastic.

Now my '85 Dodge Ram Charger 4x4 has a 30 gallon plastic tank under it un the rear. So maybe this helps or just further confuses. lol.

[Nick Winter]

Nick, if you could clean up the grille a little more it would look awesome!

Yeah I'm gonna re do the bmf, it's making it look cruddy.

[dwc43]

Yeah I'm gonna re do the bmf, it's making it look cruddy.

Remove it and paint it with metalizer and rub it out. That will look more like the old chrome tape over plastic grill anyways.

[cam]

I finally have something to show, engine is built and painted and frame has been stretched.

[Rick]

Small update, the engine is done!

I tried to do a little weathering, not sure if I like how it turned out. I also removed those monsterous mounts on the frame for the mudflaps and rear fenders, and sanded the cab mating surfaces flat so they fit together better. Not much I know, but it's a start!!

Rick

[highway]

On the box art for the white freightliner which you can see in both of his pics, the engine color is yellow. But I have seen some of the people who have made them colored them tan. Are there different color choices on this style or is it supposed to be a tan color?

I'm not sure why the engine looks the way it does on the box, Justin, but commonly a Cummins engine of that era is a tan color. I think the actual color from Cummins is called Sand Beige. Since the box art on the Freightliner is the original art from the 1970s, maybe printing technology in those days couldn't show a correct shade of tan.

[Rick]

Rick, the engine looks great i wasn't big on the tan color of that trucks engine but you've made it look good with the weathering.

i just picked up one of the White Freightliner kits too but havent done much more than study the instructions and glue the cab together. i'm kind of dragging my feet a bit with Christmas so close at this point.

Cam/Chris, i'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the 4300. i love the tow truck in your avatar pic, very cool truck!

Thank You, the more I look at the more it grows on me

Well, looks like its time to take apart everything and repaint it........... I definitely dont trust AMT box art anymore. Can I get a pic of what the tan color should look like then?

The picture I just posted shows the color, I used real Cummins engine paint on it....

Rick

[Rick]

Is that something that would have been possible back in the 70's to have a custom painted engine?

Anything is possible. If it was a show truck it could be custom painted, or if it was rebuilt the rebuilder would paint it any color he chooses....

Rick