Suspensions

[Aaronw]

I was wondering about the interchange of suspensions between kits for converting single drive to dual drive and the reverse.

Single drive I have

White / Frieghtliner COE

Ford C600

Ford Louisville

American LaFrance (AMT kits)

Dual drive I have

Mack DM800

IH Paystar

GMC Astro

Ford Aerostar

Autocar dump truck

Doesn't have to be 100% accurate but I would like to avoid making a conversion that looks like a poorly engineered rat rod. Any suggestions for which of these are the best match? Both in fit as well as appropriate for the chassis.

Thanks

[phoneguy]

as far as I know, you could interchange most of these except-

the mack suspension is strictly Mack only, the paystar has a good spring susp. except for the IH markings, and the A-car --that's the only kit I've seen the has that suspension.

The rest--I don't see much of a problem.

Jerry

[mackinac359]

I've swapped many of these from kit to kit. Each need a few modifications to fit properly and to provide the proper ride height.

I haven't used the ALF on anything.

Tim

[Aaronw]

Thanks, to me a spring is pretty much a spring so I have no idea what is appropriate from brand to brand.

Oh I also realized its a Ford Aeromax, not an Aerostar. :oops:

[Casey429]

The paystar suspension is a standard Hendrickson spring setup. The only reason it has the IH logo in it is because Paystars of this vintage use rear springs unique only to the Paystar. Because the trucks have 13 inch tall framerails, and the fact that they sit so high makes the special springs neccesary. If you grind off the logos, it becomes a standard Hendrickson setup, versus the Paystar-spec unit.

[Southgate]

Aaron, the Ford Aeromax kit actually has a Freightliner rear tandem setup. Italeri or Revell, whoever first tooled the kit took a shortcut here and used tooling from existing FL kits. It is however a great looking, well detailed suspension. Ford used Hendrikson suspensions much like the one in the GMC astro kit.

For what it's worth, in the 1/1 world a truck shop could swap out just about any suspension for another, for whatever reasons they might have. I once saw and took pictures of an old Autocar with a Mack rear setup, right down to the Mack logos in the castings. Dan

[mackinac359]

To add to what Dan said..

Once a truck leaves the factory, lord knows what happens to it.

Maybe the truck was a glider kit and the owner added a suspension from a Peterbilt to a Freightliner or rebuilt an old Brockway using a Pete air suspension.

Anything goes!

The suspension that Italeri has in most of the north American kits isn't a Freightliner suspension. The suspension was originally designed by Western Unit Co., called "Staibilaire" and marketed by Peterbilt exclusively until the early 70's when Freightliner obtained the marketing and rights to the suspension.

If you compare the AMT Peterbilt 352 and the original 359 kit, it has the same suspension, just not as nicely molded and detailed as the Italeri version (1/25 vs 1/24 too)

Tim

[Southgate]

The suspension that Italeri has in most of the north American kits isn't a Freightliner suspension. The suspension was originally designed by Western Unit Co., called "Staibilaire" and marketed by Peterbilt exclusively until the early 70's when Freightliner obtained the marketing and rights to the suspension.

If you compare the AMT Peterbilt 352 and the original 359 kit, it has the same suspension, just not as nicely molded and detailed as the Italeri version (1/25 vs 1/24 too)

Tim

Hey, that's handy stuff to know! I have a spare one of these setups, and this info can make it all the more versatile. Dan

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

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

[Jim B]

I noticed that the GMC Astro was listed in the Dual Drive section of the original post. I want to swap the spring suspension on the Astro with the air-bag setup on the General. Was the air-bag suspension offered on the Astro? I've seen pictures of the spring suspension on the General, but not the other way around. Seems like the Astro frame is narrower than the General frame, too.

[Aaronw]

Thanks, that helps a lot. I'm not a super fussy builder about the accuracy of parts but I like to avoid glaring errors. If a 1-1 Mack Suspension could end up on a 1-1 International then I'm not going to worry about it, I'll just try to make sure it "looks right" when I make a swap.

As far as the Astro it might be a single drive, I didn't look at the box when I made my list so I may be remembering wrong.

[Jim B]

The Astro is a dual drive Hendrickson. I'm building one right now.

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

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!!!

[Jim B]

Scott,

Thanks. Wish me luck. The Astro frame is about 1/8" narrower than the General frame. Not sure how this will work out. If I get to work (and look nice) I'll post some WIP photos.

[phoneguy]

here's another thought for you--I just swapped the air ride on the Pete coe with a spring setup from the parts bin.

Jerry

[Southgate]

For what it's worth, I once posted a detailed "how-to" article on another site showing how to make an AMT or Ertl Paystar/Transtar type Hendrickson suspension work, with all the walker beams and traction bars. I could bring it over here if anyone's interested. Dan

[Jim B]

Dan,

That would be cool. Probably beyond my abilities, but I'd give it a try. What the heck! Would make the truck easier to place in a diorama.

[phoneguy]

For what it's worth, I once posted a detailed "how-to" article on another site showing how to make an AMT or Ertl Paystar/Transtar type Hendrickson suspension work, with all the walker beams and traction bars. I could bring it over here if anyone's interested. Dan

I remember that post- all I can say is excellent work.

looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Jerry