American trucks......my soft spot......

[Wumm]

The purpose of the radius rods is to keep the axle centred within the chassis. It looks like it should sit underneath the centre part between the springs, and go down and slightly outwards to meet the axle.

Is there a notch or attachment somewhere on the front face of the transmission housing, out towards where the wheel attaches?

S

[Guest DannyVM]

10 minutes ago, Wumm said:

Is there a notch or attachment somewhere on the front face of the transmission housing, out towards where the wheel attaches?

Nope, nothing which seems to mark the space where the radius rods should be attached.

[Jeff]

Danny, on the real deal there is a bracket that connects to the spring hanger, so I would say by the look of the part be glued to the outside of the center spring hanger, they are kind of like a torque rod....

[CrankyCrafstman]

Hey all

  Ok, I found some aftermarket stuff for the bulldozer.

1st - scale tracks, there for a D9T, but they are almost the same in real life. And these work just like the real ones!

The kit tracks are actually kinda toy like, and they don't work like real ones. They pivot from the wrong place!

You can see where they actually have numbers stamped in them...really guys.

And from this you can see how crappie they are. This was the main reason I shelved this kit 10 or 12 years ago.

2nd - I found some photo etch stuff for this kit. A new proper grill, a wire fan shroud just like the real one, petals and other small details.

not the greatest picture, but you can see the grill and fan shroud. This is from a guy in Canada.

here you can see it on the model. (This is not mine). You have to cut out the opening behind the grill and you need to modify the fan shroud part from the kit to get the photo etch one to fit. With some wiring and weathering its going to look cool! The guy in Canada (papyhobby.com) also has a cab.

this is for a D8K but I think I can make it work on the D8H. He also has different blades, rear rippers, rear winch and coversions for a D8K. 

 I found all this stuff late Friday after spending hour after hour on the web with no luck and then bam! I lucked out and found this stuff. Oh! I almost forgot the tracks are from a guy on Shapways (DW toys). He has five links, which is the picture I posted, and a complete set. Since these are for a D9T there are more links then you need to do a D8H. I'm waiting for him to contact me about some questions I have concerning the tracks when I here from him I'll post an answer. That's it for know.

Ron G 

[Guest DannyVM]

16 hours ago, Jeff said:

Danny, on the real deal there is a bracket that connects to the spring hanger, so I would say by the look of the part be glued to the outside of the center spring hanger, they are kind of like a torque rod....

Edited 16 hours ago by Jeff

Thank's allot Jeff for this great reference.

So the most logical installment would be to glue them from the inside of the middle part between the two springs, like this......??

I dry fitted the part on the outside of the middle but that seem's a very rare installment if you ask me.

 

[Wumm]

That seems right to me Danny,

The transaxle should then attach under the centre of the leaf springs.

S

[Guest DannyVM]

38 minutes ago, Wumm said:

That seems right to me Danny,

The transaxle should then attach under the centre of the leaf springs.

S

Thank's for the help, much appreciated.

[Jeff]

6 hours ago, Wumm said:

That seems right to me Danny,

The transaxle should then attach under the centre of the leaf springs.

S

Yeah, I would agree, Steve, and these days we use 'Trunions' which are the same thing only different... the way Danny has them mounted from the inside looks really good to me....

[Guest DannyVM]

5 hours ago, Jeff said:

Yeah, I would agree, Steve, and these days we use 'Trunions' which are the same thing only different... the way Danny has them mounted from the inside looks really good to me....

Thank's guy's. At the moment the chassis is all done, i glued the radius rods like mentioned and indeed that seems to me the correct installment. I will take photo's tomorrow and let you guy's enjoy the hard labour work done.......................

[krow113]

That is correct to me , the mounting of the radios rods or trunions , they are like a travel limiter.

First time I've watched a tractor build.

Cool.

[Guest DannyVM]

Ok guy's i took some photo's.

Regarding the most part's of the chassis, all is glued. Front axle, rear double spring's on both side's, rear axle's, front and rear, air tanks and reserve air tank. 

here you see the radius rods which i glued from my opinion into the correct place.

From above it look's like this.

Next thing to do is to add some more part's and some extra details.

[CrankyCrafstman]

Hey all

 Well I ordered the tracks $112.00 bucks!, but they are going to look amazing, and really make this Cat pop! I've started on the bulldozer kit. I'm working on the engine right now, doing small things like filling in sink marks, drilling holes for plumbing this beast. I have a lot of pictures I've pulled off of the internet. The tracks won't be here till around the end of July, takes awhile to proceess, print and ship, when they get here I'll post some pictures of them.

 I'm probably going to do a build thread on this for those that want to follow in the tracks of this beast. 

Ron G 

[Jeff]

Now you guys need to get a Lowbed and Danny can haul the Cat from job to job.................  sounds like a business, in the offing to me ! But with the lowbed you will mot likely need a 'jeep' and a 'booster', with a pilot car and permits as that Cat will be very heavy with the 'U' blade and ripper !

[CrankyCrafstman]

Hey Jeff

 If you look back, I am building a 50 ton drop nose lowboy to haul the dozer and a three axle Peterbilt 359 tractor to pull it. This whole setup is going to be around 36" long! I'm going to need a big shelf for this...lol

Ron G 

[Wumm]

5 hours ago, Jeff said:

Now you guys need to get a Lowbed and Danny can haul the Cat from job to job.................  sounds like a business, in the offing to me ! But with the lowbed you will mot likely need a 'jeep' and a 'booster', with a pilot car and permits as that Cat will be very heavy with the 'U' blade and ripper !

Also guys,

Remember to plan your route (unlike this guy...)

[Jeff]

45 minutes ago, Wumm said:

Also guys,

Remember to plan your route (unlike this guy...)

This guy is in a Pickle ! And when I had our equipment trailer and was humping a loader or a back hoe, my butt always puckered a little bit going under over passes and rail bridges..... I knew I was clean , but it still used to make me pucker just a little......  I was always better with the low bed,  I knew all was well then....

[Wumm]

35 minutes ago, Jeff said:

This guy is in a Pickle !

And how! This is the intersection...

With his direction of travel, remembering we drive on the Goofy side here. He had a helper beside him, and would have needed him too; because he would have needed to reverse up a hill, on an angle, on a blind corner into the path of oncoming traffic!

This also highlights the problem nowadays... There are no bridge heights marked on Google maps. A street directory or GPS with his height restriction added in would have warned him, and saved him half an hour and everyone else a lot of grief. 

S

[Jeff]

15 hours ago, Wumm said:

And how! This is the intersection...

With his direction of travel, remembering we drive on the Goofy side here. He had a helper beside him, and would have needed him too; because he would have needed to reverse up a hill, on an angle, on a blind corner into the path of oncoming traffic!

This also highlights the problem nowadays... There are no bridge heights marked on Google maps. A street directory or GPS with his height restriction added in would have warned him, and saved him half an hour and everyone else a lot of grief. 

S

Those are the days , when a guy who always wanted to be a truck driver says to himself...............  "Maybe I should have stayed in school and paid MORE attention"............ I know I had one or two days like that ,............. it is tough if one gets into unfamiliar territory though..... and all this stress is compounded by other motorists, who just want to get going and get him out of the way.................

[Jeff]

Danny, NOT trying to Hi-jack your thread, but as we are talking trucks trailers and loads............... this is what happens when one has a very heavy load, going too fast, and ( speculative) possibly a bit heavy at the top..... 1/2 mile from my house, we were without electricity for 5 hours.... it is still a mess, and traffic is moving albeit 1 hour delays....... second time on this same corner, my daughter was at this EXACT intersection only about 5 minutes before this......

[sassgrunt]

I also don't want to hijack or derail this thread too much, as I am enjoying it thoroughly and learning a lot.  Here in Hawaii, the trucks you see are pretty limited.  Mostly skeletal trailers with 20, 40, or 45 foot containers; flatbed low loader equipment haulers; and fuel tanker trailers.  No sleepers, twin steers, snowplows, or other cool trucks like that.

My question is about a tandem axle tractor I saw that was hauling a fuel tanker.  Although the tractor had two rear axles, only the forward one was powered, and the rear one was freewheeling (like a trailer axle).  I made a guess that having only one driven axle was either to save on fuel or maybe allowed the tractor to have a tighter turning radius than a normal tandem axle tractor.  I asked the driver, (who was a young kid) if he knew why his truck had only one driven axle, but he didn't have any idea, (reminded me of Oddball in Kelly's Heroes, "I just drive 'em; I don't know what makes 'em work").

This was a couple of years ago, and it's bugged me ever since.  Thank you.  -Mike

[Wumm]

Hi Mike (and welcome), I'll bite...

A freewheeling beam axle on a tandem setup is called a pusher axle if at the front, or a tag axle if at the rear of the drive wheels. It allows a very slight reduction in the turning circle, but the main advantages are better stability and a smoother ride over a single drive axle, but without the added weight and complexity of a dual drive bogie with it's second differential and set of axle shafts. Beam axles these days can also usually be lifted up from the road surface, saving wear on those tyres when the vehicle isn't carrying a load. Modern Prime Movers with this setup can also pneumatically vary the pressure from the free wheels to the driven wheels for better traction. Dual drive would be more advantageous for cross country or long haul tasks, where maintaing constant speeds over long periods compensates for the extra weight and fuel used.

While I don't drive the Prime Movers at work, the next one's down that I occasionally drive have this system where the rear wheels can be lifted. But we have this arrangement... "Don't mess with my settings" (and always bring it back fuelled up). So your young driver might have been in someone else's rig, or maybe had just never been shown the differences.

Make sense Jeff, Ron?

S

[Jeff]

4 hours ago, Wumm said:

Hi Mike (and welcome), I'll bite...

A freewheeling beam axle on a tandem setup is called a pusher axle if at the front, or a tag axle if at the rear of the drive wheels. It allows a very slight reduction in the turning circle, but the main advantages are better stability and a smoother ride over a single drive axle, but without the added weight and complexity of a dual drive bogie with it's second differential and set of axle shafts. Beam axles these days can also usually be lifted up from the road surface, saving wear on those tyres when the vehicle isn't carrying a load. Modern Prime Movers with this setup can also pneumatically vary the pressure from the free wheels to the driven wheels for better traction. Dual drive would be more advantageous for cross country or long haul tasks, where maintaing constant speeds over long periods compensates for the extra weight and fuel used.

While I don't drive the Prime Movers at work, the next one's down that I occasionally drive have this system where the rear wheels can be lifted. But we have this arrangement... "Don't mess with my settings" (and always bring it back fuelled up). So your young driver might have been in someone else's rig, or maybe had just never been shown the differences.

Make sense Jeff, Ron?

S

Yes, Steve, it does, here in Canada we used to call them just  a "tag axle" and it also compensated for more weight per axle and GVWR over all. But it has been many years since I have seen a Tag around here. We will see tag axles usually in a big city most for P&D flat deck trucks that would haul lumber, plywood, insulation etc, for your home building projects or the like. But for the line trucks and gravel trucks etc, usually will have full on tandem drive units , mostly due to the extra weight carried and for climbing the hills etc,. I can see in Hawaii, that is mostly flat, a second rear drive axle may not be actually needed to hump huge weight. Also the extra cost associated with a full on tandem drive.   Your explanation hits the mark, perfectly

[sassgrunt]

Thank you very much Steve and Jeff.  Now I can finally let it go.

[Guest DannyVM]

On 6/23/2020 at 5:42 PM, Jeff said:

Now you guys need to get a Lowbed and Danny can haul the Cat from job to job.................  sounds like a business, in the offing to me ! But with the lowbed you will mot likely need a 'jeep' and a 'booster', with a pilot car and permits as that Cat will be very heavy with the 'U' blade and ripper !

Well, look's like a nice idea to me Jeff. I'm planning to do a dio with one of these trucks, not really in mind yet what to do or how i will tackle it, but it's in the develop mode.

On 6/25/2020 at 9:32 PM, Jeff said:

Danny, NOT trying to Hi-jack your thread, but as we are talking trucks trailers and loads............... this is what happens when one has a very heavy load, going too fast, and ( speculative) possibly a bit heavy at the top..... 1/2 mile from my house, we were without electricity for 5 hours.... it is still a mess, and traffic is moving albeit 1 hour delays....... second time on this same corner, my daughter was at this EXACT intersection only about 5 minutes before this......

No sweat jeff, please feel free. All these photo's are nice reference material my friend. 

But oh boy, those lumber logs are big punching needles when they hit a car. Glad your daughter wasn't there at moment of the accident.

 

[Guest DannyVM]

At the moment i'm a little bit disappointed because my Freightliner pe isn't delivered yet. I send an email to the online store to sort this out. So the model is on low progress for the moment. I will try to add some scratch plumbing and wiring today to keep the progress on go.