NOMADICISTA

Hey man, just wondering how much snow you got. We got 'bout 6" here in north Bama. That's more in one serving than several years combined usually. TV said they got about 12" just about 20 miles east of us, where one of our guys lives. Son decided not to open the shop today, things are a bi...

Longjohn,
You reminded me of something an old trucker told me some years ago. Speaking of the hand-valve on a truck, he said, "that's how you stop when you're pulling a rented trailer".

I like odd vehicles, so that one sure cranks my tractor, but it must be about the most underpowered thing on the road. Of course, we live in a totally different world from the one that truck was built for. I've had the pleasure a few times of driving old trucks along old state and fed routes that ha...

The narrowest streets I drove a truck on were probably going thru Manheim, PA to the auto auction there. From the turnpike south, thru town to the auction on the south side of town. Streets laid out in horse and buggy days. Ten-car stinger-hitch rig, 102" wide, 78' long with the decks pulled in...

Sharkey, I read your posts covering the Rabbits and pusher when I first found your site, couple years or so ago. Revisited a while back. Lots of good info there. I owned a '76 rabbit gas-burner for several years, and took it from about 40K miles when I bought it, to around 200K. By that time the flo...

Rudy, I like having a tach too, but don't worry about overspeeding your engine without one. I don't think I've ever seen a diesel engine that wasn't governed. The governor is a part of the injection pump, and unless it's been messed with it's set to keep the engine from exceeding the mfr's recommend...

I vote for the faster gears. If you told which v-8 you have, I missed it, but a small bus with any decent v-8 that would have been factory-installed in a bus should be able to run 55-60 with the right gears. Large school-busses from the 50's and 60's that came with 6's and direct-4-speeds would usua...

Happy new year to all. May we all find truth and contentment this year. Scuse me if I don't make sense, it's the turkey's fault.

If you really want to build your own, I wouldn't leave that idea yet. There are plenty of 96" wide flats and vans still around. I can't remember what year the DOT started allowing 102" wide trailers, but it was something like 15 years ago, maybe less. Most truckers then had to go to the 10...

Marks idea has been proven to work already. When semi-trailer rigs were first coming into existance in this country, some were built just that way. At least one of the big names in trailer manufacturing, can't remember for sure, but maybe Fruehauf, used that setup. I have seen pics of such, either o...

Papabrewsky, you got my line. When I was trucking, I had my life's story decaled on the side of my sleeper. "We started out with nothin',....still have most of it" For my truck number on the sides of the hood, I had "BR549".
Stan

Yeah, what he said. And, those tubeless rims that will fit your Dayton spokes can probably be had at your local truck salvage yard for near scrap price. BTW, one of my favorite arguments in the old-truck crowd is the Dayton vs Budd one. The left-coast guys are mostly all Budd wheel fans, right-coast...

Also, you might have a hard time convincing the DOT cops that you're not subject to their garbage, which includes logbook, inspections, and the hassles they are paid to dispense to truckers. I know you're not interested in an antique truck per se, but in some states, mine included, a vehicle 25 year...

Jim, My few years experience in the trucking business tells me that you should fully investigate the licensing/insurance/fuel tax requirements of using a later model tractor before you get too far along. The problem is that the feds, and some states, do not recognize that a truck-tractor might be us...

Jim,
Truckpaper.com is a good place to find a used van, but it looks like it's getting harder to find anything shorter than 45'.
Stan