Trucks Are Beautiful

[mountie]

Some trucks I've driven...
The Top Kick conversion, was all custom aluminum- built ( wasn't a kit / fab company for this type build yet).. >> Note the hand made fender flares

The Older Top Kick with the RV box, was originally built for Boyd Coddington, then we hauled 2 F1 - Tunnelboats inside ( Sherwin Williams was the sponsor).

[special-K]

I like the toterhome.

[mountie]

Originally Posted by special-K

I like the toterhome.

Yea.... I'm just glad it's still in one piece.... 20 years ago, I was returning from a F1 Tunnelboat race in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.... I was headed to Seattle to get the Mercury powerheads re-freshened. Coming down into British Columbia, ...and just started down the infamous 'Coq' grade, ( TV show - "Highway Through Hell").... The steepest part of the 12-mile grade is the top.

All during my round trip starting from Southern California, I heard a slight "knocking sound" from time to time.... Well, as I started down the grade, at about 25 MPH, THE ENGINE THREW A ROD THROUGH THE BLOCK.

Guess what? Air brakes.... I had ZERO brakes!!! I quickly drove against the right-hand side cement wall, and scrubbed the right - front tire against the wall( carefully).... and rubbed the tire for about 50 yards... Finally coming to a stop. ( The whole 72 foot long rig was no more than 6 inches away from the wall.

Needless to say, The famed tow company towed me into North Vancouver to get the Detroit Diesel 6.9 replaced.

[special-K]

Whoa Nelly! Good thing the truck AND YOU survived that one.

[mountie]

Originally Posted by special-K

Whoa Nelly! Good thing the truck AND YOU survived that one.

I had a video camera documenting my trip & you can hear the 'knock sound' on tape and I actually said on camera I should have the engine checked when I get to Seattle. I will look for some pictures of the event!!

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Glad to see you got it stopped like you did and it is strange on how you lost your Brakes too like that, but I wondering what exactly is a "Detroit Diesel 6.9"? Google did not help, lol.

[mountie]

Originally Posted by C10 - C90 Bill

Glad to see you got it stopped like you did and it is strange on how you lost your Brakes too like that, but I wondering what exactly is a "Detroit Diesel 6.9"? Google did not help, lol.

The truck is a 5 speed w/ a 2-speed axle.

Air brakes.... When you throw a rod through the block, you loose air for the brakes. I had no alternative brakes ( no jake brake, or elec. drive shaft brakes.).... On the steep grade, I was using the air supply to keep at 25mph, and a sudden loss of pressure to replenish the air tank.....bad things happen!!
Whatever the engine was in that thing...... It's been a long time...

Whatever factory diesel was in that Chevy C-70 ( A 4-53T ? ) .... I believe it was a 6. liter- something...
I was towed to a Detroit Diesel shop in N. Vancouver, Canada.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Sounds like your truck didn't have Maxi-Brakes or Spring Brakes as some will call it. Maxi-Brakes are a reverse process emergency brake. It's the button on the dash that gets pulled to activate the air pressure emergency brake when parked. The safety factor is that you need pressure to release it and take off the pressure to activate it. When you lose Air Pressure while driving, it is supposed to automatically stop the truck.

Although, luckily, I never got to ever experience that on my '71 9500 that had them. My old '62 6500 also had Air Brakes but no Maxi though. I always had plans on what to do if I lost pressure (Hit that almost use-less Hand Brake and start Downshifting, lol). But it was a Gas engine which would help it to stop better in comparison.

But luckily again, I never lost pressure in that truck, on a normal road anyway. Had one scare though. A full load of about 20,000 going down a steep hill. The Buzzer kicked on and I started to panic a little, but made it to the bottom OK.

[mountie]

This truck was configured to only haul Boyd Coddington hot rods around southern California.... It was never an OTR rig, but we used it as one.

Oddly enough, after my fiasco in Vancouver, I had to drive to St. Louis ( Fenton / Merrimack River ) for the next race. I was forced to drive in heavy rain the entire trip from Seattle. Guess what?... The rain I drove in, flooded the river, up to the top of the boat launch, canceling that race. Go figure...
( Note the river level behind truck)
( One of 2 boats in trailer - photo from Saskatoon race)
The brakes were minimal at best. I learned a lesson...
After my return to California, they sold it and bought a Kenworth semi-rig. ( I have a Class-A)
( They finally listened to me )

[special-K]

Nice little hobby . I'll take a stab and say it might have been an 8.2 Detroit.

[mountie]

Originally Posted by special-K

Nice little hobby . I'll take a stab and say it might have been an 8.2 Detroit.

Less one cylinder

[special-K]

White

[mountie]

This isn't a 'big truck'... But it was modified to haul this play toy.
( It had a 'saddle fuel tank' to go long distances)

Very fun to drive.

[special-K]

I like it. It's a Li'l Heavy Hauler. Love those chrome Budds. Those were on trucks all over the place in CA in the '70s. Now you can't find a used set...or one. At least I couldn't find one I needed.

[special-K]

...

[C10 - C90 Bill]

I always liked Whites as well, like in the first picture. Only I could never understand why the Long Nose was a White 4000 and the Short Nose was a White 9000. They also may have had a Medium Nose, not sure.

I drove a '69 or '70 White once with a 220 Cummins and a 10-Speed Road Ranger. And no Power Steering. It steered quite well actually and was a pretty like-able truck.

[special-K]

Yeah, White is one of those companies that was just around... like always. Just another fleet truck you saw all over the place driven by company drivers. But then you saw ones that stood out and made you realize they are (were) a real truck company. They made many innovations for the industry and in many ways were the core of truck development through the years... in the broadest sense. They also come to mind most when it comes to mergers, by-outs, and being bought out. Many truck brands fell under the White name and I see it as them keeping those companies alive more than buying out the competition to kill it, as we see today.





Verrry innovative..................

[special-K]

A couple low rider pictures

[flashed]

That last one is pretty cool .

[allchevy58]

Saw this Monday, drove for them back in the day.

[special-K]

Is that line still running? Is that truck in service? I never noticed those long windows in the cab sides on any Freighliners.

[allchevy58]

Originally Posted by special-K

Is that line still running? Is that truck in service? I never noticed those long windows in the cab sides on any Freighliners.

There were no plates on it, saw it in the Roadway Yellow Freight yard in Sparks,
Nv. Willig closed down Oct. 1995, found a YouTube from 1990 from Sparks, Nv. with the window on the side. I would say it was a late 80's. I worked at the Sparks terminal from 87' to 89', I believe had a couple of Freightliners with the window in the side.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e24fhXLqvg

[special-K]

That's a well preserved example, then. Cool to see what we saw everyday now that they are gone. All the fleets with all their colors and patterns was such a cool thing to see... that I never fully appreciated till now that they are gone. I started really appreciating fleet paint jobs when I didn't realize the smaller companies had started being bought out and merged. Then those companies folded or just went with a boring scheme, like white with a touch of the old colors in a stripe. Now I keep remembering the companies I used to see that are now gone. I hate to see it.

[Curbfeeler26]

Nice Pic... Blast from the past. I worked for Roadway now YRC. Looks like the new owner of that , museum piece...

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by special-K

That's a well preserved example, then. Cool to see what we saw everyday now that they are gone. All the fleets with all their colors and patterns was such a cool thing to see... that I never fully appreciated till now that they are gone. I started really appreciating fleet paint jobs when I didn't realize the smaller companies had started being bought out and merged. Then those companies folded or just went with a boring scheme, like white with a touch of the old colors in a stripe. Now I keep remembering the companies I used to see that are now gone. I hate to see it.

Exactly. I always appreciated the look of a fleet truck, so much so, I collected odds and ends back in the day. There is an add from a Ford truck dealer probably '96 when some of the Willig trucks were being liquidated. As a foot note, this Ford dealers lot is now a private small school bus yard.