Loadmaster '47 COE

[47 Fasttoys]

Maintenance support, we built a new factory here and I was sent here to teach the Chinese how to maintain the equipment. It's good work.
Rob

[Dieselwrencher]

Sounds pretty good. That part of the world is getting filled with factories with owner relationships with the US. Good luck with it.

[joedoh]

ha seeing the santana taxicab flashes me back to my march trip, we went to shenzhen, nantong, and shanghai, those santanas were all over shanghai.

I googled bar j ranch in colorado and they have a website.
http://awesomecoloradoland.com/bar_j_ranch.htm

cool project! you really get after it.

[47 Fasttoys]

Thanks for the link, I have seen some for a dude ranch but that one is actually only about 150 miles from where I bought the truck. I need to find the ranch owner to see if any pictures are available from when the truck was in use, now that would be cool. By the way, I live in Shenyang at the Crown Plaza Hotel, yes, I live in a hotel
Thanks again,
Rob

[topdown99]

I love those old COE - cant wait to see it done!

[E911manager]

I am about to start a 1946 COE build. I appreciate you taking so many pics. So far i have the 1946 COE cab and a 50 long narrow bed. I traded some stuff for a running 1994 Chevrolet 3500 with a 6.5 diesel in it. I want a diesel and do not want to mid mount the engine because I want to use the bed. Anyway, keep putting the pics up they are very helpful..

[47 Fasttoys]

All right guys, I'm looking for a little help here. As you have seen, I'm running a mid mounted drive train. My plan is to make an electrical shifter using a linear actuator, control board, some resistors and some switches. What I need is some measurements for a 4L60 transmission shift arm. So, if you have a transmission laying around and you have a few minutes please have a look at the drawing below. You can also see what my feeble mind has come up with for the bed.
Thanks, Rob

[99 to Life]

Man you need to stop having so many cool ideas cause its making my drive to do a COE too big. Got alot of irons to cool down bf I get on mine. Sorry I'm of no help on your measurements. Can't wait to see this thing come together.

[ghettoluxury]

Ok I have some measurements for you.

2 and 1/4 center to center on shift arm

7 and 3/8 from the leading edge of shifter bracket to center of shift arm pivot at full retraction

10 and 3/16 from the leading edge of shifter bracket to center of shift arm pivot at full extension

I hope these will help you out.

[47 Fasttoys]

Thank you very much Ghetto, that's just what I needed. Yes 99 I have a few ideas, that seem to one of the things with my working away from home right now, I have a ton of time for planning and saving. I have a lot of things worked out on paper (or computer in this case). As the shifter project comes along I will post some updates. I will build a working model before I return home to work out some of the bugs.
Rob

[47 Fasttoys]

A little update, I ordered a linear actuator (4 inch stroke), a control board, a position display and a power supply. Locally a bought some components and built a resistor circuit and switch set up to control the position of the actuator. I was only able to find a 6 position switch in the style I liked so I will be limited to 6 positions. All are adjustable, so for now I will have P,R,N,D,3,2 with no first control. I could give one of the other gears if needed (maybe neutral). Anyway I have tested the control circuit works good. I'm still waiting on the other parts to arrive. So this little silver knob is my shifter control.




Rob

[Advanced Design]

Very creative! Looks like a product that could be packaged and sold.

[dug224]

Really nice build. Subscribed. Thanks for the help on mine. Dug

[47 Fasttoys]

OK, so I got some parts in today, played with some wiring and presto! I now have have a prototype for my shifter. Click on the picture to play a crappy video. The actuator is kind of small but it's rated at around 15 lbs. so it should move a shift lever just fine. I can adjust it to stop in any of 6 positions and it repeats to .02 mm. It also has adjustments for speed, sensitivity and range of motion. Same force, push or pull. Overall very pleased but I may need to use a different switch as this does not feel like it would hold up for long.

Rob

[ricott]

That is neat. One thought for the switch would be to use a third gen camaro shifter or a C4 Corvette shifter. The Neutral Safety Switch (NSS) is attached to the shifter and, as I recall, the switch has an output for each gear/position. When you moved the shifter, it would output through the NSS based on the position of the NSS . This should allow you to have a "shift by wire" setup using the traditional shifter (if that is the look you are seeking).

[Billys68SS]

Nice!

[47 Fasttoys]

The transmission (4L60) has a position switch on it which includes a NSS. I will use some of the outputs and LEDs for gear selection indicators. The plan is to adapt the throttle knob to replace the aluminum one. This knob has a "T" on it for transmission. Other then the knob I don't plan on having a normal shifter.

I still need to figure out what to use the "C" or choke knob for.
Rob

[ghettoluxury]

"C" is for Cruise!

[47 Fasttoys]

Well now that's a good idea, I was thinking cargo, as in cargo light but cruise works even better. My plan is a one button cruise activation with it being "on" in the back ground all the time. The rest of the cruise will be all the factory hook ups.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very cool shifter set up you have made there sir!

[47 Fasttoys]

Thank you, this weekend I,m going to try to build a jig of sorts to mount it to including a weighted arm and I may look for a different switch. All the components I'm buying here are dirt cheep but the quality is also dirt. So far I,m under $200 in the whole project. After playing with the actuator it's got me thinking of other applications like lifting rams for the bed.
Rob

[mr incredible]

updates?

[47 Fasttoys]

Well I have been working on the shifter project. I'm on my third attempt on the circuit layout and function. I have added a manual control mode in case the control board fails (which it has). With the manual mode I can control the position of the actuator and the signal from the trans switch to tell me what gear I'm in. I also added LEDs to indicate which gear I have selected. You can see the pictures below and the circuit I came up with. The company I have purchased the actuator and control board from (Firgelli Technologies) has been very good about helping with the issues with the board and are sending me a new one free of charge. Keep in mind right now I'm still just tinkering with this to see is it's a viable solution for an electric shifter. From the testing I have done to this point, I would say yes. Anyone is welcome to my drawings or designs. This is just something I'm doing for my truck and wanted to share. I'm sure there are better ways to do this. I'm not an EE so if of you are and have comments please share.
Rob

[dug224]

Love the concept and attention to detail. Keep the photos coming.

[47 Fasttoys]

Thanks, when I come up with a final design and prove it will be viable long term, say 3 months of normal use, I can build a new package at about 1/4 of the size. Overall, I have proven to this point it can be done and at a reasonable cost. Under $200 for sure. For most it is not really needed but for my application it looks to be the best solution, it also adds a bit of "what the heck" factor. The limit switch shown is just used to simulate the travel of the transmission shift arm.
Rob