The low dollar crawler hauler

[SmokinDodge]

Originally Posted by Sberry

Its ok to look at, its great for some people. I like the haul rig and if I was gonna build one might start with cooler trailer....
I aint fixing 91 tires for a hobby.

Sorry my shit isn’t cool enough for you. Thanks for stopping by.

[SmokinDodge]

So as fate would have it I have acquired another piece of the puzzle.

Some of you may remember a post I made a few months ago looking for some machine work in the Seattle area. Well Ironman (a Canuck) was able to put me in touch with George. George could not help me directly but his friend Robert could. So a couple phone calls and a bit of driving I arrive at Robert’s house. He gets our emergency machine work done and we begin to shoot the shit. He is an awesome guy with lots of stories and plenty of cool iron. Chiefly he has a couple old cab overs.

As the conversation progresses he mentions he would be inclined to sell the red one and one thing led to another and I spoke for it.

2,000 miles from home.

Not running.

Setting for three years.

I’m begging to think I secretly loathe myself.

Time flew and plans changed but I managed to get back to the PNW to work on genset we have here and to pick up my cab over. It’s been hell dealing with work and the temps here but I finally got an evening to go work on the old cab over.

Would you believe all the tires were up, the engine oil looked good and all it took were two batteries? I would not have!!!

It was 100° for a majority of the day but man I was smiling by the end of it!!!

Brakes are good. Air system is good. We are ready to load when the trailer gets here Tuesday.

I am beyond stoked.

[SmokinDodge]

Not sure if the video links will work. Here’s just after start up. The coolant is low and the reason for the alarm. It’s gonna need a head or gasket.


https://youtu.be/J1n3rVKJ7BA

https://youtu.be/IJo-yNgFDYQ Here she’s just purring

[toprecycler]

Nice. You never know where a helpful tip will take you. Do you got your CDL? Just drive it home. Bring lots of water for the radiator leak. Or put in some stop leak.. I hear pepper flakes work. Any serious off-roader/ rock crawler vehicle has pepper flakes in their emergency stash on the vehicle, never know when a stick flies up and pokes a hole in your radiator stranding you in the bush.

Pinch off the leaking tubes the best you can with pliers, and pour in the pepper to plug up the small leaks and drive it out.


Can’t wait to see the driving lessons start for your daughters. That semi would be an awesome daily driver for them when the time comes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[slip knot]

Cool truck. I see alot of the old COE freightliners back on the road. Seems thats the truck to restomod now.

I wonder if the ride would be any better with a modern air ride seat. From what I recall they were a bit rough riding.

[Whitetrash]

Looks like a nice old rig

[Norm W]

Nice catch on the truck. How much weight do you plan on hauling? If you won't be hauling over 32K on the tractor you might think about dropping a drive axle. Tires will probably age out before they wear out. Six are a bit cheaper than ten. The plate will also cost less.

This is the rig I have. It does the job I need it to do. Once you have a CDL if you don't plan on making a living with it, look at MVS 390.3f3 it may save you some cash.

[SmokinDodge]

Man to say this was a big day is an understatement. I’m 1935 miles from home on a work trip and managed to get a buddy out here with a trailer to haul the cab over home. He got a load local to the truck and it worked out great. Some shots from today. I had to pick up the turbos this morning from being cleaned first thing and then it was COE time in the midday. The PNW is going through a heat wave. It was 112° in tocoma yesterday. Today was cooler but I still managed to sweat like I had a medical condition.


The lady in the picture used to drive this truck. She put several hundred thousand miles on it hauling booze to the cruise ships in the bay. They grossed 80,000 hauling liquor. Think about that for a second!!!

[SmokinDodge]

Originally Posted by toprecycler

Nice. You never know where a helpful tip will take you. Do you got your CDL? Just drive it home. Bring lots of water for the radiator leak. Or put in some stop leak.. I hear pepper flakes work. Any serious off-roader/ rock crawler vehicle has pepper flakes in their emergency stash on the vehicle, never know when a stick flies up and pokes a hole in your radiator stranding you in the bush.

Pinch off the leaking tubes the best you can with pliers, and pour in the pepper to plug up the small leaks and drive it out.


Can’t wait to see the driving lessons start for your daughters. That semi would be an awesome daily driver for them when the time comes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The problem with driving it is if it is a head gasket leak the flow of coolant can actually eroded the block or head. A short trip would be fine but this thing is in Washington state.

The girls gotta buy their own cab over to drive. This one is mine. I have a CDL but it’s not applicable. This is a privately owned rig not for profit, the DOT can take a flying fuck.

Originally Posted by slip knot

Cool truck. I see alot of the old COE freightliners back on the road. Seems thats the truck to restomod now.

I wonder if the ride would be any better with a modern air ride seat. From what I recall they were a bit rough riding.

This has an air ride cab with an air ride seat. People are sick of the fucking check engine light in newer trucks. They are pulling the old trucks out of the ditches and fence rows and driving them. I’m glad to see it because I love the old trucks.

Originally Posted by Whitetrash

Looks like a nice old rig

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Norm W

Nice catch on the truck. How much weight do you plan on hauling? If you won't be hauling over 32K on the tractor you might think about dropping a drive axle. Tires will probably age out before they wear out. Six are a bit cheaper than ten. The plate will also cost less.

This is the rig I have. It does the job I need it to do. Once you have a CDL if you don't plan on making a living with it, look at MVS 390.3f3 it may save you some cash.

My trailer is 24,000. The bronco is around 7,000 and the truck is 16,500. I’m going to keep it twin screw, a bunch of my buddies haul boats and have singled out their trucks. They are helpless and I have had to unload the bronco to pull out a semi a couple times. If they were twin screw they could have drove out. I’ll be lucky to put 10,000 miles a year on, it’s a vacation rig.

That’s a nice COE! What engine/trans?

[Norm W]

It's a '76 White Road Commander 2. 6V92 with an Eaton 9 speed. The trailer is a home-made detachable goose-neck. It has two Dexter 10K air ride axles. Unfortunately it has electric brakes. The price was right, and for the mileage it will get it doesn't matter. It means there won't be anyone able to borrow it. The tractor is plated Historical. Private use only, no commercial use. I went interstate excepted, so no log book or physical. I do run a log for my own amazement.