graham1948

Thanks again for your input. I've got the whine as well and I can live with that. I drove a B model for five years on regular trucking work 35 years ago and I learnt to hide the whine a little by either holding onto the split gear lever or putting a strong rubber band around the two levers to stop the vibration a little. I realy think I have something a bit more, that's why I think it is either oil not getting to the top of the box properly or maybe there is some wear or something else that has caused the gears on four and fifth to rattle much more than normal. With regard to top speed, when I did the restoration I purchased a brand new rev counter and cable from Mack Trucks. It seemed to work fine for the first 1000 miles and then it went crazy and was reading all over the place. When it was working OK it indicated that I was topping out at about 18 to 1900 RPM. I am still not convinced I have a 4.2 ratio diff though, during her life time is it possible that someone has changed the diff for a lower speed one (although I don't know why someone would do that-but in her early working days she was used on road train work and it would not have been unusual for her to pull up to three fully loaded 35 foot trailers each with 20 ton of frieght on board). Even though the diff housing says 4.2 someone might have put a different ratio set up in her. Only way to find out I guess is to pull it out and count the teeth? Do you think it would be better first to get her on a professional dyno machine. Again, you help is appreciated. Graham

I've never done this before so I hope this picture of my B model gets through. Restoration was complete last week and since then we have completed 2000 miles in her with virtually now problems other than the ones I posted earlier and am looking for help with. Graham I've never done this before so I hope this picture of my B model gets through. Restoration was complete last week and since then we have completed 2000 miles in her with virtually now problems other than the ones I posted earlier and am looking for help with. Graham I've never done this before so I hope this picture of my B model gets through. Restoration was complete last week and since then we have completed 2000 miles in her with virtually now problems other than the ones I posted earlier and am looking for help with. Graham I've never done this before so I hope this picture of my B model gets through. Restoration was complete last week and since then we have completed 2000 miles in her with virtually now problems other than the ones I posted earlier and am looking for help with. Graham

Many thanks to everyone who offered help with regard to the vibration in my B model. Member 261 nailed it. We found that we had movement in the yokes and in turn the retainer nut that holds the rear yoke onto the diff was loose causing severe up and down movement. We replaced the front and back universals and tighten up the retaining nuts and the vibration has gone. I have just returned from a 2000 mile trip in her towing a 10 ton van/trailer and she performed beautifully. Only trouble was we threw a fan belt and the air conditioner that we had installed stopped until we could fit the spare we were carrying (it is over 100 degrees in the shade over here at the moment, and at 58 years of age I am too soft to drive a B model without air conditioning). Water temp sat on 75 all the way and we held oil pressure at 75 also. She pulled up the hill like a trouper. The only thing I have to fix now is, we are getting engine oil into the air lines so we will get the compressor overhauled (not too much oil, she only used 2 pints for the whole 2000 miles), and I've got to get rid of the noise that sounds like 100 angry monkeys grinding ball bearings in the gearbox when in forth and fifth hi-split. She probably has not been driven in these gears for years because when I purchased her she was on a property and only used once in a while to pull timber out of the paddocks. No highway use at all. The noise did get a bit better by the time we got back this afternoon but it is still too loud. Any ideas? I will probably have to ultimately get the gearbox overhauled, but I understand that some people have been able to reduce this noise by thicker oil and additives. Although I said my diff was rated at 4.2 I couldn't get any more than 50 mph out of her and coming down the hills she appeared to hit the goverors at about 55 mph. Again many thanks for past help, and if you have any suggestions for the gearbox grinding noise I would appreciate it. Thanks Graham

Many thanks for your help. Today we removed the front universal (previously it had checked out OK,i.e. no obvious movement) when we took it out we fount that one of the caps had damaged roller pins and this had caused scoring to the hard metal of the universal. We installed a new universal and we got a 60 to 70% improvement, but we still have a vibration that we can now drive through. It seems to go at about 50mph and is still there with the power off. My guys tell me that the vibration that is left is probably either whell bearings or out of balance tyres. It is the week end down here at the moment so on Monday we will check out the whell bearing and replace any suspect ones and then take her to someone to have the wheels balanced. I though my 4.2 ratio rear end might get me up to 65 mph but a friend travelling behind me this morning tell me I was topping out at 48mph. Too bloody slow! When I get everything balanced up I am hoping to get at least 60 to 65mph. If not I am going to have to find a faster diff. Again many thanks for the advice. Graham Many thanks for your help. Today we removed the front universal (previously it had checked out OK,i.e. no obvious movement) when we took it out we fount that one of the caps had damaged roller pins and this had caused scoring to the hard metal of the universal. We installed a new universal and we got a 60 to 70% improvement, but we still have a vibration that we can now drive through. It seems to go at about 50mph and is still there with the power off. My guys tell me that the vibration that is left is probably either whell bearings or out of balance tyres. It is the week end down here at the moment so on Monday we will check out the whell bearing and replace any suspect ones and then take her to someone to have the wheels balanced. I though my 4.2 ratio rear end might get me up to 65 mph but a friend travelling behind me this morning tell me I was topping out at 48mph. Too bloody slow! When I get everything balanced up I am hoping to get at least 60 to 65mph. If not I am going to have to find a faster diff. Again many thanks for the advice. Graham

I don't have the drum type handbrake she was converted to maxi brakes some yars ago. Graham

Recently I purchased a 1963 B 613 S. It has a 250 C Turbo Motor coupled to a quad box connected to a diff that indicates that is is a 4.2 ratio diff. My problem is that I have a vibration that kicks in at fifth gear at speeds between 40 and 50 mph. I am told this could be a varitey of things including, wheel balance, worn universals, an out of balance tail shaft, or maybe the tail shaft is out by one on the splein. The universals appear to be OK and as I have fitted new tyres I think the problem is elsewhere. Tomorrow we will check the univerals again and make sure the tailshaft is aligned in the correct manner. Does anyone have anything else we can check? I am based in Gladstone Queensland Australia, my B Model was purchased new by Buntine Roadways in the Northern Territory in May 1963 and was fitted with a P motor and Duplex. My restoration is complete and next week I intended to drive it to a truck show 700 miles from where I live, but if I can't fix the vibration I might have to make other plans, as I am told that in some cases these vibrations could do severe damage to the bell housing. Any thoughts? Graham