Licensed to kill

ABS

I doesn't matter which side of the axle the box is on. If it is behind the axle (as in this case) with the pitman Arm pointing down, clockwise rotation of the shaft coming out of the box with push the steering arm thus making the truck turn left. If the box was in front, with the pitman arm pointing down, clockwise rotation of the shaft will make the pitman arm PULL the steering arm, again, turning the truck left. Clockwise will turn left, counterclockwise right regardless of which side of the axle the box is on (as long as the pitman arm is pointing in the same direction, in this case, pretty much every case, down).

Tom Gannaway suggested that I post a link to my B61 project thread on "cannadianrodder" for anyone here that might be interested so here it is https://canadianrodder.com/forum/index.php?threads/project-gunsmoke.23609/ . I try to do an update every week or two or whenever I have something that may be of interest.

Just an update, I received some pics from Tom Gannaway as well as had a nice (very informative) phone conversation and I SHOULD have the linkage issue on the run now. Getting tired of pulling the transmission (I have to pull the tranny to remove the linkages from the tranny shaft and/or the pedal shaft). While my linkage will be a bit different from what Tom made, the basic configuration will be the same. Thanks to everyone that contributed to this thread and a huge shout out to Tom for taking the time to help this rookie with the problem. This project requires a machinist, fabricator, welder and engineer and I am none of those things but I do like to try 😁

Thanks for the pics. That last pic looks like a detailed miniature train set. Any idea what kind of torque that would put out at full PSI?

As the title says, I'm adding an air cleaner to the driver side of my B61. I have the bracket made as well as the backing plate but am puzzled about that plate. All of the mounting holes through the bracket and pipe surround are 3/8" (on the factory stock pass side) but the bolts that hold those things on are 5/16". This means that the head of this bolts are a bit smallish for the holes that they cover. I have yet to weld the nuts on the backing plate and am pondering whether to stay with the 5/16 through 3/8 holes or just go 3/8 bolts for a better fit. If I go 3/8 that will mean that I have to cut all the nuts off the pass side backing plate and replace them with 3/8 also. What have others done when adding the driver side can??. Also, anything else I should be considering that may not be obvious??.

I LOVE steam locomotives. Been wanting to find one as "yard art" but haven't looked TO hard since the transport alone would be cost prohibitive if I found one. The old fella that I bought my '31 Model A delivery from used to run them back in the day and he was kind enough to tell me a lot about it. Thanks for sharing. Any more pictures of it??

I think the hand throttle, whether it be on the column or the dash was because of the starter button on the floor. Needed a way to give it throttle while hitting the starter. I've never driven a "T" before but drive my "A's" as often as I can (which isn't often enough). My '31 delivery had haywire going from the choke through the grill so it could be choked when started with the hand crank. The hand crank is probably another reason for the hand throttle

I have an exact can as the top pic with the tall riser and one with the short riser bet they are a little different from one another. One has a slight rim around the top and the other doesn't. I will need to find a match to either one.

I am looking for chrome risers. How you,d I get in touch with Matt Phal?

In that case, the cutoff year would be 1959 since I have 2 '59's, one with each setup.

For added security, I am going to put a tri-plex shift pattern tag in my B that will be sporting a twin stick 6 Spd.

I didn't want to hijack Teched's thread (parts is parts) but I stole a couple pics from there to make my point (hope Teched doesn't mind). Why do some have a strapped can with a vent door behind the bracket like this?( that also has an "S" pipe so the nipple on the can is straight) And others have a strapless can with no door but rather, a rubber ducting going to the heater core and also into the engine compartment and an angled pipe going to an angled nipple on the can like this?

Thanks to all that have responded so far. hoping to get some pics so I can see what needs to be done. I don't follow written instruction well. In the mean time I am working on the driver side air cleaner. I can't believe how many inconsistencies there are between the 3 trucks that I have, even the 2 from the same year (1959). Nobody said this would be easy and if it as, everybody would do it I suppose. 😊

been working on the clutch linkage for almost 2 weeks now and still no success (but I AM getting closer). I'm putting a TRXL 107 (6 Spd) in my B61. The problem is that he B61 came with a push clutch and the 107 has a pull clutch. I want to stay with the pull clutch so I have a clutch brake but this means I have to reverse the rotation of the shaft so the pedal rotates it's shaft counter clockwise and I need to translate that in to clockwise for the clutch fork. I have tried a few different ideas and my last one almost worked but my geometry was..............not so good and it would;d take Swartzenegger in his prime to disengage the clutch. I can shorten the lever off the pedal about an inch but I don't know how much that will gain me. I/m sure I can reduce the force required at the pedal quite a bit by manipulating the length of each lever but, as near as I can figure, each time I do that, I lose some stroke at the clutch fork and may not have enough pedal travel to compensate. SO, before continuing on my current path, I was thinking that perhaps a hydraulic clutch would be easier and solve all my issues but I have never seen one in a class 8 truck before so I don't know if such a thing is even available and even if it IS, I want to maintain the stock B61 pedal rather than going to one that hangs from under the dash. Any insight regarding getting my stock B61 pedal to actuate the pull clutch would be appreciated.

No, I have the same thing of a Model A ford on the other side of the wall but the don't work either. I have 3 or 4 backlit tire signs on the other walls and people often say I should get them lit up again. It WOULD be nice (as would the headlights on the A and B but I have so much on my plate with real projects that I can justify the time it would take. Maybe some day. BTW, the grill is a '52 Buick.

That Budd/hubcap combo looks fantastic. I've never seen hubs like that before

Using some spare parts as wall art. Was a real bear to get that thing up there, it weighs a ton.

My axle is an FA505

I know this is an old thread but I just found it yesterday. I have a '59 B61 with maxi's so I snapped a pic in case it may be helpful to someone.

In my Pete's I run 100#. I am still pondering what I will run in my B. I'm thinking 50-60. In my Model A pickup, I was running 32 like I typically do (and I believe it says on the sidewall) but the truck is so light on the back that they were rock hard and it was ROUGH with coil overs. I dropped the pressure down to 22 IIRC, basically to where I thought the sidewall "looked" right. On Ag tires, air pressure is determined by squat. The 710 70R 42's on my sprayer, according to Firestone, should be 36" from ground to centre so that is where I set the air (loaded) , 16PSI in back, 12PSI in front. Point is, it depends on what you are doing with the rig. BIG difference between my Pete (body job) which carries 16 Tonnes and my B which will carry the weight of a 5th wheel holiday trailer (and not a heavy one).

Thanks. I am going to try to find out, just wanted to see of it had already been tried first.

.......or anyone else that has tried to convert Dayton steers to Budds. Did you look into hubs from something smaller than a class 8 truck, like perhaps a school bus or the like?. The spindle being somewhat small on the B may be similar in size to something like a 5 ton truck, cube van or school bus. I could be wrong but I believe that the bolt pattern is the same. As long as the distance between the inner and outer bearing is the same, bearing size can be managed I would think.

One thing to consider regarding classic trucks (and cars for that matter) sitting and "rotting" in some yard where the owner won't sell and will never do anything with them is that, often, when the owner acquired these "gems" they were NOT classics but just old iron that otherwise would have gone to the crusher 30-40 years ago if some eccentric did not snap them up. They may have degraded substantially since being parked but they still exist and the eccentric owner that will not part with them will not live forever and at some point, the estate will deal with the relics. The important thing is to stay in contact so the estate (when the time comes) is aware that there are people interested and not to just call the scrap dealer to get rid of them. Even if they are rotted right into the ground, there are STILL some parts that will be useable that would be LONG gone if they weren't "collected" by the current owner and went to the crusher 40 years ago.