ThaddeusW

Westernstar offers these trucks as a complete package for companies looking for a cost effective alternative to expensive off road dump trucks from CAT, Liebherr, Komatsu etc. If you go to Westernstars website, you will see a link at the bottom for the 40 ton dump truck. The spec sheet does not list axle manufacturer, but I suspect it might be Meritor. And a quick check on Meritor's site shows that some of their heavy duty axles are made by a Chinese construction equipment manufacturer, ugh. The suspension is Chalmers. Mack could offer the same package using either the Granite or Titan.

The military likes standards. The 8V92 was the original specification for the M1070 HET (Heavy Equipment Transporter) as well as the HEMTT and the PLS. Today they are supplied with Cummins engines and I also believe some of their truck also come with (Or did come with) CAT's. I don't think they like to upgrade engines on older trucks because of cost, labor and training. A grunt who knows how to turn a wrench on an 8V92 is valuable and keeping things consistent is important to them. As far as 2-cycles go? so many have been made and are still in service that parts for them will be available all the way to 2040. I dont know if that is true but I remember readin it a while back that DD will keep the 2 strokers going as long as people are running them. But with enviro regs the death of 2 cycles could come allot sooner.

Killer is one hell of a pulling truck

No that is a great answer. J1939 uses CAN bus instead of RS-485. Both are serial multi-drop networks. RS-485 is commonly found in industrial automation systems linking PLC's, process control devices, user interfaces and computer controllers. CAN (Controller Area Network) is a bit more modern implementation developed by Bosch in 1983 for use in microcontrollers. Its pretty common and open so again a simple USB-CAN adapter could be used.

Just a question, but what does a PC based diagnostic tool cost? I quickly looked into the J1587 protocol and it appears it uses RS-485 as the physical link layer which can easily be converted to an RS-232 signal. It would not be too hard to develope a program to read write data to the port and get engine diagnostic codes and other data.

These type of units are popular with diesel pickup guys looking to turn the fuel way up. Supposedly they can keep a thirsty, modified injection pump well fed when the foot goes to the floor. If you are not turning up your engine or using serious fuel system mods then I would not bother.

Happy birthday Gambi! Welcome to your 30's, I turned 30 this past July.

I read an article where a man was killed when a 14.00R20 exploded in his face. The force of the blast threw him across the shop and the impact from locking ring and rim flange is what killed him. I believe it was later revealed that the locking ring was put on backwards. I was afraid of our little 7.25-20 tube tires on our GMC. I stood clear and used a pressure regulator to fill them by means of a locking air chuck.

If you want pictures of twin steer F models look up Australian truck pictures and you will find PLENTY! An Australian member by the name of Swishy has a twin steer F with a roll back equipment bed. The F800 and F900 models were beasts! There were a few F900's made with massive Planidrive axles, I have seen a 6x6. Those monsters all work out in the middle east still to this day doing real heavy haul work.

Ah man that is bad news. Where will you move it to?

Ah so you also found it! I have been asking about that truck as well, its an F800, not completely sure of the model number. Big lorry blog had an article on it. Those models were originally headed for Canada but a rare few were sold state side. The tank behind the cab is fuel, there is a square tank for hydraulic oil. That is the F model that I would want to buy. I have a picture of one working: There were also a bunch of similar models made for concrete mixers, GVW over 100K!:

Happy belated birthday Herb!

Hey there Andrew. Did you ever get the fuel rack unstuck? That was the problem last I remember. Any way, what is going on with the yard? Is that Brockway still there?

A guy I know tried the trucking scene out. He hauled cans of recycled cardboard to the local ports. Anyways, he bought a used International 9400i sleeper tractor which was specked with diff locks and power divider locks.

Awesome looking rig.

Holy crap! Good to hear you caught that bite in time. My brother went to school in Florida and rented an apartment with a roommate. One night my brother was getting ready for bed when his roommate started yelling. Turns out a brown recluse was walking across his bed! Luckily he did not get bit but they tore his room apart looking for it, found it and killed it. A friend who was in they army was bitten on the back of his neck while sleeping out in the field. Starts to burn and turn red but ignored it until his captain saw the back of his neck and ordered him to the doctor. He was taken to the infirmary on the base and treated. Scary little things. Bout the size of a quarter so they can easily hide in sleeping bags, bed linen, shoes etc. Link to what happens to your hand when bitten

That visor is a bit much but the paint is amazing.

Urea is there to eliminate the last of the nitrogen oxides that EGR combats in the combustion chamber. All that heat and pressure in the cylinders causes the oxygen to also form compounds with nitrogen which is poisonous and responsible for smog. Urea mixed in with the exhaust gas will react with the NOx in the catalyst to produce Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen and Water. Those are relatively harmless in the atmosphere with the exception of carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas.

I could have told this to anyone years ago when this nonsense first came out. 78% of the air we breath is Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 0.9% Argon and the last 0.1% is everything else. So your tire already has 78% nitrogen in it already.

Just switch to 11R22.5 tyres and make your life simpler and safer. You might have to change the spacer band but other then that 11R22.5's are DIRECT replacements for 10.00R20's, same dimensions, inflation pressures and weight rating. Only difference is the rim width, 10.00R20's take a 7.5 rim and 11R22.5's take a 8.25 rim so that is why you might need a new spacer band.

Weasel word alert: "Reportedly", "Possibly", "Could be" or "could it be" and "perhaps". No citations of information sources so zero proof other than speculation. If we want to bash the president lets do it with factual information that can be proven. Even if true (which it is not) I highly doubt the people of this great nation would ever tolerate such a move. Lets all take a deep breath and wait till 2012. But then again you have all sorts of conspiracy nuts who say the world will end 2012 .

Drains suck. My father was smart ehough to purchase a real electric decent drain snake with about 75 feet of cable. I have had to snake out our drain a few times due to roots, grandmothers house (ugh) and my friend paid me to bring it to his house and snake his drain (double ugh). It is a shitty job that is for sure. A friend of mine did sewer and drain cleaning, he made a killing. He was contracted to a company that was just a middle man, he got the job through his father who worked for them. Within a few years he became their top man surpassing his father (who was happy as he was ready to retire) and brought home anywhere from 100 to 150 thousand a year! He had a calender in his room that showed in different color ink money whe made if cash or check and side jobs. I once saw a week end number of $5200 something (that was the money that went into his pocket)! By age 26 he paid off his first house and was buying a summer retreat. unfortunately he passed is a car crash. One seriously underrated job.

FOR SALE you say. Hmmmmm. This is strait out of the article: "Turns out it still exists and I got to see it once again in June 2010, in the same shape, 10 years later!" So it still exists! So I suppose the Metal Products show has passed then. Did you know of this show they host? Wonder if that FMMEX is still for sale.

And one more F800 for good luck! This one is in NJ! Apparently it was at the Adams Metal show in Ledgewood, never heard of this show, John you know anything about this? http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/2010/07/marks-monster-mack-museum-piec.html If F models were drugs I would be on that show, Intervention. Only I would be slumped over the wheel of an F in a dark alley somewhere.

I found these two articles the other day by chance. I want those F900's! Enjoy: http://www.roadtrans...hauling-pu.html http://www.roadtrans...chards-has.html