dayradebaugh

Rob: What options would I have to change out the carriers? What should be on my shopping list? Would this website be a good way to look for them? Thanks Day

Rob: Numbers off the rear diff housing are: IQFA5477 SWD 592 Thanks Day Below I'm loading up my '35 Diamond T 211 on my '80 Autocar rollback. A'nd the '21 Seagrave firetruck up there too. AC14

That old deuce, pound for pound, is the hardest working truck I've got. You're right; you don't need that winch or gin poles every day, but when you do it does the job.

Here's my rig up truck:

It was a lot of fun. All my buds came down and helped out. Measured that bed and where it would sit on the Mack about a thousand times. Notice the fender skirts and flares we installed. Replaced those rubber flares with stuff that wasn't floppy, and turned out very well. The stripes on the back end were all hand done by the painter, a young kid. I was pretty impressed.

This is getting interesting. I'll get those numbers off the rear diff housing tomorrow. 8.27:1 rings a bell from long ago. This truck must have done the real heavy lifting. I was a much younger man when I spent a summer mounting and drilling the holes in the new 3rd frame member from the inside out with a 1/2" Makita drill. I certainly know the cribbing routine; I had the Holmes 750 all cribbed up as I restored that monster, see below. I live in oil field territory in Kansas, and the local oil field guy brought his big old tandem out to lift the bed onto the truck. On the left of the picture, I'm getting the Mack positioned to drive under the bed after the crane on the tandem hooks up and lifts it up. That was exciting. Here's another of the finished truck. Only thing left to do is hook up the 750 to the Mack PTO. Here's the inside: Truck had been sitting for 2 yrs. unused. Went out Friday and, after charging the batteries, she fired right off. Had to give it just a little snort of ether, but after that she primed up and got going. Thanks much.

If I had X-ray vision, I'd guess that the bogies look like this, also from BMT website. This tells me right away how I would do the switch.

Sorry for the quality of these pix, but it's dark under there. 1. Looking at front diff from ahead of axle rear diff, sho 2. Going into rear diff 3. Looking up at rear diff carrier cover from below The immediate problem I see is getting these chunks in and out without taking the bed off. Many thanks.

Many thanks, guys. This thing is so low-geared that it certainly makes sense to just shift the main box, or even skip gears. There is a very good truck boneyard and parts warehouse out west of Wichita called Southwest Truck Parts, and I'm betting they'll either have it, or know someone else who does. I'll shoot a pic of the differential housings tomorrow and put it up.

I appreciate the suggestion. I'm in Kansas, and this unit came from the East Coast somewhere. Pulling an end dump I imagine, since at one time it had a 5th wheel, I'm told. Has triple frame, outer layer of which was rotted, so I replaced that, rewired, new paint, had cab redone, new brakes and tires, then installed the Holmes 750. Wouldn't mind having a higher top end, setting aside the fact that I'd hate to have to stop the truck at those speeds, but so it goes. What would I look for to replace the pumpkins? Thanks

Thanks very much. Original engine was, as I recall, ENDT 673 turbocharged. When I did engine switch (it's been about 10 yrs) there was talk about the 237 supplying more torque at lower RPM than the original, and that I ought to be especially careful not to lug it down. Going to teach my son-in-law to drive it, and wanted to start him out on just main box. Truck normally not loaded, and I fully agree with your suggestion. Thanks

Truck pictured is a B81SX that I repowered w/237. Has a quad box. Just getting it back on the road after couple of years storage. She's low-geared; have forgotten the final ratio, but the best she'll do is about 45 mph, 5th gear HI range. Question: Can I drive this thing using just using 5-speed main box, with compound in LO or Direct safely, that is, without putting too much torque on the tranny-clutch during shifts, or should I split? Thanks Day Radebaugh

Will do. It was fun walkin' the dog again with this truck.

Just test drove Terry's suggestions above and it worked fine, good enough to get me out on the road where I could really warm it up. Appreciate the suggestion.

I'll certainly post some pix when I get her painted this spring. Roughly what's left is: --install some of those rubber fender flares on the fender cutouts we did --paint it --hook up another air tank --hook up pto --for you wrecker dudes, I have to move the control handles which were originally on the side of the truck. I ran out of fender space, and will install the control handles on the surface of the wrecker bed. The geometry of these control handles should work the same, just shifted in position 90 deg. This control rod mechanism is a nightmare anyway, and explains why hydraulics caught on so fast. Should have it on the road by the beginning of the spring season. By the way, this B81 is running a 237.

Hadn't thought of those zerks on top of the tranny. I'll give them some grease. They probably haven't seen grease in years.

Guys: Terry, your procedure had occurred to me, and I'll give it a try right off. Thanks for the advice. Mike, I'm anxious to get on the registry, and will complete that procedures. Appreciate the help. Day

Guys: Terry, your procedure had occurred to me, and I'll give it a try right off. Thanks for the advice. Mike, I'm anxious to get on the registry, and will complete that procedures. Appreciate the help. Day

Hopped in my B81SX with a quad the other day. Temp was about 20 deg. F. Main box shifted fine, but back box (4 speed) would not shift, at least easily, for about 5 miles. Would it be safe to put synthetic in this transmission? If so, what weight? Any brand recommendations? Would I need to flush out the old fluid before switching to synthetic? As you can see, am in the process of installing a Holmes 750 on the unit. Will be hooking up a PTO to the transmission, so now is the time to change the fluid, if possible. Also in the process of installing fenders on the wrecker bed, as below. Thanks for your help. Day Radebaugh

i have a b81 sx with 7220 quad box. putting a 237 engine in it, looking for clutch-flywheel parts to fit this application. any guidance? have investigated cl-50 clutches (the original 14" double disk) and the 16 1/2" german-made single disk cl-58. anyone done this, or know of parts/sources? thanks day radebaugh