Geoff Weeks

I did almost all of my heavy work with a "modified dry van hauler" and ironically my last tractor is set up best for it, but never did much of it. 3406B 425hp, Eaton 15 OD (I hate this trans) and Eaton 2 spd rears on a 3/8" frame. Plenty of low speed gears to maneuver heavy loads with out slipping the clutch, and tons of pulling power @ 55 mph while still topping out at around 80 mph. I sure wished I had the 2 spds when I was pulling those heavy loads.

I made my living with 30+ year old trucks. I don't think that is really the biggest issue. Once you get much above 120K lbs it gets hard on driveline components, Yoke spread, U joint needles wear into the hard surface, etc. problem gets worse when you don't have enough power to get up near 1:1 ratio out of the transmission. Rear axles are fairly robust, but the transmission is the weak link. Having to spend all the time with the transmission in reduction, will put a lot of heat into the oil. You can somewhat offset these issue by have a low enough rear ratio so at highway speed you are at the redline. OR, two speed rears so you move some of the torque multiplication back so the driveline doesn't carry all the torque load. There is some evidence that with single reduction rear axles when the you go slow ratios, there is less gear contact with the fewer teeth on the pinion then when faster ratios are used, making them weaker. 2 spd or double reduction help here. In reality operator will make the biggest difference. That includes "rating" of the components. You did say 350 hp, so that what I was commenting on. If I were spec'ing with 30 year old spec's to pull that kind of weight all the time, I would spec 2 spd rears, carefully choosing the ratio to work with the transmission and engine. So likely a 13 speed underdrive and 2 speed rear axle, or may be a Spicer box up front. 400hp mechanical turned up slightly, larger than "normal" radiator. These are not normal highway specs for a Super liner or really any truck. The Mich trains pullers were not "regular" tractors. I didn't pull 160K day in day out 5-6 days a week. I was up in that range very rarely, and it took its toll on components.

I say no, and I have experience at those weights. 400hp min if you are looking for highway operation. Yes, it will move it but not be able to keep up to today's high way. If you are talking 45mph speed limits, possibly. 120K lbs,sure, but if you are talking pulling trains, you need more than that. I did a few 160-170K loads, I was over 400hp and had a 13 spd, and yes, I could get over 65 MPH with enough straight road, but that was rare.

If you had access to an indexing hone, it wouldn't take much to open them up a few thou. I too think you'll be ok, but I understand the worry. I haven't done a dry lined engine since the British bus days, and there we were swapping used liners anyway.

Here are some pictures of a 5th wheel mounted with U bolts. It also has manual slider lock release. I wonder how many time it was slid even if it needed to be?

Back in that time period, it was common for a 5th wheel to be mounted with U bolts around the frame. Wood spacer block inside the C channel, and 5/8" U bolts around the frame. Much the same way truck bodies are mounted. No mounting angle on the side of the frame. I have one in my yard that is mounted that way. Very little to show if it is removed and the frame painted. A tractor protection valve and a trolly valve on the steering column would be indications it might have been a tractor at some point.

Our oldest cat has experience with a dog she could sleep on the couch with and they would "tease eachother" a bit. Then came Rory who's "pray drive" switched on when ever they ran. So we kept cats separated when we had Rory. I don't know if the one cat still remembers all dogs aren't like Rory was. I also don't know how Koda will respond either. Time and some slow introductions are in order. First, Koda has to "settle in" to his new home before introducing them.

Larry, I ran solid (un sprung) hub when I was doing heavy haul, hard on the input shaft but will not break and cause a problem pulling an oversize load. Once I finished doing those loads I went back to dampened hubs. Much easier on the input shaft spline. I had been told that Detroit's used undampened due to their overlapping power strokes, there was pretty much a constant flow of torque through the shaft and no need for any springyness.

Circle of life? Please welcome Koda, a ~5 year old fresh from the shelter. Going to to Vet tomorrow to check out a few things. Right now we are getting to know each other. Cats are not that impressed, but I have high hopes everybody comes to a peaceful agreement.

one on the left side is stuck in the unloaded position

Drum is likely to be as big a problem as shoe. I suspect a parts truck is going to be your best bet. Either that or an axle swap. Old hyd truck brakes are not easy to find, I know, I have two 40's IHC's. Light duty "pick-up" stuff is around but medium duty is slim pickens.

Have to admit, that is one of the best looking flywheels with puck clutch I have seen. Disks have some "floppy" damper springs. I used to have a source for buying disks separate from the whole clutch, but that dried up a few years ago.

Ceramic clutches tend to be "grabby" which may be fine most of the time, but not when positioning a heavy load. May be it is just the ceramic clutches I saw were all being replaced, but I see heavy wear on the flywheel and PP(s). I have pulled organic clutches to do a rear main, with high miles and the wear surfaces look great. There is night and day in wear between an organic and ceramic puck. No question, a ceramic puck will take more abuse than an organic, but if not abused, the organic will go the life of the engine (1M+ miles), unless the damper springs or cover fails, but those are the same parts used on a ceramic puck clutch as well, lining doesn't enter into it.

I had one engine with 15.5" clutch, that I changed to 14 when it was out due to the poor "rebiult" clutch that was installed. They had encased the disk damper springs in rubber? some were already broken when they injected the rubber! Other than being a pain to install, my other reason for not using them is it is even harder to come by organic disks for 15.5 than it is for 14. Even so most will be a "special order" anyway. Shops only like to install ceramic puck clutches. It was all the shops I worked at would install. Do any of you remember the "carbolic" clutch lining? was supposed to hold like ceramic puck, but be as easy as organic on the plates. I may have the name wrong but remember see build sheets at the jobber warehouse, then never saw anything about them again. For a long time I used a "clutch shop" to supply my clutches, that is all they did was rebuild and/or sell new clutches. Then they went out of business, as I guess most just call the jobber and say "send a new clutch".

Yeah, it can slow you down a bit, but I had a chest cooler with dry ice that could only hold one liner at a time. So wait the 20 min or so with the light bulb and pull the liner out of the dry ice, drop the next one in, and move the light bulb and install the 1st. Doesn't really slow you down much. The key with the light bulb is it is "even heat" in the block. All I ran were 14" organic clutches and never had one not hold, even on "turned up" 400's pushing better than 450hp in heavy haul. They were only rated for 1100 ft/lbs. I used only angle spring clutches, which have a consistent plate load as they wear. Depends on the operator more than the "rating".