Geoff Weeks

I've heard that alot, but it has always been by non technical people. I haven't heard any conclusive proof. There are many reasons why I doubt the "corrosion" explanation. My Uncle was a corrosion specialist for USS and I wish I had thought to put the question to him when he was alive. 1) most corrosion is caused by air and moisture/salts external to the wiring, new sealed lights more or less prove the point, now the corrosion is not at the light bulb but at the connection, again where air and moisture can attack it. 2) we still have as many connections with either polarity and while the direction of flow at each connection is reversed you still have steel to copper, so if it would make a difference it would just move the corrosion point not eliminate it. 3) some point to galvanic protection of pipeline and bridge structures as proof, this misses the point that vehicles move through the air and to be effective you would have to charge the air around the vehicle to have any effect. 4) when positive ground was popular, little was known of galvanic corrosion or the effect or direction of electron flow in a dc circuit. With old simple vehicles, it just plain didn't matter, most gauges didn't care (later balanced coils gauges do) so it really didn't matter which way around the vehicle was. In the 6 volt era, you saw a lot of positive ground. When the switch to 12 volt as the common vehicle voltage is when we see negative ground become popular. It think it was more to differentiate from the 6 volt vehicles. Once semi-conductors started being used, it cemented negative ground. For some reason it is cheaper and easier to mfg semi conductors in that polarity. Old tube radios used vibrator coils to make a static inverter essentially isolating the radio power feed from the vehicle. I had an old Telafunken (sp?) out of a '55 Porsche that could be run on both 6 or 12 volt, positive or negative ground. Once transistor radios came in most were negative ground. An alternator requires diode in both polarities so no gain or loss there as to vehicle polarity. L/N an early maker of automotive alternators, went with "case neutral" construction so could be used on either polarity, most other mfg made the case one polarity or the other, requiring a different part number for + or - ground. With the abundance of semi-conductors in a modern vehicle, negative ground is almost taken over. You did ask Swishy.

Correction, I am wrong, it is not a U200 Timken, although it looks a lot like it. It is CRD117 Mack. I didn't know Mack made frontloading double reduction, all I know are the top loading. Bearing and seal kit: 205SP70 According to Weller for what that is worth. Quick search comes up with: PAI Online (paiindustries.com)

Wow, old Timken axle. You might find a rope seal sandwiched in the front bolt on plate. I haven't pulled one apart, I'd have to look if I have any parts or service that cover that old "U" axle.

This type of system is called a "bottom fill" the expansion tank, whether on the top of the radiator or somewhere else is not open to the top tubes of the radiator or, in a cross flow (which is what I believe you have). The idea is the radiator stays full to the brim with coolant, while any air gets forced through the small vent lines to the expansion tank. When you fill the expansion tank, the coolant flows to the lower (waterpump inlet side) hose. as the block and radiator fill, the trapped air flows out the small vent lines to the expansion tank. With the engine running, a very small amount of coolant is forced (along with any air) through the small hoses to the expansion tank (sometimes referred as a "de-aeration tank), and the coolant, now free of air, flows back down the large hose and back to the waterpump. This means the radiator doesn't have to be the highest point in the system (expansion tank does) but does mean any points that could trap air need to be vented to the expansion/de-aeration tank. Often those points are the upper water rail near or at the thermostat and the upper or hot water out radiator hose. On a down flow radiator, often the upper hose/top tank vant can be internal if the de aeration tank is mounted on top of the radiator, just a small hole drilled thru will allow the air to bleed out. This prevents air from being recirculated when the 'stat is closed and hot-spots in the engine.

Me too, plus Iike the ease of tire changes, only 5 or 6 nuts and inner or outer can be changed. One of my K's is on disk the other spoke, I don't think I'll change it out, but if someone really wanted disks and offered to swap spokes for disks, I likely would.

Funny that, spokes used to be the "fleet option" back in the day. Most all the fleet trucks and trailers ran spoke, Disk were the O/O option because they were shiny. Several of the companies I was leased to had spokes on their equipment up into the late 90's

several ways to make an educated guess. 1) if the engine has an alternator and not a generator look to see what polarity is grounded, Alternator care about polarity so should be marked. 2) if a generator the regulator may be marked as to polarity 3) if the truck has an ammeter and no alternator, disconnect any radios and electronics and hook up a battery and turn on as many lights as possible and see if the ammeter points to - or +. If negative, then you have the right polarity, if it points toward + you have it backwards. If the vehicle has an alternator, disconnect all wires before doing this test. 4) look at the terminal ends at the battery, larger terminal goes to +, the one with the smaller hole is - (this is for old post type batteries.) Since old trucks with generators and no radios they will not care and can be switched at will.

I ran into a few that were NLA (trailer spec) and ABS has been around for a long time, I had a trailer with ABS and spokes. There are only a few different bearings/spindles in use today on drive axles. It only takes a little machining to accept a "tone ring" for ABS, so I would imagine all are machined to accept one even if it doesn't have one.

I still have it, I need to paint the frame, put the 5th wheel back on, de-identify and then sell.

I think as long as the hubs are available they could be special ordered. Right before I retired I saw a brand new side dump trailer being delivered somewhere with 24" rubber on it (hub pilot). It might not be a RPO but I would be surprised a mfg would say 'No" to a request for them. Might delay delivery for a while.

The baby moons were the only "Bling" on my trucks, the nut covers got a little grease on the inside to keep the rust off the studs. Getting hard to find 1 1/4" nut covers. The hubs in both pictures need a re-paint, but both were hard working trucks, not trailer/show queens.

Somewhere I have an exhaust tube adaptor, it is just right for installing speede sleeves on front axles. I had to paint it red so it didn't get used on some exhaust job.

Here: Metal Trailer Hubcap Mounting Bracket For 8 Inch Rear Hubcap On Trailer Axle - 4 State Trucks

The bracket that allows you to mount them on a trailer, work just fine on the front. They bolt on over the oil hubcap and have 4 prongs that the babymoons snap onto. Unlike disk wheels the center of the hub is inside of the outside of the tire. BTW my Marmon and my '89 IHC had air start and spoke hubs.

Needs "baby moon's" on the steer hub also! Like them on the drives

Spokes and disks were competing back in the 40's and 30's likely before that. I have two 40's K IHC's one on disks and the other on spoke. I pulled Motor Wheel hub pilots off my Marmon and installed spokes after too many cracked wheels and studs. The one time I spec'd a new vehicle (Trailer) it was with spokes and sliding tandem. Salesman tried to talk me out of it, said it wouldn't have resale value, he was right, the trailer was crap, the wheels were the best part of it!

I know finding them is difficult, when looking for replacements. Many of the older trailer types have been discontinued. As the hub/bearing size and spacing has been consolidated on drive axles, it shouldn't take many part numbers to service most drive axles. I converted most of my tractors to spokes.

In the 50's Buda had their 844 diesel that would put out around 400 hp (when most other diesels of the day were below 300 closer to 200) and get close to 6 mpg (when the others were around 3), sound like it should have taken over the market. Customers loved them when the ran, but bankrupted most because of breakdowns. Alis Chalmers bought it and tried to solve the problems, calling the engine the 'BIG AL", you don't see many of them in trucks now do you? If it can't go the mile with the freight, all other stat's don't mean much.

You can add my name to the list of people who are cautioning against pushing it too far. I made my living with engines that were 30-40 years out of date, even though they were the Cummins 855, the most common engine used in trucks, there were some parts that took some time to find 40 years on. Most truck engine can go 15-20% over stock and keep together long term. Once you go much over that, you are asking for problems. Unless your customers are far different then mine, they never cared how big an engine I had, only that their freight got delivered when they needed it. I pulled load exceeding what you do, over some of the same passes you pull. Biggest problem when turning up engines is keeping them cool, both coolant and EGT. Pulling a long grade, you'll find it real quick. One of those track pulling engines wouldn't last a mile pulling a grade with a full load. If you want to build a truck to "play with" and have deep pockets, have at it. If you are building something to make a living with, then stay close to stock. My customers never cared that I pulled up in a 40 year old cabover with 380-430 Hp, (turned up 350's and 400's) just that I turned up on time. Customer isn't going to care you are 1st to the top of the grade, if it means you are broke down a lot of the time. Parts stash at home means little if you are on the side of the road with a loaded trailer and need to be towed. I worked train derailments with a 238 hp powered Fleetstar, and hauled 170,000lbs with 400 hp. It is far too easy to break things with high hp than low, I moved those 170,000lb loads through a 14 organic clutch!

Facet made electric fan clutches for trucks, My Marmon with a 3406B had one. Simple and worked, took utility trailer bearings and was easy to rebuild. Unfortunately parts are non existent. Namely clutch plate. Any Cummins 855 should be no problem fitting a Horton air clutch. The conversion will likely require a new fan and some plumbing, you might get lucky and be able to reuse the fan, but the mount an pulley will need to be changed. Electric motor driven fans just can't move enough air for a hard working big bore diesel.

Dash shift diagram say no, direct in 5th. Clark 5 speed I think. I had the same trans in a Fleetstar.

You are correct, and with the close up I can see where what I thought I saw was not what was. I apologize! If installed backwards it is very dangerous which is why I made an issue of it. Thank you for the close up to clear that up. I still think the off-set is going to cause a problem, with the king-pin inboard of the inner edge of the tire. That spider/hub was not made for floats, but at least it isn't on backwards. You can mount one backwards, but it will not seat on the spokes correctly and the wedges will be way out on the stud if the stud is long enough. Broken studs and a lost wheel is the result, which is why I made an issue of it. I've seen some crazy stuff done, and I was worried this was one. Again I admit it isn't what I thought and I apologize. Here is a Goodyear 20" rim assembled "backwards" on a steer hub, as you can see it will go on, and the wedges even go over the studs. I hope you can understand my concern was about safety.

I am not guessing, I could be mistaken about the front rims being rear, the picture isn't a close up enough to tell100% however, the fronts are clearly mounted to the hub backwards, placing the center of the tire outboard of the outer bearing. Look at the pictures of the other trucks you posted with floats on the front. in every case the center of the tire is not outboard of the outer bearing. I never said the rims weren't DOT approved, what I am saying is as set up on the steer they are wrong. On a proper set-up the centerline on the tire is between the two wheel bearing on the hub, this puts the center of rotation on the kingpin close to the center point of the tire (at the center point on center point type steering) To me the fronts look to have a double mount flange but I could be seeing the drop-center, the pic is taken from too far away. Look at all the pictures you posted of other trucks with floats then look at yours, they are not the same. In all cases in the above post the drop center gutter is on the INSIDE, yours in on the OUTSIDE.

Hard for my old eye to see, but it looks like the RRO may be mounted on the correct rim for the front, possibly the RFO also. What a mess, I wouldn't move it on its own without getting proper rims and tires in the correct positions. Front floats go on 12.25 or there about front spoke rims. rears can either be Super Singles, on the correct SS rims or duals, on 9" or narrower rims. With the rims that are now on the front, the C/L of the tire is OUTBOARD of the outer wheel bearing, which will make near impossible to steer, and will overload the outer bearing.

They look goofy because he has the wrong rims on the front, those are "super single" rims for the rear, Spoke wheels that use wide base (wider than 9") take different rims for front and rear. On wide base rims for the front, they have a single flange with the offest to keep the tire in the proper position over the bearing/spindle. Wide base for rear have a double flange with a space between them (to be like the spacer band) and center the wheel over the hub. He has rear, on the front, which moves the tire out, and not only looks goofy but isn't safe. Here is a pic of the correct front style wide base rim for spoke wheels.