Nick's 379 build

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Espeefan

What tires are you running? They look like some nice low pros.

Forgot to mention, the tyres are Verkerk's michelin low pros. Costs a pretty penny when you get a full set (tractor & trailer) but they are ultra realistic, I just had to get them.

[russisloud]

can't wait to see this bad azz truck painted up

[Diesel Demond]

long and low. sweet!!

[Snowman]

Thanks guys. Here's a teaser, not much to add, just fitted the tanks and steps on the other side and mocked up the stack and bumper. The rake is made worse by the wide angle lens of my camera.

[Brian in PA]

Looks great Nick!! Those lo pro tires look sweet. How much are they? They fit the stock Tamiya /Steve's wheels with no mods, right?

Brian

[rockNmayhem]

Trucks looking great nick. I like the low pro's as well along with Russ's suspension in the back it looks great.

Tyler

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Brian in PA

Looks great Nick!! Those lo pro tires look sweet. How much are they? They fit the stock Tamiya /Steve's wheels with no mods, right?

Brian

Brian, here's a closeup of the tyre.

They are a straight replacement for the tamiya ones, no modifications to fit stock wheels. They cost 8.95 euros, with the euro as it is right now, the exchange rate might be a bit more favourable for you.
They are a softer compound to the tamiya tyres also. The level of detail makes them worth it in my opinion. I had to get them to do steve's wheels justice. Just waiting to get the wheels now.

Thanks Tyler, yeah I just had to get Russ' suspension when it came out. You can get away with tamiya's setup with full fenders hiding it, but with the qtr fenders everything's on show and it wouldn't be a peterbilt without that type of suspension!

[Stylin n profilin]

Just awesome Nick...even the real ones are raked to a point..this truck works everyday so he wanted the stock pete ride height in the rear..


Your getting so close....

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Stylin n profilin

Just awesome Nick...even the real ones are raked to a point..this truck works everyday so he wanted the stock pete ride height in the rear..
Your getting so close....

Thanks John, didn't know real ones can be raked. I won't worry so much about mine now!
Little update. Not done much cos I'm ill

Now she can breathe!

[ihbuilder]

Ahh , sweet Nick , I'm glad they made it accross the pond OK . get better

[glorydays24]

When I look at this truck, only one thing comes to mind, the song "lowrider".
This thing is large and in charge.
Excellent job, can't wait to see more.
Get better soon

Big John

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by ihbuilder

Ahh , sweet Nick , I'm glad they made it accross the pond OK . get better

Thanks Steve. Would I be right in saying these are the first of your A/C's to be over this side of the pond? In any case they rock! Soon as I got them mounted my truck just went up a couple of notches on the badness scale

Originally Posted by glorydays24

When I look at this truck, only one thing comes to mind, the song "lowrider".
This thing is large and in charge.
Excellent job, can't wait to see more.
Get better soon

Big John

Haha Big John that's the song that plays in my head when I picture it all finished, great minds think alike!
Large and in charge, I like it!

So right now I'm brainstorming how to mount the body with no visible screws (I plugged the original mounting holes) and the thing taking the most brain processing power right now is the bumper flip. I had an epiphany when I looked at one of my 1/18 diecast cars and the door hinges on the cheaper models. So I'm gonna try and make a dogleg hinge so that the gap between bumper and grille is fairly small, but it still clears the grill when flipped up. Got some brass rod and some tubing, let's hope this works!!

[ihbuilder]

yes , yours are the 1st out of the 57 states (um uh 50 )

[Espeefan]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Thanks Nathan. Yeah it does have quite a rake but I'm still playing around with the dummy airbags on the rear axles. It's a complicated operation of cutting down springs, squeezing them into the rubber gaiters, bolting the end caps to the suspension and stretching the gaiters over them, then standing back and taking a look to see I need to start over again. Kinda takes it out of me each time! It does squat a little bit under weight, I tested 8kg on the back. For now I'm just going to have to keep it at that ride height, any lower and the qtr fenders get torn clean off when driving around my house! Ideally I would like some working airbags but that's a long way off. I can always drop the rear for shelf queen/photo session duties. The rake only shows at eye level, not when it's driving around on the floor.
I spent ages perfecting the drop on the front end, there's no way I'll be raising it! Actually I lowered the front axle a bit but also dropped the fenders too, it's all part of the low rider look. I think that's what makes the hood look so big. I've not added anything to the length of it, just lengthened the cowl by about 5mm. The lack of breathers makes it look longer too, but that will be rectified soon. The body also sits a bit lower due to the modifications I made to the shape of the hood, it meets with the cab higher than the original kh hood. The biggest challenge will be engineering the flip up bumper but I think I have it nailed (in my head at least). My challenge with this build has been the trade off between having it slammed to the ground but still having enough clearance to drive it about the house. This baby's not going to see much action outdoors! Not many places I can take it where I live.

Very cool! I had my own problems getting my Wedico to sit lower too. But the worst part was the front end sat way higher then any Tamiya ever could. I was happy just to get it looking stock, and not dropped. I to did a little playing around with the suspension and hood mounting height. In the end it was a combination of the two that made a good difference, and my truck has rake to it also.

Love those mirrors too. Did you solder those up?

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Espeefan

Love those mirrors too. Did you solder those up?

Nathan, I got those mirror brackets from lkw modellbau berlin. Saw them in one of papabaer's posts and immediately got them. (http://rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=1903)
They look so much better than the king hauler ones. I just need to get the mirrors made up by someone.

[SWAGGER]

Yeah I had assumed that you had made them yourself, I have read a lot of threads lately where guys are fabb'ing brass and copper. Fair play for your honesty!

They add first class scale realism! Great project btw, it's gonna look evil. I love the tyres, the rake and the way the front fenders hug down on the wheels....just awesome. If you are concerned about the rake, don't be, it's bad ***!

[Espeefan]

The mirror brackets are really nice! Shame they don't nickel or chrome coat them! Are you going to end up painting them, Nick?

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by ihbuilder

yes , yours are the 1st out of the 57 states (um uh 50 )

Wow I feel honoured

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by SWAGGER

Yeah I had assumed that you had made them yourself, I have read a lot of threads lately where guys are fabb'ing brass and copper. Fair play for your honesty!

They add first class scale realism! Great project btw, it's gonna look evil. I love the tyres, the rake and the way the front fenders hug down on the wheels....just awesome. If you are concerned about the rake, don't be, it's bad ***!

Thanks. I would never pass off someone else's work as my own, I just think it's immoral.

Originally Posted by Espeefan

The mirror brackets are really nice! Shame they don't nickel or chrome coat them! Are you going to end up painting them, Nick?

Yeah Nathan I will paint them. I'm probably going to go with the body colour. They are cool, more people should get them. They make a version for wedico...

[glorydays24]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Thanks Steve. Would I be right in saying these are the first of your A/C's to be over this side of the pond? In any case they rock! Soon as I got them mounted my truck just went up a couple of notches on the badness scale



Haha Big John that's the song that plays in my head when I picture it all finished, great minds think alike!
Large and in charge, I like it!

So right now I'm brainstorming how to mount the body with no visible screws (I plugged the original mounting holes) and the thing taking the most brain processing power right now is the bumper flip. I had an epiphany when I looked at one of my 1/18 diecast cars and the door hinges on the cheaper models. So I'm gonna try and make a dogleg hinge so that the gap between bumper and grille is fairly small, but it still clears the grill when flipped up. Got some brass rod and some tubing, let's hope this works!!

Nick, when you said you filled the body holes and trying to figure out how to mount the body, the only thing I thought of was double sided tape. Now I know this wouldn't work 'cause as we all know from time to time, we have to remove the body. Hope you can figure it out, and if I think of anything, i'll let you know

Big John