Espeefan's slow motion Peterbilt Heavy Hauler build

[Espeefan]

No doubt some members here will probably remember seeing this build before. It's been on other forums, and it's still not complete, even after all the time that has passed.

I started building this truck a few years ago, and it was my first Wedico purchase. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into at that point. The build started off well enough, but I slowly ran into a bit of a 'creative builder's block'. To explain that further, there were certain things about the Wedico Peterbilt that I wanted to change and problems that I wanted to correct. Yes, you are hearing me right, they aren't perfect models! Some things would be easy to fix, some not so easy. I assembled the truck as far as I could, and then decided I needed to come up with some solutions to my problems, if I was to truly be happy with the model.

Here's a quick summary of the build, in the earlier days. Many things have already changed, so this is a story of evolution.





Starts with a bare frame and a 3 speed transmission. In the rear, the chassis already has a change from stock. Wedico trucks come with individual leaf spring suspensions, for each axle, which is not the greatest of set-ups. I immediately swapped that out for an aftermarket suspension, produced by Osswald.



Osswald walking beam spring packs.



Close up of the rear walking beam suspension mount.



Spring packs and the 4 links for the axles.



Tandem drive axles, with the 4 links installed, and ready to be installed onto the chassis.



Put it all together and this is what you get.







Great performance and a nice scale look to boot.



About the same time, I bolted up the front axle. I had planned from the beginning to make the truck a 6x6. The front Wedico leaf springs would later be swapped out for Osswald's front suspension too.



Then it was time for some wheels!





It can never be to scale!