WANT TO BUY 359 Peterbilt Frame Rails:

[Rob]

The receipt, and a brochure from PG Adams:

PG Adams Brochure.pdf

PG Adams Receipt.pdf

[Rob]

Those look great - I took your advice and down and dirty checked all the cross members on the truck I was wanting to rerail and they were all tweaked. When I got to measuring, one whole side of the truck was 3/4 of an inch further forward than normal, all the way to the back with stress cracks, flaked paint and bends. Its a parts truck now. Good to know about that place.

Diamond is what that is called. The buckling is called mash. It's not hard to straighten with about 30 tons of hydraulic force to apply. Yup, two towers in front, one in the rear to hold the assembly and leave it loose in the clamps to allow for "slide" as you pull.

Seems like I've done that before.

Rob

[Olivetroad]

I've had my share of homebrewed frame straightening with the trusty Enerpac, but this is way beyond me. I had a local traveling frame straightener come look it over and take a gander and he found lots more damage than I did in places that are nowhere near the impact. It has a really thick double frame and it has twice as many cross members as some. It even has those really stout pipe and socket bolt on stiffners, like a CCC chassis has, every few feet. He said it is so stiff that it made it worse - no give to it.

When a friend said to call the "traveling" frame straightener, I pictured some english accented, derby hat wearing carpet bagger with a monocle - this guy had on Aramark clothes, spoke with our local twang, and a pocket protector - long way from Sherlock Holmes.

[Rob]

I've had my share of homebrewed frame straightening with the trusty Enerpac, but this is way beyond me. I had a local traveling frame straightener come look it over and take a gander and he found lots more damage than I did in places that are nowhere near the impact. It has a really thick double frame and it has twice as many cross members as some. It even has those really stout pipe and socket bolt on stiffners, like a CCC chassis has, every few feet. He said it is so stiff that it made it worse - no give to it.

When a friend said to call the "traveling" frame straightener, I pictured some english accented, derby hat wearing carpet bagger with a monocle - this guy had on Aramark clothes, spoke with our local twang, and a pocket protector - long way from Sherlock Holmes.

Been years since I've talked to him but I prolly have. If the same guy he drove a large "Grumman" delivery van, (like Butternut) and had a multiple piece portable frame puller that could be assembled on site and dragged under the damaged truck frame. The van had a rolling overhead rail for lifting the heavy items. An onboard hydraulic pump supplied the power and could supply about 50 tons per pull point with up to four pulling points available.

If he had the same or like setup, it could have been straightened back out but be worth it in the end? Prolly not. He used to do a lot of heavy mine vehicles around here that would get twisted up.

Rob

[Rob]

We started to put an original back window opening into the cab last week as someone had opened it up for a "crawl through" sleeper at some point in it's life. The "Plexiglass" that was siliconed into the opening just didn't cut it for me......

First you separate the outer panels from the stiffening framework:

You then clean up all future mating surfaces for welding after final fitment is acheived:

About all we got done last evening as I was painting some collision repair and didn't have a lot of time with the Mack project. A little each night will get it done however.

Many thanks to Morgan Heaton for his generous donation of the donor cab back panel for this repair.

Rob

[PG Adams]

New rails for the B-61 showed up today. Perfect I must say of the quality. Almost perfect 90 degree bends with smooth radius curves. The internal measurement of the frame is exactly 9.065", (exactly 9-1/16th") so these will slip right over the existing frame stubs. The flanges will be exactly the same width as the existing frame.

Whoever they have measuring, cutting, and forming definately knows what they are doing on a press brake. They brag on their quality and exact measurements and I will attest to it.

When the suspension parts come back from the blaster, I'm gonna be a hole drillin SOB getting everything to fit right.

Rob

Thanks so much, Rob! It's always so nice to hear of a job well done! Good luck with the rest of the project. We'd love to see photos of the finished product, too when the time comes.

As for others out there, and in this thread in particular, if you have any questions at all about what we can do, please let me know! Even though Rob seems to already be doing such a good job of it , I'll be glad to answer any burning questions or get pricing together. You can reach me through here or call me at 866-851-6478.

[Joe Geitz]

PG Adams does a fine job, however, I saw your receipt and specs.

We would have made those rails using 110KSI not 80 KSI and

for about $300.00 less with a black powder coat finish.

Sorry you overpaid but they should work fine.

Let us know next time if we can help save you some

money and get a better frame rail.

We can also punch a complete rail set in about 15 minutes

if you have the hole locations on a drawing.

Thanks

Joe Geitz

Vicon

www.viconfab.com

[Olivetroad]

PG Adams does a fine job, however, I saw your receipt and specs.

We would have made those rails using 110KSI not 80 KSI and

for about $300.00 less with a black powder coat finish.

Sorry you overpaid but they should work fine.

Let us know next time if we can help save you some

money and get a better frame rail.

We can also punch a complete rail set in about 15 minutes

if you have the hole locations on a drawing.

Thanks

Joe Geitz

Vicon

www.viconfab.com

Okay - but now we all want to see a photo of your frame press

[Rob]

PG Adams does a fine job, however, I saw your receipt and specs. We would have made those rails using 110KSI not 80 KSI and for about $300.00 less with a black powder coat finish. Sorry you overpaid but they should work fine. Let us know next time if we can help save you some money and get a better frame rail. We can also punch a complete rail set in about 15 minutes if you have the hole locations on a drawing. Thanks Joe Geitz Vicon www.viconfab.com

Joe, thank you kindly for your return post but I do find this type of post in an open forum unacceptable. A private message would have been much better received as I do not run competition down and find the action unprofessional. We all enjoy this antique truck hobby and it brings us together with a common interest. You are welcome to participate as a member offering your services but if it continues to "run down" the competition I will ban you.

Rob Swallows

[Rob]

Got the rear window framework aligned and spotted in tonight. I had my helper do it twice and each time something was off, (character lines, pinch welds, etc) so cut it all free and sectioned/sleeved it in myself. Everything clamped very close to where it is supposed to be. These panels are the summation of three trucks with each built within manufacturing "tolerance" but each just a little different. Had to separate everything to bring back to a neutral plane.

Tomorrow I will mark, grind clean, and weld it up solid. Getting to this point has been a bit of a challenge because the roof of the truck really needed replaced due to being distorted badly. Lot of stetching and shrinking in the roof panel to get the correct contour.

Rob

[Rob]

Only got about 2.5 hours in the shop on this truck today. That was enough to get everything lower trimmed to fit and final aligned, then spot welded into place. I'll start to fit the roof panel tomorrow and that should go quite a bit easier as there really is no alignment to do. Just have to clamp on the body lines, (as before) and bead it in. The helper does really good with this part so I'll turn him loose once everything is clamped solid.

Rob

[smorse54]

Rob, I noticed in the background I see a RL or RS. THe paint color/scheem match the tractor in the Jul/Aug 1973 Owner/Operator Magazine. This is aRL797LST. with a ENDT( 866, a TRDL 107 and a SWS57 C tandem.This has a 206" wheelbase and a Mercury sleeper. Hope I haven't embarressed myself by being the last one to notice this. Steve

[Rob]

Rob, I noticed in the background I see a RL or RS. THe paint color/scheem match the tractor in the Jul/Aug 1973 Owner/Operator Magazine. This is aRL797LST. with a ENDT( 866, a TRDL 107 and a SWS57 C tandem.This has a 206" wheelbase and a Mercury sleeper. Hope I haven't embarressed myself by being the last one to notice this. Steve

This truck is a 1974 RL797LST with an ENDT866B engine, TRDL 107 trans with SQHD axles on Reyco 101 suspension. It is a California truck but was originally white and painted this color in 1979. I've talked to the original owner several times and although he defected to Peterbilt, is still a pretty nice guy. It runs very well and I plan to drive this one quite a bit and will prolly see Lititz with it next year.

Rob

[Rob]

Tonight we got a little more done as far as fitment and install. I trimmed, fit, and clamped the panel into place where I wanted it and turned him loose with instruction on how to make the window frame look right. The "plug" welding is now almost complete except for smoothing for the seal and back glass. Tomorrow the perimeter will be welded up and blended into the parent top material. I have a class in Chicago on your nickle, (thanks to tax dollars) so I'll be sure to learn lots.......

Here are a few progress photos from tonight. I like to leave about a 3/8ths overlap to the seams for strength.

Rob

[Rob]

Little more welding. I'm told the balance is welded and finished since these were taken.

Rob

[slpwlker]

Hey Rob since this thread is about the 359 job how is that project coming along?

[Rob]

Hey Rob since this thread is about the 359 job how is that project coming along?

The owner of the 359 decided to not go forward with the job. I don't know if someone else is doing it or not.

Rob

[slpwlker]

so what now you got frame rails or you never orderd for that one. That sucks was interested in how it was going to come out

[Olivetroad]

I think Robb came to his senses and realized he was going to be working to put a Peterbuilt back on the road so he raised the price enough to cover his guilt - maybe he talked the guy into buying a new Mack

[slpwlker]

Anything is possible

[Rob]

so what now you got frame rails or you never orderd for that one. That sucks was interested in how it was going to come out

By the time all the figuring was done the plug was pulled before I placed the order. I'm not certain if the job will be done with new rails, or a cutoff installed. I've known the party a long time so if he decides to do it I'll know. He didn't say the project was dead, just that he didn't want to spend the money "right now".

Rob

[Rob]

I think Robb came to his senses and realized he was going to be working to put a Peterbuilt back on the road so he raised the price enough to cover his guilt - maybe he talked the guy into buying a new Mack

Naw, never have done that. It was gonna be a bit of money to do the job as they were busted up under the cab too. To do the job right the truck needed to come near all the way apart so the dollars added up quickly. Myself, I thought I'd have used this truck as a donor and built another but he is sentimental about it.

We'll see how it washes out in the future.

Rob