B-73 Restoration

[mattb73lt]

The truck grew 6+ feet in length, today. Added both upper and lower lifting frames and all three hydraulic pistons. Lots to hook up and connect. But, edging closer to adding the deck onto it, pretty soon.

[Joey Mack]

Holy Crap !!!  You Kick A$$ !!

[blackdog2]

>>>>>>?

 

[mowerman]

3 hours ago, Joey Mack said:

Holy Crap !!!  You Kick A$$ !!

Right?????

[blackdog2]

23 minutes ago, blackdog2 said:

>>>>>>?

 

Hold on let me take that " OUT " ?......child game's

[mechohaulic]

everything looking great,  definitely looking forward to day of seeing it complete and operational . have to admit I'm confused as to how it works. understand long piston for body slide. two rear pistons lower 1- for stability ;2- raise the body. assembly has 4 pivot points (2 per side) .  could understand if had two fixed positions to work off of. have to wait for the day to see it work . can use the excuse of not understanding operation due to fact I 've been sick as a S O B  last few days .  covid/ flu some bull s--t , no sleep or food. 

body going to be red or black ?? 

[mattb73lt]

1 hour ago, mechohaulic said:

everything looking great,  definitely looking forward to day of seeing it complete and operational . have to admit I'm confused as to how it works. understand long piston for body slide. two rear pistons lower 1- for stability ;2- raise the body. assembly has 4 pivot points (2 per side) .  could understand if had two fixed positions to work off of. have to wait for the day to see it work . can use the excuse of not understanding operation due to fact I 've been sick as a S O B  last few days .  covid/ flu some bull s--t , no sleep or food. 

body going to be red or black ?? 

I hope you feel better. This one operates differently than the one on the B42. That one is a Chevron body that has fixed pistons to the frame. You can unlock the body, raise it and drive around to reposition to hook a load up. This one you put the landing gear down, then run the body out and then raise and lower it with the landing gear. That's really the main difference. Other than that they operate the same. The body is repainted black and will remain so. One, it's a lot cheaper to repair or repaint it black vs red.

[mattb73lt]

Painted everything black with POR-15. A lot of this stuff was pretty crusty and had to be rebuilt, mostly the lifting frames and the bed cross members. Everything is heavily coated, but it's unlikely this truck will see Snow and salt again. I got some smaller stuff hooked up today and painted to piston that slides the body. It seemed to be the best was to do it, because it's so long. Next week should see the hydraulic lines go in and some more equipment mounted. I'm thinking later next week I may slide the body back on. I may do it with the other truck by reversing the body on the bed and rolling it onto the new truck. Or, I may call my friend and borrow another lift. That may be the easiest way to do it.

[mowerman]

Excellent bud  thanks for sharing looks brand new just about is … and Mecho let’s get better sorry to hear … 

[mowerman]

I was just sitting here thinking ,, you ever figure it out how much weight you can put on that thing I suppose you’d have to put it together and go weigh it to tell  I’m thinking around 12,000-14000 but rough estimate single axle who knows how much the steer axle is going to absorb…  again hats off  to the progress bud .. bob

[mechohaulic]

excellent  . getting a better understanding of operation; thank you for updated pictures. if correct, the bed rails go outside of the four   brackets =two on pivot of truck and two on the frame extension.  dropping the rear stabilizer then extending the bed as the stabilizer is raised , it more a gravity  tipping the bed  not a two way piston pulling the bed up? short version ;LOL that is one long slide piston.  noticed the "custom" exhaust pipe flapper keeping rain out. 5in exhaust has an adapter bring pipe to  6in ?  

[mowerman]

Oh, I forgot all about those things are used to have one on a freight liner ding. Ding. Ding ding sounds like I train crossing when it was idling.bob

[Joey Mack]

I like those rain caps..  

[mattb73lt]

Mechohaulic, it’ll definitely gravity dump if you don’t put the landing gear leg down and run the body back. The sliders are set up with the two frame mounted ones on the inside and the two lift ones on the outside of the two main I-beams that run under the body.

[mattb73lt]

Here it is!! A marathon day running around for a few odds and ends to finish before sliding the body on. Quite the day. Seeing it together and how long the complete truck is, amazes me. Thought about this project and piecing it together it seems like forever. My friend's 8K# lift made light work of it. With all it's features, you can twist, crab, tilt and move it any way you need to to get things lined up. Took a bit to do as I was solo because it showed up way earlier than I asked for.  Still lots to hook up and get done, never mind putting the deck on. Hydraulics are about 85% done and I have some more electrical stuff to do. But, DAMN, it's in one piece!!!!!

[Joey Mack]

Shute Boom's are awesome !!!!

Edited September 20, 2023 by Joey Mack
Pour sperring

[mrsmackpaul]

Im interested to see this tilt tray working

This is a whole different style than is used in Australia 

Looking really good

 

Paul

[mowerman]

Wooooooooow!!!!!!!! That’s all I got this time

[Brocky]

Looking Great!!!!!  I am with Paul as wanting to seer it work..  That still looks to me like a LOT of overhang????

[mowerman]

I’m thinking if nothing else he can retrieve old fashion cars for a People field finds for  bucks partially why I mention weight capacity… bob

[mattb73lt]

It works. I still need to get another pail of hydraulic oil to fill it completely. No leaks, except for one fitting I missed when putting all the lines in. Body and tail lights next, then adding on the wood deck. Getting close to having this all wrapped up. you can see from the pictures how the body operates.

[mechohaulic]

every thing looking excellent. have to admit , I'm confused with operation. earlier picture showed long slide piston having pivot on rear frame. which i would expect the piston stayed with truck frame. these pictures with body down on ground  show no piston. of my many questions asked, you stated the rear guides are two inside and two outside;; where did the second frame rails disappear toooo????LOL . darn nice job. top deck boards will be flush mounted to outer rails ;;not having side rail lip >?? winch being mounted on front of bed topside or under mount??

[mechohaulic]

went by a class 8 flat deck picking up a car on rte 6 today ; was going to stop and check to see same as the B73. busy road couldn't safely stop. haven't  seen a set up with rear "landing gear" for  deck raise / lower.

[mattb73lt]

This should help. The long piston pivots with the deck.

[1961H67]

I had one just like it on a tandem GMC Brigadier, came from a forklift dealer,landing gear system worked great. The one I put on my H Model is a Schwarz made by the farm equipment company, it’s all one motion up and back at the same time, good for farm equipment or trucks, but too steep for cars, The one here on the B73 looks like it will be great for cars, not nearly as steep as mine. It’s going to be sweet with the wood floor.