What was truck driving like before air ride seats? What kinda seats would it have?

I’m glad I’m one of those drivers that still experiences the spring ride tractor.

Low boy has no suspension at all, so makes the truck ride like a horse.

A/C is kaput, so windows down, the noise of the 3406E with no mufflers is my music.

I have jakes but rarely use it.

I’m Deaf, no radio for me even though the truck has one.

I float equipment, dump trailers, fix trucks so I start early and work late into the evening.

Lots of fun being stuck in the old days even to this day.

 

I'm retired! I'm also disabled! -bout all I have to do these days is be stuck in the good ole days!

 

My Rodgers had bogies too, most people just didn't understand that.

Used it to my advantage at a job on a hillside.

Dropping stuff at an old gas station/body shop with a roadway coming down behind so steep it had a fork at the end.

I would drop off the machine and hook everything up and head up the road, turn into the wrong fork swinging as wide as possible. stop, roll back some to get pointed down the other fork and drive down towards the road.

The trailer would bottom out and lift the back wheels free and rotate on the belly beams to swing around and follow me towards home.

Wonder what that would do to an air bag suspension.....

 

No wonder why most of us have fused Vertebrae.
I got my 2 with a 6 month guarantee.

 

Try riding around with those seats and 52K camel back rears and full double frame.....:-/

 

My truck suspension and 1980’s King low boy walking beam. I wonder what the people in vehicles are thinking when they see a excavator going up and down as the frame flexes over uneven roads.

 

badazz though

 

With Armstrong steering, one learned real quick to keep his thumbs out of the inside of the wheel...

 

Airride would just hang. Now if the bags were under pressure that is a problem.

We with the spread axle had a dump valve to empty the rear bags and float the rear axle to skip all it wants. The foroward spread takes the entire trailer and essentialy makes it a 40 foot pivot point.

Combined with the deep aluminum frame bridge arch I can use the low crown or ground terrain under it to heft the entire trailer and spin it this way or that in place. Its really outrageous. But its something.

You remember the old Artillery plate? Under the Towed 155 or 105 mm wheeled gun, the plate comes down below the exact center between wheels Lifts entire gun in place. Then you can rotate with men on the far end of the trail spade arms in place to point in any direction.

Imagine if you can lower such a plate under the center marker light of your trailer and gently rotate same in VERY tight situations. Instead of trying to generate a moving CIRCLE that will run you into a light post, into the ditch or jack too tight and destroy the tractor and so on. It can even be used as a gentle skid plate on ice to hold her steady. I don't know.

If you tried to slide a axle sideways on full airbangs under a load, you will ruin them. Empty is not better a risk either.

The more I think about this the more details and problems come in. Tractor trailers are not meant to be shoved around.

Last night I had a light bulb.

Place a two foot piston which can function as airbag when locked in normal forward or backwards driving. at each wheel of each dual under the trailer tandem.

On command if need be you can flip a switch a certain way and the tandem wheels with the duals on each one will rotate in place until pointing in the way you desire up to about 70 degress tangent.

Add a little bit of horsepower.

Trailer should respond to tha tnew imput as if you were back there with a steering wheel which is what you are doing. A small computer aimed laser ball will help you line up with that single left line on the ground at the building dock plate and remove the degrees of the tandem turn until straight again at which time you should be backing into the hole in one move. Maybe in a tighter situation than you normally woudl require based on your steer axle radius circle, your 5th wheel circle and finally that of the trailer tandems circle or PIVOT in place as needed. (Zero turn)

Management of all three circle diameters in your mind versus the availible space is the key to success. We do it a ll the time.

 

And you didn't tell him about the days of dinosaur drawn wagons!? Shame on you!