Adding After Market Air Ride to Cab on 1986 W900.

Yes I do think I would make quite a difference.

$900 does not really sound like a lot of money if they include the shocks and the airbags and the leveling valve, or you could go to the scrap yard and see if you can get everything off of an existing truck with the same cab.

But I definitely think that will help. A lot of dump trucks have that setup of the spring suspension and the air ride cab.

 

https://www.linkmfg.com/products/cab-suspensions/cabmate

 

If your rad supports run from the top tank to the firewall you may want to convert to having the rad supports run from the sides down to the frame rails. Have heard that the motion of the cab will hammer the rad tank and eventually crack it.

 

@Oxbow has an ol Pete daycab with one of those on it I believe

 

I had the Cabmate on my 1979 KW COE. It had the factory KW glide ride suspension. It changed the ride like night and day. I had the original version of the Link Cabmate when they first came out, then updated it later. I drove my KW for 24 years, I couldn’t part with it, as a matter of fact, I still have that 1979 sitting in my backyard. I still fire it up.

 

You're right! Actually, both Pete's and the KW dump truck all have them.

I have an extra brand new one because I screwed up and bought one meant for a 379 for the 378. At the time I didn't realize it, but the vocational 378 cab sits higher from the frame than a 379 cab, and I did not see a good way to modify it, so I bought the correct one.

It seems it may have been you that pointed that out to me? Anyway, I do have a new Link cabmate for a 379 if anyone needs one .

 

I'd love to put one of these on my W9. How does the front of the cab pivot so it can float?

 

Just the normal cab mounts. The amount of movement in the front is very minimal - I suppose one might need to replace the front cab mounts a bit more frequently, but I haven't noticed any problems with them.

Like @AModelCat said, on Petes where the radiator support attaches to the firewall the radiator moves with the cab, but the fore/aft movement is very little and the radiator is on rubber mounts as well. We haven't had any issues that way.