Glider Kit Trucks

Bruce,I built the glider in 1985.If you look at post #17,I built the black glider with the drivetrain from the tan 4300,that I bought new in 1977.Took about a month from beginning to end.First I backed the old 4300 in my shop,and pulled the engine and transmission.Put a HD baggage cart under the frame in front of the rear axles.Unbolted the rear suspension and dropped it on the floor.Then I rolled the old truck out,which is now essentially a glider,and sold it to a local farmer.Positioned the new glider in front of the shop,put the baggage cart under it,and rolled it back into the shop over the old suspension.Made all my measurements and made a cardboard template for the suspension holes to be drilled.3 days of drilling,IIRC.Bolted the rears and suspension back in.Steamed the engine and trans,and reinstalled them.Neither needed any attention,just a good service.Actually had it where I could drive it with singled rear tires and no hood in two weeks time.Just had to take a spin around the neighbor hood like that.Took another two weeks to finish it,would have been less if I hadn't been so anxious and ran over the hood wiring harness and stripped all the wires out.Anyhow,installed exhaust,tires,headache rack and a bunch of other little things,and was on the road in a month.I was young and ambitious then,plus we were all making decent money then as deregulation had still not hit full force.I sold the black glider in 1998,wish I still had it,it was running great when I got rid of it.The engine in the glider was the NTC 350 that i bought new in the tan 4300 in 1977,and the crank had no measurable wear in it and had never been out of that block.Shows what regular oil changes will do.Engine had 1,900,000 miles on it when I sold it.I inframe overhauled it a bunch of times myself,and I was the only person that ever drove it or put a wrench on that engine in 22 years.
I bought the 9300 Eagle in my avatar,and I'm still running it,Cummins N-14 power!.Yes I'm a farmall and Cummins guy,have made a little bit of money with this old junk over the years.The glider does come with a complete interior.If anyone is still reading this long winded post,here are some pics from my old 4300 Eagle brochure.This is the same interior mine had.
Also if you look at the old pic of my black glider hooked to the United trailer,you'll see one of my young sons standing by the drive tires.I dragged that poor kid all over North America in a truck when he was growing up.He's now 36 and a Union Master Heavy Equipment mechanic with his own crane/service truck.He still helps me with my old stuff when I just can't do certain things anymore,lol.

 

Am I the only one who didn't know we were talking about the '70's? I thought 315's post was about now, the present.

 

315's post was typical trucker rumor material. At least DougA is posting facts.

 

wow, that brings back memories ! very similar to the first couple trucks I drove. not OTR, but had the same crawl through hole. I haven't seen one that's not an integral sleeper in quite some time !

 

Although I am old enough to remember CO trucks I was not a trucker ( part time ) until I retired a few years ago. Never have driven a CO truck. I have restored a few Classic motorhomes. One was a Bluebird with a 3208 Cat. So I can really appreciate that IHC. Too bad they only produce junk these days. I do see some restored cabovers in the truck stops. How do they ride? Must maneuver well in tight spaces. They never fell out of favor in Europe, Central America and even Australia. So many of the movers still use them.

 

The first truck I owned was a 1969 IH CO4070A cab over.Back then most of the over the roadtrucks in the country,except the west coast,were cabovers because of the length laws.55' overall was all you were allowed in most states,40' trailers were the norm.The cabover rode horribly,mostly because you sat directly over the steering axle,plus most were short wheelbases,which made it even worse.Air ride suspensions were non-existent.Mine was 148",plus Hendrickson solid suspension,and no air seat made for a hard ride.When I bought my first conventional in 1977,very few states had relaxed there length laws,but it wasn't rigidly enforced.Here in Md,they would bang me once or twice a year for overlength truck,ticket was $30. back then.Was worth it for the better ride you got.Another state that was hard on conventionals over 55' was Tennessee,fine there was $57.25. I was running to the west coast and back then,you just ran around the scales till you got west of the Mississippi.

 

I do see some FL CO's with air bags. How do the bed bug guys handle driving their CO's? Some of them look nice and are not that old.

 

Only reason I would be interested in a Glider would be so I could spec a truck out, wheelbase, drop axles, suspension, etc exactly how I wanted it, instead of having to search and wait and search some more to find a used truck that was set up perfectly. Myself I find the 90's cab's, either the Peterbilt or Kenworth with the easy reach dash, much more comfortable than when I drive my old man's 07 KW. Electrical switches and the like are 1/2 the price, and you've got a pre-emissions motor that pulls hard and takes care of you if you take care of it.
In the 3 years I've been looking to upgrade or add a truck, I've only been able to find one that was exactly what I wanted, and the price was right. Sure enough I snatched up my 98 KW.

 

as long as thier are rules their will be guys who will find ways around them. I dont care how hard they try and catch me, I will always try and find a way around egr, regen, def garbage.

 

Certainly this question has been answered somewhere, but I don't have time to hunt for the answer. I am so curious how you can get a brand new truck and put a rebuilt transmission and a rebuilt pre-regen engine in it and it doesn't have to meet all the current smog requirements forced upon the trucking industry? Why is there a glider loophole, so to speak?

Thank you for your responses!