Back in the day . . .

Did a 12v92 leak 50% more oil than an 8v92?

 

You never had to worry about rust along the frame with a Detroit!

I saw a guy once at Bruce's in Bakersfield stall his Astro, backing into a parking spot, and he pushed the clutch back in at exactly the right wrong time, and had it running backwards, smoke out the air intake!

But in an Astro I always wore a seat belt, long before it was mandatory, cuz I always felt like I was going to fall out!

 

I saw a lot of Eucs at a rock quarry run the Detroit backwards . They'd put the clutch in just before they hit the stop backing to the crusher and let the clutch out when it was still in reverse and rolled forward a little .
Don't I remember Harley's leaking as bad as Detroits when they were owned by AMF ?

 

Somebody mention buses? That's where I learned and first got a CDL. well, wasn't a CDL then but would become that later.
Anybody else with buses? Remember the GMC 4903, with a fourspeed transmission. For everybody else, this thing had a regular H pattern shift. But to go into reverse you had to put the stick in first, hold a toggle switch on the dash, wait until you felt the stick move a little further forward then pull back into what should be second. Then you can release the switch on the dash and go backward. The other fun part was the oil bath clutch. And always keep a hand towel on the dash because the defroster might as well not have been there. But that thing was a tank. I used to drive in and out of Washington DC all the time. Lost track of haw many times I got hit, never hurt the bus.

http://www.sellabus.com/geckle_ext2.jpg

Course it did not have AC units on the roof when it was new.

 

Wow, what a cool thread.
I wasn't old enough to drive back in the 60's and 70's, but do I have some memories. Still have s bit of resentment for my brother that is 10 years older than I. Anyhow, that's more for my theropist, lol.
I remember being a kid, and riding with dad from Detroit to Port Huron on the weekends. He had this Ford "C" cab (same type as the one pictured). What a ride that was, worst part, and still remember it clearly was bobtailing in the truck on Michigan roads. Single axle, I would ride with my feet on the dashboard. Every time dad would hit a bump or Railroad tracks, I knew that rear axle was leaving the ground. My thinking i guess was if we went over from one of those bumps, when we landed on the nose, I would be standing up.

But I guess that's where my interesting in trucks all started from. Dad owned construction equipment & trucks, thats the footsteps my brother followed, and the me too.
My dad was the ole trucker, work boots, he always wore slacks, a white t-shirt, and a short sleeve (sleeves rolled up) button down shirt, and a ball cap. What a deal it was when dad would pass down his cap when he got a new one. Drank coffee and smoked Pall Malls, never wore a seatbelt and drank Black Label beer.
Yeah I wish I had been there just 10 years earlier.
Can recall all the trucking tv shows, movies and songs.
Remember dad taking me to see Whiteline Fever, the "Blue Mule", and I think knew then what I wanted to do.
Still wish I had all my old matchboxes from back then.

 

I know it's not exactly along the theme of the thread.
But dig it, my dad and the way I remember may drivers looking.

 

One more, just to add some flavor.
Dad's Truck (not sure what make or model), Lowboy and crane.
Before my time, but have some old pictures and stories that dad would tell.

 

For me this is back in the day, my (well the companies) 1989 "RedRacer" KW T600A Flattop sleeper. 350 Cummins, 9 speed, no engine brake, windshield wipers were air-powered. Had air ride seats, but were low back style. Man those guys that got the Aerodynes had it made.
A few short years later the Red Racer name for CFI seemed to die out. But hard to be a Red Racer in a 65 mph truck.

 

cherry pickers.....
horse shoe transmissions.....
ahhhhhhh...... my favorite the super 24 splitters....
my other favorite dual stick.....
and never to be forgotten truckstops with bunk beds and cook your own meal....
just pay for the groceries first !
3rd generation trucker ....living old school !!!!

 

A remnant of days gone by...