MY 1969 PETE ON YOUR STEPDECK? SHOT IN THE DARK!!

Wow. Your fast! Thanks and I will check out Just Old Trucks. Perhaps you know good sources for restoration parts?

 

@BIGZILLA If you like old trucks, join ATHS. It's cheap & you will get a magazine called Wheels of Time every 2 months. It has a classified section and you can browse their website for parts. There is a central Florida Chapter. There are antique truck shows all over the place & they are usually a good place to find parts. And there is always EBay. Here is the ATHS site. I was going to mention earlier about the oddity of Peterbilt installing a Fuller 5speed with a Spicer 4 speed. This picture of the 70 Pete bucket rig had a small V8 Cummins & a Fuller 5 sp main & fuller 4 sp aux. The main box shifting pattern was difficult as it seemed very tight, with short throws on the levers of both boxes. Spicers were the best. I'm guessing because the truck went to a farm it may have had someone driving it that was unfamiliar with the shifting procedure, so they put in a 13 speed & then just left the aux box in direct.http://www.aths.org/

 

There is a group of guys that hang out at my local threshing show in Nowthen MN that have some old trucks that belong to ATHS. I made it to the jamboree at Walcott. IA a couple years ago and they were there.

 

Posted from under the truck

 

BigZ, I cant remember if the 8341D or the C had the "deep under low" but @ColoradoGreen will probably know but one way to tell is: Put the main box in low, engine idling, release the brakes, and WITHOUT the clutch, very very gently push the aux box lever towards the low or 1st gear position. You should start feeling the gear teeth touching so slow that you can time them, then you can actually shove the thing into gear without even using the clutch! Thats how low this gear will be. DISCLAIMER!!! Back in the day when I was driving the 72, coming out of a ranch with multiple gates to open & close, I would open the gate, put er in low with a little drag on the trailer brake & let it go while I closed the gate then walked to catch up with the truck. I'm sure I'm not the only one that ever did this...................

 

I love that story! I will check that out next time I'm over there. But I seem to remember putting it in Low when I tried to unload it and being amazed by the lack of speed..
I did take your advice and joined ATHS.

I need to start thinking how to preserve the frame. This is south FL and aluminum doesn't do well. I'm thinking with the proper prep maybe a zinc based boat primer would give it the protection it needs. the proximity of dissimilar metals will convert this truck into a big battery in this environment. I've got to think that through. Some more research is in order.

People are gonna think I'm nuts but, I would like to put the 5 speed back in there. Your thoughts? I still can't believe how sentimental I got when I first sat in it. Vague memories flowed in of my maternal grandfather sitting in his truck, short sleeves rolled up a couple times to expose those huge arms from turning that rig.

Weird thing about getting older..... EVERYTHING looks different on the way out than it did on the way in.

 

I would recommend a Spicer SST 1062 (not 100% sure on this #) 5 speed. Its a twin countershaft, direct thru 5th gear. The 72 Pete I drove, then owned, had this coupled with that 8341 & was the sweetest set of boxes I ever drove. I have driven a truck with a 6 & 4 & it was just more than one needed. However, with that 4.63 axle ratio (which was in my 72) 70 mph will be tops unless that 318 will turn 2600 rpms. And with that rubber pad suspension, you wont want to go that fast anyway. lol. Here is a shot of the 72 back in 1985 I think.

 

I am with you on putting the 5 speed back in, if you can find one - they really work well with the 4 - even if you do have the extremely deep low gear in the brownie, or maybe even better as it makes understanding the gears that much easier.

Truckdad or Colorado Green can correct me on this, but when running the 5 x 4, it seems that once you got into direct in both boxes you could shift either one to overdrive and it would give just a slightly different speed.

There was also some overlap down low. If you started 1st and under, shifted to first and direct, then first and over, then you could put the main in neutral and slap the brownie back to direct, and then put the main in 2nd.

Then shift to 2nd and over, 3rd and under, 3rd and direct, 3rd and over, 4th (main direct) and under, 4th and direct, then either 5th and direct or 4th and over, then 5th and over (over in both boxes).

It's been a long time since I drove one though, and not all trucks were the same, but if you break it down like this it might help you to get used to it.

Again, I may not be correct, but one of the other fellows can straighten me out.

Also, I think someone mentioned it up-thread, but if you are loaded it is not advisable to start in 1st and over, as that will put a lot of torque on the overdrive of the brownie. Better to start in 2nd and under than 1st and over.

 

@Oxbow This combination I had, & driving it like a 5x3 gave you an almost even 300 rpm split all the way thru. 5th in the main was direct. And as I remember 5th direct was 55mph at 2100. The older 8K & 9K series boxes, where you had to grab the door, lean left, bring the main lever over against your leg & shove it under the dash, now on those, 5th in the main box was overdrive. 5th under and 4th over were the same. I learned to drive sticks like this in a 54 Freightliner. And no, you cannot even imagine what it was like unless you drove it LOL. 220 Cummins, 3 piece doghouse cover held down with a rope tied to the drivers seat, no shutters, & if you ever got it over 55, the air coming thru the radiator would lift the top doghouse cover enough to see the engine, not to mention the dust that it blew up. 1' of flame from the stack if you were daring enough to be out in the dark with it. OOPs got carried away there............

 

That is definitely a consideration, however the less desirable fuller 5 spd would bring her back to original condition or at least original intent. I don't think it is going to take more than one trip to a show to pry open my wallet and do this right.