New to big trucks with my 1968 peterbilt 359

dog beat me to it, I thought I was the unofficial welcome,,,guy, but welcome aboard. You'll find we're all bozos on this bus. Nice truck, and not just any 359, a "small window" to boot. '73 was the last year and quite rare. One thing, someone put a 10 speed in place of the 5? So it still has the aux. 4 speed box? Who do you think you are, Snowman? Just kidding, you didn't say what rear suspension, being a log truck, I would guess spring, or worse, if just doing local stuff, I wouldn't bother changing it. Leaking axle seals could indicate metal contamination, and depends how bad. Easy fix, and change the oil, it may look like metallic paint. Small cam Cummins, what 290, 335, 350? Good motors and flat dash? I had a '72 small window, was a heck of a ride. More pictures, and glad to meet you.Love the Pete
Sorry for the poor picture, try this, my '85 daycab

 

The smaller windshields 359 ended in 1972, but the taller windshield 359s came out later in '73, so some early '73s were actually leftover '72s. Taller cab, better doors, still same crappy electrics, but walking beam, aka "rubber pad" , no springs? None tougher, but rough ride and top speed of 62, sounds like some short gears there, probably 4:88 and only 2 kinds of axles used, Rockwell or Eaton, and should be a tag near the air compressor on what motor you have, usually gone missing, 350 SC was a common motor then. Steer axle brakes? Many older trucks didn't have front brakes, and I see it has a butterfly hood, I think tilt hoods came out around then, but yours has a bigger grill than the older "needle nose" Petes. You'll find, you'll get a lot of respect with that old gal around the stone pile.

 

@SmallPackage

 

You most likely have nothing wrong with the aux trans "shifter". If you round the corner when shifting you can stick the pin in between the shift mechanism. I'm not able to describe the situation well, but if you look at the front/top of the aux trans you should see the shift linkage going to two rods going in to the trans. In neutral these should be even with each other. I bet they are not now. Take a bar or large screwdriver and pry lightly on one or the other and see if they will pop into place where they are even.

We all used to carry a tool just for this purpose as anyone who has spent much time driving with an auxiliary trans (Brownie) has stuck the shifter by rounding the corners of the shift pattern.

Some of the others can probably describe what happens better than I did.

Enjoy the ride!

 

‘68 the big power was the 335 with the small after cooler as an option. The size of a case of beer bottles. 10 speed in front of the 4 makes endlessly fun. We have a ‘71 359 with a 9x4 and a ‘67 351 with a 13x4. The brownie box linkage will get stuck and hang up all the time if you don’t shift the gears straight and “square” thru the pattern. Don’t “round” the corners so to speak. Carry a pry bar with you to pop the linkage back into neutral at the transmission tower when that happens and roll on. ‘54-‘72 was the unilite cab series with 2 basic generations so to speak. ‘54-61 were first gen with small Ford F-100 style instrument panel. 1962 was second gen and got a slight cab revision. ‘62-,72 was that cab, roof cap and rain gutter, doors, and dash changed. Built in 100% aluminum and 100% steel. Both with marine waterproof plywood floors. ‘67 was first year for the 359. The serial # (salesOrder#) on my ‘67 351 was built 7 behind the first 359.