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New to me '85 359

Discussion in 'Peterbilt Forum' started by JD4650, Jan 23, 2017.

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  1. Jan 23, 2017 #1
    JD4650

    JD4650 Bobtail Member

    3
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    Jan 23, 2017
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    image.jpeg Bought this for my farm to pull a 40' hopper bottom. No model number on the plate after 359; 14865 for the weight; serial number is 186076. The odometer reads 361,000 don't know if it's turned over.
    Big Cam III 270, 9 spd (guessing 4.10s), Air Leaf, factory daycab without A/C or radio - although it looks as thought someone added one at one time. My hopper bottom has daytons - as well as the old Road Boss I have that I had bought new steers and drives for - so I was thinking will match/simple swap there...
    It's not perfect, but rather more of a fixer-upper that I thought would work satisfactory as a local grain hauler as is and make a project of in the future. Thanks for any thoughts/opinions/advice!
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2017
    JD4650, Jan 23, 2017
    JD4650, Jan 23, 2017
    #1
    207nomad, G13Tomcat and Ruthless Thank this.
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  3. Jan 23, 2017 #2
    noluck

    noluck Road Train Member

    1,616
    11,680
    Jun 10, 2011
    greenville,sc
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    Nice old rig. I think the 270 is a small cam though. I may be wrong. But it looks to be in great shape.
     
    noluck, Jan 23, 2017
    noluck, Jan 23, 2017
    #2
  4. Jan 23, 2017 #3
    Pnwtrucker

    Pnwtrucker Medium Load Member

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    820
    Nov 5, 2016
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    Nice! Looks sharp! And well taken care of. Will be a fun project. Great start for a project truck and will be nice farm truck. IMO. Congrats have fun with it.
     
    Pnwtrucker, Jan 23, 2017
    Pnwtrucker, Jan 23, 2017
    #3
  5. Jan 23, 2017 #4
    51.50

    51.50 Heavy Load Member

    895
    1,938
    Jan 20, 2016
    Salem Oregon
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    The lowest HP I remember on a. Big Cam Cummins is 290 however you can set the power lower by recalibrating the pump. The words "Big Cam" are cast into the block on the cam side of the engine. The Big Cam engine became standard in 1979 so an 85 should be a Big Cam. You can find your axle ratio on the data plate. One one each axle probably covered with grease and dirt
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2017
    51.50, Jan 23, 2017
    51.50, Jan 23, 2017
    #4
  7. Jan 23, 2017 #5
    ShooterK2

    ShooterK2 Road Train Member

    5,533
    89,469
    Dec 14, 2012
    Oklahoma
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    Old school class right there. I'm diggin' it for sure.
     
    ShooterK2, Jan 23, 2017
    ShooterK2, Jan 23, 2017
    #5
  8. Jan 23, 2017 #6
    JD4650

    JD4650 Bobtail Member

    3
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    Jan 23, 2017
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    Thanks for all the compliments. I wasn't totally up on my Big Cams, until I bought this truck. But my '79 Road Boss is Big Cam I 290. I knew of the 270 and thought they'd discontinued it by the 80s, but actually the III series was the last it was produced as an 855. It has the steel pan and the letters, etc. The cpl is 579 a III series #
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2017
    JD4650, Jan 23, 2017
    JD4650, Jan 23, 2017
    #6
  9. Jan 23, 2017 #7
    BoxCarKidd

    BoxCarKidd Road Train Member

    4,188
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    Aug 26, 2014
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    Worked for a company that had 87 and 89 Autocars with 270 Big Cams. Not big HP but they had guts and would smoke any factory 290 I was ever around. Nice find JD.
     
    BoxCarKidd, Jan 23, 2017
    BoxCarKidd, Jan 23, 2017
    #7
  10. Jan 24, 2017 #8
    Hogleg

    Hogleg Medium Load Member

    311
    258
    Nov 20, 2016
    Salem, Illinois
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    Nice truck. Here's mine...
     
    Hogleg, Jan 24, 2017
    Hogleg, Jan 24, 2017
    #8
  11. Jan 24, 2017 #9
    JD4650

    JD4650 Bobtail Member

    3
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    Jan 23, 2017
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    Cool truck!! We're not super far away - I'm located just outside of Vincennes. Have you had it a long time?
     
    JD4650, Jan 24, 2017
    JD4650, Jan 24, 2017
    #9
  12. Jan 25, 2017 #10
    Hogleg

    Hogleg Medium Load Member

    311
    258
    Nov 20, 2016
    Salem, Illinois
    0
    We bought it in november to use for grain hauling. We started out with this hopper bottom in the picture but now have changed to a end dump. We had to get the 5th wheel replaced due to corrosion on the slider dogs and we found a good used one with the no tilt feature so decided to go that way. We installed the wet kit ourselves. Been hauling grain since then from local elevators to the river depots.

    However - we have decided to stop using the truck and are on the lookout for a newer one. We found excessive frame jacking due to a prior owner lengthening the wheelbase. The truck started out as a 205 WB but now is a 245 WB. They double framed it. It now has rust between the frame members and it is causing cracks to develop in the inter-frame supports that run between the two main frame beams. We have had a competent diesel shop re-weld the members and it is now safe to use but it is their opinion that we are only prolonging the issue and the jacking will be a continuing problem. What really needs to happen is that the truck needs to be shortened back to original length which will then allow the removal of the double frame cleanup of the jacking area, and put the drivers back on solid metal. We are not going to do this work ourselves as we are not in the truck restoration business. We will let some other 359 fan tackle that fun.

    John
     
    Hogleg, Jan 25, 2017
    Hogleg, Jan 25, 2017
    #10
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