What about Gliders? DIY or purchase a kit?

You can still get one from KW or Pete, but I was talking with a Peterbilt dealer in December while getting hydraulic lines switched on a trailer I was buying from them, and he told me theres a good deal of trouble to get them. Something to do with Fitzgerald and the other dealer scale outfits buying all of the ones allocated from corporate.

For my next ride if I don't find something decent used at a good price I'm seriously thinking about rebuilding a wrecked truck with a good cab, or getting a really far gone old one and going through and updating the whole thing. I don't care for the new trucks ergonomically correct cabs anyways.

 

Two things

You ain't a driver are you?

Add a switch to roll coal?

Trucks are not fords.

Hey cat cowboy, I had a discussion with my sales dweeb and he said I could order a kw for now but they don't like to send them to an individual not because of the fitz mess but because there is a support problem with individuals building them, they don't like to deal with individuals trying to figure out why the truck doesn't work. I am thinkng of ordering a few to just put away and sell off when they are not allowed to be sold by kw any more.

 

Yeah, I haven't talked to KW recently about them. I spec'ed one out 3 years ago and gave the salesman about three pages worth of my spec's, and he came back to me with about 2 pages worth of what was close, but still had stuff I absolutely did not want. I ended up finding my 2000 a few weeks later and after owning it for two years and getting all the kinks ironed out and changed a few things on it I couldn't be happier. As I've posted on here several times I really really much prefer the late 90's KW cabs to the new stuff. Not a big Pete guy, after having a bad taste in my mouth from a highway truck converted to a dump truck, but picking up that used side dump from this dealer if I ever got to where a new truck would pencil and I had a driver for it I would seriously consider a new Pete based on that buying experience.

 

I read somewhere, or may it was a topic of conversation. So basicly this may be no more than a rumor.., but it maybe something to check out just in case, before you purchase a glider.
There are still DOT requirements when buying a glider. The kicker is that the engine blocks installed in them can’t be any older than 10 years and are required to meet emissions for that year which takes fun out of all of it since there was such great luck with 07 emission engines.

But that maybe just a rumor. I’ve heard wrong before.

 

I tried to order a freightliner last January(2017) and they wouldn’t sell me one. You can only buy a % of the highest year you built in the past. So...... if you haven’t built one in the past your out of luck unless you have someone else willing to give up one of there orders.

You can buy them complete from builders but it’s very difficult to get one that still needs to be completed if you don’t have documentation of one in the past.

It’s not about saving money on the build. It’s about saving money on the road.

 

I would find an old truck and just rebuild/restomod it. I would love to get an old w900a and put late 90s era goodies in it.

 

My current dream project involves a Kenworth B cab and putting a butterfly hood and fenders on it, real old school cool! Or just find a LW

 

All our gliders are 2015 and newer with pre 99 motors in them..