What year did glider kits start

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Doughboy18, Nov 17, 2019.

  1. Doughboy18

    Doughboy18 Light Load Member

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2019
    Messages:
    86
    Thanks Received:
    46
    0
    Been looking for a Coronado glider kit that’s pre eld.. sometime I see older trucks like 2007 claiming to be a glider kit

    I know it’s illegal to just throw a older engine in your truck and call it a glider kit. So my question is what year did they really start building glider kits or how can I verify it’s an actual glider
     
    OLDSKOOLERnWV Thanks this.
  2. 201

    201 Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2014
    Messages:
    12,621
    Thanks Received:
    25,906
    Location:
    high plains colorado
    0
    Glider kits go back to the early 70's, when motors began to outlast trucks. Glider kits were popular when trucks were hard to come by. Why bother when there's a ton of older trucks out there, some may even have a fresh rebuild.
     
  3. DougA

    DougA Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2013
    Messages:
    1,429
    Thanks Received:
    8,892
    Location:
    Retired,In my shop in Md.
    0
    At least back in the 70's I remember,I built mine in 1985. There is a code in the vin# that will indicate glider.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    whoopNride, bzinger, RubyEagle and 4 others Thank this.
  4. DougA

    DougA Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2013
    Messages:
    1,429
    Thanks Received:
    8,892
    Location:
    Retired,In my shop in Md.
    0
    My 1984 Eagle glider.
    [​IMG]
     
  5. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2012
    Messages:
    4,600
    Thanks Received:
    6,312
    0
    You can tell by the VIN number. Glider truck have been around for a long time. They kinda come back when the new emissions truck come out because they were so bad. Fitzgerald was making a lot of them but their quality was not so good from what I hear. Because they rebuilt the engines themselves vs getting on from Detroit or Cummins.

    I don't think many would try going from emissions engine back to pre emissions engine in the truck. Because the wiring would be a mess. They can't just drop older engine in a truck. The truck has to be wired for the older engines
     
  6. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2011
    Messages:
    22,613
    Thanks Received:
    120,203
    Location:
    Michigan
    0
    Some time in either the 50's or 60's, the irs made changes to how depreciation was done on equipment, this triggered expanding of trucks you could get void of a drive train.
     
    Tx Countryboy and Bean Jr. Thank this.
  7. mp4694330

    mp4694330 Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2010
    Messages:
    1,529
    Thanks Received:
    1,459
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    0
    Call dealer to check VIN.
     
  8. AModelCat

    AModelCat Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2015
    Messages:
    29,390
    Thanks Received:
    161,305
    Location:
    Canuckistan
    0
    Pre 17 digit VIN days Kenworths ended in "G" if it was a glider IIRC.
     
    pushbroom Thanks this.
  9. Bean Jr.

    Bean Jr. Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2014
    Messages:
    5,539
    Thanks Received:
    9,877
    0
    I saw a butterfly hood Kenworth at a shop in the early 2000s. I asked the guy in the office and he told me it was a glider that was never assembled.

    Gliders really took off with the 2002 emissions engines, but they've been around for a long time.
     
  10. starmac

    starmac Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2019
    Messages:
    6,639
    Thanks Received:
    12,528
    Location:
    Fairbanks Ak
    0
    OLDSKOOLERnWV Thanks this.