6x6 Peterbilt Semi Truck

[Tommy R]

Cool, looking forward to pics from your trip. I've seen a few videos of wheeling in Texas. Looks pretty good to me. Some day, I'd like to take a trip with the FJ40 and check out that area.

If you can make it happen, I'd be happy to show you around! You know, we could always meet somewhere in the middle....like maybe Farmington or Las Cruces, New Mexico. :mrgreen:

 

[chino63]

If you can make it happen, I'd be happy to show you around! You know, we could always meet somewhere in the middle....like maybe Farmington or Las Cruces, New Mexico. :mrgreen:

Now that right there sounds like a road trip!

Gonna have to work on that.;-)

 

[Tommy R]

Got my Shapeways fenders in over the weekend and they look nice! The finish will require some sanding, but I'm pleased. I can't determine final positioning of the fenders until my wheels/tires arrive, but I've begun mocking things up a bit.

Installing the TLT axle and the Hi Lift front springs moved the axle forward a bit. Technically speaking, it seems most 6x6 trucks have the front axle set back quite a bit from a standard RWD truck. Mine won't be set back that far because I'd like a bit better approach angle. It'll still look pretty accurate so I'm good with it.

I'm having a hard time determining what model Pete this most resembles. And it doesn't help that most 6x6 trucks are so tall that they have sloped hoods and mine won't. So I may be building a truck that has never existed? Really not sure. So if anyone has input on if this truck most closely resembles a 357, 359, 389, etc. please let me know!

Anyway, here's some mock up pics. Nevermind the wheel/tire choice for now, but does the fender placement look about right?

If I keep this placement, I'll add some styrene down below so the fender isn't left unsupported.

 

[Itali83]

I friggin love this build! The truck is a mash up of 359/379 peterbilt. The cab is closer to the newer 379 cab but the hood with the air cleaner piping going into the side is 359. 379 petes have the air cleaner inlet through the cowl of the cab and you don't see the intake tubes outside of the truck.

As far as it being a fowrard front axle truck, that's the way it would be if you ordered a 359/379 6x6 so it looks good to me. I'd run the fenders all the way to the front and make a filler panel at the real just like ones do at the bottom rear of fender.

I wish these were 1/10 scale because I'd build one but I want it to haul my ascender blazer and look scale. I'm going to do a scratch 1/10 build but dread building a cab and hood because I probably dont have the skill to make it like the trucks I own and work on every day.

 

[Tommy R]

Thanks for the info! I didn't even pick up on the air cleaner locations. Since I already committed to the external air cleaners (and I prefer the look), I guess I'll call this on a 359. The front axle won't be as far forward as a RWD 359, but not as far back as some 6x6 chassis I've seen so hopefully it'll look okay.

Can't wait for my wheels/tires to arrive so I can make it a roller and mount my fenders. I'll also have to address the issue of how to raise the rear of the chassis to match the increased ride height of the front.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

whats the second grill for?
my fear with 3d printing is always surface finish, but could always be sanded smooth. what does it take to buy the printed fenders? ive always thought shapeways seemed pricey for what you get.

FDM 3D printing, which is what most are familiar with, will always have visible layers. But 3D printing gets a bad wrap because a lot of people selling printed items, such as a lot of the scale items in this hobby, use crappy printers with crappy filament and layer heights that are way too large. If you print with a decent printer and use thin layers you can really minimize the layering effect. And if you 3D print items in ABS you can give them an Acetone vapor bath and it really smooths them out. But, like you said, you can also sand them.

This truck is going to be awesome!

 

[Tommy R]

FDM 3D printing, which is what most are familiar with, will always have visible layers. But 3D printing gets a bad wrap because a lot of people selling printed items, such as a lot of the scale items in this hobby, use crappy printers with crappy filament and layer heights that are way too large. If you print with a decent printer and use thin layers you can really minimize the layering effect. And if you 3D print items in ABS you can give them an Acetone vapor bath and it really smooths them out. But, like you said, you can also sand them.

This truck is going to be awesome!

Thanks! I sure hope it will be. "thumbsup"

 

[Tommy R]

Well, the wait continues, unfortunately. I ordered my tires and front wheels from Stella on 1/20 and they shipped the same day. I chose Air Parcel over the cheapest shipping option in hopes I'd get it within a week or week and a half. I haven't seen an update since 1/23 and now have Stella looking into it. By the description I don't even know if it's left China or not. What a bummer! Anyway, moving on to other things....

So I got my 15mm spacers in from RC4WD. While I liked the new height of the transmission, they presented a problem. The transmission has a bulge by the shifter that is too wide to fit within the framerails. So I raised it a bit more (to 22mm) to get this bulge to reside inside the framerails better. Here's the spacers:

It's tough to see here, but if you look closely, the shifter area of the transmission is now inside the framerail and clears everything nicely.

Side view profile shot.

And even with the dash installed there's clearance between the motor and the body.

Looks like there will now be plenty of driveshaft clearance!

Next up is one of my least favorite things to do: bodywork. I picked up some Squadron White Putty and am beginning to clean up the sunroof and the top antenna emboss.

 

[Tommy R]

It seems there's some common 2 tone paint schemes for these trucks. There's this one:

And there's this one (although this one is more customized):

And of course some trucks have a painted chassis and fuel tanks/steps like this one:

After doing a lot of research on color schemes and combinations, it looks like my truck will come out a lot like this, but with more purple:

Found this one, too! Looks pretty cool and mine may come out somewhat similar in a lot of ways, but with 359 style fenders.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

nice! we could hear you cheating on us last night with this lady!

you should mock up a front driveshaft and check angles.
i think i have a set of these somewhere if you need them
Superlift Driveshaft Alignment Degree Shims


also on fender placement, is the tire going to snag the rear of the fender under compression? dont want to rip it off.

 

[Tommy R]

nice! we could hear you cheating on us last night with this lady!

you should mock up a front driveshaft and check angles.
i think i have a set of these somewhere if you need them
Superlift Driveshaft Alignment Degree Shims


also on fender placement, is the tire going to snag the rear of the fender under compression? dont want to rip it off.

LOL! Yeah, I got kinda tired of Road Atlanta so I started doing some more bodywork. :mrgreen:

Driveshaft angles are looking fine, I think. The Axial trans/t-case will have outputs that are pretty low, but above the gas tanks and such.

Regarding fender/tire clearance, the wheels I will run up front will tuck in pretty far so clearance should definitely not be a problem. Those that I used for mock up stuck out way too far!

 

[Tommy R]

Finally got around to swapping out a bunch of hardware for socket head stuff. I really don't like Phillips head hardware! I need to order more of certain sizes and some shoulder screws don't have a replacement so they'll remain, but overall, it should be much easier to work on and look way better, IMO.

And the bodywork on the top of the cab is looking pretty good. I think I may be done after one more round of light sanding.

 

[Tommy R]

Trimmed the floorboard to accommodate the higher transmission location.

Had to remove the seat mounting holes and will need to trim the seat mounts, but no biggie. I'll just glue them in when the time comes.

Intrudes into the cabin, but if it's visible when the build is done I may just fab up a new floor to hide it.

While test-fitting the body I noticed an issue. One of the reinforcing plates I added for the hood sides is interfering with the floor. I could've (and should've) Dremeled away some of the floor, but why not risk screwing up and having to do some more bodywork instead? LOL!

Fortunately, I am one with my Dremel and no harm was done while making adequate clearance.

And the Axial trans has now been "extensively modified" to be a transfer case!

 

[Tommy R]

Body work on the front fenders is done.....well, unless I decide to add some lights on top. Not sure about that just yet. It took several layers of filler primer and loads of sanding, but I'm pretty pleased with the result. The veritcal sides of the fenders are still rather rough, but I have no good way to sand those surfaces. Hopefully it won't be too obvious after paint and clear is applied....

Sorted the steering, as well. Used a short Losi aluminum servo arm (I don't like using plastic bits) and put the tie rod under the knuckles. Bumpsteer is minimal and clearances under bump travel are good.

Took a file to the knuckles to get a bit more steering out of the TLT axle.

Ackerman looks pretty decent. My thumbs says hello!

 

[chino63]

Nice progress, I really like the wheels with the new hardware. "thumbsup"

 

[mattlooney]

Those fenders look great. I don't think the vertical sides will be very noticeable when they're painted and installed. If it is you could always add some marker lights on top to draw attention away from it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[Tommy R]

Nice progress, I really like the wheels with the new hardware. "thumbsup"

Thanks, Dean! Now if only the front wheels and all my tires would show up!

Those fenders look great. I don't think the vertical sides will be very noticeable when they're painted and installed. If it is you could always add some marker lights on top to draw attention away from it.

Thanks! Yeah, that's always an option.

 

[Tommy R]

Since there have been no updates on the shipment of my tires and front wheels from Stella Models in Hong Kong, they suggested that I initiate a dispute via PayPal. On Friday I did just that and then ordered the same tires/wheels from Semi Joe. For the same overall cost I got it delivered in record time!! Great customer service and I'll remember that for sure.

All wheels/tires are made by Lesu. Pretty happy with them overall, except for a couple things.

• Maybe I'm just used to crawlers, but these tires are hard! But that's probably okay because I plan on making this rig heavy and also plan to haul heavy loads with it. Those stiff sidewalls will be needed at some point!
• The recess for the hex is too deep and needed a spacer so it wouldn't rub the knuckle.
• I wish it provided a narrower track width because the fronts stick out more than I'd prefer.
• The front tires could be a smidge wider. Visually, the just don't look that much wider than the rears. Not a big deal, though.

Here's the rears all mounted up.

Fronts mounted up.

Sorry for the crappy lighting, but I'm pleasantly surprised that the ride height looks pretty good. The front is only a bit higher than the rear, which is surprising given the front TLT axle. Once I add some weight in the form of electronics, battery, speaker, etc. then it may actually sit level! Schwing!

So I started mock up of the front fenders. Overall, I'm pretty happy with this positioning. Keep in mind the axle swings rearward under compression. I'll need to add some styrene under the hood sides, but I'll get to that later. For now I'm just interested in fender placement.

Again, sorry for the lighting, but here you can see just how far they stick out. It's not particularly awful given most heavy hauler or all wheel drive trucks' front ends are often fairly wide, but I'd hoped for better.

And can someone tell me what I did wrong with the install of my 5th wheel? Why is it angling the wrong direction?

 

[chino63]

How wise of a hex so you have to run? Can you mill down the inside of the wheel around the hex area to be able to run a narrower hex? I agree, it looks too wide.

Other than that, I say it looks great! Very nice build.

 

[chino63]

I'm running the stock Tamiya rear inside wheels on the front with a custom 10mm wide hex. With RC4WD 1.55 rock crushers they stick out 11mm past the fender.