56 Ford semi

J

Jerry56

Member
Well now that my yet unnamed construction company has enough dump trucks I need a light duty semi for local hauling.... And I just happen to have another 56 Ford cab and since the Semi and dump truck are sorta similar I just made 2 of the basic frames as I went along... the wheel base is a a little different but the concepts are the same...
I cut down some "U" channel about 12 1/4" long,
52698579909_65b1283148_z.jpg


52698321166_0b230d18dc_z.jpg


Made a set of off-set hinges so the cab would set closer to the wheels
52698579894_c7bd6fa106_z.jpg


Get the front wheels centered in the wheel arch

52698321151_59a0db3902_z.jpg


The track looks pretty good... these 56 cabs are just a little narrower than the newer Dodge cabs...but it will be fine
52698809713_d0012b33cd_z.jpg


52698738710_7c2fa5f868_z.jpg


52698809693_2d3495d38f_z.jpg


and both axles mocked up
52698738705_ccb216ccb8_z.jpg


I'll get the fifth wheel and motor mocked up this week ...
 
F

Frizzen

Active member
Cool project! Do you think the Tonka cab is more of a 'F' or 'C' series truck?

Do the 'lego tires' fit the wheelwells better than the 'rock tires', or did that take some fender trimming?

For the 5th wheel, are you thinking Tamiya, Weidico, Tonka, or printer?
 
J

Jerry56

Member
I think the Tonka cab is more an "F" series... but when I put the tool/battery boxes on it gives it more of a "C" series look at least that's what I'm telling myself..
The wheel arches were messaged a little because they had some excess metal from the stamping process so they were smoothed and opened up a little. But the Lego tires fit pretty well, They are just a little taller and wider than the WPL "rock" tire but I wanted a more street looking tread on this one.
5th wheel is going to be a Lesu piece, it's a little big and slightly out of scale but the 3d printed ones didn't look right to me, the Weidico and Tamiya are a little pricey...
 
J

Jerry56

Member
I've got the 5th wheel on and motors mounted
I used a mounting plate I found on thingiverse for WPLs it was a little small to my eye so I remixed the mount to fit a LESU 5th wheel... yeah it's a little large but I think it will make getting a trailer on it easier....I can always fall back to a smaller assy if it doesn't work as I hope...
52698579844_e93f09bb37_z.jpg


Just a mock up.
52698321111_5197c96d48_z.jpg


52698579819_1aeb906841_z.jpg


52698579789_e3b6160477_z.jpg


52697803447_f178dcfefb_z.jpg

After I looked at this I decided to move the 5th wheel up to just ahead of the rear axle center line....don't have a picture of that



I wanted to try a dual motor configuration.... the bottom mount is the original from thingiverse... the top is after I remixed it to move the motors closer to each axle..
52698809638_f875af46a5_z.jpg

the motor shaft is 4mm and the axles are 3mm so I drilled out one end of the drive shaft.. I tested it on an older type shaft first...
52698321066_6c9d33000c_z.jpg


Here it is mounted... yeah it hangs down a little more than I like but once I get the fuel tanks and steps on you won't see it...I hope
52698738655_a3ebb82465_z.jpg

These are 6v 500rpm motors the axles are 2:1 giving me about 250rpm at the wheels
52698321021_8acc69473f_z.jpg


I'll start getting some details done this week.... it's almost time to get out in the yard and garden
 
F

Frizzen

Active member
I really dig that dual motor setup, are you thinking of running it with 1 esc or 2 esc?

I'd probably try to load up some type of trailer or make a 'trailer simulator' to see where the chassis can deal with weight before final mounting that 5th wheel. Unless you're feeling really trick and make an adjustable plate like the real ones to shift weight on / off the front axle
 
J

Jerry56

Member
I'm running a single Hobby Wing 1060 I think it will be enough.
I used my "Gray Line" moving van for a test it has no problem with 10 lbs... but it is a really short wheel base and has a locked front drive axle so turning is a little tough.
 
J

Jerry56

Member
Worked on this a little this week..
Adding a couple small details like mirrors, a different design from Bill Maryka, these are slightly different than the ones I used on the dump truck.. I think I'll paint them white cause crome cost to much..
52698579759_6fa609fed5_z.jpg

Again nothing fancy but I think they will look pretty good.
52698321046_bfa0e54888_z.jpg

When I get better at working with brass I might get a little more detail in them but for now.
52697803387_2fd52fcdc3_z.jpg

52698738615_42b204bb45_z.jpg

Like the dump truck a simple steering wheel
52698738580_e7f1bf68db_z.jpg

One of the down sides to doing these at 1/16 is the 1/14 stuff is to big and the 1/24 is do small... there just isn't a lot in this scale for detail pieces so you kind of have to "roll your own"
52698579739_e53e59f85f_z.jpg

Again wiring is pretty straight forward, a master on/off with a charging jack
52698579729_d706eaaf1f_z.jpg


Terminal block for the power and lights...I'll stick it down somewhere
52697803372_e7812e3255_z.jpg


I always slip a little cut off piece on the diodes so after I cut them I still can tell +/-
52698579699_4031339837_z.jpg

Wiring in the headlights, Yes this one will be blue... The way this grill and headlight lens go in you need to paint the cab before you put it together...
52698579704_6a77dcafec_z.jpg

The head light lens are the "button" that holds the grill in so once you wire in the lights your stuck.
 
J

Jerry56

Member
Yeah I picked up a couple wasn't sure if it was the locked axle or to much weight on a short wheel base that was causing the problem I guess I need to try one out and see if it helps
 
F

Frizzen

Active member
Sharp mirrors. Maybe you could add a diagonal brace, but i like that it's not really cluttered

How did the lego tires.sidewalls hold up to that much weight? I wonder when they'd need foam.

Cool, I didn't know there was a WPL working diff! I thought you had to go with the JJRC huge pumpkin axles for having that
 
J

Jerry56

Member
I looked at different things I might be able to do with the mirror frames but I think my soldering would have got to clunky looking
The Lego tires are super stiff they held up fine...
I saw them on aliexpress and picked up 2 front sets just to try then I built this truck so it looks like I might need them. An they fit in the WPL housings.
 
J

Jerry56

Member
Well it took me longer to get back to this... it's spring time so the yard and gardens and mowers had to be taken care of....
I didn't get a lot of pictures of the final assembly but it was pretty straight forward....I did a set of tanks and again put the battery box steps on it...I made a different style of rear view mirrors for this ... just cause...so anyway here it is...I still need to finish a drop deck trailer for it, I'll work on that this summer..
52856074401_d343d93171_z.jpg



I wasn't really sure how to paint the rims it seems to me there should be more black in there some where
52856513533_ddcc933d03_z.jpg


More of my Ford mud flaps and a simple tail panel with tail lights and back up lights.
52855492027_567c85a75b_z.jpg


52856242184_bb0b72559c_z.jpg


52855492022_44f359bda9_z.jpg



52856074391_b9c1729d66_z.jpg


Here it is with my Wyandotte trailer behind it... these are the same scale, looking at vintage pictures the cab of the older trucks were way smaller than the trailer so it may look odd that seems to be the way it was...This 5th wheel does keep it up a little but I'll just live with it for now
52855492017_ab6f119128_z.jpg


52856513503_b5928cd6f4_z.jpg


So my Tonka construction company is coming along...still trying to keep it made up of 50s metal toys....might be a few modern ones in the mix but the goal is all metal toys....
 
Last edited:
Bystickel

Bystickel

V.I.P. Member
That looks fantastic! I love these steel-toy conversions.

Next time I need scale cargo hauled, I know who to turn to. Nice job!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top