Old fire truck


The workhorse

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:30 pm

Re: Old fire truck

What do you mean by tandem with a "split rear"? do you mean it has two speeds with a Roadranger? To be fair, I have never seen a Roadranger behind a 392! Most were 5 speeds and could have 2 spd rears, but tandem 2 spd were not that common. Not likely to have both 2pd rears and a roadranger.
I have seen tandem dump Loadstars with a 392, and tandem rears on juice brakes! None had roadranger's.
A roadranger is a twin countershaft trans with a "range" box on the back. You shift once thru low and then switch to high range and repeat for either 9 or 10 forward gears. Since they require and air system, they would not be used on a truck without an air system.
2 spd rears can be shifted by air, electric or vacuum. A power divider lock on a set of tandems can shifted by air or vacuum.
A 2 spd rear will either have a " Eaton Two Speed " on the Knob with a button" on the side for full air control or an electric red button switch lashed on the side of the stick for electric or electric over air. Vacuum shift had mostly gone away by the 50's and it would have a T handled cable that went to a vacuum valves.
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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Location: Wichita, Kansas

Post Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:38 pm

Re: Old fire truck

Renegadewill wrote: He owns and operates a salvage yard and used to run an old Loadstar boom truck. Poor fuel mileage (8 mpg) is just part of the deal.


8 mpg for a gas medium-duty truck is good in my experience. The '76 chebby I drove would get 4 mpg, loaded 50% of the time.

Dean
Lifelong Kansan
Grew up with red paint
Moved off the farm 33 years ago.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:50 am

Post Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:50 pm

Re: Old fire truck

cornbinder89 wrote:You may be stuck where you are. The differentials are going to be the key. What they are, and what is available. Tire size can make a small change, but what can fit on the rims and clear everything is the question.
It will be unlikely there will be room between the main trans and transfercase to add a aux or O/D unit.

That's what I found, unless you can move the transfer case back, there won't be enough room to add an aux O/D unit between it and the main transmission. But what are your thoughts about replacing the transfer case with a Dana 4-speed O/D transfer case? Used they seem to be relatively inexpensive and they have 4 speeds ranging from a low of 2.4 to a high overdrive of 0.75. I recently bought one for under $1k on eBay. It hasn't arrived yet but below is a diagram of what it looks like:
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Dana Transfer Case.jpg

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:28 pm

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Post Sun Dec 23, 2018 8:45 pm

Re: Old fire truck

Never heard or seen one like that, A close coupled aux to transfer case. Let us know how it works out.

Pile of Parts
Pile of Parts

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Location: Idaho

Post Mon Dec 24, 2018 2:38 pm

Re: Old fire truck

Tandem/split rear.
I guess I'm not sure what it actually is. Other than it does have air brakes and a roadranger transmission and two rear axles both are drivers. There is a diagram on the dash that shows how to shift through the gears then back again for more. So I just went and looked. It has a Fuller Roadranger R35 seven speed transmission. Shift 1-4 rise lever shift 5,6,7 4th and reverse are on same position.

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Post Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:17 pm

Re: Old fire truck

Also there is no air required to shift this trans.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Wed Dec 26, 2018 9:46 pm

Re: Old fire truck

That is an old trans! Never seen one in person. I thought they used an air cyl to make the range shift, or at least in one version I think they did. It was an external air cyl, not the internal one like they used now. What year truck is it in? From what I can remember, it doesn't have a stellar reputation and finding parts if something breaks will be hard.
edit: And you are correct, they did make cable shift range boxes, I looked it up!

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Post Thu Dec 27, 2018 5:33 pm

Re: Old fire truck

If I remember correctly it is a 1968 or there about. I wonder if that transmission would be a step up from the 4 speed I have now. From what I can find the final ratios aren't anything special it just makes the splits narrower. Might be good for towing heavy. I'd really like to find an auxiliary trans or overdrive unit to up the top end by 10-15 mph. If I can't then a transplant may be in order. I have a line on a DT466 with transmission but I'm not sure that it'd turn enough rpm to net a gain on the speed end anyway. Anyone have thoughts on that swap? Or any other suggestions for a good swap. Fuel milage would be a plus too but driveability is really what is most important.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Post Thu Dec 27, 2018 8:05 pm

Re: Old fire truck

I wonder if it was swapped in at some point. I thought that setup was long gone by the late 60's.
My '69 Fleetstar had a 5 and 2 spd rear. My '73 has a 10 speed RR.

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Post Thu Dec 27, 2018 11:20 pm

Re: Old fire truck

I think it probably was. The only reference to that transmission I have found was in a REO/Diamond truck from the early 60's. It functions well but it's a monster. I think I'll keep my feelers out for a better option that still has parts available and a true overdrive.
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