War Pigs scale tow truck

[War Pig]

Well, when I saw Benders thread about a dually tow rig today, my heart sank. I've had this great idea for the last week that I thought was unique. My new scale truck that I started on has taken an interesting turn. I got an idea to build a '34 Ford pickup with a flatbed a while back and then decided that it would be a little too common. I wanted something a little different. That's when I got the idea to build a working crawler tow truck, with operating boom and everything. So here it goes, bear in mind that I didn't plan on the tow truck part until after I had completed the frame and suspension part of the build.

This is the body I planned the whole build around



I built the frame out of 1/2" square tubing that I ripped in half with a band saw.



Laid out the frame and notched it with the band saw, and silver soldered with Safety Silv 56.



Built the tranny mounts and soldered them on.



Here it is mocked up with Red Rocks and the body



Built the crossmembers and soldered them on. Man it's hard to clamp this little stuff and keep it square.



I'll continue with the leaf springs tomarrow, thanks for looking.

[microgoat]

Tow trucks have been done to death already

http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h2...gAnch=imgAnch1

[arthurc10]

that is the most scale looking tow rig ever! if it wasnt for the cars in the background, and the guy stepping into the camera, it could have been real!

[War Pig]

Originally Posted by microgoat

Tow trucks have been done to death already

My plan isn't for a flat bed, I'm going to build one with a boom and winch like the old style wreckers. It also won't be a street truck, It'll be a crawler that I'll compete with in the ORCRC scale class next year. Just because I don't have 1500 posts doesn't mean that it won't be an interesting build, remember, at one time you had 35 posts too. If you truly are the "Sultan of Scale" as you profess, you should be more interested in this build than most.

Sooo, let's continue

I happened to have an old lawnmower sitting next to my house. It's now next to the house in 8 pieces.
Cool, leaf spring material.



A little heat and some careful bending, leaf springs.



I decided to make the eylets 3/16' ID so I could use vinyl tubing as bushings, we'll see how that works.



Here's the front leafs mounted on the frame



From another angle



And after some careful consideration, I decided to mount the springs under the axles. The ride height was too much and the driveline angles were bad.



Some shots of the rear springs all mounted up.




A full view of the whole chassis from the top



These are the tires that I'll be using for the front. I will be using different wheels, these happen to be the only ones I had narrowed when this pic was taken.



I'll post some more pics later when I have a little time.

[microgoat]

Great looking frame, especially the fixed leaf mounts. The SUA is a nice touch, too. Any chance you'll throw a set of duallies on the back?

Mine started out as a wrecker with a boom, too, before it got side-tracked into rollback madness

[trickedoutTLT06]

Awesome! I don't think you should paint the frame, Keep that old..used look.

[War Pig]

Yep!

[microgoat]

Now we're talkin'!

I like how the frame matches the hood's taper, like a real '34. Although to be really nit-picky the leaf springs should be transversely mounted if you were going for a stock build.

Might want to add a couple leafs in the back if it's going to support the weight of another crawler. You gonna build a sling for it, too?

[need some carbon fiber]

I will definetly be keeping an eye on this build 1 because its a vintage ford and 2 because it has MG's aproval (sp). Also I don't think you posted it but I take it the body is parma correct?

[rkrawler]

Wow! Great job so far. I'm lovin the vintage body and awesome frame, leafspring fabrication.

[trickedoutTLT06]

Originally Posted by need some carbon fiber

I will definetly be keeping an eye on this build, 1 because its a vintage Ford and 2, because it has MG's approval. Also I don't think you posted it but I take it the body is parma correct?

Fixed it up for ya.

[War Pig]

Yes, the body is parma, with the bed cut off it.
It will have a sling with the rubber strips like the old wreckers. I finished the boom for it today, it's a girder style with two pulleys at the top. I'll post more pics a little later today. Tim.

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Saweet, I cant wait to see it all finished up. The frame looks awesome and I love the leaf springs. Keep up the good work

Mike

[cammok5]

cool

[War Pig]

Here's the front steering servo and arm. Man, mounting a servo on the frame sure is alot harder than on the axle. The steering arm will be alot beefier than this.



Here you can see the servo mount a little better.



Here's a shot of the ESC mount, I'll be using the Pro Boat waterproof ESC.



And the battery mount, it will be an 8 cell 1400mah pack.



Here's the rear trac bar, trying to keep the S shape out of the leaf I will probably add a leaf or two to the back eventually.



You can see that the dually isn't any wider than a Masher. I narrowed the wheel on the outside and widened it on the inside to tuck it under the truck as much as possible.



This is a pic of the dually with the gearbox I'll be using for the tow winch on the truck.



And last but not least the boom I've been working on today.





This is the bed mocked up in cardstock, you can kinda see how the boom is going to look on it.

[OIT_TLT]

build it strong, its gonn have to lift some heavy *** rigs at the next comp!

[ScGRaceR]

suggestion....


after you build her....strip it down and sandblast / paint the parts...unless you are going for the old used tow truck

my .2 cents

[microgoat]

Leave it bare metal so the rust shows. It should look like metal. My $.02, but it's your rig. You could paint it pink and it'd still be killer. I'm lovin' the boom, and the worm drive should do a good job of holding those weaker rigs up on the sling

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to discover that Pro Boat speedo.

The only thing I can think of to nudge you about is your steering servo. With it mounted in the center, you're going to have the most bumpsteer, and it looks like your drag link will hit the frame on downtravel. But with leafs, neither of these will be a very big problem. If you move the servo off to one side and drop the drag link under the frame, I think you'll be happier, though.

Hella sweet so far. Wanna see more!

[Cole82]

The Pro boat esc sucks for a crawler it only has 25% power in reverse. It stall out in reverse really easy. It weighs a lot too. A better option is the lrp AI runner.

The truck looks wesome it is incredable.

[snook]

looks awesome