tonka
Senior Member
i'd check into getting a new box
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1994 Peterbilt Dump Truck Questions
- Thread starter Ranch Hand
- Start date
tootalltimmy
Senior Member
In my experience the truck shops are very exspensive. Their hourly rate will probably be much higher than a small welding shop. Check out the rates first.
The truck shops up here have heavy duty mechanics who can weld but usually not a dedicated welder. Better to find someone who welds every day for a living in my opinion.
The truck shops up here have heavy duty mechanics who can weld but usually not a dedicated welder. Better to find someone who welds every day for a living in my opinion.
Willis Bushogin
Senior Member
dump body
I have messed/redone a bunch of dump trucks and bodies, I have never seen a crack like this and I have seen some bad dump bodies. I keep trying to see what is to the left of the last pictures, that could explain some things.
It appears to be a subframe dump body, a bunch of people uses this to keep from double framing the chassis. Its not as good, but it does work.
I would like to see a bunch more pictures, but I would contact a goooood welder and he can fix it. If it has a twisted frame, it should be fixed then.
If this is a air ride truck, you better dump the air bags before you raise the bed and try to dump on level ground.
Lets see some more pictures of the bed and truck.
I have messed/redone a bunch of dump trucks and bodies, I have never seen a crack like this and I have seen some bad dump bodies. I keep trying to see what is to the left of the last pictures, that could explain some things.
It appears to be a subframe dump body, a bunch of people uses this to keep from double framing the chassis. Its not as good, but it does work.
I would like to see a bunch more pictures, but I would contact a goooood welder and he can fix it. If it has a twisted frame, it should be fixed then.
If this is a air ride truck, you better dump the air bags before you raise the bed and try to dump on level ground.
Lets see some more pictures of the bed and truck.
Ranch Hand
Active Member
more pictures are on their way.
What is fish plate welding and how is it done? The welder that I have in mind builds big steel buildings and I am guessing that he may not know what fish plate welding is and I certainly don't know.
What is fish plate welding and how is it done? The welder that I have in mind builds big steel buildings and I am guessing that he may not know what fish plate welding is and I certainly don't know.
TimHay
Well-Known Member
I think it looks worse than it is. I would gouge it out good weld it up and fish plate it.
If you dont gouge it out to the start of the crack and reweld it, it will keep on breaking.
If it cracks again you have other problems. Something is out of wack
If you dont gouge it out to the start of the crack and reweld it, it will keep on breaking.
If it cracks again you have other problems. Something is out of wack
2109 Stang
Well-Known Member
I have never seen welds cracked like these ,don't take it to the dealership ,too expensive and you'll be surprised of their poor workmanship in most cases ,find a local welding shop ,remember thats what they do everyday metallurgic is their thing .
Can you take a picture of the air springs on level ground both axles from the back ,usually in the front differential the springs are lower than the rear, I've got a curiosity .
I'm not en expert but I've had trucks with this suspension ,in fact I just replaced the suspension on my T800 with a Peterbilt short air spring susp ,and I'm very happy with the result ,this is my third truck with this susp and I have encouraged a few friends to do the same ,when they have driven my trucks empty and loaded I don't have to say any more .
I wish you luck with this truck , hope you can fix the frame rail soon and don't get caught by DOT with those cracks.
Can you take a picture of the air springs on level ground both axles from the back ,usually in the front differential the springs are lower than the rear, I've got a curiosity .
I'm not en expert but I've had trucks with this suspension ,in fact I just replaced the suspension on my T800 with a Peterbilt short air spring susp ,and I'm very happy with the result ,this is my third truck with this susp and I have encouraged a few friends to do the same ,when they have driven my trucks empty and loaded I don't have to say any more .
I wish you luck with this truck , hope you can fix the frame rail soon and don't get caught by DOT with those cracks.
Ranch Hand
Active Member
Not too worried about DOT it's a farm truck and sitting on the ranch right now until we figure how to fix this issue. Bad thing about this whole issue the truck is not a money maker. We bought it to help us haul stuff on and off the ranch so all it can do is cost us money with no way to recoupe our expenses so mimimizing the cost of repair is esential.
Ranch Hand
Active Member
2109 Stang
Well-Known Member
I wanted to see the air springs photos inflated ,to see if I can judge the ride hight ,in case they were too high ,I'm still thinking on your noise and vibration .
I notice that the ride hight valve is on a level position even when deflated ,so just thinking out loud your ride hight might be to low which will cause the same noise and vibration as if it was too high ,the noise that I'm talking about comes from the drive shaft angle being to steep or too low and making your shifting the transmission a little harder ,the gears will stick when trying to go from one gear to another and you will have to physically push the stick a little harder to engage the next gear .
so ,can you take another picture of the springs inflated like your last two ? but a better close up on the second from last .
I notice that the ride hight valve is on a level position even when deflated ,so just thinking out loud your ride hight might be to low which will cause the same noise and vibration as if it was too high ,the noise that I'm talking about comes from the drive shaft angle being to steep or too low and making your shifting the transmission a little harder ,the gears will stick when trying to go from one gear to another and you will have to physically push the stick a little harder to engage the next gear .
so ,can you take another picture of the springs inflated like your last two ? but a better close up on the second from last .
Willis Bushogin
Senior Member
body repair
As I have stated that I have repaired a bunch of dump beds, from what I can see this is fatigued metal and its not a problem for a good welder to repair. This looks like eyebeam shaped metal, so just cut a piece of flatbar (maybe 1/2") and about 12" longer on each end (longer than the crack) this is what I call a fishplate and I would do both sides of the eyebeam, where the crack is. I am not a engineer, but this kind of repair has worked in the past on other things. Make sure the metal fits tight, inside the eyebeam before welding. Make sure this eyebeam is straight, before adding a repair, take a straight edge and lay it under the eyebeam frame. If its bent you need to address this first.
Now the noise, HUMMMMM not a lot of info to go on, I could list many ideas. As stated it maybe your airbags pumping up and down, Im assuming you have a air bag leveling valve??? Get your Vin number and call the dealer and ask them what the height of the air bag should be, you may have to play with this height until you get it to ride good, it was a road tractor, so the specs will be different for a dump truck. Again make sure you dump the air bags, before you raise the bed. Im sure all the air ride dump trucks I have owned had a equalizer bar, joining the two rear air bags. You can get them from any salvage shops
I would still say, make sure its not a rear end noise, wheel bearing, tires-looks like you need some tires. Make sure you buy heavy lug thread, not highway thread, if you are going to be off road mostly. I had a bad ujoint and it was making a funny noise, it was hard to track down, but I finally found the bad one.
Post pictures of the truck, showing the bed
Post pictures of the air bags inflated, on level ground
Good Luck
As I have stated that I have repaired a bunch of dump beds, from what I can see this is fatigued metal and its not a problem for a good welder to repair. This looks like eyebeam shaped metal, so just cut a piece of flatbar (maybe 1/2") and about 12" longer on each end (longer than the crack) this is what I call a fishplate and I would do both sides of the eyebeam, where the crack is. I am not a engineer, but this kind of repair has worked in the past on other things. Make sure the metal fits tight, inside the eyebeam before welding. Make sure this eyebeam is straight, before adding a repair, take a straight edge and lay it under the eyebeam frame. If its bent you need to address this first.
Now the noise, HUMMMMM not a lot of info to go on, I could list many ideas. As stated it maybe your airbags pumping up and down, Im assuming you have a air bag leveling valve??? Get your Vin number and call the dealer and ask them what the height of the air bag should be, you may have to play with this height until you get it to ride good, it was a road tractor, so the specs will be different for a dump truck. Again make sure you dump the air bags, before you raise the bed. Im sure all the air ride dump trucks I have owned had a equalizer bar, joining the two rear air bags. You can get them from any salvage shops
I would still say, make sure its not a rear end noise, wheel bearing, tires-looks like you need some tires. Make sure you buy heavy lug thread, not highway thread, if you are going to be off road mostly. I had a bad ujoint and it was making a funny noise, it was hard to track down, but I finally found the bad one.
Post pictures of the truck, showing the bed
Post pictures of the air bags inflated, on level ground
Good Luck
Last edited:
Ranch Hand
Active Member
Lastest Pictures
Got back up to the ranch to do some work and all it is doing is raining. I would complain and ask for it to stop raining, but we've had a drought in central Texas for over two years so let it rain. At some point I hope to be able to do some work. Anyways I was asked to post some pictures with the air bags inflated so here they are.
Also I'll be doing a lot of driving off road so I'm getting off road tires put on the truck (G177 tread). I took a load of trash to the land fill and surprisingly did not get stuck, but it sure made me nervous when the operator kept telling me to back up. I was thinking "you going to pull me out of this mud?"
Got back up to the ranch to do some work and all it is doing is raining. I would complain and ask for it to stop raining, but we've had a drought in central Texas for over two years so let it rain. At some point I hope to be able to do some work. Anyways I was asked to post some pictures with the air bags inflated so here they are.
Also I'll be doing a lot of driving off road so I'm getting off road tires put on the truck (G177 tread). I took a load of trash to the land fill and surprisingly did not get stuck, but it sure made me nervous when the operator kept telling me to back up. I was thinking "you going to pull me out of this mud?"
Attachments
Willis Bushogin
Senior Member
truck
Nice looking truck
Tires, what I call the deep lug tread, will pull better off road, but when the lugs of any tire gets clogged up with mud or clay, they all are kind of useless.
Air bags, it does appear you have a adjuster for the air bags (last picture)
As stated before, you need a air bag leveling bar. It runs from one air bag to the other air bag (bags in last picture)
It looks like one bag is higher than the other in last picture. Park the truck on level ground, (a level parking lot works good) measure from the ground to the bottom of the chassis, close to each air bag. the back air bags should be adjusted where they are about the same. The front air bags should be the same level then, if not something is wrong somewhere. Now to the height of the air bags, I always called the truck manufacture and got this measurement, remember this measurement was not for a dump truck and the manufacture should be able to tell you what it should be for a dump truck. The height is important, so as you dont have too much pressure or not enough pressure.
IMPORTANT "ALWAYS EMPTY AIR BAGS, BEFORE RAISING BED"
try to be on level ground when raising bed. Dont jerk the truck when pulling out from the load, just pull ahead easy
Good luck just be careful
Nice looking truck
Tires, what I call the deep lug tread, will pull better off road, but when the lugs of any tire gets clogged up with mud or clay, they all are kind of useless.
Air bags, it does appear you have a adjuster for the air bags (last picture)
As stated before, you need a air bag leveling bar. It runs from one air bag to the other air bag (bags in last picture)
It looks like one bag is higher than the other in last picture. Park the truck on level ground, (a level parking lot works good) measure from the ground to the bottom of the chassis, close to each air bag. the back air bags should be adjusted where they are about the same. The front air bags should be the same level then, if not something is wrong somewhere. Now to the height of the air bags, I always called the truck manufacture and got this measurement, remember this measurement was not for a dump truck and the manufacture should be able to tell you what it should be for a dump truck. The height is important, so as you dont have too much pressure or not enough pressure.
IMPORTANT "ALWAYS EMPTY AIR BAGS, BEFORE RAISING BED"
try to be on level ground when raising bed. Dont jerk the truck when pulling out from the load, just pull ahead easy
Good luck just be careful
2109 Stang
Well-Known Member
Ranch it looks to me like they did a sloppy job with that suspension ,from what I can see the bag on the driver side is offset to the inside more than the other ,also the best way to know the height of your bags is to put a level on the frame and make sure is level ,if not make the adjustment from suspension valve .
I can seat here and give you all kinds of ideas ,but if I'm not looking at the truck is not going to help.
A guy that I know built his Ford/Sterlin tractor to a dump few years a go with the original air ride and every since his being twicking and working on that set up ,every shop that he goes to wants to try something different ,adding things to make it stronger, I keep telling him that suspension is strong enough ,that he only needs minor adjustment ,but he keeps going to the people that knows ,the people that deal with this stuff every day (according to him) ,finally his son find out that I've being advising the father for a long time.
Well thusrday we were working together and when we got done ,the kid asked me what would you do to correct my swaying problem? ,this was at two in the morning ,we took the truck to a gas station where it was lighted and I showed him what adjustments he needed to make ,now I told him I wouldn't warranteed that it was going to fix it ,because all the ad ons on that suspension but to give it a try ,it was going to be 30 minutes ,well today the kid called me and told me that I could have save them thousands of $ if his dad would of listen to me four or five years a go ,problem fixed .
I can seat here and give you all kinds of ideas ,but if I'm not looking at the truck is not going to help.
A guy that I know built his Ford/Sterlin tractor to a dump few years a go with the original air ride and every since his being twicking and working on that set up ,every shop that he goes to wants to try something different ,adding things to make it stronger, I keep telling him that suspension is strong enough ,that he only needs minor adjustment ,but he keeps going to the people that knows ,the people that deal with this stuff every day (according to him) ,finally his son find out that I've being advising the father for a long time.
Well thusrday we were working together and when we got done ,the kid asked me what would you do to correct my swaying problem? ,this was at two in the morning ,we took the truck to a gas station where it was lighted and I showed him what adjustments he needed to make ,now I told him I wouldn't warranteed that it was going to fix it ,because all the ad ons on that suspension but to give it a try ,it was going to be 30 minutes ,well today the kid called me and told me that I could have save them thousands of $ if his dad would of listen to me four or five years a go ,problem fixed .
Ranch Hand
Active Member
The truck is on level ground, but not perfectly level. I'll have to find some concrete to park the truck on so I can measure it. Then I'll see about getting the bags adjusted.
I took the truck to town and I have more information on the trumbing of the tires. Also the steering wheel is vibrating. When I go down hill and take my foot of the pedel the vibration increases. Going uphill and speed up the vibration decreases. So I am guessing this is a front wheel balance issue.
I took the truck to town and I have more information on the trumbing of the tires. Also the steering wheel is vibrating. When I go down hill and take my foot of the pedel the vibration increases. Going uphill and speed up the vibration decreases. So I am guessing this is a front wheel balance issue.
Willis Bushogin
Senior Member
truck
Does your front tires have any excessive wear, cupping out (like on the sides) Did you ever check the driveline, for worn UJoints? I have had the drive shafts put out of time, causing vibrations, If the tires are not worn bad, I have had good luck using Equal tire balance beads. Most big tire shops has this, or they can spin balance them.
You might want to have the front end checked out, king pins, tie rod ends, alignment.
Now I dont have hills in my area, but Im thinking (could be wrong) when you are going up hill and increasing speed, the driveline is under a load/strain. You let off the strain, the driveline wear, timing, etc vibration, might show up more.
Double check the back air bag mounting, something doesn't look right. Does the wear on the back tandems seem even wear, or are some of them wearing on the sides more? If so you might need a all wheel alignment, to set all the wheels in the same direction/angle
Does your front tires have any excessive wear, cupping out (like on the sides) Did you ever check the driveline, for worn UJoints? I have had the drive shafts put out of time, causing vibrations, If the tires are not worn bad, I have had good luck using Equal tire balance beads. Most big tire shops has this, or they can spin balance them.
You might want to have the front end checked out, king pins, tie rod ends, alignment.
Now I dont have hills in my area, but Im thinking (could be wrong) when you are going up hill and increasing speed, the driveline is under a load/strain. You let off the strain, the driveline wear, timing, etc vibration, might show up more.
Double check the back air bag mounting, something doesn't look right. Does the wear on the back tandems seem even wear, or are some of them wearing on the sides more? If so you might need a all wheel alignment, to set all the wheels in the same direction/angle
Ranch Hand
Active Member
Finally Repaired
We I took my truck in for the state inspection and 3 weeks later and a bunch of money I got my truck back. I had it at the welding shop 3 times. Once to get the dump bed welded (there is new steel on the inside of the dump rail), once for cracked cross memeber that holds the rear of the truck together and once to repair the left rear air bag. The shop had to call Denver to find out what the ride height should be. Also see the shinny new air level valve, had that replaced also. There where a lot of air leaks that had to be repaired. Had to replace a leaking air valve and I also got new tires for the truck. This repair should last for the next 10 years at least. I think there were also a few other items the shop would have done, but I think they were tired of working on this truck.
Also the vibration is gone now. I suspect because of the cracked crossmember the trucks rear end was vibration apart. It was more that I was epecting to pay but I know our truck is in really good shape now. The worse thing that could happen would be to break down on the road. A little (in this case a lot) of preventive care is worth it.
We I took my truck in for the state inspection and 3 weeks later and a bunch of money I got my truck back. I had it at the welding shop 3 times. Once to get the dump bed welded (there is new steel on the inside of the dump rail), once for cracked cross memeber that holds the rear of the truck together and once to repair the left rear air bag. The shop had to call Denver to find out what the ride height should be. Also see the shinny new air level valve, had that replaced also. There where a lot of air leaks that had to be repaired. Had to replace a leaking air valve and I also got new tires for the truck. This repair should last for the next 10 years at least. I think there were also a few other items the shop would have done, but I think they were tired of working on this truck.
Also the vibration is gone now. I suspect because of the cracked crossmember the trucks rear end was vibration apart. It was more that I was epecting to pay but I know our truck is in really good shape now. The worse thing that could happen would be to break down on the road. A little (in this case a lot) of preventive care is worth it.
