Sam I Am Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Ok, the guy who we are painting the stretched Pete for also has this sitting in front of his shop. It does run and drive and other than the front bumper seems to be original. It still has its aluminum frame and belt drive rear ends.
Petetrucker07 Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 (edited) Boltless and square ends, the bumper is after market. But that is a cool old KW COE. Edited October 18, 2014 by Petetrucker07
Wagoneer81 Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 "Belt-Drive rear ends"... That's a new one on me. Could someone explain that one for me, please? That is a cool looking old truck...
Mackvision Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 Back when this truck was new (1950's),"twin screw" or dual drive rear axles were relatively un-common,the solution at the time was a set of rubber "drive belts" that connected the forward "live" axle to the "dead" rear axle,a trailing or "tag" axle making the truck (for all intents and puposes) a "dual drive" tractor (think chain-drive bulldog Mack) and it will make sense. Hope that explanation helps!...................................Mark
Superpeterbilt Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 If possible, Id like to see some close-ups of that rear axle set up.
Sam I Am Posted October 21, 2014 Author Posted October 21, 2014 I will get some pics for you sometime this week.
BigBad Posted October 21, 2014 Posted October 21, 2014 Tht truck has a mean looking face! I like it! That would look real nice once restored!
Badluck 13 Posted October 21, 2014 Posted October 21, 2014 This was the only decent picture I could find on a "belt drive" system
Jim B Posted October 21, 2014 Posted October 21, 2014 Good luck finding a replacement belt for that if it brakes. Is that a Page & Page rear suspension? What year & model is this Kenworth?
Mackvision Posted October 21, 2014 Posted October 21, 2014 Jim,not sure on the exact model (I'm a Mack man) but the truck is late 1958 early 1959 (first year for the "tombstone" shaped grille surround) vintage,indeed a Page& Page rear,with a Gates belt drive (believe it or not.Gates still makes replacement belts)...............................................................Mark
Truck parts Posted October 24, 2014 Posted October 24, 2014 Great looking old KW. Thank you for the post
Sam I Am Posted November 1, 2014 Author Posted November 1, 2014 Sorry it took so long, but here are a few more pics. The rear axle is the drive axle, and the front axle is powered by a belt that is ran by a large pulley inbetween each set of duals.
Casey Posted November 2, 2014 Posted November 2, 2014 That's really neat to see, though it appears the driver's side belt has turned inside out? Thanks for the pics, Sam.
Superpeterbilt Posted November 2, 2014 Posted November 2, 2014 I will definitley be using this on something in the future. Thanks Sam. This is one set-up that I have never seen.
lapazleo Posted November 2, 2014 Posted November 2, 2014 Jim,not sure on the exact model (I'm a Mack man) but the truck is late 1958 early 1959 (first year for the "tombstone" shaped grille surround) vintage,indeed a Page& Page rear,with a Gates belt drive (believe it or not.Gates still makes replacement belts)...............................................................Mark I believe it's a very early k model.
Sam I Am Posted November 2, 2014 Author Posted November 2, 2014 Glad I can give back a little bit to this great group of modelers. It is a 1958, runs great, and is for sale if anyone is interested.
Petetrucker07 Posted November 2, 2014 Posted November 2, 2014 Wish i lived closer. Id be interested in buying it
Wagoneer81 Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 Thanks for the answer! That would be a unique restoration project. I'd never seen or heard of this type of drive system...
Jim B Posted November 5, 2014 Posted November 5, 2014 So I did a little digging, and if this is a 1958 then it is a 500-Series, most likely a 521 since only one of the rear axles is driven. And what makes this really cool is that is still works! Do you know what type of engine it has? Back then Kenworth used Cummins, Buda, Hall-Scott, & Waukesha if I'm not mistaken. Just out of curiosity, what's the asking price?
Sam I Am Posted November 5, 2014 Author Posted November 5, 2014 I'll find out the answers to both those questions for you. ...oh, and the front bumper that is on it, is going on the stretched pete that we are painting.
Sam I Am Posted November 6, 2014 Author Posted November 6, 2014 So I did a little digging, and if this is a 1958 then it is a 500-Series, most likely a 521 since only one of the rear axles is driven. And what makes this really cool is that is still works! Do you know what type of engine it has? Back then Kenworth used Cummins, Buda, Hall-Scott, & Waukesha if I'm not mistaken. Just out of curiosity, what's the asking price? It is a 500 series, it has a 260 Cummins (think its turbo-ed), and they want $5000 for it. Runs like a champ.
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