B.R.B.O. 2022 Freightliner CF Pusher truck

[DRIPTROIT 71]

I have been wanting to build one of these for a long time. They were used to push trucks over Donner pass in the snow. It is not an exact replica of any one CF truck because reference photos are rare, but I did try to incorporate characteristics of CF trucks. My reference truck seemed to be a mixture of parts, so I built this one as fresh out of the shop and first week on the job, unlike the dirty look that most CF trucks had. It is powered by a VT-903 Cummins, it is backed by a 5 Speed Spicer transmission. I added the large air tank for the air starter. Bed is scratch built. Wheels are the first two hole Budds that Double Take sold on Ebay. Cab was shortened to 72”. I also eliminated the diamond tuck interior to make it more like a base CF truck.

 I was hoping for an actual snow day for pictures, but that didn’t happen.?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by DRIPTROIT 71

[Jim B]

Great looking push truck.  Very well done.

[happy grumpy]

Cool truck and great work on the mods. ?

[grodudulle77]

Awesome work, very nice pics !! ??

[Bronzekeg]

from the mods to the photos everything looks great!

[TruckerAL]

Fantastic work buddy!

[yh70]

looks good

[Doug 1061]

Now that is different.  Some nice scratch building.  My first thought was that is way too clean for a CF truck.  Did you have to make the tire chains or are they available through aftermarket?   Good work all around.

[Mopar - D]

Awesome build Brian!! I enjoyed following your WIP on this one and your outside pictures look awesome with the winter trees in the back ground. 

[ChrisR]

Awesome!!

[PappyD340]

OUTSTANDING build Brian!

[1959scudetto]

Very impressive conversion, Brian !

[Dutzie]

Great looking truck Brian. I really like the round headlights and pusher accessories. Nice work!

[Warren D]

Awesome job!  Love all the little details.

[DRIPTROIT 71]

On 3/3/2022 at 12:02 PM, Jim B said:

Great looking push truck.  Very well done.

Thanks Jim!!

On 3/3/2022 at 12:57 PM, happy grumpy said:

Cool truck and great work on the mods. ?

Thanks so much!

On 3/3/2022 at 2:16 PM, grodudulle77 said:

Awesome work, very nice pics !! ??

 Thanks!!

On 3/3/2022 at 5:50 PM, Bronzekeg said:

from the mods to the photos everything looks great!

 Thanks Ken!!

On 3/3/2022 at 9:48 PM, TruckerAL said:

Fantastic work buddy!

 Thanks Alex!!

On 3/3/2022 at 9:51 PM, yh70 said:

looks good

 Thanks Dave!!

On 3/3/2022 at 11:09 PM, Doug 1061 said:

Now that is different.  Some nice scratch building.  My first thought was that is way too clean for a CF truck.  Did you have to make the tire chains or are they available through aftermarket?   Good work all around.

 Thanks Doug! I was going to weather it more, but the pictures that I found of these trucks looked pretty good especially for an old CF truck. The chains on the drive tires were gotten off of EBay and I don’t remember the supplier. I pieced together snow chains to hang on the tanks and a set on the rear from jewelry. The others are just tow chains made from jewelry.

On 3/4/2022 at 8:55 AM, Mopar - D said:

Awesome build Brian!! I enjoyed following your WIP on this one and your outside pictures look awesome with the winter trees in the back ground. 

 Thanks Dan! I appreciate all the encouragement along the way too! 
 

 

On 3/4/2022 at 9:26 AM, ChrisR said:

Awesome!!

Thanks Chris!!

On 3/5/2022 at 7:07 AM, PappyD340 said:

OUTSTANDING build Brian!

 Thanks Larry!! 
 

 

On 3/5/2022 at 2:40 PM, 1959scudetto said:

Very impressive conversion, Brian !

Thanks so much!!

On 3/5/2022 at 4:31 PM, Dutzie said:

Great looking truck Brian. I really like the round headlights and pusher accessories. Nice work!

 Thanks Brian! The headlights didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but they look okay.

On 3/6/2022 at 9:15 AM, Warren D said:

Awesome job!  Love all the little details.

 Thanks Warren!! 

[raisin27]

Inspiring!

[Vettegasser]

Man alive you build some awesome stuff 

[slusher]

Outstanding build in every way!!

Edited March 10, 2022 by slusher

[DRIPTROIT 71]

On 3/9/2022 at 6:36 PM, raisin27 said:

Inspiring!

Thanks so much!!

On 3/9/2022 at 8:10 PM, Vettegasser said:

Man alive you build some awesome stuff 

 Thanks Jimmy!! 
 

 

On 3/10/2022 at 1:57 AM, slusher said:

Outstanding build in every way!!

Thanks Carl!!

[Chuck Mols]

Fantastic build and great photos.

[trick my mixer]

Looks really good.

['70 Grande]

I remember seeing this great looking build when you first posted it and seeing it again now reminds me of a 1:1 question I thought of then:

I'm curious if this 1:1 truck was just "stationed" at the bottom of Donner Pass when snow was in the weather forecast and how many "runs up the mountain" it would've made on a typical winter's day? 

Anyone have any insight?

Edited August 3, 2022 by '70 Grande

[DRIPTROIT 71]

On 7/30/2022 at 12:10 PM, Chuck Mols said:

Fantastic build and great photos.

Thanks Chuck!!

On 8/2/2022 at 3:00 PM, trick my mixer said:

Looks really good.

Thanks Lucas!!

On 8/3/2022 at 8:11 AM, '70 Grande said:

I remember seeing this great looking build when you first posted it and seeing it again now reminds me of a 1:1 question I thought of then:

I'm curious if this 1:1 truck was just "stationed" at the bottom of Donner Pass when snow was in the weather forecast and how many "runs up the mountain" it would've made on a typical winter's day? 

Anyone have any insight?

Thanks Mark!! I don't know much about how these trucks were staged. My friend who was a CF driver is no longer with us.  I do know that they would push anyone's truck up the mountain to keep the road clear for their own trucks. I also know that Donner Pass would be closed if driving conditions were too dangerous. I also was curious as to why these trucks weren't built from a tandem drive truck as they had a few. I have seen pictures of at least 3 CF versions of these trucks, a Roadway version, a Con Way version (possibly repainted CF truck), and some more modern Caltrans versions. 

[gatorincebu]

 

   Brian,

        That is a pretty slick truck. I like all of the extra details you added to it !

 

  Be Well

   Gator

[Plastheniker]

Very unusual and interesting subject, geat model!