2023 BRGB Movin' On Kenworth

[leafsprings]

I chose the Revell version for the best candidate for the Movin' On KW group build. It will require kit bashing from several kits to get it as close as possible. The short hood is the most obvious and noticeable piece, but everything else is powertrain, suspension and wheel modifications. Based on the second season, will need to add a Cummins 6 cylinder engine, torsion bars suspension and 22" wheels and tires.

Edited March 18, 2023 by leafsprings

[tbill]

Looking forward to seeing this progress

[tractoraholic]

Looking forward seeing your build. 

[Rockford]

Sonny Pruitt's truck is my favourite truck of all time. The proportions, the colours, the chrome, it's just the archetypal 70s truck. I can't wait to see it coming together.

[Dutzie]

One of my all time favorites 

[Force]

This I will follow.
I plan to build one of the Movin' On trucks myself and have gathered lots of pictures and information as well as the DVD's of both seasons.
The second season trucks were 1975 models and are slightly different from the first season 1974 model trucks.

[leafsprings]

Thanks for the encouragement! Now that I'm looking at the project a little closer, the suspension change will be more involved than previously thought. The Revell frame rails are not clean, they have airbags  and center beam molded into them. Removing them will be very difficult and leave large opening gaps in lower frame rail. Looking at using a donor KW AMT frame now.

[Pete68]

Hope you can switch them out without a problem 

[Russell C]

The show is what prompted me to build nothing but trucks from '75-ish through to 1987. My favorite episode was where Will thought about getting his own Diamond Reo Raider. You probably already know of the official website for the show? http://www.movinontvshow.com/  Some good reference photos there.

My one gripe with the current owner of the 1:1 original (?) TV show truck is - last I saw - he still has the newer Budd wheels on it rather than the proper Alcoas.

[leafsprings]

Thanks for the link Russel, never seen it before. Trying to gather as much knowledge from the members on this forum on the Movin On KW. Member Force has been very helpful in his research on KW's used in Season 1 and Season 2. I agree about the current KW, shouldn't really be used for reference, not historically correct. Have a  much cleaner AMT conventional frame to mount  torsion springs to, but the wheelbase will be too short due to the longer VIT sleeper. Cummins and Roadranger completed.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by leafsprings

[DRIPTROIT 71]

I shaved all of the air ride stuff off of the frame in my T800 dump. It was a real pain and took some repair. What about using the front section of the Revel frame and the rear section of the AMT? 

[Russell C]

14 hours ago, leafsprings said:

Thanks for the link Russell, never seen it before. ....

Forgot to include what I think is also the program creator's Philip D'Antoni's official Facebook page for his show, where you don't have to log in to FB to view the photos (although FB sometimes arbitrarily throws in a "not logged in" tag and blanks the screen). Looks like D'Antoni hasn't put in new content since last October, but I remember guys asking tech questions and/or finding answers there about details for the assortment of trucks seen on the show. https://www.facebook.com/movinontvshow/photos

[Force]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:16 AM, Russell C said:

The show is what prompted me to build nothing but trucks from '75-ish through to 1987. My favorite episode was where Will thought about getting his own Diamond Reo Raider. You probably already know of the official website for the show? http://www.movinontvshow.com/  Some good reference photos there.

My one gripe with the current owner of the 1:1 original (?) TV show truck is - last I saw - he still has the newer Budd wheels on it rather than the proper Alcoas.

Mark Stracener who bought the only known Movin On TV series truck from season 1, one of the 1974 "Sundance" trucks, from Paul Sagehorn a couple of years ago and currently owns it, he is restoring it back to it's former glory with the correct Cummins VT903, torsion bar suspension and all, he do have a set of the TV series correct 22 inch split ring Alcoa wheels for tube tires but tires for them are not that easy to get hold of these days so he will use the newer tubeless style 11.00-24½ Alcoas for now.
There aren't many tire manufacturers who does 11.00-22 tires for trucks these days and Mark at Twin Stick Garage (youtube channel) had difficulty getting tires for his Snowman replica build, finally he managed to get a set of 10 but it wasn't easy and most likely not cheap.
Here is a video of the "Sundance" truck as it was 6 months ago.

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Force

[Force]

18 hours ago, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

I shaved all of the air ride stuff off of the frame in my T800 dump. It was a real pain and took some repair. What about using the front section of the Revel frame and the rear section of the AMT? 

I was planning to do just that on my build when I get to it, splice in the rear section of the AMT chassis to the Revell AG front section.

[Russell C]

14 hours ago, Force said:

... he do have a set of the TV series correct 22 inch split ring Alcoa wheels for tube tires but tires for them are not that easy to get hold of.....

That is great to know!

[Dutzie]

Excellent work! 

[leafsprings]

On 3/23/2023 at 12:34 PM, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

 What about using the front section of the Revel frame and the rear section of the AMT? 

Looked at that possibility and noticed the Revell frame is more narrower than the AMT frame, almost as if it is molded in smaller scale. Have another AMT KW cabover frame that I can use as a donor for the conventional frame stretch.  Resin Auslowe torsion bar suspension will be used, comes with nice instructions.

Edited March 25, 2023 by leafsprings

[leafsprings]

On 3/24/2023 at 6:37 AM, Force said:

Mark Stracener who bought the only known Movin On TV series truck from season 1, one of the 1974 "Sundance" trucks, from Paul Sagehorn a couple of years ago and currently owns it, he is restoring it back to it's former glory with the correct Cummins VT903, torsion bar suspension and all, he do have a set of the TV series correct 22 inch split ring Alcoa wheels for tube tires but tires for them are not that easy to get hold of these days so he will use the newer tubeless style 11.00-24½ Alcoas for now.
There aren't many tire manufacturers who does 11.00-22 tires for trucks these days and Mark at Twin Stick Garage (youtube channel) had difficulty getting tires for his Snowman replica build, finally he managed to get a set of 10 but it wasn't easy and most likely not cheap.
Here is a video of the "Sundance" truck as it was 6 months ago.

 

Thanks for your sharing your knowledge and this video Hakan, much appreciated.

Edited March 25, 2023 by leafsprings

[Force]

7 hours ago, leafsprings said:

Looked at that possibility and noticed the Revell frame is more narrower than the AMT frame, almost as if it is molded in smaller scale.

It's funny, some people insists that the Revell Germany Kenworth W900 is 1:24th scale, yes some of the boxes of the different versions of this kit says 1:24th scale but all versions are based on the same kit bcause they did not do 2 different kits in different scales, and it really is 1:25th scale like it says on other boxes with versions of this kit.
I covered all versions of the Revell Germany KW W900 kits in this topic back in August.

I have not compared the chassis on the Revell and AMT kits but it could be like you say.

[leafsprings]

Used the AMT frame for a more uniform and solid foundation to mount the torsion bar suspension, which was definitely  more difficult to deal with than any other suspension system I've ever built, but luckily it was available in resin, original issue KW plastic would have been impossible to find. There is a donut  missing on the end of the  resin torsion bar conversion kit, had to fabricate something close, not sure if the AMT version had this part. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by leafsprings

[Force]

No the end cap at the rear of the AMT torsion bar setup is not there, I have one W925 and one K123 originals with torsion bar suspension and I just checked.
The aftermarket setup is easier to build than the original AMT setup.

[leafsprings]

 Frame lengthened to 235"  ( 1:1 ) to accommodate the longer 60" VIT sleeper. Thanks again Hakan for your research on the torsion bar suspension and wheelbase used on the Movin' On KW's. Rockwell hubs and drive line fitted.

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by leafsprings

[cifenet]

The frame work looks awesome so far.

I like the choice of color also.  

I enjoyed your writing on your findings on your research.  Keep up the good work!

[Force]

On 4/2/2023 at 10:53 PM, leafsprings said:

 Frame lengthened to 235"  ( 1:1 ) to accommodate the longer 60" VIT sleeper. Thanks again Hakan for your research on the torsion bar suspension and wheelbase used on the Movin' On KW's. Rockwell hubs and drive line fitted.

 

 

 

You are welcome, I had some help myself from a nice guy...KJ Humphries...who gave me the information on the wheelbase.
Your build looks great so far.

[leafsprings]

Body in primer, beginning to look like a KW now, next step is the interior while primer dries.

Edited April 22, 2023 by leafsprings