I never knew these existed...

1940's There was no power steering back then..

the driver had to be strong

Wow, kinda cool.

Did anyone see the restoration of the one in the show Bichin' (misspelled on purpose) Rides? Very interesting how it was done! Lots of great filming on the resto. Interesting it was powered by a gas straight 6 and halted by air brakes (the early ones that lost braking when you lost air pressure!), they upgraded it to newer style air brakes during the resto.

Here is a link to some video clips. Here is a link to some of the future liner videos. click on the video link. And then the video clips.

I've seen pics of this before but, I didn't realize it had duals on the front.
They're cool rigs.

cyntdon2010 wrote:
1940's There was no power steering back then..

the driver had to be strong

It's not as bad as you might think. They used larger diameter steering wheels to give better leverage and they geared it down.

Also, if you've ever driven truck without power steering, the trick is to get it rolling before starting to turn the wheel. As long as there is some movement, the force needed to turn the wheel is drastically less.

My first truck had manual steering and as long as I had room to get it rolling at all, I could easily palm the wheel.

Then again dual front tires doesn't change any of this.

If you want to see something cool, google dual steering axle truck. I came across them in brazil but I'm sure they are in other countries also. They have two front axles and each steers. My buddy who owns a gravel pit says they are less prone to getting stuck in soft conditions compared to standard dump trucks.

valhalla360 wrote:

cyntdon2010 wrote:
1940's There was no power steering back then..

the driver had to be strong

It's not as bad as you might think. They used larger diameter steering wheels to give better leverage and they geared it down.

Also, if you've ever driven truck without power steering, the trick is to get it rolling before starting to turn the wheel. As long as there is some movement, the force needed to turn the wheel is drastically less.

My first truck had manual steering and as long as I had room to get it rolling at all, I could easily palm the wheel.

Then again dual front tires doesn't change any of this.

If you want to see something cool, google dual steering axle truck. I came across them in brazil but I'm sure they are in other countries also. They have two front axles and each steers. My buddy who owns a gravel pit says they are less prone to getting stuck in soft conditions compared to standard dump trucks.

Common sense dictates that with or without power steering, you should always be rolling when attempting to turn the steering wheel. Americans have been dumbed down and become lazy with all the advancements that fail.

I'd hate to see younger people navigate if all the cell sites, and all the internet and GPS systems went down at once, in the event of a major catastrophe.

They'd figure it out just like you figured out how to use computers, GPS, radio, television, CB's, etc. Just because they're young doesn't mean they're stupid.

Neither did I. Out of all of the pictures that I've seen of the Futurliner, I never realized that they had dual front wheels. Oddly, I'd rather have this design over most modern Class A's. But then again I'm a sucker for the cabover designs.

Kendigit designs did the retro, located in Salt Lake City. Took couple years to do the rebuild cause it was a mess when it was brought in, total refab build up from the frame. Sold at auction and then DONATED back to the armed services to put on tour. Every thing worked as when it was made in the forties.

Sure would be dark in there with no windows. I guess the body lines didn't allow for windows.