Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/101364
CUSTOM RIGS PRO TIPS Powder coat instead of paint Q I like the black stacks ��� what kind of powder are they using on them? ��� Chris Blackmund A I can���t answer what type of powder to use, but no doubt powder coating will be more durable than a hightemp paint. PPG offers many different types of powder-coating products. Here at First Class Services Inc., we live and breathe PPG, and that would be my recommendation. ��� Randy Stroup, First Class Services Power plays Converting a flattop to high-rise Q I have a flat-roof ���95 Peterbilt. I would like to make it a Unibilt cab with the high-rise roof. Can this be done? If so, what���s the best way to do so? Also, would this be expensive? ��� Michael Odum, Brownsville, Texas A Converting from a flattop to a high-rise can be done. All you need is the bunk, then just bolt it on. Now if your truck is not a Unibilt, you���re going to spend some money in the conversion. I don���t know for sure how Peterbilt reinforced the cab to make it a Unibilt, so you would have to re-engineer the cab to hold the bunk. What I did on my 1989 Kenworth was to build a subframe under the cab and bunk and put it on air bags. We also added a 1-inch-diameter sway bar and two adjustable shocks with 19 adjustments. This truck rides like a Cadillac, and when I get onto concrete highways that are uneven, I crank down the stiffness of the shocks to control the bouncing of the cab and bunk. It���s at my shop in Saxonburg, Pa., if you would like to see it. Jon Anderson did the fabricating, and I can put you in touch with him. ��� Bruce Bruce Mallinson is the owner of Pittsburgh Power, an engine performance shop in Saxonburg, Pa. The benefits of aftermarket exhaust Q I would like to change out stock mufflers on my ���04 Pete with some type of full-flow exhaust where it looks stock but is louder and has less backpressure. I���d like to keep the factory heat shields, too, if you follow my thinking. ��� Chuck Black, Agua Dulce, Calif. A Chuck, installing performance mufflers would be a definite step in the right direction. You should see a slight fuel mileage gain and a slight improvement in response and power as well. This is one of the easiest and cheapest methods to improve performance and mileage. They are the same dimensions as original mufflers, so OEM heat shields will go right back on them. You can easily install them at home in a few hours. We stock the highperformance mufflers. They offer a straight-through design for minimal backpressure, and they range in price from $119 each to $379 each. ��� Bryan Martin, 4 State Trucks 40 | Overdrive | January 2013