Wedico Peterbilt Day Cab

[Espeefan]

The tow hitch looks fine to me! Your other cast and or printed parts look great too. You are off to a good start on making this Wedico look much better and more scale. Keep it up.

[PilotJesse]

Thanks for the feedback guys. This is a comparison of what it looks like vs. the goal. It's just the slightest bit big. Might be passable but I want to do this truck right! Going to make it just the tiniest bit smaller and see where that gets us. Lots of trial and error with this truck.

[skeeter]

Personally, I'd let er ride!
If you remake er, will the tow point be string enough to be functional?

[PilotJesse]

We're going to let the front tow hook go for now. I think it will look smaller once it's painted. It's been a while since I've worked on the truck, but started some disassembly tonight. Lots and lots of wires! Glad I have all the wiring diagrams, they're going to be a big help!

[PilotJesse]

What have I done!!!

[PilotJesse]

Been working a lot recently, and haven't had time to work on the truck. Started test fitting the airbag suspension and realized that the leaf springs are too short. Luckily that's an easy fix.

[PilotJesse]

Went ahead and did a test fit of the axle and airbags to see how it would look. I know I'm missing some pieces, but I think this rear end is going to turn out great when I'm done!

[Claus]

Nice work Jesse. The trick is getting the truck to sit level once you lower the front end. Also to keep the front wheels from rubbing fenders or bumper. Remember these trucks are 359s not 379s or 389s! I kind of like them being the older 359 myself.

[PilotJesse]

Originally Posted by Claus

Nice work Jesse. The trick is getting the truck to sit level once you lower the front end. Also to keep the front wheels from rubbing fenders or bumper. Remember these trucks are 359s not 379s or 389s! I kind of like them being the older 359 myself.

Thanks Claus, I designed the rear suspension so that the truck will sit level once the front end is lowered to an acceptable height, so it should work out just fine.

[PilotJesse]

Small update: little details make a big difference. Changed the mesh in the air cleaners to a photo etched round hole design instead of the woven wire mesh that came with them. I think that they look a lot better! Hoping to have some bigger updates soon.

[egronvold]

Nice upgrade.

[frizzen]

That mesh looks awesome

[jerry56]

I just love the attention to detail you guys have..... amazing..

[bigpipespete]

Where did you buy the photo etch screen for your air cans . Youre not kidding that makes a big difference.

[PilotJesse]

Thanks guys! The photo etch round mesh is from amazon (link below). They have lots of different patterns and designs. I ordered a few different styles for various parts on the truck.

https://www.amazon.com/Madworks-Spir.../dp/B07MX1LWVJ

[PilotJesse]

Started some work on the grille. The stock Wedico grille isn't bad, but it's not what I want. I love the OEM Peterbilt grille design with the oval pattern, and couldn't find anything off the shelf that would suffice, so just like a lot of other things on this truck, time to design my own. I printed out a mock-up of my design, and I think I'll be happy with it. Off to be laser cut!

[PilotJesse]

Also got the cab disassembled, and stripped. Have a couple of modifications to the cab while it's raw.

[bigpipespete]

That grill will look a lot nicer than the old one. What mods will you make to the cab ?

[PilotJesse]

Originally Posted by bigpipespete

That grill will look a lot nicer than the old one. What mods will you make to the cab ?

Nothing major, some extra holes... and a "few" rivets. I've been studying the Modelltruck forum thread that trilliwilli sent. I love the way the rivets make the Wedico cab look more realistic on his truck.

[PilotJesse]

Following in Espeefan's footsteps, I got the front axle milled down by a local machine shop to lower the front end. Wish I had the equipment to do it myself, but unfortunately I just don't have the space right now.


The front of the truck had a better ride height, but still was a little bit too high, so I made an adjustment with the front leaf springs and I think we've got her!



Ran into a little snag with the grille design, turns out the company that was going to cut it for me didn't have a machine that was precise enough for those little tiny holes. I did design it to be almost exactly a scaled down of the OEM grille, and I'm thinking that it might not have looked good anyway. Some design aspects don't scale very well. Still going for the OEM look, but will have to redesign.