Wednesday, May 10, 2017

when trucking was a tough rough dirty damn job with no radio, ac, power steering etc etc.. so, what are the tanks on top of the cabs?

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:59 AM

    As they were operating in the desert - maybe extra cooling water?

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    1. great idea!
      No matter how warm the water gets, it's still refreshing to wash off the sweat.

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  2. Truck has its side panels off. Maybe the tank is extra water for overheating in the desert? Did they haul livestock?

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    1. I don't know what they hauled, or when, but that's probably the answer... extra cooling water

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    2. I'm not sure if it was the same company, but I saw it mentioned in Hank's truck Forum that LA-Yuma Freight lines started out as a cattle hauler, so it could quite possibly have been used for watering the livestock on board.

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  3. Two guesses...
    1) These look like Ford AA's. The gas tank isn't any bigger than a Model A, which is in between the windshield and the engine. They also operated by gravity, this could have been an extra tank.
    2) Im from the east, so I dont know how hilly the route is between Yuma and Phoenix, but I know that some trucks use to, logging trucks still do I believe, use water to cool the brakes to prevent warping or fire.

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    1. Looks like fuel tanks on the normal Semi trucking location, the mid truck area under the bed. Or that 2nd idea you have about cooling water... sure, water on high to gravity feed cooling water to the front brakes, and a tank next to the back brakes too

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  4. Long distance fuel tanks?First truck has engine over-heating issues?

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    1. Good idea... extra fuel to get you farther down the road to compensate for the extra aerodynamic drag that box on the back created, or cooling water for the time getting across the Mojave and Great Basin deserts

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  5. They could be Air reservoirs for the early Westinghouse air brakes for heavy commercial application. If these trucks were tractors with a fifth wheel the tank would be mounted behind the cab. But the 'rigid' unit does not have this luxury. 'Light' commercial systems had smaller tanks mounted inside the chassis.

    Looking more Dodge, and appearing to be built to haul heavy loads with that axle set up (once upon a time my father drove a 78 Dodge dual axle tipper, and that V8 beast carried a shit load of road base for many years real well). Lots of weight and lots of hills equals lots of brakes and lots of air, I guess.

    The only problem with a tank that size full of either water or fuel(good god) mounted like that, is they would be very heavy and require absolute faith in their mounting to say the least. Larger, longer fuel tanks could still be fitted in their current location and remain accessible to fill while keeping the weight down low on the chassis.

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  6. Im guessing they are water tanks for livestock, or perhaps water evaporation misting setup to help keep the fresh produce or livestock cool ?

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