As seen in the USA

Saw a few of these Strong Arm devices while on the honeymoon. Mainly on tippers and cement trucks. I guess they are some kind of load sharing device,but it seems a funny way of going about it




Maybe one of our US members can enlighten me :

The badge says International, but not like any I've seen before

IH Scout, those Inters are 9800 models. They are very common here in NZ, particularly the later 9800i model which looks very similar but has a different grille. They are a popular alternative here to the K104/108 KWs, are almost always fitted with a Cummins ISX engine which is mounted low down between the chassis rails giving a flat floor in the cab.

B

Nothing stylish about them, just a big garden shed on wheels.

The silly wheels are to lenghten the wheel base to get better weights/ payload on the trucks

I finally got to downloading all my photos off the camera. Here are a selection of old trucks - mostly fire engines as that's what we saw most of, not because I have a particular interest in them.

This was the fire truck graveyard in Soledad Canyon Rd (featured in the movie Duel).



Some more fire engines seen around the traps





and other old trucks



And not so old

The Americans certainly know how to do caravaning in style. No Nissan Patrol with 16ft pop-top Jayco for them. They were all Winnebagos and 5th wheel trailers. The Winnebagos usually towing a car for running around. Their caravan parks were cr*p though, just acres of asphalt and power poles, no trees, no grass. Not an inviting prospect at all.

International Scouts have a large and lively following in the US an I was expecting to see a few on the roads, but in 3 weeks I only spotted 5, and only one of them actually on the road.



A bit sad really :'(

They know how to do big trains too. This one with double decker containers was about a mile long.