LJRuddy
Pop lock n drop
Well, I finally got my new work truck back from the repair shop. We bought this beast back in the spring up in Fargo for pennies on the dollar as the crane needed major repairs. I hauled 2 of the extender shafts off to get them straightened as someone managed to bent the holy **** out of them. Truck spent several weeks in the shop being put back together. I finally got it back Monday after a nice sized repair bill ($13,549.97 
) and sent it through its inaugural work day.
2003 Freightliner FL80 36,000GVR
Cat 3126-B mated to a Eaton-Fuller 9 speed
75,000 miles, 8,200 hours
Fresh tune up, rebuilt RX-87 crane, new clutch and a few other tranny doodads
So far, its badass to work with. Midwest Sign Company now has the tallest reaching crane in the metro area - at least in the sign industry - with a platform height of 104' and a working height of 111'. To get an idea of how high I can go, the picture below shows the crane about 40% extended.
The basket itself has more bells n' whistles than a fully optioned Benz S class including welding leads, 120/220v supplies, oxy/acetylene connections, speakers connected to the in-cab radio (my first mod on the truck
), self leveling basket, primary crane with a 5300lb capacity @ 75* fully extended, secondary in-basket crane with a 700lb capacity... And much more! Control panel looks like the cockpit of a freakin' 747 
Anywho, next week, she's off to get the bed media blasted and then i'm putting a nice jet black paint job on it. The crane itself will also be sanded down with a torch red paint job.
On to a couple pics. I didn't get to take many as I was too busy dickin' around with the truck. ****, this job should have taken us 4 hours to do but after I was done messin' around, we left the job site in 8 hours.
Maybe when ya'll come down to KC in a few weeks, i'll set up a bungee jump area with it.
She's come a long way since the day I drove it to KC...
I think we've got enough trucks now... ****, the Ford has not been started in over a year. :laugh_ti:
) and sent it through its inaugural work day. 2003 Freightliner FL80 36,000GVR
Cat 3126-B mated to a Eaton-Fuller 9 speed
75,000 miles, 8,200 hours
Fresh tune up, rebuilt RX-87 crane, new clutch and a few other tranny doodads
So far, its badass to work with. Midwest Sign Company now has the tallest reaching crane in the metro area - at least in the sign industry - with a platform height of 104' and a working height of 111'. To get an idea of how high I can go, the picture below shows the crane about 40% extended.
The basket itself has more bells n' whistles than a fully optioned Benz S class including welding leads, 120/220v supplies, oxy/acetylene connections, speakers connected to the in-cab radio (my first mod on the truck
), self leveling basket, primary crane with a 5300lb capacity @ 75* fully extended, secondary in-basket crane with a 700lb capacity... And much more! Control panel looks like the cockpit of a freakin' 747 Anywho, next week, she's off to get the bed media blasted and then i'm putting a nice jet black paint job on it. The crane itself will also be sanded down with a torch red paint job.
On to a couple pics. I didn't get to take many as I was too busy dickin' around with the truck. ****, this job should have taken us 4 hours to do but after I was done messin' around, we left the job site in 8 hours.
Maybe when ya'll come down to KC in a few weeks, i'll set up a bungee jump area with it.
She's come a long way since the day I drove it to KC...
I think we've got enough trucks now... ****, the Ford has not been started in over a year. :laugh_ti:
