I was at an auction when I started looking at a group of older A model Kenworths. I popped the hood and there were no breaks on the front of these trucks? NO drums, cans, slack adjusters, brackets ect? I started looking at the other trucks by the same company and they also had no front breaks or assemblys. Now I asked a old timer about it and he told me if the truck was built prior to 1975 they were not required and alot of companys did not want them because of snow and ice they have in the northwest. Can a guy still get away with this? There trucks were licensed and the company was rather large. I imagine these trucks were used for moving trailers around the yard, but still kinda of weired. :beatsme
brakes
A lot of over the road semis didn't have front brakes. Straight trucks were required to have front brakes way before. People used to believe that front brakes were bad in general and of course they wore out much more often than the backs as they used to be so small. I believe the old trucks are grandfathered and you can still use them without front brakes. Big fun: bobtailing a short cabover with no front brakes and have a car pull out in front of you.
My 1963 REO was spec with out brakes on the front. It came as a 8 YD. dump.
Here are the pertinent regulations. During my stint working on OTR trucks I encountered some of the older trucks that did not have front brakes. About the time the new regulations came out, I equipped several Internationals and Kenworth's with front brake kits as supplied by the manufacturers. These upgrades were requested by owners afraid that they might have a big liability problem if they were involved in an accident and did not have the front brakes. This was also about the time that the manufacturers started working on auto-adjusting slack adjusters and anti-lock brake systems. I spent the better part of one fall and winter chasing about four new Internationals with new anti-locks and lots of problems. I believe I changed just about every component of those brake systems with new or modified parts in that time. When I left that dealer garage to go to Canada for a year, the systems were still prone to problems such as not working as they were supposed to, drag, not working on certain wheels, and component failures. I was thoroughly sick of them I can tell you that! Was it me, I would not venture out on a public highway without front brakes on an OTR rig. Way too much liability in today's tort happy society. ====================================== Subpart C, Brakes Sec.393.40 Required brake systems. (a) Each commercial motor vehicle must have brakes adequate to stop and hold the vehicle or combination of motor vehicles. Each commercial motor vehicle must meet the applicable service, parking, and emergency brake system requirements provided in this section. (b) (2) Air brake systems. Buses, trucks and truck-tractors equipped with air brake systems and manufactured on or after March 1, 1975, and trailers manufactured on or after January 1, 1975, must, at a minimum, have a service brake system that meets the requirements of FMVSS No. 121 in effect on the date of manufacture. Motor vehicles which were not subject to FMVSS No. 121 on the date of manufacture must have a service brake system that meets the applicable requirements of Sec. Sec. 393.42, 393.48, 393.49, 393.51, and 393.52 of this subpart. 393.42 Brakes required on all wheels. (a) Every commercial motor vehicle shall be equipped with brakes acting on all wheels. (b) Exception. (b)(1) Trucks or truck tractors having three or more axles and manufactured before July 25, 1980, are not required to have brakes on the front wheels. However, these vehicles must meet the requirements of §393.52. §393.52 Brake performance. (a) Upon application of its service brakes, a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles must under any condition of loading in which it is found on a public highway, be capable of — (a)(1) Developing a braking force at least equal to the percentage of its gross weight specified in the table in paragraph (d) of this section; (a)(2) Decelerating to a stop from 20 miles per hour at not less than the rate specified in the table in paragraph (d) of this section; and (a)(3) Stopping from 20 miles per hour in a distance, measured from the point at which movement of the service brake pedal or control begins, that is not greater than the distance specified in the table in paragraph (d) of this section; or, for motor vehicles or motor vehicle combinations that have a GVWR or GVW greater than 4,536 kg (10,000 pounds), (a)(4) Developing only the braking force specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section and the stopping distance specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, if braking force is measured by a performance-based brake tester which meets the requirements of functional specifications for performance-based brake testers for commercial motor vehicles, where braking force is the sum of the braking force at each wheel of the vehicle or vehicle combination as a percentage of gross vehicle or combination weight. (b) Upon application of its emergency brake system and with no other brake system applied, a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles must, under any condition of loading in which it is found on a public highway, be capable of stopping from 20 miles per hour in a distance, measured from the point at which movement of the emergency brake control begins, that is not greater than the distance specified in the table in paragraph (d) of this section. (c) Conformity to the stopping distance requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall be determined under the following conditions: (c)(1) Any test must be made with the vehicle on a hard surface that is substantially level, dry, smooth, and free of loose material. (c)(2) The vehicle must be in the center of a 12 foot wide lane when the test begins and must not deviate from that lane during the test. (d) Vehicle brake performance table: The Vehicle brake performance table is rather lengthy and I didn't copy it to here for that reason, but anyone can look it up at the regulation number shown above.
Although it's not legal, a lot of the loggers around here hide front wheel brake limiting valves on their new trucks. That way in the winter when you come down a hill backwards you can shut the front brakes off and still be able to steer.
Oh yeah. I forgot about that. On several new tractors we used to install dimes or rivets in the line feeding the front brake tee at the front axle. This effectively stopped air from going to the front brakes. Completely illegal at the time, still is. Didn't do this on company time however. It was a fifty dollar cash "special service" that we performed at the owners yard. The idea for it actually came from an International brake engineer we were working with. Some of these were PayStars, some were W900's.
Ya, before there was limiting valves, they just didn't put them on the front axle. Don't have to worry about sliding the front tires with no weight on them. I flipped the valve on my B model once to see what happened. WOW...talk about no brakes!!!(ya bobtailing a single axle). Didn't ever what to try that again.
Ya, I know what you mean Freightrain. You wouldn't think two extra wheels would make that big a difference, but man, they sure do. I drove an old LT9000 Ford when I started out. It was a short tandem dump with a 318 Detroit and if it was raining out and the asphalt was wet, you made sure you timed the traffic lights out, because if you tried a panic stop empty it would take off like a tobbagon.
Our old 1970 Dodge CNT 900 doesn't have no front brakes on it and we've never heard anything about it when we get it saftied. It's a stright truck but it used to be a highway tractor.
It's grandfathered in now. I suppose it's a tandem rear?
My good looking old KW W922 doesn't have front brakes... That's how you can tell if your new driver is adjusting the brakes for his pre-trip. Just ask him, "were the front brakes out of adjustment?" When he lies, which he will, you have him poke his nose under the truck!
yep
Thanks for all the good info. I bought the truck and a 24 ft cross gate belly dump. Ill post acouple of pictures when I get back to the shop. It is a 1974 Kenworth tandem axle 176 " wheel base. I Think I will put brakes on just for safety and power steering .
Just a thought but it may be easier to swap in a whole axle especially if youd fancy to put aluminum wheels on it.