I get a lot of windshield time listening to talk radio....mostly news of the world, or is that news of the weird....anyway of all things the discussion of C.W McCall came up....could have been that I was in S.E Nebraska and he hails from the Omaha Area.  Here was the gist of the story.   Turns out there are 4 different versions of the song Convoy  2 by C.W himself ,the radio version and the movie version.  One by Canadian Paul Brandt ....saw a Paul Brandt trucking rig on South Bound 75 North of T-Town today ...coincidence???!!!???   Bonus points if you know where T-Town is!  And one by Irishman Paul Kelly , yea that's right the trucking in the U.K!   Links to these songs can be found  at Google      

The rear axle visibly looks good...its what you don't see necessarily that is the issue..allow me to explain.    The AMT truck rear axle has a steel rod that is attached to the wheel assembly's.  As you can see in the picture, the rod is much smaller than the center hole in the rear axle which can cause, depending on if a body is mounted, a clearance issue with the top of the tire and the underside of the body.  As a rule of thumb, there needs to be no less than 5 mm. (5" in 1:1 scale) of clearance between the top of the tire and the underside of the body.  More clearance is builders choice.  Where this would not be an issue is with the C series tractor since it has a fifth wheel.                 WASTE NOT, WANT NOT  I don't see common, ordinary things like most people, rather I see a potential, useful item to be used for scratch building....case in point.                    These are the guts out of a dried up click pen...the White piece is the perfect size to fit into the axle and also allow the steel rod to fit into.  Its now a bushing of sorts that pretty much eliminates the slop in the rear axle and will add a small, bit more clearance between the top of the tire and underside of the body...  aprox. 2 mm..   This is not a drill bit , but rather a reamer.  Ream the axle holes large enough so that the White piece fits into the axle snugly. I found that I only needed to ream a small bit on each side of the axle for the pen piece to properly fit.          Fit the piece into the axle and cut off the excess.  Insert the steel rod, attach the wheels and you done.  You can do the same thing with an Evergreen tube...unsure of the number or dimensions as I don't have any on hand at this time.    

As I am finding out with my first truck build, an AMT Ford C series cab over, that AMT trucks leave some to be desired as far as parts fitment and related issues as I have read here and elsewhere on the internet.  If you have built an AMT big truck with out any fitment issues, congratulations your one of the few, as for the rest of us......   I am going to break this up into parts, hopefully making it easier.  PART 1: Squaring the frame   The frame is the foundation from which a truck is build, much the same way a sturdy foundation is from which a building is built.  Since the frames consist of two separate side rails and numerous cross members is up to the builder to take the time and make sure that the frame is square, if not then pretty much everything will not be in proper alignment from that point forward and make for a frustrating building experience.   Everyone has their different ways as far as holding the frame sections in place while their being attached...if it works for you use it....personally I use a flat,steel building plate and magnets along with modeling clay.   Use only the two side rails/frame pieces and the front most and rear most cross members.  Use the rear cross member that goes between the frame rails and not the cross member that attaches to the body frame (above the truck frame) as in the trash truck, city delivery/Coke, stake truck.       Locate a point on your frame that you can use as a reference..in this case I use the rear most locator pin on the frame that is used to locate the trash truck packer box to the frame.  There is another one on the opposite frame rail same location.  On the front I used the center hole on the frame half of the cab pivot/hinge.  It's important that you do a diagonal measurement as pictured, it needs to be an equal length on both sides  Once you are satisfied that the frame is square and true, attach the all cross members except for the transmission cross member/mount and cab support despite what the instructions may show. You will locate and attach those while doing the engine and cab alignment.          

If you have a question about their installation, etc., I would be happy to help.   If you are looking for a customer perspective on use, quality etc., you may want to ask in our Facebook group.  It has a large number of customers as members and is quite active. 

Has anyone used the fram ext. from here?

Cab interior is exquisite.  The leather work is eye watering good. So clean and precise.  Watching these builds closely. Some really good ideas.  Imm looking forward to tje next update. Really good stuff here

This is a great build.  I love the hydraulics.  Really adds the fine details.  Love this

....One last update for 2025....   Have the hopper done and ready for weathering     Began some subtle weathering on the upper panel     Will be scratch building the control handle for the over head winch that ties in with the controls for the upper and lower panels    HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL AND KEEP ON TRUCKIN'