Regular readers will no doubt recollect the hardworking 1976 Peterbilt cabover of owner-operator Zach Beadle, hauling cattle and hay and much else besides from a Texas home base. It's pictured above from our shoot with Beadle attendant to the early-2016 "Building the customer base" feature series about Beadle's and others' pursuit of shipper-direct freight in various niche specialties.
But do you recall his second rig? I wrote about it a couple years ago, too, also a 1976 model he purchased with the intent of securing the future of his long-running rig. For any owner of an older-model truck who's got enough mechanical know-how for most jobs, his move to purchase the "parts truck" is one that's easily imitated, provided you can find the right rig for the right price.
Long-term, it could save you both money and time hunting down replacement parts and, as Beadle noted in a message to me from early in 2020 after crossing a scale, passing inspection. He'd recently put work into "rear suspension bushings, front spring shackles and the various maintenance issues that I do take care of," not to mention money into other issues he doesn't, and it "paid off," he said. "Furthermore, the sense of pride in the hard work maintaining my truck is worth every penny. I’m riding down the highway with the memory of passing four or five other trucks on the side that are 20-40 years newer than mine." On the side meaning, of course, that Beadle's hauled on by and "they're still dealing with the law in the aftermath of a failed inspection."
Beadle's investment in the parts truck, further, paid off recently with a few sizable jobs he took on. Run through them -- and more -- via the images below:
The first of the projects was to rebuild the fifth-wheel frame, given light rusting issues, Beadle said, utilizing pieces from the parts truck. Pictured here is Beadle's
The truck's frame under the fifth wheel's on Beadle's runner had
