New Member Introductions

[ken ward]

HOWDY FOLKS, MY NAME IS KEN WARD FROM SEGUIN TEXAS. I HAVE A 1948 DIAMOND T 404 CHASSIS NUMBER 40417435. I THINK IT WAS SEGUIN AND SAND HILLS FIRE TRUCK. I FOUND IT ON CRAIGS LIST IN SAN ANTONIO. ALMOST COMPLETE TRUCK SMALL PIECES MISSING.IM LOOKING TO SELL DRIVETRAIN AND CHASSIS. IM KEEPING BODY,CAB, FENDERS, GRILL, HOOD, ETC. CAN ANYBODY TELL ME IF IT IS A FOUR TON OR WHAT TONAGE?

[david payne]

KEN WARD , YOUR 1948 DIAMOND T TRUCK MODEL 404 (40417435) { FIRE TRUCK } “should have” a FACTORY
DATA PLATE { metal } WITH THE WEIGHT LISTED ON THE DATA PLATE. IF YOUR DIAMOND T TRUCK WAS USED AS A FIRE TRUCK ; YOUR 1948 DIAMOND T TRUCK MODEL 404 “might” (?) include the letter { “H” } with the model # ( 404H ; the letter “H” indicates that the truck will carry more weight; has a greater TONAGE {weight} RATING ) ; stamped on to the metal FACTORY DATA PLATE.
NOTE: SERIAL NUMBER { also known as the CHASSIS # } on the DIAMOND T TRUCK FACTORY DATA PLATE IS
LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE COWL, UNDER THE HOOD AND ON THE OUT SIDE OF RIGHT FRAME MEMBER,
ABOUT 3 FEET BACK OF THE FRONT END OF THE FRAME.

[david payne]

KEN WARD : YOUR MODEL 404 DIAMOND T TRUCK, COULD BE A 1949 (?) MODEL 404, CHASSIS # 40417435.
note: the beginning 1948 DIAMOND T Truck FACTORY serial # for the model 404 is 40415763; also known as the CHASSIS # 40415763 , stamped on to the DIAMOND T TRUCK FACTORY DATA PLATE.
JAN. 26 , 1948 PRICE LIST MODEL 404 page 1. NOMINAL RATING 1.5 – 2.5 TON.
MAXIMUN GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT 15,000 LBS.
QUESTIONS: (1.) what is the wheel base (?) of your Diamond T Truck Model 404. (2.) what size (?) tires do you have. (3.) Does your DIAMOND T TRUCK Model 404 have a SINGLE (?) REAR AXLE or a DUAL (?) REAR AXLE.
note: single speed rear axle model CLARK R950 (model 404). TWO – SPEED REAR AXLE EATON 1350 ( A35 – 1350) ; (model 404).
NOTE: TIRES ; 6.00 – 20 8 ply , with dual rear axle (standard specifications , model 404).
TIRE SIZE 7:00 – 20 ; 7:50 – 20 ; 8.25 – 20 DUALS , (model 404).
WHEEL BASE : 139.75″ ; 151.75″ ; 163.75″ ; 175.75″ ; 189″ ; 201″ ; 231.5″ , (model 404).

[Bill Fisher]

Welcome aboard ken Ward. Great to have you here. sounds like a great truck you hae there, keep us posted on your progress. Wish I was closer, I would love to have your spare parts!

[mike]

Hello all, Im Mike I have a 1937 212 BD 1 1 1 1/2 Ton that im gathering parts for. If anyone has any parts for this model please please let me know thank you …

[Bill Fisher]

Welcome Mike. Soory I can’t help you with parts, but I’m sure there are a few around the site that could help.

[Cliff]

Great to see the site actually allows registrations now! I have been trying to sign up since ’09!!! That’s the first time I asked William to add me…

[Bill Fisher]

Welcome aboard Cliff…. I’m sure it was worth the wait!! Tell us a little about yourself.

[Ernst Hediger]

My name is Ernst Hediger. I am new to Diamond T Classics.com. First, 2 Questions: (1) Is this website hard to navigate, because most of it doesn’t seem to work. (2) I have two Diamond T’s for sale. Where is the best place to post them? Classifieds either doesn’t work for me or I am not smart enough to push the right button.
Introduction, a bit long but it is me. I am 56 years old. I am third generation trucking on both sides of my family. I have diesel fuel in my veins, the old stuff, not this new crap. My grandpa on my dad’s side came from Switzerland in 1914 and ended up in Neillsville, WI. He worked as a Swiss cheesemaker. He found markets for his product in New York, so in the mid to late 20’s he started hauling Cheese, Butter, and later powdered milk to New York. Each trip took two weeks. The product was cooled before he left and he would shovel on dry ice in Chicago to get to NY. It was all dirt roads, and the road did not go all the way through. He had to open and close pasture gates in Pennsylvania. While he was a cheesemaker he was also a pioneer of long distance trucking eventually growing to 7-10 trucks in the 60’s and each making two trips a week to New York. I don’t know his first trucks, history evades my dad and myself. His first truck pictures were of two Diamond T’s, (early thirties) with dry van trailers. What was unique about them is they were conventional sleeper cabs. Family history says they were manufactured for export (to Europe) only by Diamond T and not for sale in the US. Somehow my Grandpa acquired at least two of them, of which he wore one out in the first year. I would like to post/share the pictures, but where and how? MY dad and myself have kept our eyes open for a truck like the ones in the pictures, but have never seen anything anywhere or any mention of a Diamond T sleeper cab truck.
My dad eventually took over the cheese factory and trucking company. After spending more than fifty years driving truck, owning the cheese factory and trucking company, he sold both and retired. He now resides in an assisted living facility.
I cut my eye teeth on a “66” cabover Freightliner w/a 250 Cummins and a 15 speed. At 13, my dad put me “over the road”. I had a hundred thousand miles before I got a car license. I have worked in and out of the field since and have never lost my love for the “old” trucks.
My Grandpa on my mom’s side started in dump trucks and in the early fifties started hauling mobile home trailers to Alaska with a Studebaker “Toter”, a unique stretchable frame truck, back when the road was all rock and sixty spares wasn’t enough to make the trip. My Grandma occasionally teamed with him. In 1970 he retired to local hauling and two years later went to driving in Heaven.
My mom drove an IH Emeryville to Chicago and New York/east coast until she couldn’t keep more than three kids in the sleeper. Some people are asked, Were you born in a barn? I literally spent the first three years in the cab of a truck and grew up doing farm field work, making cheese, butter, and powdered milk and driving truck. Yes, I took a semi to Senior day at High school and to my frustration had to stop doing a truck grease job to go to Senior prom. My introduction is long, longer than most, but it goes back to the very roots and history of truck driving in this great country, part of who I am, third generation(old school)truck driver, (before computerized trucks, cruise control and auto transmissions, electronic logs, Qualcomm, excessive federal regulations, CDL’s, fake chemical diesel fuel, hazmat/finger print/background checks/random P tests, 11 hour logbooks and all the rest). There you go guys , my introduction.

[Bill Fisher]

Well, Ernst, welcome to the forum. Glad you stopped by. I enjoyed your introduction very much, a lot of history there, for sure!
As far as posting anything for sale, for now, just post it in general B.S., but start a new thread for your classified. To post pictures, you’ll have to open an account at such places as “imageshack”, post them there, then copy and paste the URL of photo into your classified ad. It’s a pain, but I’ve run into other site that do this as well.
Good luck, and again, welcome.

[david payne]

WELCOME, ERNEST, TO THE DIAMOND T CLASSICS WEB SITE AND FORUMS; YOUR INTRODUCTION AND TRUCKING HISTORY WAS VERY INTERESTING TO READ. YOUR 1St QUESTION: THE DIAMOND T CLASSICS WEB SITE AND ITS FORUMS ARE NOT HARD TO NAVIGATE ; BILL FISHER SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POSTING OF YOUR (2) DIAMOND T TRUCKS (with pictures) FOR SALE ON THE FORUM, GENERAL B.S. (OR) IF YOU WOULD LIKE to , on the FORUM , BUY AND SELL ON eBay , your choice. NOTE: on posting in the FORUM that you chose, after you select the FORUM that you want to use, SCROLL “ALL THE WAY” down TO THE “BOTTOM” OF THE FORUM PAGE , THAT YOUR HAVE SELECTED , TO START A “NEW” thread (listing) ;
for your CLASSIFIED AD posting of DIAMOND T TRUCKS (2) FOR SALE , etc.

[david payne]

MIKE, WHAT PARTS (?) are you looking for, to restore your 1937 DIAMOND T TRUCK MODEL 212BD 1.5 TON.
IS YOUR 1937 DIAMOND T TRUCK MODEL 212BD 1.5 TON, IN RUNNING CONDITION (?).

[Gary Nielsen]

Hi-I somehow was blocked out from the forum so had to take on a new name niels2, formerly garybob. I live in the middle of MN.
I have owned a 201 T since 2003. Former owner apparently did some restoration of the box and not sure what else. Runs and drives. Continue to have a problem with starting, starter turns very slowly, sometime not at all. On prior forum post suggestions were made but none have solved the problem. My mechanic checked it out and can find nothing wrong. Open to any ideas.

[david payne]

Gary Nielsen: DIAMOND T TRUCK MODEL 201 ( year ? ) ; PROBLEM WITH STARTING ; STARTING TURNS VERY “SLOWLY” ; page 55 , STARTING MOTOR (a) SLOW CRANKING SPPED may be caused by: CRANKCASE MOTOR OIL TOO HEAVY OR COLD.
(change to correct grade of motor oil or heat the oil before attempting to start). LOOSE OR DIRTY CABLE CONNECTIONS.
(clean and tighten). WORN STARTER BRUSHES. (replace brushes). DIRTY OR WORN ARMATURE.(clean, repair or replace armature).
ARMATURE RUBBING FIELD COILS. (replace starter shaft bushings). LOW BATTERY VOLTAGE. (check generator and regulator, then
recharge battery). page 56 , (b) STARTER FAILING TO OPERATE may be caused by : BATTERY DISCHARGED (recharge battery).
BURNED CIRCUIT BREAKER (replace circuit breaker). BROKEN BATTERY CABLE (replace cable). POOR CONNECTIONS (clean and tighten). BURNED COMMUTATOR BARS ( recut COMMUTATOR ). OPEN OR SHORT CIRCUITS IN ARMATURE OR FIELDS (check and repair).
DEFECTIVE STARTER SWITCH { push button or solenoid } (check and repair contacts or replace switch).
NOTE: INFORMATION FROM OPERATIONS AND MAINTENCE MANUAL QX SERIES SIX CYLINDER GASOLINE ENGINES.

[david payne]

Gary Nielsen: YOUR MECHANIC CHECKED THE STARTING { circuit } SYSTEM AND CAN “NOT” FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE STARTING { circuit } SYSYEM. NOTE: THE NEXT TIME THAT YOU HAVE A STARTER MOTOR PROBLEM ( starter motor turns “very slowly” or “sometimes” not at all ) ; if (?) you have had a {“VOLT METER” } you could “check” the “BATTERY” “VOLTAGE” (?) and the
“voltage” (?) SUPPLIED to the “STARTER” “MOTOR” through the battery cable ; at the Battery Cable Connection Terminal, Located on the STARTER MOTOR. {note: “Negative” lead of volt meter connected to battery terminal on your starter and the “Positive” volt meter lead, connected to the frame of the truck (for Diamond T Trucks with a “POSITIVE” Ground System). NOTE: you might (?) have a { “VOLTAGE” “DROP” (?) } 6 volts measured at the battery terminals ; with the “voltage” “Dropping” to { “ONLY” 5 volts } measured at the Battery Connection Terminal for the STARTER MOTOR , when you try to start your DIAMOND T TRUCK.

[Author]

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