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And today, DAF is one of the top selling types of trucking vehicles in Europe and the Middle East.

The purple on is called the “XRC”. It’s quite different from most of the future trucks we’ve seen — even when it comes to the standards of future truck concepts! Maybe that’s because they’re starting from a European truck base rather than a more familiar Peterbilt or Kenworth.

The other one is a XFC”. Both are streamlined beyond the flat front of today’s cabover trucks, both in Europe and North America. Like them?

Peterbilt 389 with Huge Sleeper and Lots of Chrome

This big Peterbilt 389 with its huge sleeper and a bunch of chrome was shared with us by Plains, Trains page member Frank Bowers, who sent us some details of his truck, and here we are sharing it with you.

Frank uses this Pete to run all over America in a fairly comfortable ride: “I bought this truck in April of 2013. It had 43,000 miles on it,” Frank wrote to us. “The original owner spared no expense on this tractor. The cab and chassis was ordered with every available option, the sleeper is an ARI custom with custom floor plan. All the stainless work was costed built by Brunner’s in Joplin, Mo. I run a lot of oversize freight and LTL. My empty weight is 43,000 lbs,  but who cares. Tractor has double frame from radiator to very back. 16,000 lbs front axle. Empty weight on front axle is 15,000 lbs. 600 Ho Cummins with an 18-speed auto shift. The comfort level really outweighs the missed loads. I run about 65,000 miles a year. I always hear how I couldn’t get into this place or that place but in three years I’ve only been to one place I couldn’t get into. I run All 48 states. New York City excluded. But I do run Long Island. No over length issues even though the tractor is 40 feet long by itself.”

It’s a 2012 model, and that big sleeper you see on it in the photo is, as Frank wrote, an ARI Custom Sleeper. It’s a 170 inch one. The tractor has a 378 inch wheelbase and it’s powered by that big Cummins engine. It has 3:36 rears, Frank told us.

All the custom stainless work was done by Brunner Fabrication in Joplin, Missouri. That 40 foot long tractor pulls a 48 foot trailer, which makes for a total length of 83 feet.

Here are some interior shots of the sleeper unit and the nice looking dash, as well as the exterior photo of the whole rig. With that matching paint and all that chrome, it looks pretty nice, don’t it? Viewing these photos on a large screen is recommended.

Thanks, Frank.

 

Stand Out RV Tractor Trailer

This is a 2003 Western Star tractor with a “constellation” sleeper package, hooked  to a big matching fifth wheel to make it a custom luxury RV unit, and it belongs to owner-operator William Kolias out of New Hampshire.

When you see in that picture that the truck and trailer match, you should also look and see that custom paint job, which is Imron 6000 “garnet red” aircraft stuff, and the price of the paint is $800 per gallon. Then you can also see the yellow star-and-banner custom truck graphics Kolias has on it.

According to Kolias, the paint on this RV tractor-trailer hasn’t faded in 9 years, and he hasn’t even waxed it.

This was first shared by a write at American Trucker named Sean Kilcarr (visit them click here). From their Working Iron Blog.

What does the truck have in it? A Caterpillar C15 with 475 horsepower and an 18 speed manual gearbox.

And that trailer is a RV 38 foot one with matching paint. According to Kilcarr and Kolias, this truck has become a bit famous at the trailer park where the owner-operator keeps it, due to its looks, standing out from all the motor homes, 5th wheels, and RVs there.

Big Rig Tractor Glider Kits

Does anyone remember these old Freightliner stock glider kits they used to advertise? They look like power lawnmowers, but actually they’re replacement kits for wrecked trucks, or if an owner-operator is thinking of upgrading somewhat, they were/are used for that too.

The idea behind them is a glider kit can be less costly and time-consuming that other options, such as trying to rebuilt a tractor piece by piece or buying a new one.

The owner operator salvages the powertrain and rear end components and orders a complete assembly of the cab, front axle, wheels and frame from a FL dealer, delivered to their yard or shop in a few days.

They came for cabovers and conventionals alike, and in both base glider kits and premium glider configurations.

The price was around half the cost of a comparably equipped complete truck.

Then for truck upgrades, semi owners could go for the premium kit option with some additional features like plush upholstery, exterior accessories, extra instrumentation, and a choice of Freightliner paint schemes.

Classic Cabover Paint Schemes

Some of you truckers out there might remember this, some of you might not, but classic truck enthusiasts will probably recognize a couple of these custom paint schemes that came from the factory on order.

This is a whole chart of Freightliner cabover schemes from the 70s.

In those days, style on a cabover was a big thing. There wasn’t the same sort of large custom truck scene as there is today, but the factories themselves tried to engage owner-operator truckers to consider their highway tractor models by painting them up nice.

Like the (sometimes funny) names you find when you go to a house paint store, these big rig paint schemes also each has a name. Which one do you like the best?

If you guys like these ones, comment on the post and we’ll put up some more paint schemes (they’re little, so viewing on a big screen is best).

Prefab House Design

This modern prefab house is a multi-story townhouse mini-complex located in West Seattle.

It was designed by Chris Pardo Design Elemental Architecture in collaboration with Method Homes, a company specializing in prefabrated houses. The design team seeks to design innovative, iconic buildings, located in dynamic urban environments.

This particular set of buildings has caught quite a bit of attention, so it may be on its way.

The picture above shows just one of three such residential units in West Seattle. The prefabs sit on a 5000 square foot lot, and each of the three is between 1250 and 1400 square feet in size. Each has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.

The architectural design team works on a range of structures besides prefabricated homes, including commercial, hospitality and civic buildings. And they work on large planning projects as well as residential dwellings.

For those considering prefab homes, we have a number of write ups on the pros and cons of the construction method (particularly the pros. I suspect the main “con” is just that it isn’t a traditionally build house, which means that in some cases it will be more “cookie cutter.” Among the benefits, though, are reduced cost (because of a number of factors associated with building modular-ly, in factories (sometimes), and transporting the modular house to the site quickly, as well as the ecological benefits of the same factors).

Visit Chris Pardo architecture designs (click here). Visit Method Homes (click here).

Hot Tub Anywhere You Go?

RVers everywhere have different ideas about being out there on the road, visiting natural sites and doing everything RVers do, but at least a part of that has to do with making their trip a bit comfortable.

Anyone whose ever RVed will know that unless you have a giant luxury motorhome or toterhome or something, bathing can be a difficult thing to find a solution to. Even in luxury motor homes, most of them have showers that allow standing only.

Of course, there are hot spings RVers can visit, but here’s another idea that’s gotten a bit of pupularity. It’s an RV portable hot tub.

It’s by a Portland company called The Original Nomad, and it works like this.

It takes 20 minutes to set up, approximately, for this road trip or travel style 225-gallon folding tub. It comes in 3 colors, by the way.

It comes in a small bag (like a hockey duffle bag). Its unfolded and given form like a tent, with pegs. Then the metal coil is attached and to the tub and the propane tanks, turned on, and the tub starts to heat up.

Say Hello To Frayed Knot Crochet

Hello friends! Fawn Leach here with EL’S Baby Crochet. I wanted to share a quick little crochet story. When I first started to crochet almost three years ago I had just recently had a baby a few months prior and wanted to make her and my older daughter some hats and ear warmers.

Soon after learning to crochet I had some friends and family asking to buy my ear warmers. In my search for patterns I came across the Easiest Headwrap Ever.

This free pattern from Frayed Knot is just as the name suggests easy. I loved making them and everybody seemed to love wearing them. Fast forward a couple years and some major growth in my crochet world and I came across this absolutely adorable pattern for fingerless gloves titled The Ridgeline Gloves. I tell you, I could not make these things fast enough and had more than enough orders to keep me busy well into the winter season.

It wasn’t until I had already purchased the pattern and was looking through my Ravelry Library that I realized that the designer for the Easiest Headwrap Ever and the Ridgeline Gloves was one in the same. And to make things even better I had three more Frayed Knot patterns in my library, including the 15min Coffee Sleeve, which is my go to pattern for a quick and easy gift.

My daughter gave these cute coffee sleeves with a gift card to a local coffee shop to all of her teachers. They were a big hit. I don’t think it is a coincidence that I ended up with so many Frayed Knot patterns. They are gorgeous and have wonderful texture.

By Fawn Alexander Leach

Jonna Ventura owner and designer at Frayed Knot has some wonderful original patterns in her shop, with a mix of free and paid. Her patterns are very well written and she is available to answer any questions you may have. I have three Frayed Knot patterns waiting to get on my hooks and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. If you’re looking for a new designer to follow I highly recommend Jonna over at Frayed Knot (click here). For the $4.99 Ridgeline Gloves pattern, (click here). For the free “Easiest Headwrap EVER, (click here) and the free “15 min Coffee Sleeve,” (click here).