Cushman Truckster Saved From The Forest

[TRP]

Nice recovery! It's come a long way since then.

Looks like fun.

Ted

[CharleyL]

Yamaha_G1,

Sorry to tell you that my truckster doesn't have any hydraulics. If you look at the pictures in the beginning of this post you will see what it looked like just before I dragged it up on the trailer to bring it home. The stake body bed was home built by a previous owner and he has been dead since 2000, so I can't ask him what it was like when he bought it. The wood bed sits on 3 pieces of C channel with bolts to hold them to the truckster frame and to the wooden bed. Also missing from my truckster is the power take-off. The transmission has the gearing and push-pull control handle, but the output shaft is broken just after it exits from the transmission and only protrudes about 1/4" outside the transmission case.

Look at the rear end of your truckster chassis. Behind the rear leaf springs there are triangle shaped plates attached to the sides of the frame that have about a 5/8 or 3/4" bushing hole below the chassis level. A shaft fits through these bushing holes to act as a pivot point for the original dump bed. Now look on the internet to find pictures of someone's truckster with the dump bed up. If the view is right you can see the frame weldment under the dump bed and the hydraulic cylinder. It won't take much for a metal fabricator to replicate this from the photo, even without the original pieces or dimensions.

My truckster had been sitting untouched since 2000 and it was rotting into the ground. Just about everything needed some kind of repair or replacement. Fortunately the frame wasn't seriously rusty, but everything made of rubber or wood had to be replaced. The electrical circuits needed significant attention, and the fuel system was a mess. There was 1/4" of rust in the bottom of the fuel tank, the lines were brittle, and the filters were all plugged. I also found that the spark plugs had been cross threaded, requiring an engine tear down to re-thread the spark plug holes and install threaded inserts so the spark plugs could be threaded into the cylinders again.

I would love to find a set of hydraulics for it and I have considered using a power steering pump, fork lift control valves, and cylinder for it, but I was hoping to find a hydraulic system that was removed from another truckster and re-build it. Maybe someday it will happen. For now I have just re-built the stake body bed and fences, loosely copying what the previous owner had built, but using TREX decking materials instead of wood. The floor of the bed is treated lumber and was still in good condition. It only took pressure washing to clean it up.

It is almost as restored as it's going to get if I don't find the hydraulics for it. I wanted it to be reliable with everything working so I could use it to maintain my yard, but I'm not trying to make a show piece out of it. I have metal knees and don't do well walking on uneven ground anymore. The truckster will get me around and minimize my need to walk any distance on the lawn. It will also be used like a golf cart to get me around in my community.

Charley

[CharleyL]

Thanks Unforgiven and TRP,

It's been a long 6 months since I towed it home, but it was well worth doing and I had a lot of fun doing it. There are still a few little things to fix or do better, but it's almost as good as it's going to get. I'm not out to make a showpiece, just a reliable and safe little truck.

In the last few days I've added new additional red tail, stop, turn and yellow flashing lights to the top rear of the cab. I liked the look of the GO-4 Interceptor metermaid vehicles that have their lights there and have done something similar to my truckster. The next time the sun comes out, if it ever does again, I'll post some photos of this new look.

Charley

[itsjustathing]

Looks great!
I love the cab on those .

[Yamaha_G1]

Originally Posted by CharleyL

Yamaha_G1,

Sorry to tell you that my truckster doesn't have any hydraulics. If you look at the pictures in the beginning of this post you will see what it looked like just before I dragged it up on the trailer to bring it home. The stake body bed .....

Charley

Thanks for the information. I hope to try and get some time this weekend to look at building a bed but I am sure life will get in the way. I will post some pics of any progress.

[flharleycop]

Originally Posted by CharleyL

I guess it's about time that I started a thread about my Cushman Truckster, it's discovery, and it's restoration.

I found my truckster when visiting a friend. He had it sitting next to his woodworking shop in central North Carolina. After asking about it I asked if he would sell it to me. He told me that it had belonged to his dad who had died back in 2000 and it has been sitting there untouched ever since (about 1/2 of it's total life) and he said that since he was never going to do anything with it, that maybe it was time to let someone else have it who would put it back into shape and use it. It's a model 898532-8710, which I've been told was built in 1987. It had 4 flat tires that were sinking into the ground, and solid layers of spider webs though out the whole inside of the cab. The door hinges were so badly rusted that I had to pry the doors open enough to get my hand and arm inside holding a can of WD-40 and then spray the hinges as best as I could. The door latches got a good spray too. About an hour later the hinges and latches on both doors worked perfectly.

I took the attached photos that first day, while I was discussing it's possible purchase. Notice the close up of the speedometer - 1651 miles is the actual original miles on this truck. It's almost new! Well, by it's mileage anyway. These pictures make it look much better than it really was that day. Notice the black spots on the seat. They are a mixture of the disintegrating ceiling foam and black mold. The whole inside of the truck cab was covered in this mess. Paper wasps had also built many nests in there (good thing it's Winter) and vines were growing up through the pedal holes.

I loaded (dragged) the truckster up onto a rented trailer with a winch and towed it the 140+ miles to my home the following weekend. Unloading it required tying it to a large tree and then driving the trailer out from under it in the dark, since I was working alone and could think of no other quick way to get it off the trailer. The trailer had to be returned early the following morning.

I've been a bit lax in my photo taking since then, but promise to take and post some more soon. My plan is to restore the truckster enough to make it useful for yard maintenance chores, and to have some fun doing it. It will not be super modiified or made better than it was new like some of you have done with your carts. They're beautiful and all that, but I just want my truck to be a useful and reliable yard maintenance vehicle, (and toy). I have a very large yard to maintain.


I quickly decided that new tires were a must for the truck so that I could at least push it around to work on it and then be able to push it out of the way when I was not working on it. Of course, you can't put new tires on rusty/ pitted rims, so they had to be sand blasted and painted before the new tires went on. I had wanted wider turf type tires, but in the interest of getting the truck to move easily as quickly as possible I settled for the original 5.70 X 8 tire size, at least for now. During the holidays, etc. not much progress was made, except for the tires and getting the motor running. My son offered to help me get it running one December Saturday, before the new tires were even on the truck, and within a few hours the carburetor had been cleaned, a new electric fuel pump, new fuel filters and fuel lines had been installed, the oil and oil filter changed, and the battery replaced. The motor was up and running by the end of that day. After an initial puff of smoke the rings seated and it didn't smoke at all anymore. It was running, and very smooth.

The brakes were a total disaster. The left rear brake shoes were rusted to the drum, all 4 wheel cylinders and the master cylinder were full of rust, and no fluid in the brake system at all. I also discovered that sometime in it's life someone had replaced most of the wheel studs with metric studs that almost fit the American standard nuts. There were 3 distinctly different types of studs and nuts that did not interchange. I ended up figuring out which were standard american and replacing the rest so they are now all the same.

I had the wheel cylinders and the master cylinder honed, and found that early 80's Ford F100 pickup trucks used the same wheel cylinder rubber parts, so I purchased and installed them. I also discovered that the front brake lines were plugged and I passed a coat hanger wire through them, followed by a blast of compressed air to clear them out. I failed to find an automotive equivalent for rebuilding the master cylinder, but discovered that a local fork lift sales/service shop had an identical master cylinder on the shelf for about 1/2 of the lowest listed internet price. It seems that this same master cylinder is used in several models of fork lifts. I also discovered that the flexible line running to the front axle had been rubbing and the braid was exposed and rusting. The auto parts store found that a 1968 Dodge truck uses the same length line with the same end fittings, so I replaced it. I also replaced the brake pads on both of the rear wheels. These also came from the fork lift service shop, again for 1/2 the price of the same shoes on the internet. After assembly and bleeding, the brakes now work like new.

In the past 2 weeks I have been wrestling with fuel tank problems. The years of sitting in the forest with a defective fuel cap has allowed some heavy rusting in the fuel tank. So much so that there was a water (rust) line in the tank about 1/2" up from the bottom and the whole tank bottom was caked with rust and scale. A fuel tank repair kit from KBS was ordered from Amazon and I spent several days cleaning, etching, and then epoxy coating the inside of the fuel tank. I also sanded and repainted the outside of the tank while it was out of the truckster. This week I have no more fuel problems and the truck is running fine.

So far this week I've been correcting some electrical issues, mostly with the lighting circuits. Cushman didn't provide high beam headlight capability, since my truck was supposed to be for off road use only in an industrial environment. The different wiring harness for the headlights left the high beam wire out of the headlight connectors and a high beam / low beam switch was not provided. Today I replaced this harness to add high beam capability. It only took a few additional wires. I also added a small high beam indicator to the instrument panel in an existing hole that had been designated by Cushman for this purpose and I added a high/low beam toggle switch just below the instrument panel (I don't like floor switches) so I can dim the headlights easily when needed. I've also been working on the tail light circuitsb and a "Slow Moving Vehicle" sign has been added to the rear of the cab between, and just below, the rear windows.

I finally located a Cushman parts listing for the Keihin carburetor about a week ago, and ordered new rubber parts, gaskets, a float, and a float needle valve from my friendly fork lift parts source. He said that all of what I wanted was available, but it would be 2-4 weeks before they would arrive. I'm glad my carburetor is at least working now. I can't wait to see how much better it will work with the new parts installed. Maybe a little, or maybe a lot.

When I finish the electrical repairs and upgrades I'll be working on replacing the stake body fencing. The original fences were white oak, stained a light brown, and were probably very nice looking before 12+ years out in the weather ruined them. The deck was made from treated lumber, probably yellow pine, and although it's not in perfect condition, it is still holding up fairly well. A neighbor has offered some leftover TREX decking boards to make the fences, and I think I'm going to take him up on the offer. It should hold up very well to the frequent moist weather here.

That's about it so far. I'll try to post a few more photos soon.

Charley

This is what I did with the Rat I found let me know if you need any pointers.

[Yamaha_G1]

Originally Posted by flharleycop

This is what I did with the Rat I found let me know if you need any pointers.

Very nice!

[CharleyL]

An Update -

I recently added the new stop and turn signals lights as well as alternating amber flasher lights to the top rear of the cab, and alternating amber flashers to the front between the headlights (See attached new photos). If they can't see me now they are driving blind. While running the wiring for these I also added an interior dome light to make finding things in the cab at night much easier. I liked the light placement on the GO-4 Interceptors, so I sort of copied their design for my Truckster.
I've now driven it almost 450 miles since Nov 2012.

My latest problem is the fuel gauge sender. I cleaned the original when I rebuilt the fuel tank and got it working, but it had dead spots, and it has now stopped working completely. The gauge and wiring still check out OK so the problem has to be the sender, but I will need to drive it another 100 miles or so to get the gas level below the sender before I can remove it and work on it. I've been talking to my friend at the forklift repair shop near me and he thinks that a Bobcat fuel sender may be a perfect replacement for it but we won't know until I can get my sender out of the tank. One of the key parameters is the resistance value of the sender and since it's not working I can't measure this without removing it from the tank. The Bobcat sender appears to be identical without a side by side comparison and resistance check, so I'm getting quite excited about this repair possibility. I guess I'll have to go for a long ride or take the fuel line apart to get the gas level low enough.

Charley

[Pitbull Joe]

Nice resurrection.

[CharleyL]

Thanks Joe. It's been a lot of work, but fun too.

Charley