Duncan Putman Trucking Photography - Cool Photos of Cool Trucks

Truck of the Month

February 2017
Chris Leggett's 1962 Peterbilt "Needlenose" Conventional
Chris Leggett's 1962 Peterbilt
WRITTEN BY:
  • Duncan Putman
PHOTOS COURTESY OF:
  • Chris Leggett
We hope you enjoyed the debut of the Truck of the Month feature here on DuncanPutman.com last month. If you own or drive a class 8 tractor-traler, and are proud of your ride, we would like to welcome you to submit your rig to us and get it featured here!

This month we showcase some vintage iron owned by Chris Leggett from Apple Valley, California.

It’s a 1962 Peterbilt conventional with a Cummins NT280 married to a 5X3 Spicer transmission. Chris acquired the Pete in December of 2005 and says the engine is original but knows little more about it. The previous owner did contact Chris and he thinks the Cummins has never been rebuilt. Although the Spicer 5x3 is not the original tranny, the drive axle is an original Rockwell R170 with 6:14 gears.

The truck sat in a lot in Los Angeles from 1985 to 1998 when a previous owner bought it and added a better cab. Chris feels the original cab must have been in pretty rough shape and is fairly sure the tractor was a working truck up until 1985.
Chris Leggett's 1962 Peterbilt Conventional
Chris Leggett-s 1962 Peterbilt Conventional
Considering the Pete’s age, Chris doesn’t think the truck has high mileage on it and guesses it could have around 400,000 miles, maybe more, but doubts that it has more than a million miles.

The truck began life working as a two-axle for Standard Brands Paints in Los Angeles. It was then sold and ended up as an end dump hauling scrap metal on a daily basis from Long Beach to Boron, California. At some point it was converted to a three axle tractor with a rear tag-axle.

Chris, 38, was a full-time truck driver for a short while and prefers to work on trucks part time. His present employment is doing heating and cooling work.

Leggett’s original plans were to fix some wires, add some tires and put the Pete to work. It turned out that he had to replace nearly everything because he wasn’t comfortable driving the tractor in its previous condition. He started the restoration by replacing most of the wiring, then repaired the brakes, the air lines and the air valves. He states that there’s quite a lot more to be restored but at least it can now be driven safely.

Chris would like to put the old Pete back to work someday- he hates the thought that the tractor may have already hauled its last load!
EDITOR'S NOTE:
  • This article was originally featured in September 2007 on EyesOnTheRoad.org and has been republished with permission.
  • Do you own a unique rig? Get your truck featured here on our website and show-it-off to the world! Click Here to contact us and tell us about your truck!

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