A little update on my NRC Conversion. I went to Middlebury last Friday to finalize some option selections and was surprised to see the greatly expanded NRC facility. In the last few months they added a very large addition to their manufacturing space.
Both my friends and my 2004 Freighliner Columbia were there waiting to be converted. We took one for a little spin and were impressed with the driveability of the Mercedes engine and the ZF Meritor 12 speed transmission. You may recall from my preveous posts that this is a transmission with no clutch pedal and is fully automated. The computer takes care of everything including skip shifting based on load. Very cool technology!
As we arrived we noticed a large conversion pulling out of the facility. Mike later told us it was a 32 footer being delivered to a customer in Arizona.
There was a lot of activity going on with several conversion in process and probably 8 or 10 new chassis waiting outside for their turn.
I looking over the in process conversions with Mike, the quality of workmanship and cleanliness were impressive. I would not even consider a conversion without heavy duty welded steel construction. If the Freightliners good for a million miles I want the conversion to last that long without becoming a rattly, noisy, contraption. I think for safety purposed alone the steel cage construction is a good investment.
As the work begins we'll try to post some pictures and updates.
Thats all for now. The round trip out there from Austin was 2700 miles and we did it in 40 hours including 5 hours at NRC. Whew! I think I'll take a nap!
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