66-Year-Old Work Truck! Dwain Johnson's 1959 Diamond T 'China Cabinet' Truck Tour

Dwayne Johnson, Clinton, Iowa. And what is this truck? It's a 1959 Diamond T 923C Cabover. Is this what's known as a China Cabinet? China Cabinet Diamond T with a Bustleback Sleeper. And what is the engine transmission, all that? It's been repowered with a Big Cam 2 400 Cummins and an 18-speed transmission. What was the original in it? A 220 Cummins and a 5 and a 2-speed axle. Has it been stretched? Yeah. What's the wheelbase? It's a 205-inch wheelbase. Did you do that since you've had it? I did, yeah. What did it look like when you got it? I have some pictures over here on the other side that you can look at. We'll talk about it then. Did it run when you got it? No, no. Where did you find it? It came from King Thummel in Bedford, Iowa. Advertised them in The Wheels of Time. Uh-huh. That's an excellent boost for the ATHS. That's the model right there? Yeah. And you work this truck every day? Summertime I do now. I'm not in the winter anymore. I used to work it every day. Do you have another truck for the winter or you take the winter off? Yeah, I have a 389B. Which one do you enjoy driving most? This one. Really? I'm guessing you get lots of attention on the road. Usually do, yeah. Do you sleep in that sleeper? Yeah, yeah. Can you fit on your back in there? Well, it actually comes up to here. It's actually 26 by 72 inches. It's bigger than you think. But that's narrower than a twin bed. Oh, yeah. Yeah. DOT regs are only 24 by 72. Where all do you drive with this? I've had it just about almost all 48 in a couple of providences in Canada. Oh, wow. Have there been any parts that have been extremely difficult to find? Yeah, what you can't find, you have to make. Let's go around this side here. Is this the original grill? Yes, it is. It's stainless steel. How much time do you spend cleaning on it because it's mighty shiny? I spend about two days on it. And you bring it to shows that are along the route or do you make a route to go to a show? I usually just go to the national show once in a while. I go to a local one, but that's about it. I've seen you at Walcott. Yeah, I've been at Walcott. And Franklin Grove, Illinois. How long have you had the truck? I started working on it when I got them in 2007. Had it on the road in 2010. And I'm on my second motor. Probably put about 600,000 miles on it total since I've had it running. On your second motor? Is there a story there? Yeah, I blew it up. The first motor I built 700 horse. When I was growing up, that was my engine. And I wanted to build some horsepower just to see how it would work. And I did. Where were you when it blew? I was in central Iowa. Oh, so at least you weren't far from home. I got it home. Good. It is a Cummins. A lot of people think it's a Caterpillar because it's yellow, but a lot of them don't know that the early Cumminses, the old 220s, were yellow. What did the engine come out of? There was no chassis with either one of those. It took two to make one. Neither truck had a chassis to mount to anything. So I had retrofitted it onto a 1977 352P chassis. Ah-ha. Where did you find a second one? Keen Thumble had both of those trucks. Okay, excellent. There's a little more to it, but I don't know if I should go into all that. You tell me whatever you want to and all of this can be edited. My son was going to college out in Fort Dodge and playing football, and I would go out there on the weekends and watch him play. And then Bill Smith owned Smithway Trucking in Fort Dodge. They were a huge carrier. And he had a five-acre, I think it was a five-acre lot. They're full of old trucks. And these trucks were there in that lot at that time. I'd go over there on Sunday, and the gate was open, and walk around and look at them. And then Bill died, and I guess the family didn't want anything to do with the old trucks. They were going to scrap them all. And Keen Thumble went up there and bought them and hauled them all down to his place and advertised them, sold them off as people wanted them. So when you opened up the magazine and saw the pictures there, were you thinking? I was thinking, I've got to have that. Okay, good. But you weren't looking for them. Not necessarily, no. And what were you driving before you got this on the road? I guess I had a, at that time I was driving a 1994 Kenmore T800. Have you had other vintage cool trucks? Yeah, I started out, I got out of high school in 1973. I bought, my first truck was a F model Mac with a 673 and a triplex transmission. So you have a thing for small, skinny cab overs? Well, that's all there was back then, you know. And then 1975 I bought a brand new 4070B International with a Cummins in it, and ran that for quite a few years. Do you still have either of them? No. Do you wish you had either of them? Yeah, I kind of do, yeah. Wasn't even thinking about that back then. What about the trailer? The trailer is a 85 Chamberlain, you know, they quit making them. That was probably one of the last years they made, Chamberlain made them. They were bought out by Wilson. Wilson made both models for a while. It was what I grew up with growing up, a similar trailer like this. Is this what you work? Not anymore, I used to, but I don't anymore. What do you haul with this? Well, we run about nine trucks, and we have some food grade tank business. Sometimes I pull the food grade tank trailer, or I have another livestock trailer that I pull at home. And you go all over the place with this really cool truck. I have, yeah. Do you ever regret having this truck? No. No regrets at all? No regrets at all. Anything that you plan on changing or doing over the years? No, not right now. I think I have it dialed in just about perfect. I can't think of anything I need to do to it to make it any better. Can we take a look inside? Sure. Has power steering, has air conditioning, and even a heater. Yeah. All of that? Something like this, would you be able, do you have the build sheet for it? No. When they quit building Diamond Tees, all the archives went to the landfill. There's no history on this stuff. But it would have been built in Chicago, is that right? I'm pretty sure it was, yeah. Do you know what it did in its early days at all? I just know where they, this one here came off of a ranch in South Dakota. What was the interior like when you got it? See the pictures? It wasn't terrible, right? A little rough, but they weren't fancy, you know. Does anyone else work one of these currently? Have you ever seen another one? There's some around, but no one works them. They just take them to shows. Two Diamond Tee cab overs this week. Richie Bulla had his on the other side. But different models. Different model, a little newer, yep. I'm going to step up there to see the dash real quick. It's a big one, but you can make it. Big, big, big step. So how many nights a month would you sleep in there? Oh, it just depended on whether it was an overnight trip or not. I mean, we have both summer, a couple days out, summer just during the day. But I probably spent, when I was running it every day, maybe 10 nights a month in there, 10, 12 nights a month. Just a rough guess. Lots of things to look at up high. I see you've added some satellite radio. You have a CB. You said there's air conditioning. Rooftop air conditioning up there in the middle. You'll see it where the vent louvers come in. Did that come off of another truck? No, that I bought new. Brand new. Other than the engine, have there been any incidents along the road? I had a rear end failure once is all. Also close to home? Made it home. Never had a hook on it. That's a pretty nice setup in here. What's your favorite thing about this truck? I just like the way it drives. It drives nice, and I like the old mechanical engine. Can I peek through the curtain or is it full stuffed? It's got some Velcro there, yeah. You can pull it back if you want. The back is right there. Well, I mean, it'll slide. It should slide toward you. People think that my Peterbilt with the stack coming through the sleeper takes up a bunch of space. Yeah. How tall are you? 6'2". And do you fit in here okay? Oh, yeah, it's 72 inches. Is there a vent back there? This side only. I have it covered up, though, inside. Well, that's perfect. I'm going to climb back down. Careful now. It's a long ways down. Need a fire pole to get out of there. I'll take a step right in front of it. Because it definitely looks unique from the front. You know I don't do well with these things. When the teacher put me up in front of the class and I have to tell something, I got nothing. Locked up. Just smile. Shake your head and smile. Thank you.