As all these old films are want to do, we see the machine doing a load of different jobs. From acting as a log skidder in the mountains to doing snow work in the city, light construction, moving coal, effectively everything that the marketing department could dream up.

I’d like to have one of these bad boys to fire up and play around with. Between the Detroit Diesel power and the bucket to scoop stuff with, I’d have a blast.

Press play below to see this awesome 1940s sales film for the Allis-Chalmers HD5

The post Hardhat History: This 1940s Allis-Chalmers HD5 Crawler Tractor Sales Video Is Great appeared first on BangShift.com.

The first thing shown is the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz. The sinking is incredible for the amount of damage the thing sustains from aerial bombardment but the fact that it took three attempts to even hit the ship is the wildest part. Thousands of smoke pots were used to create a smoke screen so thick that it basically made the fjord the ship was hiding in completely socked in.

From the sinking of the Tirpitz we head to France and see a massive steel plant that has been built and is being operated by the allies. Hearing the advantages of manufacturing rather than shipping over is both wild and totally sensible. What did they need all the steel for? Rebuilding the place. When the footage is shown of the rail depots in Belgium which were destroyed to limit the German military’s mobility and ability to move troops to the front lines.

Finally we see flooding in France, Ike with the soldiers, and more. And this was just ONE theater of the war. The fighting in the Pacific was still hardcore and going like hell as this was being made. Incredible.

Press play below to check out this 1944 WWII film – the size and scope!

The post Historical Video: Sinking Ships, Making Steel, Slogging Through The Mud – WWII Footage appeared first on BangShift.com.

Built by Grumman, this articulating, battery powered, half a weinermobile looking thing with spring wheels, and a shocking amount of size, is awesome. Obviously the thing was way too large and heavy to be transported in one shot, right? Well, that’s the interesting part. Before the compact and lightweight design of the rover was created NASA was contemplating launches where TWO Saturn V rockets would be used on the same mission because of the payload capacity needed. That idea was scrapped, likely when people quick drinking at breakfast.

This is a really interesting look at a vehicle we never knew existed. So big, so cool, so weird looking!

Press play below to see this awesome mobility test of a Grumman lunar rover prototype –

The post Apollo Video: Check Out This Neat 1960s Footage Of The Grumman Lunar Rover Prototype – Weinermobile In Space? appeared first on BangShift.com.

The Dodge “mini-big rig” styling which had revamped the truck market in 1994 was still highly popular and we’d venture to say that the Durango was not just the best looking but also the coolest SUV on the market when it first came out. While this truck that’s tested had a 318 in it, the 360 was available and those things moved out really well for the time.

The Durango nameplate is one we like here at BangShift, having just driven the 392 powered version of the modern rendition a few weeks back. It’s a long way from this guy but the legacy had to start somewhere and this video pinpoints the beginning.

Press play below to see this 1998 review of the then new Dodge Durango –

The post A Dakota By Any Other Name: The 1998 Dodge Durango Got Chrysler Into The SUV Game On Solid Footing appeared first on BangShift.com.

Between the cab, the cargo style bed, and the crane, you are looking at some serious fabrication and building skills. It doesn’t look weird, it looks perfect and like it should be mass produced for areas where snowmobile life is either big for recreation or necessity.

If you do not live in a cold weather area, it may shock you to know that there are thousands and thousands of people every weekend who travel into the wilderness to go trail riding or even trail braking on their snow machines. It’s a whole culture like those with dirt bikes and ATVs. This thing could really be a life saver in the event someone gets into big mechanical and cannot recover their sled on their own.

We want to drive this so bad!

Check out these images of the Canadian snowmobile rotator wrecker – How awesome?!

The post The Snowmobile Wrecker Is The Coolest Thing Canada Has Made Since Maple Syrup appeared first on BangShift.com.

Effectively the axle that the clutch is trying to spin has been locked, so the clutch does its job but is unable to actually spin. This causes incredible heat to be built up as the weights try like hell to grab the body and turn it. You’ll see two different styles of clutches used and abused here. The first is more typical of a go kart with individual weights gathered witch a circular spring. The second is a smaller unit that uses a cross spring like one would find in a drum brake.

The super slow motion video work here is neat, as is the failure point of the clutch.

Press play below to see this centrifugal clutch get pushed to the failure point –

The post Hot Hot Heat: Watch These Centrifugal Clutches Pushed To The Failure Point In Slow Motion! appeared first on BangShift.com.

Ford produced this style of cab-over truck for a long time. The introductory year was 1957, but these trucks soldiered on with very few styling adjustments until freaking 1990! The look is cool with its forward-control design and a seeming factory chop of the roofline. These guys look really good hauling a big trailer down the road.

As far as operating them however, that’s a different deal altogether. From personal experience we can say that they are cramped, hotter than hell, and after a day in one you think you’ve spent time in a torture chamber. Modern commercial trucks are light years ahead in comfort, but these brutes still have some kind of weird allure.

Due to the cab-over design, the trucks had shorter wheelbase options and would out turn just about every other offering from the competition. Engine options? There wasn’t a diesel in the bunch. All the optional powerplants were gasoline-burning Y-block variants. The truck in the photo was equipped with a 332 incher making a whopping 212 hp. You had to drive these trucks to get the most out of them.

You truckers can thank the heavens for the comparative luxury you roll in today!

The post Cool Old Press Photos: Here’s The Introduction For The ’57 Ford C-Series Cab-Over Truck – They Built These Until 1990! appeared first on BangShift.com.

In specifics this video tells the story of moving Great Western steam locomotive 4073 “Caerphilly Castle” from Park Royal, Swindon to Kensington Science Museum. The Swindon rail yards were the scene of some awesome stuff over the years. Arguably the finest steam engines in the world were built and serviced there for many decades. Thousands and thousands of British laborers and craftsmen called Swindon home for their work through the steam age.

Scammel trucks are some of our personal favorites out here. They made lots of neat stuff but the heavy duty Constructors and Junior Constructors stand out. The rigs used here are Scammel Junior Constructors and they’re powered by interesting Leyland 680 engines. These are lay down inline six engines. Think a slant six but completely on its side. They made 150hp but the torque was immense. Backed by a six speed transmission, they were more than capable of dragging this behemoth through the streets of London.

We love the trailer with “rear steer” which consists of a couple guys standing on the tail of the trailer with what looks to be a ship’s wheel and while we’re not sure how much angle they could get out of those rear axles, the ratio of busting ass vs turning seems pretty bad.

Pickfords is one of the oldest companies in England having been started in the 1700s and still existing today. Obviously there have been ownership and other changes but they are still in the business of moving stuff. Pretty awesome.

Watching them winch this thing into the museum is the payoff and it’s all fantastic. Well done Brits!

Press play to see this film on how to haul a locomotive and park it in a museum!

The post Awesome Video: How To Haul A Steam Locomotive Through London And Park It In A Museum Circa 1961 appeared first on BangShift.com.

It may have sucked for cars, but trucks did not suffer as bad as the cars did for a multitude of reasons. They were chasing a different customer base, they were not “performance” vehicles, and the government standards did not set them back as far as the cars did.

This film, likely made in 1973 to promote the awesomeness of the 1974 Chevrolet truck line over the compared Ford trucks is great. It is filled with the kinds of wacky tests that make little sense to anyone outside of the marketing department. Strap a big snifter looking thing to the hood of the truck, put ping pong balls in it and drive around? Yes!

Lift both of the trucks into a wheelie with a crane and look at the front suspension? Not just yes, Hell yes! Talk about the engines and pretend like they’re muscle bound beasts? Oh, you know we will! Perform a bizarre test of illuminating light bulbs for a period of time to show how much better the factory installed battery is? Brilliant Mr. Edison!

The truck war rages on today with more spit polish on the promotions. We miss these down and dirty ones.

Press play below to see this 1970s Chevy trucks propaganda film –

The post Fun Propaganda: 1974 Film Touting The Supremacy Of Chevy Trucks Over Fords Uses Some Wacky Tests appeared first on BangShift.com.

The added complexity of this job is not just the fact that all the junk is blown up and broken but the fact that the chain also wiped out the wiring harness headed to the back of the truck so after the nut and bolt work is done, the electrical fun can begin.

We know that one of the reasons most four wheel drive trucks are limited to like 96 mph from the factory is because of the transfer cases that they use and the fact that high speeds can cause major league failures. We’re not saying that this guy was roaring down the road at 120 when things got unhappy but good gravy, this is a nasty one!

Press play below to see this extremely wrecked transfer case in a Dodge get replaced –

The post Carnage Replacement: Check Out The Replacement Of An Exploded Transfer Case In A Dodge Truck, Wild! appeared first on BangShift.com.